Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: 'Rundown" Sneak

This is topic 'Rundown" Sneak - Security measures in forum Ground Level at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Jason Black (Member # 684) on 09-21-2003, 11:57 AM:

For anyone else who had a sneak of 'The Rundown' last night, did Universal send out a 'security person' to guard over the show while playing?

A local detective showed up last night about 6:45 stating he was heer for security for the show. I have off duty officers here on Sat/Sun anyway, so I thought there may have been a mix-up at the PD. Nope, Universal paid a firm to provide someone to watch over the show to help ensure that no-one was found video-taping the film with, you guessed it, a camcorder.

I might be able to digest the fact that this was done on a major interest print like, say, LOTR, Harry Potter, et al., but on 'The Rundown'?

Again, this reieterates the fact that the distributors are wearing blinders and seem oblivious to the fact that the very persons working for them are reason that some many films hit the 'net before they hit the 'big screen' these days.

I simply do not understand the rhyme nor reasoning behind this...
[Confused]

Posted by John Scott (Member # 520) on 09-21-2003, 12:17 PM:

Universal has been doing this for its sneaks lately. Your film booker was notified of the security and should have passed the info along to you as from what I was told, Universal hired security for all of their sneaks of Rundown last night. Our Saturday sneak of Seabiscuit over the summer had security as well.

I guess it is catching piraters too. I was talking to the security supervisor, and he said they do about 6-7 sneaks and rentals a month in our metro area and they tend to catch a person a month trying to videotape the movie.

Posted by Jason Black (Member # 684) on 09-21-2003, 01:33 PM:

John,

If our booker was notified they did not pass it along to the theatre level. This, in reality, doesn't surprise me, as our booking department often loses more money (for the company) than do the theives in our concession stands! [Roll Eyes]

Posted by John Scott (Member # 520) on 09-21-2003, 02:27 PM:

Your booker should have been emailed about the security. We were just forwarded the distribution email that Universal sent out regarding the sneak and Securitas.

Posted by Joseph Pandolfi (Member # 223) on 09-23-2003, 03:41 PM:

We were notified here about the security. Securitas (formally Pinkerton) were assigned to our theatre with special night vision glasses. Also immediately after the print ran, it was broken down and TES picked it up that night.

Posted by Jason Black (Member # 684) on 09-24-2003, 09:42 AM:

Ours was broken down 10 minutes after screening for pickup.

Posted by Tim Turner (Member # 1109) on 09-24-2003, 11:03 AM:

I don't see how a cam-recording is even worth worrying about. Not many people would want it, because a majority of pirated films are like DVD quality stuff these days. And thats obviously not coming from a theater.

Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 09-24-2003, 11:53 AM:

I see the reasoning on using security on "the rundown". No it is not a film like LOTR or Harry Potter, but it is getting very good buzz and good reviews, and Universal is pumping quite a bit of money into the marketing campaign.

This movie could lose substantial business if it were to hit the net before it hit the theaters, because most of the people who download those things would also have gone to pay to see this movie if it was not available, but would not bother paying if they could get it online, damn the quality. So there is sensability to the madness here.

It should do substantial business, much like XXX did, so I can see why they are very protective. It also explains why a sneak preview was held, to get more word of mouth buzz out there to help boost the marketing campaign with actual witness testimony to thier greatness.

Dave

Posted by Paul Salley (Member # 740) on 09-24-2003, 05:35 PM:

We also had security for our sneak as well. And he was some what confused about his job. First he said he was here to make sure the film was picked up after the sneak. Then he said he would need to check the theater for video pirates. The funny thing was after the film was torn down ( 20 minutes later )for pickup that night he was no where to be found. So In comes the driver for pickup with no security. Also I only seen him come in the theater twice.

I agree that most of these DVD's out there must come from somewhere other than theaters...someone in the mix at the studio or something must have sticky fingers.

Posted by Michael Swarbrick (Member # 1108) on 09-25-2003, 07:15 AM:

We did a screening of Intolerable Cruelty last night, and two things bugged me. First, I noticed that CRAP code for the first time. Do they pick the brightest scenes in the movie to put that stuff on?!

Then, after the screening started, a guy who was doing security that night had to come up to booth to make sure we weren't taping it. That really bugged me. For one thing, we're a pretty major important cinema with alot of these kind of screenings, I expected a little more trust. Even if I wanted to tape it, I would've done it during the rehearsal when no security was there at all.

I asked the guy if it's true that most pirated copies would come from customers in the auditoriums with cameras or people getting an advance copy (as happened with Hulk). He told me that actually 60% of all pirated copies come from a camera in the booth.

Is this guy full of it? Has anyone ever heard of projectionists doing this? Doesn't the sound of a noisy projector running next to the camera kinda ruin the soundtrack?

An additional security measure that one distributor is using now is to only give us the last reel on the day of the show and take it away again straight afterwards. Really screws-up a rehearsal, trust me.

Despite this, I've heard that there are pirate copies of Love, Actually (big UK movie) on sale now. The movie comes out in November...

Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 09-26-2003, 12:24 PM:

YES! They do pick the brightest scenes to throw it on. I do not believe that this is the same code that John Pytlak helped pioneer. I think this is some bastardized version of it.

Believe it or not, you can make a very good copy of a movie right in the booth.

Here is how:

First, you need a flat black surface, like a finely combed black felt, streched tightly on a small wooden frame.

Second, place it in front of the lense and focus. Move the frame to a 45 degree angle away from the lense (towards the side where your camera is).

Third, and this is important, DO NOT use a video camera. Instead use a higher quality PC camera hooked up to a computer. This kind of camera can be adjusted to the right frequency to eliminate shutter effects.

Fourth, the use of a high quality sound card is important here. using alligator clips and home made wire sets, tap the amplifier inputs (NOT THE OUTPUTS). Set the mix in the computer sound system.

Now all you have to do is record the damn thing in an avi file, convert to mpeg-2, and then write the vob files for dvd, and then sell the thing.

It is really truly that easy. How do I know? Ok I have never done it, however I have this curious mind that allows me to research these things, I like to know what is possible and what is not.

So it really would make no sense to check the booth operations during a screening, other than to see if the operator is really lame enough to try recording a movie with one of those low res 24p cams on DV with crappy sound.

Dave

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 09-26-2003, 12:36 PM:

David Williams wrote:

quote:
Believe it or not, you can make a very good copy of a movie right in the booth.

Here is how:

For complete information and techniques, see Dave's favorite website:

Film Pirate's Cookbook

[Roll Eyes]

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 09-26-2003, 04:23 PM:

quote:
He told me that actually 60% of all pirated copies come from a camera in the booth.

I have a very hard time believing that.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 09-26-2003, 05:28 PM:

I still have a hard time believing that it's possible to get a watchable videotape using a home camera in a movie theatre. I've played around with junk 16mm film and a security camera (small CCD camera) at home and even with the camera on a tripod and on the same optical axis as the projector lens, it looks like [bs]

You couldn't pay me enough to watch a feature that way.

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 09-27-2003, 05:48 PM:

Dave said:

quote:
This movie could lose substantial business if it were to hit the net before it hit the theaters, because most of the people who download those things would also have gone to pay to see this movie if it was not available, but would not bother paying if they could get it online,

I am not sure that follows. If it is not a picture that has the kind of following of LOTR or AOTC, then its appeal would be to an older demographic which are usually more discriminating than 12 - 20 yr olds (no offense to our younger forum members) and who would NOT substitute a crappy video copy that they had to watch in front of a computer screen instead of seeing it in the theatre or at least waiting for it to come out in legitimate DVD format, which they would rent or buy.

Even for the blockbusters, the 12 -- 20 yr old fans might actually be MOTIVATED by the crappy internet or video copy to go to the theatre to see their fave title. It is well known that these types of movies are seen multiple times by the younger crowd who, by the way, are drawn strongly to the communal experience of seeing the film with their peers than are their adult counterparts. So the availability of pirated copies on the internet, even before the picture opens in theatres, might not deter these teens from going with their friends and paying for legitimate admission(s) but could actually encourage it.

Once again, I simply dismiss the claims by the MPAA/MPA that this kind of piracy costs the industry BILLIONS annually (more than the GNP of many small nations?!!). By that ridiculous measurement, we could extrapolate that if we were to stop all piracy, the price of theatre tickets would be, what, about the same level as it was around 1975, before the advent of video recorders.....about $3.50 a ticket! Yeah, right.

No one says reasonable measures shouldn't be taken to stop piracy -- theft is theft. But for the MPAA to continually make these outlandish loss statements diminishes my respect for their problem. To me, yes, theft is theft, but lying is lying as well. If they make up unbelieveable, nonsense numbers, then it's hard to believe ANYTHING they say about the piracy problem.

I am also not thrilled that an industry gets to use the FBI as their own private police force. You and I don't get the FBI to catch the thief who steals our car. We don't get to put "WARNING - FBI" stickers on our bumpers to ward off would-be car theives. I know for a fact that the MPAA put up $18,000 for the FBI to investigate a pirate on Long Island, with the Bureau footing about double that amount. What they caught was a guy making single copies for his own home use of movies playing in his theatre. Everyone was so embarassed that the case was quietly dropped, no charges filed.

I sure as hell can't pay the FBI to have them investigate any of MY problems.

Rant over....for now. [Wink]

Frank

Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 09-27-2003, 08:47 PM:

Well wether or not you buy into the logic, it is the logic that is used to justify tight security at screenings such as this.

Actually I went to see this film and it was filled with teenagers as well as older folk such as myself. Everyone seemed to be having fun with the flick so I think it will do well. It isn't LOTR, but films such as those are not the only ones to lose money to piracy. It is hard to guage how much is really lost, mainly because you cannot gauge what you cannot see, touch or feel. It is mainly a guess on the figures.

Dave