Theater Employees Wearing Night-Vision Goggles To Combat Piracy

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Night-vision goggles? Really? Let's check back one month after the movie is released and see how well this brilliant idea worked. :D

It sounds like a scene from a James Bond film itself, full of mystery, intrigue and suspicion. But when the new 007 blockbuster, Spectre, is released next month, cinemas across the country will be on high alert, with security beefed up and staff donning military-style night-vision goggles to patrol the dark auditoriums in a bid to crack down on piracy.
 
I worked at a movie theater in college (mid 90's). The studios and film distributors wanted us to do shit like that, finding people with cam-corders etc and run them out. We said we would do our best, then laughed at them. We were too busy trying to keep the crackheads out and the gangbangers from killing people. Hell they didnt pay us enough for that let alone walk around protecting their crappy movies. Hell, we could have made up for the min wage grind by offering tripod rentals.
 
This definitely isn't the first time this has been done. Hell, I recall seeing this 10+ years ago at a few opening nights. It's also not "military-style" NVG's either. It's just the crap gen1 and gen2 monoculars you find at big box sporting goods stores for a couple hundred bucks that don't really work worth a crap, but do the job well enough to spot people in a room when using an IR illuminator(also cheap).
 
Because offering customers good value instead would clearly be an insane idea...
 
Why didn't they have these when I worked in a movie theatre. I'd have loved that shit.
 
Who even watches these cam recorded movies anymore?? They were find when we all had small, crappy tv's with terrible sound. But now I wouldn't, not worth it. Plus there's usually dvd screeners that go out to conpanies that let their low level employees and assistants barrow and they rip them.

I work in the movie industry and I'll let you know piracy hasn't effect me... In fact every year we run out of qualified people. It's booming across the country. Now the union rules keeping some people from traveling and working across the country are another thing.
 
I really think it's going overboard, honestly. 99.99% of the people aren't going to film it (I just threw that number out there, so you anal folks don't need to ask for a source). The ones that do aren't going to the theater that will do that, or it will be an employee that records it. It'll end up online within a week.

There should be other ways to stop piracy. This isn't one of them.
 
Really, do pirates even want to watch a shitty cam version instead of waiting for blu ray rips?
 
Probleminfected said:
Who even watches these cam recorded movies anymore?? They were find when we all had small, crappy tv's with terrible sound. But now I wouldn't, not worth it.
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A lot of people don't care. They want to watch it regardless of quality. Some will watch the barely watchable ones, others wait for a "shitty broadcast copied to VHS" copy.

I'd pirate theatrical movies, but my standards are too high these days. Unless they have that screener like you mentioned, it's not gonna happen. Even then, it's bad. DVD quality is the bare minimum for me lately. Otherwise, I'll wait for the Blu-ray. Really, the morality of it all doesn't come into play for a lot of people. They don't pirate because the quality sucks. I don't agree with pirating stuff, but I don't see it as some evil practice. I
 
cvinh said:
Really, do pirates even want to watch a shitty cam version instead of waiting for blu ray rips?
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If it's a decent cam sure.

I see this as a waste of money and time..... all it takes is one person taking a cam and it's all over the internet.....they stop 100% of the people from taking a cam.
 
I'm also a veteran of the Multiplex Wars (1984-1992). Back in teh day, all the *real* piracy was done in the projection booth, and I doubt that's ever changed. Interesting that the article fails to mention a single exhibitor / theater operator willing to commit staff to this.

It'll probably work as well as drive thru staff keeping pickles outta my burger.
 
Saturn_V said:
I'm also a veteran of the Multiplex Wars (1984-1992). Back in teh day, all the *real* piracy was done in the projection booth, and I doubt that's ever changed. Interesting that the article fails to mention a single exhibitor / theater operator willing to commit staff to this.

It'll probably work as well as drive thru staff keeping pickles outta my burger.
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Yea, for how little the employees make on top of how much the MPAA squeezes out of the ticket sales, i dont see the theaters giving a damn. "oh yea we have the tools and we have trained our employees to spot filming" which means they bought a $30 pair of night goggles from toys r us, and the employees use them to play hide and seek after close.

Yea most rips I used to see floating around were also pulled right from the projector AV out.
 
Dan_D said:
Why didn't they have these when I worked in a movie theatre. I'd have loved that shit.
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I know right! My first real job and I get to wear night vision goggles? Holy crap that shit would be off the hook! Instead I simply got shot down by all the high school girls that I hit on that went to different high schools to me...
 
sliverjazz said:
The bootleg quality is so bad it justifies that it isn't pirating.
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My friend who has kids would watch a bootleg version of whatever movie was playing from time to time. He'd invariably mention how the movie wasn't that good -- which is pretty much mandatory when the quality is that poor. I don't even see why he bothered watching them.
 
I can only assume that cams are popular overseas. I remember a shop in Dubai, this guy had DVDs of all new films at the time. I bought one, which had a collection of 28 weeks later, tmnt, and something else. All terrible recordings. I never bothered to get another cam film again.
 
Nvg sounds like a good way for an employee to startle someone and get shot.
 
This works two fold, catching pirates and providing footage studios can use in their scary movie trailers.
 
The way things are going with digital media, the movie theaters should be offering free tripods and free blowjobs to anyone who spends 10 dollars for a single ticket + another 30 for snacks.

Instead they want to spy on you mission impossible style? This move makes me that much more secure in my decision (years ago) to sit on my ass at home and download the damn movie.

Fuck movie theaters.
 
Ur_Mom said:
I really think it's going overboard, honestly. 99.99% of the people aren't going to film it (I just threw that number out there, so you anal folks don't need to ask for a source). The ones that do aren't going to the theater that will do that, or it will be an employee that records it. It'll end up online within a week.

There should be other ways to stop piracy. This isn't one of them.
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99.99% don't matter.

Look, we laugh at the idea and think it's rediculous, but go to other countries where this stuff is big and it changes fast. Piracy was absolutely insane on the military bases in Iraq when I was there. I remember people buying a really crappy cammed version of Ironman when it first released, I think it was available the same day it hit the theaters. Problem is, there are no theaters in Iraq playing Ironman on day one. So the recording was from somewhere else. Someone in a "developed" country recording it, and send it out, and it was burned to disk and on sale with hours at 2 or 3 bucks a copy on over 50 US Army bases spread all over a war zone.

The copy was so bad and the sound so terrible most people never finished watching it. there was a much better copy out about two days later.
 
They've done this for a while where I live. Usually the opening weekend. It's likely is done by the film company though as a survey is often distributed, but not always. It's clearly is for piracy as the person with the goggles only pops in for a few minutes.
 
Darunion said:
they bought a $30 pair of night goggles from toys r us, and the employees use them to play hide and seek after close.
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This is bound to happen somewhere :D.

All I can imagine is some creepy dude who works at a theater using the goggles to check out girls, zoom in on boobs, etc., or maybe that's just what I would do. :eek:
 
-PK- said:
Nvg sounds like a good way for an employee to startle someone and get shot.
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Oh boy here we go...

and then someone with a CCW gets charged with negligent homicide because they're shooting anything that's "scary".
 
lcpiper said:
99.99% don't matter.
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You either have to do 100% or none at all. 99.99% isn't going to cut it. That 99.99% isn't going to pirate the thing. That .01% will, and they will get away with it and then it's online.

Having people with night vision goggles isn't going to stop that .01%. They'll either do it from the video room (employee) or in a place that isn't going to go through the trouble of those goggles.

It's going to happen. Goggles or not, the movie will get out there. Most people aren't going to pirate it. So, the goggles are a waste of time and money for 99.99% of the people. That tiny percent is going to circumvent the security in the first place. It's just not going to be Todd from Seattle in a packed theater that puts up the cam. It's going to be Theodore from Delaware from the video booth upstairs.
 
sfsuphysics said:
Oh boy here we go...

and then someone with a CCW gets charged with negligent homicide because they're shooting anything that's "scary".
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And creates a shit storm for gun owners. Dumb move to shoot someone wearing night vision goggles inside a movie theater. Besides, there are probably going to be signs so it's not alarming to people or a surprise.

BOO! POW! POW! POW!

Man, I think some people may need to stay inside during Halloween, too. Lots of people in full costume. Maybe even some dressed in Army gear and a fake gun.... SHOOT! SHOOT! A THREAT! :rolleyes:
 
Talk about priorities... The police around here can't get a grant for body cams but cinemas are getting night-vision goggles because someone might record a movie with a phone or something. From now on, every time someone posts a "First World Problems" remark I'm going to think of the MPAA and RIAA taking food out of some starving kid's mouth on the other side of the globe.
 
My local theater has this...

Projector.jpg


Always wondered how they've got things set up after seeing that.
 
I hate it when theater staff tells me that I need to put away my tablet before the movie begins.
 
You know that guys will be using this to check out hot chicks on the sly right? then the theater will get sued as some poor schmuck is busted for watching a guy errr.. explore his girlfriend in the dark. Then this will never be happen again because the last thing you want to give a bunch of teenagers is the ability to invade the privacy of others.
 
Ur_Mom said:
A lot of people don't care. They want to watch it regardless of quality.
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I must be missing something, but are there not readily available DVD/Blu Ray quality rips? I don't see why anyone would want to watch hand held recoded videos. The quality must be so awful.
 
I never understood who downloads the screeners anyway.

The quality is usually so bad that Id rather either go to the theater or wait until bluray release
 
Megalith said:
I hate it when theater staff tells me that I need to put away my tablet before the movie begins.
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I know, right. Like, my tablet is sooo, soo important to me because in those maybe ten minutes that I'm waiting, I'd get totally bored and flip out without having a game to play or something else to do. It's inhuman that they'd even ask that and force me to do something like maybe look around or think about something in my own head. OMG I hate it when someone makes me put away my tablet and think for myself.
 
Ur_Mom said:
And creates a shit storm for gun owners. Dumb move to shoot someone wearing night vision goggles inside a movie theater. Besides, there are probably going to be signs so it's not alarming to people or a surprise.

BOO! POW! POW! POW!

Man, I think some people may need to stay inside during Halloween, too. Lots of people in full costume. Maybe even some dressed in Army gear and a fake gun.... SHOOT! SHOOT! A THREAT! :rolleyes:
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I have a ccw, and I doubt anyone who goes through that process is going to be randomly popping of shots in a theatre because someone spooked them.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
I have a ccw, and I doubt anyone who goes through that process is going to be randomly popping of shots in a theatre because someone spooked them.
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Well like, first you'd maybe (or maybe not) be surprised. And then you'd very quickly figure out what's happening long before you'd be able to actually reach for and draw a gun, switch off the safety, point, shoot and whatever else.

It's pretty unrealistic to think that you'd be surprised and shoot right away unless you were running around in like wanna be FPS-land with your gun already out and pointed at stuff with the safety off. IDK how some people are that detached from reality that they don't even think through the timing of something like that.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
I have a ccw, and I doubt anyone who goes through that process is going to be randomly popping of shots in a theatre because someone spooked them.
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Yea, most wouldn't shoot. The poster above was saying that someone could shoot. Possible, but that person would be so jumpy at every little noise and be scared shitless at a Gwar concert.
 
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