Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Yellow Numbers in the BackGround of Mothman Prophecies

This is topic Yellow Numbers in the BackGround of Mothman Prophecies in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Michael Gonzalez (Member # 593) on 01-25-2002, 10:56 AM:

In the second reel of Mothman Prophecies there are big yellow numbers that appear on the film. The numbers movie through the middle of the screen from top to bottom. It happens every four minutes or so. I have already ordered a replacement reel but I am just curious as to how something like this happen as I have never seen anything like this before.

Posted by David Koegel (Member # 25) on 01-25-2002, 11:03 AM:

Sounds like CAP codes running amuck. See the VERY extensive posting on this here on Film-Tech, posted posted 04-17-2000 02:24 PM and called "The CAP code". You can also find it by doing a search using "CAP Code". Worth a second reading, though it almost seems to start off in the middle of a conversation....

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 01-25-2002, 11:10 AM:

I agree it sounds like the CAP Code printer used by the lab got mispositioned so the numbers normally printed along the edge of the print got printed in the picture. The edge identification printed by Kodak is printed in MAGENTA.

------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

Posted by Michael Gonzalez (Member # 593) on 01-25-2002, 11:10 AM:

I thought cap code but I wouldn't think that you should be able to actually see it on the screen. It is very distracting.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 01-25-2002, 12:40 PM:

The CAP code is normally tiny dots. In this case, the verification numbers that are normally printed along the edge of the print were accidently printed in the picture area.

Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 01-26-2002, 07:02 PM:

THERE'S A CAP CODE?!!!

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 01-26-2002, 08:05 PM:

CAP Code has been in use since 1982! (first picture to use it was Disney's "Night Crossing"). It's helped the MPAA and FBI track quite a few criminals by identifying the source of their pirated copies of movies.

I was on the Kodak/MPAA/FBI/ACVL team that developed CAP Code.

Kodak already has technology to help prevent piracy with Digital Cinema:
Kodak Digital Watermarking Research
About Kodak Digital Watermarking Technology
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/digital/system.shtml

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 01-26-2002, 08:26 PM:

So what's the new anti-piracy tactic for DLP cinema? Supposedly if you were to point a video camera directly at the screen, you will get a flickerless copy. Obviously there must be SOMETHING to protect these motion pictures. Is the MPAA looking at an offshoot of the CAP code, or some sort of watermark? I think it would be interesting if the CAP code could be modified so that every week the dots changed configuration to show when the bootleg was done as well as the projector it came off of. Even better would be if a permanent serial number CAP code signal was encoded inside each DLP unit so a videotape could tell EXACTLY which projector ran the show.

(Not to worry John, I'm not expecting any detailed answers, just wondering how this issue has been addressed.)

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 01-26-2002, 08:38 PM:

If you read about the Kodak technology, the images will be encoded with lots of tracking information that can't be eliminated from the illegal copies. I've heard there are also some developments to render the images almost unwatchable if copied with a camcorder.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 01-26-2002, 08:40 PM:

Apparently they have not yet begun those treatments from what I understand. That would be very interesting if they can pull that off.

Posted by Aaron Haney (Member # 747) on 01-26-2002, 09:39 PM:

Actually Brad, I believe an NTSC video camera pointed at a DLP-projected image would still produce some odd motion artifacts. There may not be any flicker, but there will still be a framerate mismatch.

But you're right, the results will probably still be much better than current bootlegs.