What bothers me is when they speed the credits up so fast that they're little more than a blur. This is usually done on movies. Adding insult to injury, they'll shrink the credits to one half of the screen, while starting the same movie over again on the other half! So you can't read the beginning or the end credits.
The screen shrinks to the size of a postage stamp* on TV shows, too. So they can play a promo for the next show! We know what's coming up next, you ran the friggin promo 14 times during the TV Show we were watching!
Speeding up or shrinking down the end credits is a sin because the talented people who lit the scenes, selected the costumes, the editors, cameramen, musicians,, etc. all collaborated on the product you've chosen to broadcast for the entertainment of your viewers. Some of those viewers just might be interested in knowing exactly who did what. (Maybe not many, but it's the principle; you'd want credit if you were in the Credits in your job, right? (The background color and fonts for this Power Point presentation were chosen by...)
There must be a rule that says stations must run the credits, but it probably neglects to specify the size, speed or if they're the only thing on-screen while they're rolling. If there's a loophole somewhere, someone will use it.
_____________
* A Postage Stamp was a small certificate, glued onto the corner of an envelope that proved you paid to have the enclosed letter delivered, by carrier, to the intended recipient.
A Letter was something like non-electronic email.
(Oh, dear...) Email, sent via your personal computer (PC), was like a long tweet or instant message.
(Ugh!) A PC was like a stationary laptop or cell phone.
The text on your cell phone is how small the credits are shrunk on your TV.
Please use the elevator, the stairs are currently stuck between floors
Please use the elevator, the stairs are currently stuck between floors
reply
share
LittleBrother55
9 years ago
EtaoinShrdlu_56, you're preaching to the choir here.
I admit that I have my limits: closing credits for big-budget blockbuster movies, e.g. the "Lord of the Rings" franchise, wear me out. I probably stayed in my seat for most of them when I saw them in theaters, but I'll either fast-forward or shut down the credits if I'm watching the DVD.
Otherwise, I feel the same as you. It annoyed me when they first started "squeezing" TV credits several years back-- for some reason, I remember this mostly from "The Simpsons", which I stopped watching many seasons ago.
Again, I think we're in an increasing minority-- lots of viewers consider credits to be a useless waste of time and pixels. I think you're right to believe that nowadays, they only show credits at all-- speeded up, shrunk, and otherwise fatally deformed-- because of some legal/contractual requirement.
Maybe it's a generational thing. (I'm 60.) If so, this crusty old codger stands by his crusty old belief that squeezed or eliminated credits, tiny hand-held screens, and social media that encourages short, clipped, minimal expression results in squeezed, tiny, minimal minds, tastes, and habits.
So, amen. 😉
reply
share