So while watching the new Indy film at the weekend I noticed the sound noticably cut out in a couple of scenes. I put it down to a screw-up but then I saw a thread elsewhere (at a subscription site so no point putting the link, though someone there linked this projectionist’s forum which lends a little credibility to it), that claimed it was an actual deliberate DRM scheme by the studios (each copy of the film will have different sound artifacts so that they can track which cinema a particular bootleg came from).
If this is true its a genuine low point in the entertainment industry’s contempt for their customers. Anyone know what the the dope is on this ?
Think about it for a second: How much work would it entail for the studio to put a different, distinguishable, traceable sound artifact into each and every copy that was distributed? And keep track of which artifact went with which copy went to which theater? I’m not saying it’s not possible, but it strains credibility to the breaking point.
I can’t say if they are doing it, but as more and more theaters go digital, it will become easier and easier to do. I certainly wouldn’t rule it out.
When I saw the new Indiana Jones movie, I didn’t notice the sound dropouts, but (a) it was digital and (b) it was a movie theater with other noises going on.
Keep in mind that each film is made out of 4-9 reels of film, about 15-20 min each. When they change over, you’ll often notice coloration and sound problems, especially right at the connection point. Some of the digital sound systems get somewhat screwed up when the change occurs.
I very severely doubt there’s sound manipulation going on, because most piracy (aka camcorders and whatnot) is typically too crappy to pick up on sound fluctuations anyway.
Is this really true any more? Most of the movie theatres in this area have converted to semi-automated projectors, that use a giant reel with the entire movie on that. A single person works the projectors in all the theatres, basically just starting each projector at the specified time, and then being back to shut it off & rewind when it’s over – basically the only ‘projectionist’ in the whole multi-theatre complex. The movies used to come in individual reels, but now I believe they can be ordered as a single giant reel.
A friend used to have a part-time job for a local theatre chain, splicing the individual reels onto a giant reel to use on their projectors (and un-splicing them to return them).
They still come and go on 2000’ shipping reels, although I used to see a pair of 6000’ footers occasionally. Once they arrive they are assembled on the platters, and although there is usually a small drop out in the analog track (or a pop if they didn’t “bloop” the splice) it’s not really a problem for a digital system.
Incidentally, the platter system loads from the center and takes up from the center, so rewinding isn’t necessary.
Well, current Digital movies are delivered on hard drives, but I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to start delivering them via downloads. After all, it could take a day or so per movie and still be faster than sending a hard drive across country.
Why do they need to put something in so obviously discernable to the watcher? With digital technology to en- and decode, what is the technological hurdle to putting in a marker that is beyond human (but not digital) perception? Doesn’t MP3 compression work by cutting out inaudible sound? What are the issues with placing a marker somewhere in this register, so it wouldn’t affect what’s heard but would be traceable? For visuals, I would think that it would be trivial to put a chroma-keyed (or whatever it’s called, I’m obviously not versed in the subject) chunk somewhere in a patch of background that changes from theater to theater. What film doesn’t have a bit of woods, a star field, a tile floor… somewhere where a subtle change in the overall patter wouldn’t be visible?
Is it that pirated copies are done on such a low-tech scale that it has to be of a large enough resolution to get captured? Is piracy on that scale the major problem, or is it theater complicity in copying from the originals?
Since they’re not doing it that way, there’s probably something I’m missing. Any ideas?
Because a camcorder doesn’t catch a whole lot more than what a human eye can see. For this DRM crap to work they need to make it camcorder-discernible.
Since we’re talking terabytes for the 4K resolution (uncompressed), I rather doubt it. And data transfer from HDD to projector may have to be speeded up too.
I couldn’t say, as the drive-in theater we saw it at was right next to the World’s Busiest Train Tracks™. Probably 5 or 6 trains went by while the movie was going, and you had to struggle to hear the dialog during those times, let alone any background or incidental sound.
If the markers are getting removed in the compression, how would they be traceable? These DRM markers have to be perceptible to humans, because otherwise the pirates could remove them without impacting the experience for their customers.
I have to ask- if I might be permitted a small hijack- if your friend ever heard of anyone doing a Tyler Durden and inserting a single frame of pornography into an otherwise mainstream film?
I figured Chuck Palahniuk made it up, but my Dad used to work in cinemas back in the late '60s and said “It wouldn’t have surprised me, but there weren’t really films with gratuitious T&A or porn in them in NZ then.”