Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: AMC to project indentification "bugs" onsceen during movies!

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Topic: AMC to project indentification "bugs" onsceen during movies!

Louis Bornwasser
Film God

Posts: 4441
From: prospect ky usa
Registered: Mar 2005

posted 01-11-2006 09:09 AM

Bobby: your point is well taken. The very fact that we cannot tell hoax from reality confirms my worst fears about those at the helm. Louis

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John Pytlak
Film God

Posts: 9987
From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 01-11-2006 10:08 AM

Someone's pulling our chain --- it's a hoax.

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Mark J. Marshall
Film God

Posts: 3188
From: New Castle, DE, USA
Registered: Aug 2002

posted 01-11-2006 11:04 AM

Well said, Louis. I was thinking the same thing.

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Randy Stankey
Film God

Posts: 6539
From: Erie, Pennsylvania
Registered: Jun 99

posted 01-11-2006 11:24 AM

I had an initial gut reaction to that story but, after thinking about it, I can't believe it's true.

Whether they use the video projectors that show the advertisements on the screen or if they install special projectors just for the bugs it's not practical to use video projectors at all.

It would be like flying an airplane just to cross the street.

If they are going to put bugs on the screen it would be cheaper, easier and all-around better if they just used an ordinary spot light (like a "Source-4") with a gobo in it.

There are about a half dozen little problems I can think of if they tried to use a video projector over the top of the picture from the movie projector.

It's got to be a hoax. It just doesn't add up.

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David Stambaugh
Film God

Posts: 4021
From: Eugene, Oregon
Registered: Jan 2002

posted 01-11-2006 11:46 AM

There are lots of technical issues, but the premise that they would consider doing this if they could is totally believable.

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Eric Hooper
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 532
From: Fort Worth, TX, USA
Registered: May 2003

posted 01-11-2006 12:43 PM

Why not just put an illuminated AMC sign on the side of the screen? Or on the walls? Would seem cheaper IMO.

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James R. Hammonds, Jr
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 931
From: Houston, TX, USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 01-11-2006 12:47 PM

I called the AMC that I used to work for and spoke to a manager there that I know, and was told that they have not heard anything on this.
Most likely a hoax.

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Phil Hill
I love my cootie bug

Posts: 7595
From: Hollywood, CA USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 01-11-2006 02:11 PM

quote: John Pytlak
Someone's pulling our chain --- it's a hoax.

I agree John. I'm thinking it's a fake post that has Mr. Redifer's fingerprints all over it just to give us all something to yap about. [Wink]

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Will Kutler
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1506
From: Tucson, AZ, USA
Registered: Feb 2001

posted 01-11-2006 02:37 PM

YAP-YAP-WOOF-WOOF-BOWWOW-OW,OW,OW OWWWWWWWW-HOWL!

Just something to make Phil happy! [Big Grin]

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Phil Hill
I love my cootie bug

Posts: 7595
From: Hollywood, CA USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 01-11-2006 02:57 PM

Ok Will... that's it! NO MORE cough syrup or NyQuil for you today!

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Mike Williams
Master Film Handler

Posts: 255
From: Knoxville, TN
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 01-11-2006 04:51 PM

quote: Randy Stankey
If they are going to put bugs on the screen it would be cheaper, easier and all-around better if they just used an ordinary spot light (like a "Source-4") with a gobo in it.

If it were true, this concept could be good to combat piracy (with a camcorder).
If you put a bright array of infared LED's inside the spot light, it would be invisible to the human eye, but VERY visible to a camcorder.
You could project the word "PIRATED COPY" accross the middle of the screen using the gobo and only cameras would be able to see it.

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Jesse Skeen
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1517
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 01-11-2006 05:07 PM

Sorry Joe, I brought this joke out YEARS ago. Not on Film-Tech though. My version had a different logo on each screen and matched with one printed on the ticket stubs, reason being with multiplexes having so many screens these days it's hard for some customers to make sure they're watching the right one.

AMC already "brands" their prints with scratches and splicing tape anyways. (Or if it's DLP, fingerprints on the port glass.)

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Randy Stankey
Film God

Posts: 6539
From: Erie, Pennsylvania
Registered: Jun 99

posted 01-12-2006 10:38 AM

quote: Mike Williams
If you put a bright array of infared LED's inside the spot light, it would be invisible to the human eye, but VERY visible to a camcorder.

Or you could just put a big-ass infrared emitter behind the screen. Any time somebody tried to photograph the screen the picture would be obliterated by infrared glow. Better yet, the emitter could flash at a randomly variable rate to maximize the annoyance of anybody trying to watch the resultant video tape. (And it would be impossible to electronically compensate for a randomly variable flash rate in the final copy.)

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John Pytlak
Film God

Posts: 9987
From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 01-12-2006 11:11 AM

While the idea of using infrared to "jam" video cameras (which often have IR sensitivity) is attractively simple, it is also attractively simple for a "pirate" to put an IR blocking filter in front of the camera lens:

http://www.edmundoptic.com/onlinecatalog/DisplayProduct.cfm?productid=1524

quote:
IR-Cut filters are frequently used as heat-absorbing filters since they let the visible spectral range pass while the infrared rays from 780nm on are strongly blocked. They are often used to protect IR-sensitive CCD-sensors or used in illumination systems.

http://www.edmundoptic.com/onlinecatalog/displayproduct.cfm?productID=1328

quote:
Since common light sources deliver light that has a very broad spectral output, reaching beyond the visible, many visual and detector-based applications call for a filter that is designed to pass only light within the visible spectrum. For example, monochrome cameras are often used with IR cutoff filters to eliminate the effects of the presence of near infrared light incident upon the detector.

AFAIK, there are no commercially available anti-piracy systems that depend solely on IR "jamming".

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Mitchell Dvoskin
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1869
From: West Milford, NJ, USA
Registered: Jan 2001

posted 01-12-2006 11:58 AM

Pardon me for asking what may seem like a stupid question, but why could you not use one of these filters with a white exciter lamp to play cyan track films, assuming you could find a way to mount it?

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