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Author Topic: Night-vision goggles in battle for Batman John Wilson Film God Posts: 5438 From: Sydney, Australia. Registered: Dec 1999 posted 07-15-2008 09:02 PM                     Link to story. ----------------- Night-vision goggles in battle for Batman July 16, 2008 12:05am IT'S a tactic fit for a Hollywood sci-fi script. The studio behind the latest Batman instalment The Dark Knight will issue all Australian cinemas with night-vision goggles in a bid to thwart would-be movie pirates. The movie is the last film Heath Ledger completed before his death. In what is believed to be a first for an Australian film release, Village Roadshow has urged all exhibitors to use the goggles in the first screenings of the film, which will be seen here almost two days before its US and European release. In a memo to exhibitors yesterday, Roadshow asked that staff use the goggles to identify anyone filming the movie. "Should anyone be caught filming on anything, regardless if it is a mobile phone, PDA or camera, security should discreetly walk over to them and ask them to leave the cinema," the memo says. The measure has been used for blockbuster releases in Australia but it's believed this is the first time a studio has issued a directive to all cinemas. Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft director of operations Neil Gain said the move indicated how seriously studios took movie piracy. "It only takes one person to make a copy and then, at the click of a button, a copy of that film can be sold to illegal replicating units who make copies which can be burnt and then sold on to piracy sites around the world," he said. ------------------------ First screening is on right now and there is indeed a security guard sitting there enjoying the show, oh and yes, he has his night goggles too. Seems like a strange way to 'combat piracy'. I've heard there's already a copy on the net so...so much for that. Even if that's not true, it'll be there in a couple of days. You watch.  |  IP: Logged Louis Bornwasser Film God Posts: 4441 From: prospect ky usa Registered: Mar 2005 posted 07-16-2008 07:18 PM                        I always thought that an IR projector should continuously project the name of the cinema on the screen. Invisible to the eye, but would show up on all video cameras. louis  |  IP: Logged Andy Muirhead Master Film Handler Posts: 323 From: Galashiels, Scotland Registered: Dec 2000 posted 07-16-2008 08:04 PM                     I remember a few years ago the same thing happened in the UK, I think it was Harry Potter. At the time I just thought it was some kind of PR exercise because these night scopes are just ridiculous. They have no practical use in a movie theater at all. I think the studios think that customers will notice them being used as an 'overt' measure, where as the customers will think "hey, why is that usher using a video camera?"  |  IP: Logged Lyle Romer Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1400 From: Davie, FL, USA Registered: May 2002 posted 07-16-2008 08:20 PM                     quote: Louis Bornwasser I always thought that an IR projector should continuously project the name of the cinema on the screen. Invisible to the eye, but would show up on all video cameras. Couldn't they just put an IR filter in front of the lens?  |  IP: Logged Bill Enos Film God Posts: 2081 From: Richmond, Virginia, USA Registered: Apr 2000 posted 07-16-2008 10:24 PM                     Studio security personnel have used several kinds of night vision devices at my theatre during several prerelease screenings in the past few years.  |  IP: Logged Dennis M Dow Jr Expert Film Handler Posts: 141 From: Bloomfield NJ USA Registered: Oct 2003 posted 07-17-2008 10:14 AM                       When I was doing pre-release screenings of movies, we were required to scan the audience with night vision looking to find anyone taping the movie. This was in addition to the security people hired by the studios to check pocketbooks and wanding people. You would be amazed at how clearly you could see things through the scope.  |  IP: Logged Galen Murphy-Fahlgren Master Film Handler Posts: 405 From: Canton, MI, USA Registered: Oct 2007 posted 07-17-2008 11:31 AM                     Why not just use IR floodlamps? The video camera meters based on visible light, so the image will end up being grossly overexposed. Light meters with adequate response in excess of 720nm to thwart this measure are prohibitively expensive for doing screen rips. And as for using IR filters on the camera, I don't recall exactly, but I think filters for completely blocking IR are similarly expensive. Put out enough IR to necessitate a high quality filter. If you make screen ripping expensive enough, there will be no incentive.  |  IP: Logged Michael Hossen Expert Film Handler Posts: 136 From: Perth, Australia Registered: Apr 2007 posted 07-17-2008 11:33 AM                        I was playing with the night vision tonight and I was amazed how clearly you can pick up people fornicating!  |  IP: Logged Frank Angel Film God Posts: 5305 From: Brooklyn NY USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 07-17-2008 02:37 PM                        Wow -- I guess that will stop piracy dead in its tracks. So if piracy is stopped, and the studios stop loosing the 23 billion dollars a year to it, will they drop the ticket prices? At the very least they should lower the percentage they charge the theatre. Better yet, will the theatres send them a bill for the man/hours spent policing the rooms with these goggles? Or do the studios think they get this labor for free? By reason of what, exactly?  |  IP: Logged Todd McCracken Master Film Handler Posts: 263 From: Northridge, CA, USA Registered: Mar 2008 posted 07-17-2008 03:07 PM                    I seem to remember that a company was marketing a IR led system that sat behind the screen that effectively rendered any video of a presentation unusable.  |  IP: Logged Andy Muirhead Master Film Handler Posts: 323 From: Galashiels, Scotland Registered: Dec 2000 posted 07-17-2008 08:04 PM                     quote: Dennis M Dow Jr You would be amazed at how clearly you could see things through the scope. You know, I'd worry about the lamp output in a cinema where you would need a night scope to check up on customers.  |  IP: Logged Joe Elliott Master Film Handler Posts: 497 From: Port Orange, Fl USA Registered: Oct 2006 posted 07-19-2008 01:56 AM                     Yeah, but Dark Knight is an extremly dark print. I'm glad our theaters are pretty bright. I feel for those out there with dimmer screens.  |  IP: Logged Tim Reed Better Projection Pays Posts: 5246 From: Northampton, PA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 07-19-2008 12:26 PM                       quote: Frank Angel if piracy is stopped, and the studios stop loosing the 23 billion dollars a year to it, will they drop the ticket prices? The film companies can't tell you what to charge for admission.  |  IP: Logged Chris Slycord Film God Posts: 2986 From: 퍼항시, 경상푹도, South Korea Registered: Mar 2007 posted 07-19-2008 01:02 PM                     quote: Tim Reed The film companies can't tell you what to charge for admission. Effectively they can. If they say to you "Raise your admission price to X or we will never agree to send you movies from our studio."  |  IP: Logged Frank Angel Film God Posts: 5305 From: Brooklyn NY USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 07-19-2008 02:53 PM                        They can specify a minimum per capita. I think it was Disney started that. And yes, Tim, it would seem that the Paramount Concent Decrees would mean that the studios can't dictate admission price, but the studios have skirted around a lot of those dictates with nary a peep from the Justice Department. No theatre or chain has challenged the per capita thing that I've heard about. But the point -- the tongue-in-cheek point I was making -- was that if indeed all these seemingling ineffective anti-piracy schemes the studios come up with were preventing the incredibly huge and totally speculative losses they tout every so often, those losses would be significently reduced. So how bout passing along some of those savings by cutting the public a break; after all, it was the public that was enlisted in that brilliant "video taping with a cell phone IS AGAINST THE LAW-- and costs the film industry billions of dollars and takes food out of the mouths of technicians, so DO YOUR DUTY AND BE A SNITCH" campaign. And how bout cutting them in on the savings just due to the fact that they had to endure crap codes in the picture and in the sound to prevent million of dollars lost to screen pirates? And for the theatres, if not in the cutting the ticket price, then how about in the giving better percentages? Yah, that will ever happen. And again I say, how is it the studios expect the theatre owner to increase man/hours with staff using these night-vision things without compensation? How is it they think they get this for free? Would they ask Technicolor to put extra security details on their prints for free? But they have no problem just assuming that all they need to do is hand the theatre a pair of these goggles and poof, schedules will be rearrange, added responsibilities will be given to staff and it will all be paid for by the theatres. I say, pay the theatres for a "night-vision detail" crew, if they want that extra security, out of the money they save by all that piracy it will stop. Hmmm, my guess is, they don't want that security detail THAT bad!  |  IP: Logged

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