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Topic: Incredibles 2 - epilepsy warning

Frank Cox
Film God

Posts: 2234
From: Melville Saskatchewan Canada
Registered: Apr 2011

posted 06-16-2018 07:13 PM

I just got this email from Disney:

quote:
Dear Exhibitor:

It has come to our attention that some lighting effects in Incredibles 2 may affect photosensitive viewers. Out of an abundance of caution, we recommend that you provide at the box office and other appropriate places a notice to your customers containing the following information:

"Incredibles 2 contains a sequence of flashing lights which may affect customers who are susceptible to photosensitive epilepsy or other photosensitivities."

Please provide this notice as soon as possible to your patrons.

I remember going through exactly this same thing not long ago with one of the Twilight movies.

I guess nothing was learned from that.

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Justin Hamaker
Film God

Posts: 2253
From: Lakeport, CA USA
Registered: Jan 2004

posted 06-16-2018 08:12 PM

I don't think it's that a lesson wasn't learned. I think it's that people who are not affected by this don't think about things in these terms. In reality it is a very tiny fraction of the population who is affected by this, and many of them already avoid going to the movies just because it is a highly amplified sensory environment.

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Frank Cox
Film God

Posts: 2234
From: Melville Saskatchewan Canada
Registered: Apr 2011

posted 06-16-2018 11:36 PM

It still seems to me like something that could easily be avoided and that the folks who make movies should be aware of.

Health warnings aren't what I would good publicity for the movie, even if the warning actually applies to very few people.

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Marcel Birgelen
Film God

Posts: 3357
From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands
Registered: Feb 2012

posted 06-17-2018 04:22 PM

It's a standard warning that comes with any video console and with practically every computer game ever made. Maybe you should put it into your terms of services, just to be on the safe side. [Wink]

There are also strobing light effects in the last Blade Runner movie, I don't remember the studio pushing out a similar warning.

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Carsten Kurz
Film God

Posts: 4340
From: Cologne, NRW, Germany
Registered: Aug 2009

posted 06-18-2018 07:22 AM

Not every flashing in a movie will have this effect. For those who are concerned, it doesn't work like a flip-switch. Duration, flashing sequence, frequency, etc. all comes into play, and not all people suffering from this sensitivity react in the same way. I guess many block-buster movies contain footage that can trigger it, but it's not always noticed or being published in the way it has been done for Incredibles 2 or the birth-scene in 'Twilight - Breaking Dawn' (last movie I remember which came with similar caveat).

As such, it is complicated, artistically limiting (and unnecessarily over-protecting) to try to keep such footage out of movies. They can usually not identify critical passages before they release the movie, typically, they will only notice this when the movie is seen by audiences and there is a noticeable number of cases reported with people fainting during a particular movie.

- Carsten

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Dave Macaulay
Film God

Posts: 2321
From: Toronto, Canada
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 06-18-2018 06:01 PM

This is not about fainting. Affected people can have a full on epileptic seizure - very dramatic. I've seen one and it was not pleasant, the boy was flopping and flailing around on the floor for some time before passing out for several minutes.
He had stared into a strobe light used in a highschool project, nobody knew he was susceptible.
The strongest trigger is bright flashes at around 3 flashes/second. I think that can be avoided in movies.

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Dave Bird
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 777
From: Perth, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Jun 2000

posted 06-18-2018 11:03 PM

We had a 5-yr old girl have a seizure at the drive-in this past Saturday night. I wasn't on-site, but her mom contacted me today hoping we'd add a warning to our site (I'm going to chat with our studio contact tomorrow for the official wording). She said they had heard the warning, but hoped being able to light up their interior of the car would combat the effect so they chose to come to the drive-in. It didn't work, and the girl had a mild seizure and fell asleep, missing the very end of the movie. She said this has never happened during any movie they've watched before, so we didn't think this was any kind of a widespread problem, just a bit of a fluke with this one I guess.

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Frank Cox
Film God

Posts: 2234
From: Melville Saskatchewan Canada
Registered: Apr 2011

posted 06-18-2018 11:24 PM

I included the official wording in the initial post above.

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 06-18-2018 11:30 PM

For some reason we never got the email.

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Frank Cox
Film God

Posts: 2234
From: Melville Saskatchewan Canada
Registered: Apr 2011

posted 06-19-2018 12:50 AM

Here is the notice for anyone who missed it.

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Carsten Kurz
Film God

Posts: 4340
From: Cologne, NRW, Germany
Registered: Aug 2009

posted 06-19-2018 06:36 AM

At what runtime approx. does this occur? One could also put up a slide before the movie (DCP-o-matic) to give an additional hint just before the movie starts.

- Carsten

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Marcel Birgelen
Film God

Posts: 3357
From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands
Registered: Feb 2012

posted 06-19-2018 06:20 PM

quote: Dave Macaulay
This is not about fainting. Affected people can have a full on epileptic seizure - very dramatic. I've seen one and it was not pleasant, the boy was flopping and flailing around on the floor for some time before passing out for several minutes.

A few years back it happened to a colleague of mine back at the office. It's indeed a pretty shocking sight and besides calling the ambulance and ensuring the victim doesn't get hurt anymore there's little you can do at that moment.

Nobody, including him knew he was susceptible to it and we never really managed to identify the cause. He just collapsed in front of his desk and continued to have some pretty spastic seizures for a couple of minutes before finally passing out.

quote: Dave Macaulay
The strongest trigger is bright flashes at around 3 flashes/second. I think that can be avoided in movies.

If it's just eliminating 3Hz flashes in movies, it would be pretty easy, but I guess the reality is a bit more complex.

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Alexandre Pereira
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 126
From: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Jan 2016

posted 06-19-2018 06:51 PM

Maybe this is what Disney was going for?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2D0kDFKaxE

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Dave Bird
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 777
From: Perth, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Jun 2000

posted 06-19-2018 10:25 PM

Thanks Frank!

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Adam Martin
I'm not even gonna point out the irony.

Posts: 3686
From: Dallas, TX
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 06-20-2018 09:55 AM

quote: Carsten Kurz
At what runtime approx. does this occur?

One of the bad guys uses the effect to hypnotize other characters. The effect is used heavily in several scenes throughout.

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