Just saw Master & Commander this weekend. Really enjoyed the film--it had action, adventure, even some humor. Unfortunately it also had the most blatant examples of cap code I've seen so far. I'm not talking the 1 or 2 small flashes I noticed in Kill Bill--these were HUGE burned-in numbers, literally every 5 seconds during the storm scene. They were a major distraction for me--after the second one, I couldn't stop myself looking for them. And worst of all, they occured during a really important and suspenseful setpiece scene--in a few scenes they even appeared over Russell Crowe's face while he was speaking.

Some may accuse me of overreacting, but I don't think so. I don't download movies, I don't buy bootlegs, and I paid for my movie ticket--so why should I have to put up with the film I watch being marred by these distracting codes? And at the very least, if they absoulutely HAVE to be there, why do they have to be IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FREAKING SCREEN, where everyone is looking? Why can't they be in the upper right corner with the reel change markers? (By the way--does anyone know if these marks will be on the DVD versions of these movies? They'd better not be.)

What can we do about this annoying trend? I don't want to boycott movies--that's too much like cutting off nose/spiteing face. I want to email the studios and let them know this practice is unacceptable, but I want to make sure the prpoper parties see it. Are there any dvdtalk posters who are in the movie industry who know who we should innundate with emails to let them know we don't want cap code?

They won't.

This has already been discussed in depth.

god those were annoying durring the ocean scene. I felt yelling out something but the adults would be pissed if i did.

Pardon my ignorance, but what's a Cap Code?

little dots that try to prevent bootleggers with camcorders making pristine prints of films on the internet.

Has anyone here ever actually seen anyone videotaping a movie in the theatre? I've been to approximately 300 movies in the last 6 years, and I've never, ever seen anyone doing this. Granted, I don't live in a large metropolitan area where vendors sell bootlegs on the street corner. I'm just wondering how prevalent this videotaping practice is, and if it's really such an epidemic that films need to be defaced to prevent it.

Are you talking about the little dots that appear in the upper right hand corner of the screen?

No, you're talking about reel change markers.

We mean CAP CODE, which is large red dots in a pattern that flash on the screen VERY OBTRUSIVELY.

Okay . . . just making sure that we were using the same language here. Reel change markers are certainly not for discouraging bootleggers . . . they are for pointing out to your friends so that for all eternity they notice "those little dots in the corner that appear 10 and 2 seconds before a reel change". It drives them crazy.

reel changes are called "cigarette burns" I believe.
these are something completly different. They have gotten progessively worse over the years.

See here:
http://www.suntimes.com/output/answ-...y-ebert05.html

There was a thread with some pictures of cap code in action - try searching for "Kill Bill" which is almost impossible though in this forum.

Way to mess up your own movies.

I didn't even notice these red dots during M&C, but I did notice a reel change dot, apparently the projectionist was asleep at the wheel, because the was a second pause, when the reel changed.

I haven't seen a movie in a theater since I saw "The Two Towers" last December. I take it these Cap Codes are something new? Are they on every single print, or just ones shown where pirates are likely to do their pirating?

Sounds like another reason for me to avoid the theatrical experience.

When cap codes show up in RETURN OF THE KING, that's when people here are going to go ballistic.

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I haven't seen a movie in a theater since I saw "The Two Towers" last December. I take it these Cap Codes are something new? Are they on every single print, or just ones shown where pirates are likely to do their pirating?

Sounds like another reason for me to avoid the theatrical experience.
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Yes, they're relatively new. I read anbouyt them on Ebert's site in September, and first saw them for myself in Kill Bill. Those were comparably tiny compared to the ones in Master & C.

I'd say they're on every print, because as mentioned above, I live in an area where there'd be little market for a bootleg videotaped off a movie screen. That's part of what enrages me about this--what percentage of moviegoers are bootlegging the movie--.001%? And yet we all have to suffer.

I bet if everyone who notices them started demanding a refund, they'd end this practice right quick.

I thought the thread title said "Cape Cod is getting out of control!"

It's completely pointless when you think about it. I assume it's designed to either 1) nab theater workers who bootleg movies or 2) find theaters that are slacking in making sure movies aren't being taped. With option 2 you'll never catch the real culprit anyway, and going after the theater itself because someone sneaked in a camcorder won't help anyone. Especially with bulky winter jackets, how can they tell? Will there be pat downs? Ushers shining flashlights in people's faces during the movie? In fact, if they ever started implementing these things many people would stop going to the movies and bootlegging would probably increase.

As for going after the theater workers who bootleg, if we're only talking about a second of dots here and there, it will be easy for a bootlegger to simply remove the offending frames in a video editing program before releasing it to the net or whatever.

I don't see what the fuss is anyway. Are these crappy camcorder bootlegs REALLY making that big of a dent in box office? It's not like mp3 files where the quality difference is *relatively* unnoticeable.

At first I thought you were talking about the CAPAlert site we all know and love!

I haven't seen M&C yet, since it's not playing here (hopefully it will start in a couple of weeks), but I know a lot of people were complaining about this when Kill Bill came out as well. Either I'm not that sensitive to them, or the number varies from print to print, as I think I saw just one during Kill Bill, and it was fairly small, and it didnt take me out of the picture. Then again, I didn't notice any reel change markers either, which I usually see all the time (THANKS Fight Club!! )

Brian

Kill Bill was really bad because they threw those dots over the white Japanese divider thing where Lucy Liu and crew were chillin

They should just develop a EMP emitter that contains a specific radius and activate it during a movie so all electronic devices wouldn't work during the viewing experience.

The projector would obviously be outside of the radius of the emitter and this would also eliminate annoying cell phones.

Course people with pace makers wouldn't be too happy ...

Haven't perfected my solution yet.

I thought just about all fims nowadays were displayed on platters, making reel changes (and the annoying markers) obsolete.

Most theaters don't even have projectionists in the booths anymore, at least around here.

Most are. But projectionists still have to queue all those things up. Also, a lot of theaters still don't have platters.

I saw this too. Really pissed me off. They really are alienating film goers with this crap.

Who are the wizards that thought of this one?

I was somewhat interested in seeing this however I think I will pass. I have decided to stop seeing movies except those must see movies like ROTK untill these codes stop. sure they will not miss my money but if enough people do the same it might actually get them to change these horrible codes.

I figure I buy a bunch of movies anyway so why watch an inferior copy when I can watch it at home without any dots or kids bothering me.

"Ee-mehr-gen-cee, Ee-mehr-gen-cee, evehry-on to get from stret"

Probably not, but they're using RIAA logic, meaning that if profits are down a little it's because we're ALL thieves and pirates robbing them blind, and it couldn't possibly have anythign to do with the quality of their product.


Possibly the same people who brought us snapper cases and disposible DVD's?