Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: BROWN DOTS on recent 35mm features

This is topic BROWN DOTS on recent 35mm features in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Craig Call (Member # 2845) on 02-20-2005, 02:48 AM:

Over the last year or two, I have noticed in EVERY major feature release a splatter of brown dots that appear 2-4 times throughout the movie. They probably only take up one frame, but are easily spotted (no pun intended) by any professional. These dots most often appear in the center of the picture, unlike the cue dot.

Recently I saw a European release print of SHREK 2. It DID NOT HAVE the dots, which lead me to wonder... Are they some sort of Studio Film Exchange identification marks? At first I thought they were just a lab's chemical mistake, but there's is not a single U.S. release out there that does not have them. Can anyone enlighten me? I find them very annoying!
Craig

Posted by Richard Greco (Member # 2032) on 02-20-2005, 03:09 AM:

What you are seeing are called "Cap" Code. It is an anti-piracy feature on films that traces the film back to the theatre that played it. There are many threads on here about it. Search the words Cap Code and read about why it SUCKS. And by the way, the dots are actually red in color and not brown

Posted by Don Furr (Member # 1469) on 02-20-2005, 03:14 AM:

Craig,
Do a search on CAP CODE and you'll find a lot of discussion. [Wink]

Don

Posted by Craig Call (Member # 2845) on 02-20-2005, 09:39 AM:

Thanks so much for giving me a search on CAP CODES. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks they really SUCK!