# Movie trailer credits - unreadable? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 5, 2001, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-trailer-credits-unreadable/48569 "2001-01-05T14:19:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![toonerama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecae2f/32.png) [@toonerama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toonerama)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2001, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-trailer-credits-unreadable/48569/1 "2001-01-05T14:19:18Z")
At the end of any movie trailer on TV, no matter how short or long, the last image is the credit screen. Why is that crammed with tiny info and unreadable? I suppose it’s an obligation, but a bit of a joke when you can’t even read it with a video-taped pause. It bugs me because I’d often like a quick overview of the cast, and find myself in panic scan mode trying to see it. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2001, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-trailer-credits-unreadable/48569/2 "2001-01-05T23:00:26Z")
[sub]If you can read this, you don’t need glasses[/sub] If you’re really interested in the credits, you can go to [http://www.imdb.com](http://www.imdb.com) and see them. You will find, among other gems, the fascinating fact that Anthony Goldschmidt was the title designer for the movie _Spaceballs_. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2001, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-trailer-credits-unreadable/48569/3 "2001-01-06T05:30:05Z")
You can also try [Corona Coming Attractions](http://corona.bc.ca/films/mainFramed.html) if the film’s not listed in IMDB yet. But that’s rare nowadays – they usuallly get them in pretty early. ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2001, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-trailer-credits-unreadable/48569/4 "2001-01-06T09:07:34Z")
I think that the problem is that the networks and cable stations have figured out that they can use the ‘credit roll’ as advertising space, so they shrink it to 1/2 to 1/3 of the screen and put up a promo (by contract law they HAVE to show the credits, I believe). Makes them impossible to read. If they aren’t squeezed I usually have no problem reading them. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2001, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-trailer-credits-unreadable/48569/5 "2001-01-06T11:02:34Z")
lawoot, you’re talking about the end credits for TV shows. toonerama was talking about the credits for movie commercials on TV. ---
**Author:** ![Tzel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Tzel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzel)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2001, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-trailer-credits-unreadable/48569/6 "2001-01-06T11:29:01Z")
On a related issue, I once saw a television show which had the credits go by so fast and in such small print that it was literally impossible to read even a single word. Another time, I was watching the TVGuide channel, and it had a psychic hotline commercial, and since the commercial only took up a quarter of the screen, all the fine print was simply a white blob. This kind of stuff can’t be legal, can it?