Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Yellow Numbers in the BackGround of Mothman Prophecies

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Topic: Yellow Numbers in the BackGround of Mothman Prophecies

Michael Gonzalez
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 790
From: Grand Island , NE USA
Registered: Sep 2000

posted 01-25-2002 10:56 AM

In the second reel of Mothman Prophecies there are big yellow numbers that appear on the film. The numbers movie through the middle of the screen from top to bottom. It happens every four minutes or so. I have already ordered a replacement reel but I am just curious as to how something like this happen as I have never seen anything like this before.

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David Koegel
Film Handler

Posts: 55
From: Alexandria, VA
Registered: Jun 99

posted 01-25-2002 11:03 AM

Sounds like CAP codes running amuck. See the VERY extensive posting on this here on Film-Tech, posted posted 04-17-2000 02:24 PM and called "The CAP code". You can also find it by doing a search using "CAP Code". Worth a second reading, though it almost seems to start off in the middle of a conversation....

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John Pytlak
Film God

Posts: 9987
From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 01-25-2002 11:10 AM

I agree it sounds like the CAP Code printer used by the lab got mispositioned so the numbers normally printed along the edge of the print got printed in the picture. The edge identification printed by Kodak is printed in MAGENTA.

------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

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Michael Gonzalez
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 790
From: Grand Island , NE USA
Registered: Sep 2000

posted 01-25-2002 11:10 AM

I thought cap code but I wouldn't think that you should be able to actually see it on the screen. It is very distracting.

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John Pytlak
Film God

Posts: 9987
From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 01-25-2002 12:40 PM

The CAP code is normally tiny dots. In this case, the verification numbers that are normally printed along the edge of the print were accidently printed in the picture area.

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John Wilson
Film God

Posts: 5438
From: Sydney, Australia.
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 01-26-2002 07:02 PM

THERE'S A CAP CODE?!!!

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John Pytlak
Film God

Posts: 9987
From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 01-26-2002 08:05 PM

CAP Code has been in use since 1982! (first picture to use it was Disney's "Night Crossing"). It's helped the MPAA and FBI track quite a few criminals by identifying the source of their pirated copies of movies.

I was on the Kodak/MPAA/FBI/ACVL team that developed CAP Code.

Kodak already has technology to help prevent piracy with Digital Cinema:
Kodak Digital Watermarking Research
About Kodak Digital Watermarking Technology
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/digital/system.shtml

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Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99

posted 01-26-2002 08:26 PM

So what's the new anti-piracy tactic for DLP cinema? Supposedly if you were to point a video camera directly at the screen, you will get a flickerless copy. Obviously there must be SOMETHING to protect these motion pictures. Is the MPAA looking at an offshoot of the CAP code, or some sort of watermark? I think it would be interesting if the CAP code could be modified so that every week the dots changed configuration to show when the bootleg was done as well as the projector it came off of. Even better would be if a permanent serial number CAP code signal was encoded inside each DLP unit so a videotape could tell EXACTLY which projector ran the show.

(Not to worry John, I'm not expecting any detailed answers, just wondering how this issue has been addressed.)

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John Pytlak
Film God

Posts: 9987
From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 01-26-2002 08:38 PM

If you read about the Kodak technology, the images will be encoded with lots of tracking information that can't be eliminated from the illegal copies. I've heard there are also some developments to render the images almost unwatchable if copied with a camcorder.

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Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99

posted 01-26-2002 08:40 PM

Apparently they have not yet begun those treatments from what I understand. That would be very interesting if they can pull that off.

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Aaron Haney
Master Film Handler

Posts: 265
From: Cupertino, CA, USA
Registered: Jan 2001

posted 01-26-2002 09:39 PM

Actually Brad, I believe an NTSC video camera pointed at a DLP-projected image would still produce some odd motion artifacts. There may not be any flicker, but there will still be a framerate mismatch.

But you're right, the results will probably still be much better than current bootlegs.

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