TV Movies vs. Theatrical Releases

From an email conversation, thought some others might be interested:)

You've got me curious--what are the problems inherent in television films that aren't an issue for "real" movies?  Two things I can think of would be obvious commercial breaks, and possibly a smaller format.  What else? 

Jezzconk
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Budget is a big thing.  Often they try to do stuff that is big budget
on a small budget, and it ends up looking like it (watch something
like "A Wrinkle In Time".)  This goes for actors (there are usually
only a few in crowds, crowd scenes are smaller or non existent) as
well as for effects (they can't spend the extra money to get it
perfect, so they have to settle for slightly less).

Another thing is the time taken to shoot.  Most TV movies will have
only a few angles, lots of scenes will take place in the same area,
simply so that they can cut down set up time, which cuts down on
money.  You can see this even more so in a TV program, but it is there
in a TV movie.

Often acting will be uneven.  Main characters may do a great job, but
supporting actors will be just adaquate.  Another thing, one you
touched on, was the aspect ratio.  TV's have a ratio of 4:3 (which is
the ratio of film as well), but since the advent of widescreen, films
in theaters have varied from 2:5 to alot of things, wider and shorter.
This plays with what you can show in a frame.  Also, a TV screen is
small, so you need more closups, less long shots, or you can't
diferentiate between characters.  This has changed somewhat with
bigger TV's and the new 16:9 size screens.

NOW, all of this has gotten alot better.  People are starting to see
that there is a big audience for these things if they do them right
and market them right, so they are making them really well.  They
often are now airing them 2 or 3 times now, which means more revenue,
higher budget etc.  Producers are helped by the technology available
now as well, much cheaper to produce things.  They are getting more
creative about how to deal with the money problems etc. As a friend of
mine in the business has said, there are three things... cheap, well, and fast.
You can only have 2 of them. Cheap and fast, but not well; cheap and well,
but not fast; well and fast, but not cheap. You get the idea:)

PureNard