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Registered: July 7, 2007 | Posts: 284 |
| Posted: | | | | I made some contributions today, removing some subjective texts from the overview. The way I interpret the rules it is meant to be a synopsis of the movie, not all kinds of lines designed to make the DVD more "attractive" an example:
Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as Douglas Quaid, a hard working family man who has recently become haunted by his dreams of another life on Mars. Obsessed with the red planet, he ask Rekall Inc. to insert artificial memories of Mars into his brain, but during the process, his real memories and another personality come to the surface. Who is he? What happened on Mars? Why is everyone trying to kill him? [b] One of the most influential and visually astounding sci-fi films ever made. Get ready for the ride of your life...[/b]
My opinion is that the bold text is not part of the synopsis and therefore should not be included in the overview. Exeption is when such text is an integral part of the synopsis.
Clearly there is not really a concesus to the matter as I got loads of YES and NO votes (on Region 1 titles almost only NO votes, on region 2 DVD mostly YES votes) on the 30 contributions I made concerning this matter.
I think an expansion of the rules iis nescessary here because it does not offer an straightforward answer as how to handle these things. | | | My DVD's
Who is General Failure and why is he reading my hard drive? |
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| johnd | Evening, poetry lovers. |
Registered: March 13, 2007 | Posts: 298 |
| Posted: | | | | What is the purpose of the overview? If it is supposed to be a synopsis of the film, then 99% of overviews in the database are incorrect.
The rules say it should be the text on the back cover. But not taglines (what is the reasoning behind this exclusion?)
Some DVDs have nothing but subjective text (look at the region 4 Star Wars Ep. 1):
"Begin your STAR WARS DVD collection with STAR WARS: Episode 1 THE PHANTOM MENACE. Packed with over six hours of additional material, including exclusive documentaries and never-before-seen deleted scenes, this 2-disc set provides the perfect showcase for the incredible detail and breathtaking scope of George Lucas's first episode in the mythical STAR WARS saga."
I guess the problem I have is that the rules have no context. Why are they the way they are? |
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Registered: March 13, 2007 | Reputation: | Posts: 13,203 |
| Posted: | | | | My understanding is it is supposed to be a synopsis of the DVD release. Some overviews say nothing about the film...see Field of Dreams. The general rule of thumb has always been...and yes I know it is not spelled out in the rules...same font=overview. Different font=not overview. | | | No dictator, no invader can hold an imprisoned population by force of arms forever. There is no greater power in the universe than the need for freedom. Against this power, governments and tyrants and armies cannot stand. The Centauri learned this lesson once. We will teach it to them again. Though it take a thousand years, we will be free. - Citizen G'Kar |
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Registered: June 12, 2007 | Reputation: | Posts: 2,665 |
| Posted: | | | | Is the text you bolded value-added? Not really. But it is part of the overview if it is part of the same text block (contiguous sentences and paragraphs in the same font). Presumably the rule was made that way, like many others, to make it simple to determine what the overview was.
Otherwise we'd sit around quibbling about the content of the field.
Would that all the rules were as easy to interpret. | | | Bad movie? You're soaking in it! |
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Registered: July 7, 2007 | Posts: 284 |
| Posted: | | | | So the general rule would be to only exclude non-value text IF it is printed in another font / type?
And what about the titles with nothing but non-value text as some people already presented above? | | | My DVD's
Who is General Failure and why is he reading my hard drive? |
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Registered: March 13, 2007 | Reputation: | Posts: 6,635 |
| Posted: | | | | Quoting RaymondG: Quote: So the general rule would be to only exclude non-value text IF it is printed in another font / type? I would be careful about using this "qualifier". It is not in the Rules, and in some cases could exclude text that rightfully belongs in the Overview. | | | Hal | | | Last edited: by hal9g |
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Registered: March 13, 2007 | Reputation: | Posts: 2,372 |
| Posted: | | | | Personally I don't think the rules for the overview need to be revised at all. This is one of the few areas that almost never creates any arguments.
To the OP, sorry you don't like the rule as is, but for the most part it is clear. As far as having profiles submitted in separate regions and getting different vote results that does not surprise me. Many have said R1 seems to be stricter at following the rules to the letter. Not saying that's good or bad, just pointing out it has been mentioned before. |
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Registered: July 7, 2007 | Posts: 284 |
| Posted: | | | | Quoting lyonsden5: Quote: Personally I don't think the rules for the overview need to be revised at all. This is one of the few areas that almost never creates any arguments.
To the OP, sorry you don't like the rule as is, but for the most part it is clear. As far as having profiles submitted in separate regions and getting different vote results that does not surprise me. Many have said R1 seems to be stricter at following the rules to the letter. Not saying that's good or bad, just pointing out it has been mentioned before. thats odd, can you please come with constructive reasons as to why you are so convinced the rules are clear? You kind of contradict yourself by saying "for the most part".... When ambiguity arises it is mostly for a minority. Were it for the majority, it would have been so obvious that it would never have been excluded from the rules in the beginning I think it is self-evident that the rules are unclear: the massive amounts of yes/no votes speak for themselves. Saying R1 people adhere to the rules more strictly is pure speculation on your part. | | | My DVD's
Who is General Failure and why is he reading my hard drive? |
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Registered: March 13, 2007 | Reputation: | Posts: 5,494 |
| Posted: | | | | I have a few rear covers such as depicted here, and there is no synopsis,, yet I have a full paragraph of text in the Overviews., Where did this come from,, another version?? Arnold Schwarzenegger returns as the Terminator in this explosive adventure spectacle. His mission: to protect John Connor, the boy destined to lead the freedom fighters of the future. His opponent: the T-1000, the most lethal machine ever created, sent back through time to kill young John. His ally: Sarah Connor, John's mother, a woman warrior whose warnings go unheeded by a world careening toward a nuclear holocaust she knows is inevitable. "T2" is a tour de force of stunts and astounding special effects, built around a touching and emotional human story. | | | In the 60's, People took Acid to make the world Weird. Now the World is weird and People take Prozac to make it Normal.
Terry | | | Last edited: by widescreenforever |
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Registered: June 12, 2007 | Reputation: | Posts: 2,665 |
| Posted: | | | | Quoting RaymondG: Quote: I think it is self-evident that the rules are unclear: the massive amounts of yes/no votes speak for themselves. Saying R1 people adhere to the rules more strictly is pure speculation on your part. The vote today on your withdrawn submission for The Incredibles was quite clear. You were doing the same thing to it's Overview. When i voted No there were 2 votes For and many 10s Against. I suspect the For votes didn't verify what you proposed. | | | Bad movie? You're soaking in it! |
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Registered: July 7, 2007 | Posts: 284 |
| Posted: | | | | Quoting tweeter: Quote: Quoting RaymondG:
Quote: I think it is self-evident that the rules are unclear: the massive amounts of yes/no votes speak for themselves. Saying R1 people adhere to the rules more strictly is pure speculation on your part. The vote today on your withdrawn submission for The Incredibles was quite clear. You were doing the same thing to it's Overview. When i voted No there were 2 votes For and many 10s Against. I suspect the For votes didn't verify what you proposed. I don't think I quite follow you there, Tweeter. Whats wrong with postponing those contributions because I want to start a post about it? | | | My DVD's
Who is General Failure and why is he reading my hard drive? | | | Last edited: by RaymondG |
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Registered: July 7, 2007 | Posts: 284 |
| Posted: | | | | Quoting widescreenforever: Quote: I have a few rear covers such as depicted here, and there is no synopsis,, yet I have a full paragraph of text in the Overviews., Where did this come from,, another version??
Arnold Schwarzenegger returns as the Terminator in this explosive adventure spectacle. His mission: to protect John Connor, the boy destined to lead the freedom fighters of the future. His opponent: the T-1000, the most lethal machine ever created, sent back through time to kill young John. His ally: Sarah Connor, John's mother, a woman warrior whose warnings go unheeded by a world careening toward a nuclear holocaust she knows is inevitable. "T2" is a tour de force of stunts and astounding special effects, built around a touching and emotional human story.
That is stated quite clear in the rules: Make you own overview. In this case it's easy because there is no text that could doubtfully pass as an overview. | | | My DVD's
Who is General Failure and why is he reading my hard drive? |
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Registered: March 13, 2007 | Posts: 21,610 |
| Posted: | | | | What's not to follow Raymond you tried to remove part of the Overview which was clear from looking at the actual back cover. You also referred to what you were attempting to remove as a Tagline, and quite frankly there was too much there to be a Tagline. You were trying to remove an entire paragraph or one very long sentence..
Skip | | | ASSUME NOTHING!!!!!! CBE, MBE, MoA and proud of it. Outta here
Billy Video |
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Registered: March 13, 2007 | Posts: 21,610 |
| Posted: | | | | The Rules on Overviews are quite clear Raymond now perhaps you don't know what a Tagline is, one of the No voters on The Incredibles quoted the Tagline for the film for you. Skip | | | ASSUME NOTHING!!!!!! CBE, MBE, MoA and proud of it. Outta here
Billy Video |
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Registered: July 7, 2007 | Posts: 284 |
| Posted: | | | | Yes Skip. I did.
Why? because it in one big subjective sentence with no value about the synopsis whatsoever. This case does not apply to taglines, however but to Reviews (unless they are incorporated into the text of the overview on the case). Isn't that what a review is? a subjective description about something?
And the rules CAN be interpreted in a way that this is a valid way to handle an overview.
Edit: I did mention taglines with my motivation for the contribution. that was wrong ofc. | | | My DVD's
Who is General Failure and why is he reading my hard drive? | | | Last edited: by RaymondG |
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Registered: March 13, 2007 | Posts: 21,610 |
| Posted: | | | | And you got your answer through the votes, didn't you Raymond. They resoundingly told you you were wrong. You could see this quite clearly by reviewing other titles inthe database.
Skip | | | ASSUME NOTHING!!!!!! CBE, MBE, MoA and proud of it. Outta here
Billy Video |
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