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Topic: Piracy

Justin Gorka
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 174
From: High Wycombe, England
Registered: Apr 2006

posted 05-20-2006 06:11 PM

I've just found a copy of the Da Vinci Code film on the net. It is such a good copy there is no way it came from a cinema. Isn't it about time the studios looked a little closer to home rather than blaming us?

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 05-20-2006 06:41 PM

quote: Justin Gorka
I've just found a copy of the Da Vinci Code film on the net.

So you called the proper authorities, right?

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Justin Gorka
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 174
From: High Wycombe, England
Registered: Apr 2006

posted 05-21-2006 06:03 AM

Contacted FACT in the Uk. No reply yet

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John Koutsoumis
Master Film Handler

Posts: 261
From: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 05-21-2006 07:55 PM

Who knows where this copy came from but still many copies are taped off a screen as far as I know. I saw an article some time last year stating that pirate copies are getting harder to distinguish in some cases. Some copies now have multi-language tracks, subtitles, even a DTS track.

Some years back I was involved with filming a behind the scenes doco on a Theatre production. At the end of filming we decided to take in a movie. Instead of risking the camera case in the car (it was a Sony PD-150 DVCAM in a large case) where it could easily be seen we took it with us. Nobody said a thing to us walking in but on the way out of the auditorium (we satyed for the end credits) an usher asked us "you weren't filming that were you". We continued to walk out and left the usher dumbfounded. Before we proceeded down the stairs to the lobby another usher said "You need to open that case. What's in there?".

My good friend who was carrying the case said nothing. I said that we weren't filming and explain why we had the case with us. I didn't mention that there was a camera in there. I grabbed the arm of my friend pulled him along. Had we opened the case there would of been trouble even though it stayed shut throughout the movie. The usher was then trying to wave to security or management but we made it out (casually walking) before any one else approached us.

In any case they were just doing their job. I just didn't want to get held up. What we should of done was ask to leave it the box office but the cameraman didn't like the idea as they don't take responsiblity.
Actually we shouldn't have gone there at all. The movie and presentation sucked (i think it was Spiderman).
Anyhow if I was the usher I would have done the same thing.
Well that was the first and last time I go to a Theatre with someone carrying a large case [Eek!]

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Matthew Peters
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 179
From: Glen Waverley, Melbourne, Australia
Registered: Nov 2002

posted 05-23-2006 10:13 PM

John, I have done the exact same thing, in fact it was also with a Sony PD-150, in a giant yellow case. To my surprise, I wasn't even questioned about its contents. I found this surprising as they usually check backpacks. I have carried it on the train once... people take one look at you and assume your about to blow up the train.

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John Koutsoumis
Master Film Handler

Posts: 261
From: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 05-24-2006 02:11 AM

Matthew, ours was the same case but just black.

quote: Matthew Peters
I found this surprising as they usually check backpacks.

I've never seen ticket rippers or ushers check backpacks but I remember at the, now closed [Frown]

, Village City Center Bourke St cinemas where they actually employed security guards (to many junkies and dealers around there I suppose) that they would often check bags of all sorts. I used to go there every week and they would get know me well.

I find a lot of staff at the multi's here quite ignorant and clueless of what's going on.

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John Pytlak
Film God

Posts: 9987
From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 05-24-2006 08:29 AM

Aside from piracy, with the small but real threat of terrorist attacks on large gatherings of people, theatres would be prudent to exclude large packages, backpacks, or cases from the auditoriums.

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Frank Angel
Film God

Posts: 5305
From: Brooklyn NY USA
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 05-24-2006 01:22 PM

quote: John Pytlak
Aside from piracy, with the small but real threat of terrorist attacks on large gatherings of people, theatres would be prudent to exclude large packages, backpacks, or cases from the auditoriums.

We have started doing that. It's a hard balance between making your patrons feel comfortable yet assuring that you are taking precautions to avoid potential tragedy. It also happens to be a Front of House logistical nightmare in a 2500 seat house.

quote: John Koutsoumis
Who knows where this copy came from but still many copies are taped off a screen as far as I know.

Copies that are taped off the screen look like dog do. These are hardly the bootlegs that are real dangers to the studios. The real threat is the over-seas DVD market and even theatrical enagements of bootleg videos, and those foreigners demand master quality, not some low rez crap with people coughing throughout.

quote: John Koutsoumis
I saw an article some time last year stating that pirate copies are getting harder to distinguish in some cases. Some copies now have multi-language tracks, subtitles, even a DTS track.

Well, THOSE copies are not from the off the screen bootlegs. You don't get Dolby and DTS 5.1 sound off a movie screen.

Most of the really potentially damaging bootlegs happen at the post-production stage -- an AT&T study a few years ago showed that to be the case. The MPAA seems not to want to go after those who pay to keep it in business.

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Phil Blake
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 558
From: esperance western australia
Registered: Nov 2003

posted 05-25-2006 01:42 AM

I seem to remember late last year 3 or 4 guys being apprehended for making illegal copies of a film on disc from an editing studio.

When Film is scanned onto computers for editing , this would just be all to easy to copy with premium quality picture and sound and most likey many weeks or months ahead of the planned release date.

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John Koutsoumis
Master Film Handler

Posts: 261
From: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 05-25-2006 08:13 PM

quote: Frank Angel
Copies that are taped off the screen look like dog do. These are hardly the bootlegs that are real dangers to the studios. The real threat is the over-seas DVD market and even theatrical enagements of bootleg videos, and those foreigners demand master quality, not some low rez crap with people coughing throughout.

I know they look like crap but they still buy them in Singapore and places around there. These people don't care about quality. They just want picture and sound. Although some may have moved to DVD most are still on VCD. Don't know how people sit through that stuff.
At last years Melbourne International Film Festival, Hong Kong Director "Johnny To", as part of his introduction to his film "Election" prior to screening, said to the audience if they would please not copy/video tape the film.
For someone like him, who doesn't make so called "popular films", to say something like that may indicate the piracy does affect the industry a little more than some people care to acknowledge.

quote: John Pytlak
Aside from piracy, with the small but real threat of terrorist attacks on large gatherings of people, theatres would be prudent to exclude large packages, backpacks, or cases from the auditoriums.

I agree and I didn't the idea of my colleague taking the case into the theatre. Don't know about normal backpacks. They shoud just be checked.

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Andy Muirhead
Master Film Handler

Posts: 323
From: Galashiels, Scotland
Registered: Dec 2000

posted 05-25-2006 08:53 PM

quote: John Pytlak
Aside from piracy, with the small but real threat of terrorist attacks on large gatherings of people, theatres would be prudent to exclude large packages, backpacks, or cases from the auditoriums.

Yes, that sounds like a great idea in theory. It is almost unworkable in practice. The threat (of such a package carrying a bomb or otherwise) is as tiny as be to be almost insignificant. Certainly many high profile/high traffic sites should be vigilant, otherwise i think common sense should be sufficient.

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Carl Martin
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1424
From: Oakland, CA, USA
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 05-26-2006 03:59 AM

i always have a backpack with me, at movies too. that's where i keep my bottle of water, reading material, etc. let's not get paranoid, now.

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Frank Angel
Film God

Posts: 5305
From: Brooklyn NY USA
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 05-26-2006 09:19 AM

quote: Andy Muirhead
The threat (of such a package carrying a bomb or otherwise) is as tiny as be to be almost insignificant. Certainly many high profile/high traffic sites should be vigilant, otherwise i think common sense should be sufficient.

This is true Andy, but what General Manager wants to be the one who, if a bomb does go off in his facility under his watch, has to stand in front of the news cameras and tell everyone that he didn't have any sort of precautionary plan in place to watch for potential threats because in his judgement he didn't think his theatre was high profile enough for the effort or that any security in that direction was impractical.

Getting a balance between what would be considered a "reasonable" effort to thwart any kind of mishap be it a bomb in a napsack or any other safety issue, and what can be practical and workable in day-to-day operations is a very hard row to hoe. Usually after something terrible happens, what one thought was reasonable may be seen by the outside world as doing not nearly enough.

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Paul J. Neuhaus
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 126
From: Iraq.. Again!
Registered: Jun 2005

posted 05-28-2006 02:55 PM

Piracy is a major problem in the middle east.
When I was in Afghanistan and Iraq within 24-48 hours after a release you would see bootlegs go on sale in the Haji shops.
Some of these would look like crap but it was the gamble that you would play for 2 bucks. Some of the covers of these things would actually look identical to what the box set would look like when it actually went on sale..... Kinda makes ya scratch your head there.....STUDIOS!!!
Within 3 days some of these flics also had a 5.1 track as well....Sounds like the problem is closer to home then we want to admit!!!

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 05-28-2006 06:47 PM

Any pirated movie on DVD featuring a 5.1 audio track is bound to come from a pre-release DVD screener disc or some other digital elements related to post-production. They do not come from any release prints.

Even if you could manage to record the digital data from theatrical Dolby Digital and DTS tracks they would NOT work in any consumer playback device. The theatrical DD format has features to it which require a theatrical DD playback device. The theatrical DTS format is encoded in an entirely different process from the home version.

The only alternative is gaining access to the projection booth and using some equipment to record the analog line outputs for each audio channel and then recomposing that into a 5.1 track. Oh, and you would have to make sure the audio synched properly with the movie as well. Even if everything could work the resulting audio quality would not be all that great. I strongly doubt any pirate is going to that kind of trouble just to get a somewhat decent 5.1 track. They're just going to do like most pirates do: get a DVD screener disc and dub the hell out of that.

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