Add Intros and Trailers for a more Cinematic Home Movie Experience
I like physical media, but if you are going to watch a movie on Plex, why not include your own intro and trailers.
Last year I wrote about the album, HBO: Music Made for Television. I had been searching for the album for a while, and when I finally found a copy posted online I was thrilled. The music on the album, which contained music from HBO bumpers and programming in the mid 1980s was the soundtrack for home my movie watching experience growing up.
A few years ago, I found a movie on YouTube that had been recorded off of HBO that still had the original HBO movie intro. The one where the camera zooms across a cityscape before launching into space to encounter and enter the HBO starship. It brought memories flooding back. Especially those of hearing the intro and trying to get my snacks ready before the film started.
At this point, I realized that this is something I would enjoy having at the start of all my home movie watching. But I didn’t want to jump between videos or make a playlist every time I planned on watching a movie. Lucky for me, I discovered a feature in my Plex Media Center that lets you choose what sort of pre-roll you would like to run before you play a movie.
I went to YouTube and found the best quality version of the intro and downloaded a copy using yt-dlp. I put it in my media center (Plex), changed my setting to also include the playing of a trailer, and hit save. Now whenever I want to watch a film, I get to see a great trailer reminding me of another movie I have in my collection, and then get transported back to the 80s with the HBO intro.
You could of course include whatever you want as pre-roll. If you are skilled enough, you could even make your own videos and brand your home movie experience as your see fit. This might seem like a minor thing, but every time I hear that music start, I rush over to the couch with the same anticipation I had as a kid. I love it.
(If you have retro finds you would like for me to share, I want to hear them. What old useful website are still lurking on the web? Some old TV show streaming online? Old tech being brought back? Let me know.)
ONE COOL VIDEO
The HBO Space/Starship intro was groundbreaking and extremely popular at the time. To toot its own horn, HBO released a Behind the Scenes making of the segment in 1983. I remember watching, and even recording and re-watching this when I was a kid. I was fascinated by the craft and creativity that went into making it. Even after all these years, I find it enjoyable to watch.
TEN THINGS RETRO
🧟 Roleplaying - In the 1990s, TSR, maker of Dungeons & Dragons, was going to make a new horror-themed roleplaying game called, R.I.P. It never was published, but enough details have come to light to give us an idea of what might have been.
🎮 Video Games - The Vectrex was an amazing early console. It claim to fame, besides having some great games, was its graphics were entirely vector-based. Sadly the Vectrex wasn’t a big success, but its fans haven’t let it die. They have even put together a portable version of the console.
📚 Books - Are you a fan of The Three Investigators book series? If so, I got some good news, the series is returning with the daughter of its creator, Robert Arthur, taking the series into the future.
📧 RIP - Elwood Edwards, the person behind AOL's "You've Got Mail" has passed away at age 74.
🚗 Cars - Picture a highway lit up at night with cars driving on a rainbow of glowing tires. For years, Goodyear’s illuminated car tires seemed like they were going to be the next big thing. Unfortunately, they didn’t prove practical. Still, they were something to behold.
🎵 Music - People online have been lamenting the demise of love songs for a while now. Is the love song on the way out or is it just evolving in new directions?
💙 Roleplaying Games - Have you ever wanted to visit Smurf Village? Outsmart Gargamel? Now you can with the upcoming Smurfs Roleplaying Game.
🎮 Video Games - Are you a fan of the Monkey Island video game franchise? It has been a few years now since the last official game was released and its unclear what the plans are for the future? Luckily, fans are getting really good at making video games, and now we have the The Booze of Monkey Island.
🎥 Movies - Sega fans rejoice! The wonderful Sega video game franchise, Shinobi, is being adapted to the big screen, with Sam Hargrave directing for Universal.
📺 Television - The Columbophile Blog is completely dedicated to the amazing tv show, Columbo. While its not as frequently updated as it used to be, it is still an amazing source for Columbo information. Support small great websites!
SUBSTACK RECOMMENDATION
It is a real treat when you find someone who values the same things you do. The Retrologist (Rolando Pujol) is trying to capture what we are losing in the physical spaces around us. As part of that larger quest, one thing Rolando has been doing is documenting the re-emergence of the classic Pizza Hut locations in an easy to browse guide.
FROM THE RETROIST ARCHIVE
Let's take a moment to look back at four posts from the Retroist's past. I have been at this a long time.
One Year Ago…
📺 Pac-Man: The Animated Series
Five Years Ago…
👽 E.T. and Friends: Magical Movie Visitors
Ten Years Ago…
🤠 RolePlay in the Old West with Boot Hill
Fifteen Years Ago…
🎵 DEVO Announces Classic Album Re-Issues and Groundbreaking Tour
I love that feature of Plex. I make my own intros for each summer. One of my hobbies is backyard theater, I loved drive-ins as a kid but they're all gone around here. I bought a 16'x9' screen and a projector to watch movies in the backyard at night. Custom intros are a must have for this experience.
Man, watching that HBO intro gave me the retro chills. It was sooooo exciting anytime you saw it or heard its distinctive music because you just knew you and your family were in store for some fun entertainment. Like a subconscious Pavlovian signal, popcorn and sodas would somehow appear in our hands just in time for the main feature.