Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Laser Pens, a fustrating problem

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Posted by Tim Turner (Member # 1109) on 02-16-2003, 01:14 PM:

Anyone have alot of problems with customers bringing those little laser light pens in the theaters? Its not so much that they bring them in, its more thier urge to point them at the screen, and draw little pictures around the characters of the movie. These people are almost impossible to catch, especially when you got a total of over 430 suspects. The easiet way I can find to catch someone is to notice where the red beam is shinning on screen. Is it more to the left or to the right? Becausely mostly likely they're sitting on that side. So I walk on that side of the theater all the way upto the front, and sit in a seat. Usually a couple mintues pass and until I see the beam agian then I driectly look back and try find its source, the light coming directly from the pen should be visible. But this still doesn't work everytime, especially when there are so many people to scan through with glowing cellar phones and watches etc.
The times I have found them, I ask them to either hand me the pen and I'll hold it for them through the movie, and they can pick it up at the Guess Services window when they come out, or they'll have to leave.

Anyone else get pissed off by these pens? What methods do you use to catch whoes doing it? And what do you do with them?

Posted by Michael Gonzalez (Member # 593) on 02-16-2003, 01:25 PM:

I haven't had any laser pen problems in a while. I thought that they were passe.

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 02-16-2003, 01:41 PM:

Hide behind the screen and watch.

Posted by Evans A Criswell (Member # 381) on 02-16-2003, 02:01 PM:

I haven't seen anyone with a laser pointer in an auditorium here since around 1998 or 1999. The problem seemed to be at its peak in 1997.

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 02-16-2003, 02:11 PM:

quote:
from Paul T.:
Hide behind the screen and watch.

That's actually pretty realistic.

We haven't had this trouble at our indoor, but it used to be a fairly frequent aggravation at our drive-in. We found the best way to track them was to go to the front of the field & look back at the cars. The pointers show up pretty easily that way. We've used a balance of confiscation, outright ejection and solitications for help from other customers ("help us find the pointer & get a free pass"). The problem is all but gone now.

For an indoor house I'll bet a low light camera would be pretty effective.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 02-16-2003, 02:13 PM:

This is so easy to stop. You just need to set an example before the show. Have an employee in plain clothes sitting in the theater and start the show as normal. Have the employee start in with his laser pen. Then about a minute into his performance, have an employee in uniform come in, have a brief dispute, then have the uniformed employee beat or shoot the plain clothed employee. Blood packs and blanks work exceptionally well for this. It's sure to get everyone to behave!

(Ok, seriously don't do this. You'll kill some old lady from a heart attack.)

Posted by Tim Turner (Member # 1109) on 02-16-2003, 03:08 PM:

Brad, that would be very funny. And I know some perfect employees to try it with. But that would cause total choas! Which is strange because thier about to watch some movie where somebody is going to get shot anyway!

I'll try standing behind the screen, like Paul said. I'm surprised you guys no longer have problems with these pens! Idiots bring these pens in all the time over here.

Posted by David Favel (Member # 1125) on 02-16-2003, 03:14 PM:

Yea, our record for throwing someone out was into about the second minute of the slides, an usher happened to notice a young guy flashing his laser on screen. $8.00 & all you get is some crappy slides. Justice.

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 02-16-2003, 06:28 PM:

The last laser pointer incident I can recall was at Blair Witch Project. Fortunately the idiot was using the pointer during the slides which made him easy to identify - it was some kid. I walked up to him and his mother and said "If you use that laser pointer during the movie, I will make sure you get kicked out." The kid denied doing it and the mother said "My little angel doesn't have a laser pointer." Right. I went back to my seat and there was no further use of the pointer.

All you have to do is get someone down front to look back, and it should be easy to spot who's doing it.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 02-16-2003, 06:59 PM:

It'd be neat if there was a way to get just a hint of mist or smoke in the air that didn't interfere with the projector beam too much. That way virtually the entire audience would be able to see the red beam pointing right back to the culprit.

I can just imagine a whole auditorium of angry people glaring at the poor bastard, threatening to rip his heart out if he does it again. I can just picture the kid shrinking down in his seat... "GULP!!"

How about a "Fog" button on the projector console? (Hypothetical)
If there is a hint of a stray red spot on the screen, press the "Fog" button and quietly, inject a small amount of mist into the air, just above head level. The next time he pointed the laser at the screen... BAM!! You got him!

[evil]

Sure, I know it's a great expense to go through for such a small problem but it sure makes me feel good to imagine shit like this when I need to vent! [Big Grin]

Posted by Andrew Duggan (Member # 1302) on 02-17-2003, 01:29 AM:

The "Find The Pointer, Get A Pass" idea is actually really good. I love anything that encourages audience participation is squelching an annoyance. If only there was a way to incite a theater full of people to abduct a person who uses his/her cellphone during a feature, and crucify them to the nearest telephone pole...

My personal over-the-top idea for dealing with this:
1. Purchase a 9mm pistol from your friendly neighborhood militia nut.
2. Attach a laser sight to the trigger guard.
3. Stand behind the screen and wait for your victim to flash the laser pointer.
4. Exit from behind the screen, load your pistol, turn on your laser sight, take dead aim with it, right between the eyes of the afrementioned offender.
5. Recite your favorite line from a Clint Eastwood western.

This can go as far as your imagination will take it. But please, spare a thought for the ushers who are going to have to clean the theater after the show [Wink]

I wonder how many weird FBI lists my name just got added to...?

Posted by Jason Whyte (Member # 1433) on 02-17-2003, 03:02 AM:

quote:
I haven't had any laser pen problems in a while. I thought that they were passe.

If only. The last laser pen incident I noticed was only a few weeks ago at a screening of Final Destination 2. One cold look from me to the kid in question stopped it immediately. [Smile]

Jason

Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 02-17-2003, 07:49 AM:

How about a sign in the lobby stating:

Use of laser pointers will be interpreted as a request to be escorted off the premises with no refund. Our ushers and managers will be glad to assist anyone who makes such a request.

Posted by Mike Williams (Member # 1140) on 02-17-2003, 09:18 AM:

quote:
Use of laser pointers will be interpreted as a request to be escorted off the premises with no refund. Our ushers and managers will be glad to assist anyone who makes such a request.

It's a good idea, but with wording like that I bet some smart-ass kids will take it as a dare. It might make the problem worse. Maybe a sign that is less strongly worded.

Personally, I like Brad's idea. [Big Grin]

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 02-17-2003, 09:33 AM:

The UA Galaxy had signs made up similar to that, but without the humor, and put them on every auditorium door. Either it worked or people got bored of playing with their laser pointers because the problem went away.

Before the signs, the GM would go in during the previews, have the projectionist stop the projector and make a friendly (yet stern, but in a humorous manner) announcement to the audience to the effect that she would cancel the show and not give refunds to anyone if the laser pointing continued. When suddenly that one kid was up against being pounced on by however many hundred other patrons were in the auditorium, that laser was nowhere to be seen again! She also would always get a huge applause from the annoyed customers too, further reinforcing that whoever the kid was would regret screwing around with it anymore.

Posted by John Spooner (Member # 1565) on 02-17-2003, 10:04 AM:

Dear Tim and Colleagues.
The terrible thing is I have a laser pointer, but I leave it in the car,it certainly would not be professional for the operator to shine it on the screen!
On an allied theme, those of you who have operated at drive-ins would agree the high beam headlight flashers at the screen are a nuisance. Have you noticed that they do it right on the changeover so you have a hard time seeing the cues?
John Spooner. South Australia.

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 02-17-2003, 02:18 PM:

In some theatres, I used "clickers" - because the booth design was so bad that in order to make a change-over, it was necessary to get on your knees to see the screen. The motor cues went "clickity clickity clickity" and the changeover cues went "clickity clickity"

All the "clickers" were nothing but a small piece of masking tape affixed between the sprocket holes on the non-sound track side of the film in line with the frame line, four frames apart. Normally, they did not cause picture instability on the screen unless I got "carried away" with the masking tape.

I know - film done wrong. But in that particular booth, everything was a trade-off anyway.

Edited for a grammer error, and to see if I put all those "Clickities" that Jack said in a quote. [Big Grin]

[ 02-17-2003, 10:13 PM: Message edited by: Paul G. Thompson ]

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 02-17-2003, 06:01 PM:

quote:
from Paul T.:
...The motor cues went "clickity clickity clickity clickity clickity clickity clickity clickity clickity clickity clickity clickity", and the changeover cues went "clickity clickity clickity clickity clickity clickity clickity clickity" ...I got "carried away" with the masking tape.

I know - film done wrong. But in that particular booth, everything was a trade-off anyway.

Are you kidding, Paul? I LEARNED that trick in several of Seattle's best (union) booths. Prior to that, I had never heard of such a thing...

The wisdom of the day was that the tape cues augmented the visual ones... especially on darker scenes where some of the older guys had trouble seeing them. That not only made it less likely that the operator might miss a cue, but it saved a lot of prints from having their cues "enhanced" in the booth... both examples of film done right ... '60s ('70s) style.

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 02-17-2003, 10:06 PM:

Jack, I don't remember that many "clickity's"... [Big Grin]

....but when it turned into a "Clackity"....well, that is because a paper clip got snagged in a sprocket perf.. [Big Grin]

And, yes...that dates back into the '60's and 70's.

Posted by Nicholas Roznovsky (Member # 861) on 02-18-2003, 12:26 AM:

quote:
The terrible thing is I have a laser pointer

I have quite the collection of laser pointers that I've confiscated from the misguided youth which felt the need to "light up" in one of my theaters. They always seem to forget to claim them at the box office after the show...

Fortunately, it really hasn't been a problem for us since about the time The Phantom Menace came out. I guess pointing a little red laser dot at anything after just wasn't as fun after Jar-Jar.

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 02-18-2003, 12:39 AM:

I agree with Brad's method. I think the example set would detour any further use of the laser-pointers of the dick-heads.

>>> Phil

Posted by Chad Calpito (Member # 1562) on 02-19-2003, 03:14 PM:

I do occassionally have problems with those laser pointers when I do theater checks after starting a movie. I don't have any particular solutions to this problem, but, I give a really stern look to those patrons who are doing this and then I walk up to them tell them to stop or I will make sure they leave.

Chad

Posted by Arthur Allen (Member # 969) on 02-21-2003, 01:36 PM:

You could allow smoking in theaters again... [Wink]

I worry about looking around for laser users because they might get back at me by shining the light right in my eyes.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 02-21-2003, 02:43 PM:

Do you know how HARD it is to hit a person, on purpose, right in the eye?

Put a one inch circle up on the wall and try to "bullseye" it from about 25 feet away. Once you get good at hitting that, make the circle move. Unless you have super human steady hands, I can all but guarantee that nobody can hit you right in the eye for more than a fraction of a second. Then the "blink reflex" would kick in. You'd flinch when the light hit you. Furthermore, at that distance, the light won't be so intense that it would hurt your vision during the brief time the light was on you.

O.T.O.H: IF somebody knocked you down, sat on you and held the thing directly on your eyeball it WOULD do some damage!... But monkeys would come flying out of my ass sooner than THAT would happen! [Big Grin]