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This topic comprises 3 pages: 1 2 3
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Author
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Topic: Advice needed on venue reference footage
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Justin Silverstein
Film Handler
Posts: 10
From: Northport, NY, USA
Registered: Feb 2014
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posted 02-09-2014 11:01 PM
Hi there,
First of all, hi! It's nice to meet you all. I can already tell that this forum is a fantastic resource. Mods, please forgive me if I've chosen the wrong section for this post; it didn't seem to fit into any other section. "Help wanted" isn't quite right, as I'm not actually looking to hire anyone just yet, though that may change depending on the advice I get here.
Basically, my issue is this: I need to get some sense of how plausible it might be to create, commission, or otherwise acquire a specific type of stock footage of theater venue interiors. This footage would be strictly for my personal reference purposes, as relates to a series of formal surveys and studies I'm doing in crowd psychology. I just need help deciding whether it would even be feasible for anyone to create footage that would meet my requirements, or if I should just give up and turn to another subject.
The footage simply needs to consist of a reasonably clear, totally steady shot of a movie audience filing out of a theater over the course of several minutes as the movie is ending, showing the interior of the theater as it progressively empties out. Again, this footage would strictly be for private reference and certainly none of it would be released or distributed in any way, so there is no legal issue regarding reproduction of the likenesses of the folks in the crowd (I've verified this with two lawyers).
If I knew someone in the industry, I suppose I could simply get permission to stand in the back of a theater at the appropriate time and shoot the footage unobtrusively, but alas, I have no such connections. I've already tried contacting theater management at a great many venues and explaining my situation, and none have been willing to engage in any way, presumably fearing I'm pursuing some kind of weird scam.
So, what do you all think? Is it conceivable that I could find and hire someone on a forum like this who has the means to shoot the kind of footage I need? My only real requirement is that the shot must be steady and zoomed-out enough to clearly show the movements of a good majority of the patrons as they leave, and that the video must begin before people start clearing out and continue until the theater is empty of patrons. The ideal angle would be a nice, high, wide shot looking down from projector level, if any suitable windows or openings exist up there that would allow for a good line of sight.
This project is very important and has a considerable budget, so I'm certainly not just looking for favors here. Fancy cameras needn't be used to capture the footage, either. Any late-model mobile phone capable of recording 1080p video would do the trick just fine. My hope is that I'm not being completely delusional here, and that it will in fact be possible to commission such a video from a theater employee via internet. If not, though, I'd very much appreciate any and all alternative suggestions on how I might be able to get my hands on some footage similar to what was described. I thank you all very much for your time and look forward to your thoughts! ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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Justin Silverstein
Film Handler
Posts: 10
From: Northport, NY, USA
Registered: Feb 2014
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posted 02-10-2014 12:55 AM
Thanks for your input, Victor--yes, I'm fully aware that it sounds odd and vaguely alarming, which is why I'm in such a pickle! It truly is a harmless endeavor, though--just zoomed-out footage of a whole bunch of faceless people leaving a theater. The reason I need to do this is that I'm focusing on the modulating effects of environmental luminance on operant conditioning. I already have a sizable portfolio of good data on observed manifestations of operant conditioning in a variety of environments, including movie theaters (culled from earlier studies, not my own). But I simply can't imagine what kind of environment other than a movie theater would allow me to cross-modulate with a nice, sharp luminance sweep, as is typical of the point at the end of a film when the house lights begin to come on. I could manually coordinate much smaller scale experiments, but the data won't be of much use without more sizable groups of individuals, and I don't have the means to hire a hundred people to stand in a chamber while I turn the lights on So, as weird as it may sound, it's really a quite simple and valid project, and I don't quite see what real potential there is for any serious abuse or monkey business, provided everything is done simply, minimalistically and with the proper clearances.
I sincerely apologize if some of you are finding my psychobabble hard to decode, and I will gladly break things down in as much detail as anyone would care to have. I'm an open book.
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Justin Silverstein
Film Handler
Posts: 10
From: Northport, NY, USA
Registered: Feb 2014
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posted 02-10-2014 01:19 AM
Buck- thanks! I've PMed you.
Frank- Excellent points, but I fear I've failed to make myself clear on the nature of the experiment--the stimulus isn't the luminance increase. Rather, I have a nice dataset quantifying a palette of behaviors and stimuli relevant to various transitional events in certain venues, and one such event in the dataset happens to be the conclusion of a film presentation in a darkened room, with no sudden illumination introduced. Some of the studied behaviors are known to be luminance-sensitive, others are known not to be, and still others are indeterminate. My interest is (among other things) in constructing a comparison dataset as similar as possible to the original with luminance variance introduced, exactly as normally happens at the conclusion of a film. This will open up far-reaching possibilities for analysis, in conjunction with the existing data. I've run the numbers and am quite confident that a quick-and-dirty simple video along the lines of my description in the OP will get the job done. And I sincerely thank you for expressing your methodological concerns! I'm not perfect and there's always a chance of foolish errors in thinking.
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Terry Lynn-Stevens
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1081
From: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Dec 2012
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posted 02-10-2014 11:16 AM
quote: Justin Silverstein
This project is very important and has a considerable budget, so I'm certainly not just looking for favors here.
If you have the funds, then there should be no problem getting people to attend a "paid focus" group for a movie at a movie theatre and then you would be getting your results based on the observation. I am not sure if you would have the budget to pay for everything as the ticket admission prices add up. The cinema chain that you rent the theatre from really should have no problem renting the cinema to you.
I am not sure how you would get around the issue of recording the crowd in a movie theatre. If I am correct, I believe it is a criminal offense to operate a recording device inside a movie theatre, I don't think it matters if you are recording the movie or not. There would be some legal matters here, not about the crowd but recording inside a movie theatre.
quote: Justin Silverstein
Fancy cameras needn't be used to capture the footage, either.
A small dome security camera will do the trick.
quote: Justin Silverstein
, and that it will in fact be possible to commission such a video from a theater employee via internet
It is possible to do it, I just think asking for footage from someone who owns a movie theatres or who works at one is the wrong way to do it.
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Justin Silverstein
Film Handler
Posts: 10
From: Northport, NY, USA
Registered: Feb 2014
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posted 02-10-2014 11:11 PM
Thanks for your thoughts, everyone. Let me just go through and address them:
Bobby- on the science, I hear you, but I've found similar research to be surprisingly productive. I totally get your skepticism, but really do have every reason to believe this will get me the data I need. But on the question of legal hurdles and release forms, I'm afraid you're mistaken--since this footage would never be seen by another human being except me and whoever shot it, no legal permission from the crowd would be required, as two lawyers have confirmed for me. As to cameras and lenses, it's not necessary for literally the entire theater to be captured in shot, just as large a portion of the audience as possible. A good view from a viewport by the projector, for example, would get the job done, with no need for a wide-angle lens. As far as lighting goes, house lights would be up at least somewhat for almost the entire duration of the video, so I'd think it would be possible to make out the movements of the crowd well enough.
Terry- whoa, the budget isn't THAT considerable! ![[Wink]](wink.gif) I just meant that there is, in fact, a budget, as opposed to me trying to wrangle someone into doing something for nothing.
Carsten- Thanks for that, I've PMed you.
Michael- That was actually the very first solution that occurred to me, and I reluctantly rejected it. I figure, since I'd be sitting there in the back for the entire duration of the ending credits, I'd be just about the only one left by the end, and staff would be there to clean by then (and possibly standing there looking at me for minutes on end before that). I can't think of any way to make a recording under those circumstances without it being pretty obvious to them that I'm doing so. Surely they wouldn't tolerate that? And if they do notice that I'm recording (and I can't see how they wouldn't), won't I face a lifetime ban from that theater at minimum, and quite likely more serious penalties? Not to mention losing all the footage, bringing me back to square one. (If anyone has any input on this that's not ideal for public posting, please PM me with it.)
Thanks again for the advice everyone! And if anyone who sees this can help in any way, I truly appreciate it. Just let me know here or in a PM.
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