How much dead space should I insert at the beginning of the film before introducting important visuals or dialog?

Do you mean at the very beginning (first play?) or say, between each chapter.

Personally, I find 5 seconds to be tolerable.


- Rick

I put one second of black to make sure the DVD player has time to get in gear before it receives any real content, and that seems to work fine. Much longer than that I'd be wondering what I was waiting for if I was trying to watch something.

Right at the beginning. What about material intended for theatrical distribution? Time to let people get seated etc.

Put in one of those old school count-downs.

Any projectionist who isn't a complete idiot won't start the projection until people are seated and the lights are dimmed. I'd say, 5 seconds is a good idea. 10 if you truly want to be safe. Just make sure that it feels natural to watch that black before the film. Sit in a dark room and hit play and stare at the TV. You'll know if it's too much generally.

Right at the beginning. What about material intended for theatrical distribution? Time to let people get seated etc.

Whaa?? these days there's at least 15-20 minutes of trailers and commercials at the start of movies, in the Europe at least, even in Art house cinemas.

How much time do people need to sit down?

I'd say 2 seconds is enough. That's not counting the Academy leader (which has a 2-pop and two seconds of black anyway)