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Author Topic: Security Cameras In Theaters Sam Johnson II Film Handler Posts: 25 From: Waynesburg, KY, USA Registered: Jan 2004 posted 06-29-2004 01:04 AM                     I have a question that a few buddies and I at work have been discussing. Is it legal to have recording security cameras in the actual theater? I don't think it is, due to piracy issues, but a few others don't agree with me. I appreciate any help I can get. Thanks. [ 06-30-2004, 01:30 AM: Message edited by: Sam Johnson II ]  |  IP: Logged Robert L. Fischer Expert Film Handler Posts: 145 From: Montreal, Quebec Registered: May 2004 posted 06-29-2004 02:51 AM                    I suppose it might depend on if the camera is facing the screen or not. I don't see why it'd be necessary -- although that's not the issue at hand. I honestly have no clue, but there's my stab at it.  |  IP: Logged Dominic Espinosa Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1172 From: Boulder Creek, CA. Registered: Jan 2004 posted 06-29-2004 03:35 AM                     I figure if the cameras have no microphones and are mounted inconspicuously above the screen or somewhere off to the side, perhaps in a corner like some assisted listening device transmitters there shouldn't be a problem. However, this brings up something that's been talked about so many times here...Showmanship and the tradition of the movies. It's very impersonal to have a video camera up there as opposed to a uniformed employee walking in, checking the picture out, checking the patrons, etc. I'm a big fan of the theater check. It lets your guests know you care enough to check on them. If there's a problem inside the theater a guest is a lot more likely to flag down an usher/manager inside the theater than get up and miss something. It also lets the jokesters, yackers, and pirates know you're looking for suspicious activity. This is probably not the point, but it's my 2 cents.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 06-29-2004 07:56 AM                     I'd imagine that, unless you got IR sensitive cameras and IR emitters (or cameras with emitter arrays in them), you'd have difficulty getting an image on the monitor when the theater is dark. So, if you are thinking about using them for crowd control or security during the movie you are probably wasting your money. If you put them on the entrance(s) to the theater(s) you would probably have better luck. There's more light. You can also make sure that anybody who goes INTO the theater gets noticed. I'll be honest. I believe that too many people simply put in security cameras and think they are safe. Think about it for a second. The only thing a security camera really tells you is that YOU HAVE JUST BEEN ROBBED. Of course, you can go back to the tape and use that to solve the crime but, except for the deterrence factor (which is small) cameras do NOT prevent crime. The ONLY way to prevent crime is to put a set of eyeballs on the scene. Hopefully those eyeballs belong to a person with a good brain and strong arms. The exception to this is when you have your camera system manned the entire time your business is open. Your "control officer" can then alert another person to problems he notices through the cameras. It gets under my skin when management types spend $10,0000 to install a camera system just to save on payroll. They COULD have hired a security guard and paid him $6.00 per hour to work 40 hours per week for an entire YEAR and it would have only cost the company $12,000! (OR a $12.00 / hr. guard for 20 hrs. / wk.) The "suits" will say, "We save $2,000 plus payroll expense." but they forget they endanger every person who walks in that building. Security cameras do NOTHING when a man walks in the door with a shotgun! Even if a security guard can't stop the criminal from coming into the building he can AT LEAST call the cops! Bottom line: Think about what you're doing. Maybe it's better to have a policy that an usher will visit each theater at least once every 15 minutes. (Or enforce the policy you already have.)  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 06-29-2004 08:34 AM                        I think the only legal restriction on security cameras would be placement in areas where people have an expectation of privacy (e.g., restrooms). Part of the deterrence is that the presence of the cameras is known and obvious. Wegmans food markets in Rochester have the security monitors obvious to their customers, so they know they are on camera.  |  IP: Logged Dominic Espinosa Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1172 From: Boulder Creek, CA. Registered: Jan 2004 posted 06-29-2004 12:40 PM                     I like that. But this is a cinema, not a Gotschalks, which is why I think the only real place for security cameras is on the exits and on the safe. If we had cameras outside the building we would be able to catch sneaking kids a lot easier. It's one thing to theater check, it's another to dispatch someone to walk around the building.  |  IP: Logged Steve Scott Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1300 From: Minneapolis, MN Registered: Sep 2000 posted 06-29-2004 01:56 PM                     We have security cameras in each auditorium that are mounted to the wall near each screen, and they face the patrons as they watch the film. We still do auditorium checks with the ushers, but this way we have a record of what happened should whatever situation arise where we'd need it.  |  IP: Logged Eric Hooper Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 532 From: Fort Worth, TX, USA Registered: May 2003 posted 06-29-2004 02:54 PM                     This is the first I've heard about cameras in auditoriums watching patrons, and quite frankly this creeps me out. Wouldn't there need to legally be some sign advising patrons of this? I feel very violated......  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 06-29-2004 02:55 PM                     As for it being legal or not all I would think all that would be necessary would be warning decals on the front doors that "These premises are being monitored by closed circuit TV." I used to service one nutcase of a customer in Idaho that was so closed circuit crazy he could view any location he had from his at home or office computer. I guess he didn't trust anyone but it all goes back to if you take care of your employees well enough in the first place they will also respect you and there will not be a need for this sort of thing. Keeping an eye on customers is yet another story. Malicous patrons that my customers have caught and recorded via closed circuit imaging were not of high enough quality to be of any help in a court situation. To my knowledge my CCTV crazy customer didn't monitor any theatre interiors as he didn't really care too much about that... just concessions, box office, and money counting room. But by now I'd bet he might even be monitoring the bathrooms! Mark  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 06-29-2004 03:01 PM                        I used to work in a multiplex theatre with two booths. Each booth had a small B&W monitor connected to a switchbox which allowed the operator to view a murky shot of the onscreen image in the theatres serviced by the opposite booth. This was useful to check that films were running and were more-or-less in frame (or that slides were showing and that the slide bulb hadn't burned out). Each theatre had a security camera pointed at the screen and connected to the switchboxes (nothing was recorded, obviously). This was a nice setup for a theatre with multiple booths where walking between booths required traversing a center-aisle in one of the auditoria.  |  IP: Logged Robert E. Allen Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1078 From: Checotah, Oklahoma Registered: Jul 2002 posted 06-29-2004 03:13 PM                     The cameras can be very useful for many things. For example: my soon to be GM went into his Regalplex last week to check the security tape and found his janitor doing things that shouldn't be and fired him. I don't think there is a legality issue as theatres are what is called a public forum (although still private property).  |  IP: Logged Barry Floyd Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1079 From: Lebanon, Tennessee, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 06-29-2004 04:27 PM                        I've thought about cameras before at my theatre, but would only really want one in the booth, aimed at the payout deck of the platter. That way, when I'm eithe rin the kitchen or on the front concessions line, I could take a quick glance and see if I was having a developing brain wrap, a film buldge, or if the platter was getting ready to throw the print.  |  IP: Logged David Favel Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 764 From: Ashburton, New Zealand Registered: Feb 2002 posted 06-29-2004 05:42 PM                     The problem we found with ushers is that as soon as they leave, kids would act up. A CCTV would let you keep an eye on them. Visited a cinema in Melbourne who had 2 booths. Box office had 3 cameras trained on payouts (3 screens) They had 2 staff on.  |  IP: Logged Steve Kraus Film God Posts: 4094 From: Chicago, IL, USA Registered: May 2000 posted 06-29-2004 06:20 PM                    Outside of the restrooms I doubt there is any expectation of privacy anywhere in a commercial movie theatre particularly the auditoria.  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 06-29-2004 07:35 PM                        I think it would be GREAT to have security cameras in auditoriums. It would make pirating movies MUCH easier for theater employees (all of which are pirates). If the MPAA complains, we would lie and say "No, those cameras are for catching evil pirates who make actors like Brad Pitt so broke and penniless!" And then the MPAA would be satisfied, and the pirating would continue. Ahoy!  |  IP: Logged

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