A Movie Format represents a medium in which a film is available and the technological capabilities required to screen that film. For example, you might screen movies in traditional 35mm reel format or in modern 2D and 3D digital format. You might also use movie formats to identify picture ratios for films, such as widescreen or CinemaScope.

When you assign movie formats to Film records:

You don't need to create multiple copies of the record for a single film. Simply assign multiple formats if you, for example, are showing both a standard and a 3D version.
You can create corresponding format attributes to note the projection equipment that a screen requires to play the films configured with each Movie Format. Then, you can avoid scheduling errors by relying on the movie format to screen matching feature.
You can integrate your projection automation program with scheduling in Vista.
You can assign general ledger accounts to movie formats to record revenue generated by different cinema experiences. This option can help reduce the number of ticket types you need.

Example: To compare revenue from standard movies to revenue from 3D movies, you could create two ticket types: Adult and Adult 3D. More simply, you could create a 3D movie format and assign it a specific general ledger account. With this option, you don't need the Adult 3D ticket type.

Note: In Loyalty, formats can be grouped into Format Classes to restrict the availability of Recognitions, or to accrue points at different rates for different types of sessions.

Movie formats can be managed in the following places:

Head Office Manager or Cinema Manager > Maintenance > Movie Formats
Loyalty > Loyalty Admin > Cinema > Formats
Note: Formats in Loyalty are generally imported from Head Office.

Tips for creating movie formats:

When you create the movie formats that you need, edit the Default Movie Format record to represent the format you use most often.
When you import sessions in Showtime Manager, be aware that the default movie format is applied to all created sessions. You'll need to edit and correct the sessions for which the movie format needs to match the formats allowed for the screen.
Create movie formats at the head office level and then download the records to each cinema.
Specify only one Format attribute in each Movie Format record. Use additional attributes only if you are certain how this will work with your organisation's system.

See also: