[Hannibal Lecter]
Hello. You may not know who I am, although I doubt it. For those of you that don’t know, I am Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a well-known psychologist, and gourmand.
When I cook with… delicate meats, I use only the best. That’s why, when I’m having a well known politician or social dilletante over for… a good meal, I only cook with {insert name brand here}.
I highly recommend them.
Thank you for you time.
[/Hannibal Lecter]
As far as being able to perceive a single frame message, people vary widely about being able to do this. Remember the “Rats” episode during the last presidential campaign? A Republican ad attacking Gore had a single frame with the word “Rats” on it. Some people noticed it while seeing it at regular speed. Others had to step through it a frame at a time to see it.
So E, it’s quite possible that some people saw a single frame that others missed. But I would confirm it first by going back to the theater and expressing your concerns. Perhaps they will let you examine the scene frame by frame to see if it is indeed there. Then go to the media.
A point i raised in the first response! I’m honestly starting to think that other people can’t see my posts.
I’ve worked in a movie theater, and I think there may be another solution to this, similar to Johnny L.A.'s guess about a bad splice. E d’Mann and Johnny both describe the problem at happening early in the film, over Hopkins’s face. This could just be where one reel ends and the next begins. Films arrive at the theater in several unattached reels, and the projectionist needs to connect them all together before they can be shown (Your theater’s projection system may differ, though). A poor connection might cause such a problem as the black and yellow bar, if the ends of the two reels overlapped. Did either of you notice a small oval (if you’ve seen Fight Club, they called them “cigarette burns”) flash in the upper right hand corner of the screen about the same time as this? Those signal a reel change.
E, you could go talk to the managers at your theater. Chances are that, whatever it is, they’ve already heard about it and figured out how it got there. If you sound really annoyed, you might even get free stuff. 
Personally, I’d recommend against asking to examine the film by hand or frame-by-frame.
FTR, I should note that I’m just speculating, and also that I’ve never connected the reels of film together myself.
The slides suggestion also seems like a possibility.
I, like Protesilaus, also worked in a movie theater. First as a concessionist, then as an usher, and finally as a projectionist for over 2 years.
It is true that the films come in sections. Usually for your average 90-120 minute film, we got 4-8 separate reels, each about the diameter of a dinner plate. Then we’d splice them all together onto a “platter”, a 4 foot diameter turntable next to each projector that the film was fed from.
Occasionally, when we got new movies in, we would get bored. In the film booth, where most of the film maintainance was done, you’ll find lots of frame clippings from films and trailers lying about on the floor. So, for shits and giggles, we’d pick up a mostly intact frame from another movie or a random trailer and insert it in between reels. Some of these got elaborate, where we’d alternate different frames with strange pictures for several seconds.
However, these mystery frames are rarely visible. If anyone does catch it, it just looks like a bad splice. If you blink, you’ll miss it. It is most likely you just had some bored projectionists there with almost identical ideas. It’s not that improbable, though, seeing as the different sections of a film are cut at the same point for every movie they send out. So maybe both projectionists found it neccesary to insert a piece of film with “1-800-HOTT-SEXX” written in yellow film pen between the 1st and 2nd sections of film…It’s not impossible. And it’s the most logical answer.
Actually, the RATS thing appeared for at least a couple second, as the enlarged last letters of “buerocrats,” which I clearly cannot spell.
It was the last letters of “Democrats” and the ‘RATS’ part wasn’t “enlarged” any more than the rest of the word. And I’m pretty sure it appeared for less than a second, and definately not “at least a couple second[s]”.
One thing I failed to mention (partly because I don’t have independent verification from the GF) is that Hopkin’s entire forehead seemed to be visible, as if the film was cut to allow for the insertion but none was cut away. For a moment his forehead seemed taller.
This would seem to rule out the slide projector hypothesis.
p.s. Both the GF and I noticed the insertions in Fight Club easily, while many of our friends did not.
E d’Mann: I did not notice such an effect in the “glitch” that I saw.
I dunno… I didn’t see anything, but I’m starting to wonder if perhaps E d’Mann did see the number 1-800-THELAW2?
Quick note to evilbeth…the blips of Tyler Durden were there in the original theater print as well. I only saw it in the theater. The idea (as I’m sure you already know) is that as Tyler takes more control, he appears for longer and longer periods of screen time.
Of course, if what you meant that there are MORE of those blips on the DVD, then I beg your pardon.
As for the OP…has anyone on this thread said definitively that it was a 1-800-COLLECT ad? I thought the E d’mann said his girlfriend only kind of thought it might be, but she was at least sure that it was 1-800-SOMETHING.
And so what? They obvioulsy didn’t fool anyone. If it was really a subliminal ad, they would have had to spend a shitload on it. And lots of people in multiple companies would be involved. Do you really think that a)they could keep it a secret and b)they would spend that much money for a subliminal ad that’s not even subliminal enough to slip by without you noticing?
I only saw it on DVD so that was why I included “DVD” in my response. I had assumed the number of shots of Tyler were the same in the theatrical release as in the DVD.
Oh. (insert stupid laugh)…just wonderin…
Actually, Cisco (see, someone notices your posts!), the “RATS” in the GOP ad was shown by itself in the frame over which such a stink was made–there was no accompanying “DEMOC”.
Subliminal messages eh? Ever see the movie They Live? 
-Dani
Consume.
Where in my post did i say that “RATS” was never by itself? The word scrolled from left to right across the screen, so ‘rats’ was seen for a split second, and then ‘crats’, ‘ocrats’…etc
Cisco:
Do you have a cite for this? It contradicts everything I’ve heard. For example, from the New York Times (membership required, but it’s free) is the following:
No scrolling involved, left to right or otherwise.
Damn…I was afraid that the Times link would end up being bad. If you search their archives for “rats Bush subliminal,” the September 12th article I quoted from will pop right up.
Gotta straighten out my cite.
Duh…
Quit with the inside jokes. What movie is this?
The IMDB says its a John Carpenter movie (I like John Carpenter - Christine, Halloween, Vampires…). How’s this one and what does it have to do with the situation?