This is topic The Surprise Video in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.
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Posted by Aaron Sisemore (Member # 145) on 01-20-2001, 11:30 PM:
Brad: You guys are INSANE!!!!I loved every minute of it! You RULE!
Nuff Said...
Aaron
Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 01-21-2001, 02:57 PM:
Being very familiar with that booth, I found the whole event very amusing. Until I saw it done, I would have said that was impossible. Although I don't want to do it, I now realize that I can actually perform it in my booth. I'll just keep that information to myself.PS. The fun of Digital Cinema is that you could run this video for an audience.
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 01-21-2001, 03:40 PM:
Glad you guys liked it. Contrary to the appearance, it actually wasn't that difficult. (...and let's keep the actual "event" a surprise to the rest who haven't downloaded it yet. 
)
Posted by Trevor Bailey (Member # 75) on 01-21-2001, 06:07 PM:
Brad,Very impressive. And to think I attempted to train a "head projectionist" on this last month with only two. He had a tough time so I am sure he would be pretty overwhelmed by what you did.
Posted by John Walsh (Member # 168) on 01-21-2001, 06:12 PM:
The video is pretty cool! We did something simular, for the fire inspector when we opened the theater where I'm at now. He wanted to see that all the projectors would stop when the fire alarm pull station was activated.But, that was only 8 screens, all in one booth. This (the suprise video) blows our setup away..!
Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 01-21-2001, 06:40 PM:
Is there anyone out there who can convert this to MPEG format? Or am I just going to have to find someone who has a Windows PC or a Mac so I can watch it?
Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 01-21-2001, 11:07 PM:
Scott-Welcome to modern computing 
An MPEG like this would be more than 80 megs, the screen size would be smaller and the compression artifacts would be greater. A better solution might be to fly out here to Denver to see it.
Posted by Lance C. McFetridge (Member # 95) on 01-22-2001, 06:12 AM:
Great video......Damn!!!!
Posted by Mark DeLettera (Member # 125) on 01-22-2001, 08:20 AM:
John Pytlak and I just checked out the video, (after about a 15 minute download)... I don't know about my computer 
. VERY COOL !!
Has anyone contacted the Guiness Book of Records people yet? We believe a record may have been set here! 
------------------
Mark DeLettera
Eastman Kodak Co.
Worldwide Technical Svs.
Rochester, NY
mark.delettera@kodak.com
716-588-4189
Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 01-22-2001, 09:56 AM:
To quote the movie:"You must have your pants custom tailored, my friend..."
(Ummm, you know the rest. )
Posted by Colin Wiseley (Member # 247) on 01-22-2001, 02:05 PM:
Very cool, I'm impressed. My questions are:1) How many attempts did it take to get the system to work successfully? It seems like there would have been problems somewhere.
2) How late did you guys stay at the theater when you did this?
3) What on Earth made you think of doing it?
------------------
Colin Wiseley
Lyric Theatre
Blacksburg, VA
www.thelyric.com
Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 01-22-2001, 02:23 PM:
1) Just one.2) Brad can answer this better than I can.
3) That's just the way we think! Haven't you ever thought of it?
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 01-22-2001, 02:33 PM:
1. One attempt. No need for any testing. 2. Late enough to wait for the janitors to finish screwing around upstairs.
3. To prove to the disbelievers from various conversations.
Posted by Michael Barry (Member # 237) on 01-22-2001, 08:03 PM:
WOW!!! I love it!!!
Firstly, I watched the video before I read this thread in order to avoid any possible spoilers. After (during) watching it, I had the same thought as Mark DeLettera: contact Guiness.
Also, I was talking to John Wilson yesterday and he asked me if I'd seen it; I hadn't yet due to a painfully slow/error ridden network problem somewhere. He didn't spill the beans! I then made a remark which was a dead ringer regarding the surprise video - because I've *always* wanted to do a really absurd one myself, and I thought about the possibilities on the way home. Then I watched the video today, and there it was! I couldn't believe it - talk about being on the same page! It's so wonderfully abstract that you should not only contact Guiness, but also the Museum of Modern Art, because you have created something that would make M.C. Escher/Salvador Dali/Dr. Suess incredibly proud!
I also find it highly inspiring that you guys are constantly pushing the envelope (as opposed to pencil pushing); there is a natural curiosity at work here which goes way, way beyond the paycheck. I believe the word is passion, and the world needs much more of this. I hope this doesn't seem preachy but you guys are incredible! I only wish I could have been there. Thanks so much!
Posted by William T. Parr (Member # 677) on 01-23-2001, 02:55 PM:
That was pretty amazing. By the way, what theatre was this done in? and how long ago? I was amazed at the fact that the two shots of the picture hitting the screen showed working curtains in front of them. I was only privledged to work at two theatres in may carrer that had them. UA Padre Staples 6 Aud 5 & 6 both Side to Side, and when I helped open the Cinemark Movies 16 in San Antonio Aud 1 -7 had Cheap Waterfall Rip Off type curtains. I call them Rip Off's because the bottom was basically flat instead of tear dropped and they stayed that way until fully opened. The only part that had a droop in it was where the cables ran up the back side of the material and gathered on the way up.
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 01-23-2001, 03:20 PM:
That was performed at the "Colorado Cinemas L.L.C. Chinese 16 at Apapahoe Crossings" theater in December. There are pictures of the booth in the picture warehouse.By the way, it seems the large file size of the big download was clogging up the servers and slowing things down pretty bad due to the amount of downloads being issued. I have added a third server today to help lighten the load.
Posted by Jon Miller (Member # 163) on 01-23-2001, 07:25 PM:
Burning question...Was "Film-Guard" used at any stage of the, um, tour?
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 01-23-2001, 08:47 PM:
Of course!
Posted by Edwin Graf Diemer (Member # 545) on 01-23-2001, 09:21 PM:
That was hilarious! I showed a copy of it to a friend, and he couldn't believe it either. Has to be a record!
Posted by Paul Cunningham (Member # 501) on 01-23-2001, 10:18 PM:
Yes pretty cool.Is there a challenge for someone at a 30 plex?
Paul
Posted by Jerry Chase (Member # 660) on 01-24-2001, 12:19 AM:
LOL! How did I know you were going to do that?Now you have to hope that none of the distributors get any funny ideas...
Posted by Paul Konen (Member # 41) on 01-24-2001, 07:13 AM:
I thought is was cool just to see two that were close work like this but my God.Start playing Queens': We are the Champions.
Paul.
Posted by Chris Erwin (Member # 176) on 01-24-2001, 12:38 PM:
While some places can't run a print right, to see what I saw done and done right was VERY COOL!!Keep up the idea factory!!
To steal a line from Fisher Price...
Oh,the possibilities!
--Chris
Posted by Carl King (Member # 398) on 01-25-2001, 09:54 PM:
Well, well, well. That was quite a feat.I've tried 3 on Vic 4s and 8s but you guys sure outdid that.
One more thing comes to my mind when I watch the video. You guys have way too much free time on your hands. Well done, guys.
Posted by Christos Mitsakis (Member # 143) on 01-26-2001, 03:05 AM:
Very Exciting Roller Coaster
Well Done!!!Christos.
Posted by Jason Burroughs (Member # 68) on 01-26-2001, 12:57 PM:
Brad,I suppose that breaks your previous record in quantity but not difficulty, Very nice.
Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 01-26-2001, 02:53 PM:
Since I live where on a good day I get about 26.4k out of my phone lines. I guess I'll never get to see the mystery video. The download time on that video would be decades!
Hey I'm bein discriminated against. ------------------
Greg Mueller
Amateur Astronomer, Machinist, Filmnut
Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 01-26-2001, 03:44 PM:
Well you could always fly out to Denver with Scott Norwood to see it. If you make the trip we will gladly play the Quicktime file for you, and even let you copy it. If you're really nice and treat everybody to dinner we'll let you watch it on videotape instead of Quicktime Actually you might want to try and download it at night while you sleep. That should be more than enough time. It'll be worth it.
Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 01-26-2001, 08:46 PM:
Greg -- I bet you can get someone here to burn it to CD for you. I don't have a CD burner, but I can send it to you on 4mm tape, if that helps.
Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 01-26-2001, 09:38 PM:
How, 'bout a 120 Meg. SuperDisk?
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 01-28-2001, 08:45 PM:
Ok, enough taunting to Greg and all the others who are unable to download or view the surprise video for whatever reason. There are now still pictures from this "surprise" video in the Projection Picture Warehouse here on the site. Just look for "Interlocking 101". (Besides, we had to make room for the latest video. It is the complete booth tour of the OMNI theater and it runs 16 minutes...so it's gonna be an all-nighter download!)