The "Public Safety Announcements" in the cinema

DOLEMAN

So... you pay your €9 for your cinema ticket. €5 for your popcorn. €4 for your drink. You make your way into your nice comfy seat and you sit down and watch 15 minutes of adverts. Then pops up the Public Safety Announcement.

Have any of you seen this ****? It's an advert disguised as an important message.

The one in the Savoy in Dublin is the worst. While it says things like "No smoking" and "Turn off your phone", messages like "Download ringtones and wallpaper" or "Great network coverage" or "Use 3G today" flash across the screen. Basically, it's an advert for Vodafone.

Now, I understand products need to advertise their services, and I understand cinemas rely a lot on adverts and expensive popcorn for their profits, but disguising adverts as "public safety announcements" is sick.

Seriously!!!!

/rant over

MrJoeSoap

Ah the cinema, the perfect example of rip-off Ireland. I'd rather spend €10k on a home cinema system than €9 on a ticket.

Lady_Macbeth

woohoo for being a student! well, monday to thursday at least in the savoy and 7 days in cineworld! woo hoo!

DOLEMAN

Lady_Macbeth wrote:

woohoo for being a student! well, monday to thursday at least in the savoy and 7 days in cineworld! woo hoo!

Yeah, but you still gotta watch the public service announcements

/note that us non-students can book our tickets as students via the respective cinema websites!

munkeehaven

They are a bit irritating alright.some cinemas still have the old ones where they just say "turn off your phone"


anyone hear any more about the digital screening thing thats supposed to be replacing the manual film reels to prevent people pirating films in the cinema?

Sam Vimes

DOLEMAN wrote:

Yeah, but you still gotta watch the public service announcements

/note that us non-students can book our tickets as students via the respective cinema websites!

it says on the website that you have to get them from the booth when you book online. will they print from the machine?

Peteee

munkeehaven wrote:

anyone hear any more about the digital screening thing thats supposed to be replacing the manual film reels to prevent people pirating films in the cinema?

No, but changing to digital isn't going to stop piracy. I'd imagine the opposite, as they could now get thier hands on a perfect digital copy.

And as for the public saftey announcements, yeah they are crap.

munkeehaven

http://www.dlp.com/dlp_cinema/dlp_cinema_digital_cinema_101.asp?bhcp=1
check that out
apparently it will be less easier to pirate with digital..i cant remember why..something to do with the screen (yes i am inept in this department )

DOLEMAN

Commander Vimes wrote:

it says on the website that you have to get them from the booth when you book online. will they print from the machine?

In Cineworld anyway the tickets print from a machine. Never had any problems!

Sparky

MrJoeSoap wrote:

Ah the cinema, the perfect example of rip-off Ireland. I'd rather spend €10k on a home cinema system than €9 on a ticket.

I can help you out in that field.

TheTruthFairy

That Vodafone ad really annoys me, it is so bloody long. Public safety information should be short so people don't get bored.

If mobile companies really cared about the annoyance of mobiles in the cinema then they should stop opposing signal blockers in cinemas instead of doing a boring long ad for their own products.

Banphrionsa

It's a trend. They have you captive, waiting for your film. Concession ads, and now other types of ads.

the_syco

MrJoeSoap wrote:

Ah the cinema, the perfect example of rip-off Ireland. I'd rather spend €10k on a home cinema system than €9 on a ticket.

Don't forget the €40 for the bb

Peteee wrote:

No, but changing to digital isn't going to stop piracy. I'd imagine the opposite, as they could now get thier hands on a perfect digital copy.

Each cinema will get a different copy, and at a random frame, a number inserted. You and I won't see it, but if a film was copied, all the producer would have to do, would be to look @ the frame, see the number, and fine the cinema which it belongs to. Or, they could do a investigation, and see if the cinema is doing the pirating themselves.

dobblerphoto

the_syco wrote:

Don't forget the €40 for the bb


Each cinema will get a different copy, and at a random frame, a number inserted. You and I won't see it, but if a film was copied, all the producer would have to do, would be to look @ the frame, see the number, and fine the cinema which it belongs to. Or, they could do a investigation, and see if the cinema is doing the pirating themselves.

Like any half a brained movie pirater wouldn't be able to figure that out and remove the frame. They may be pirater's, they're not thick...

Best thing to do about the safety announcements is just not watch them, arrive late, get your seat and then go out for a stroll while they're on, go for that piss that's only going to force you to miss a vital plot point later on, use the time to erase old text messages from your inbox before "turning it off completely", think impure thoughts for 30 seconds... There's plenty to be doing...

Peace

the_syco

dobblerphoto wrote:

Like any half a brained movie pirater wouldn't be able to figure that out and remove the frame. They may be pirater's, they're not thick...

24 frames a second, how many seconds in a film, the number may be anywhere in the picture... which part of random did you not get? Not impossible, but damn hard, and it'll ensure most of the cinema's will get caught.

Imagine trying to remove the frame with the number in it, in a film like... The Matrix:rolleyes::D

DaSilva

the_syco wrote:

24 frames a second, how many seconds in a film, the number may be anywhere in the picture... which part of random did you not get? Not impossible, but damn hard, and it'll ensure most of the cinema's will get caught.

Imagine trying to remove the frame with the number in it, in a film like... The Matrix:rolleyes::D

Your making it sound like it's some mammoth task, it probably will be for like the first month, after that they will know what they are looking for and that will be it.

24Fps, you dont actually have to look at every frame, you could have your pc do it, and to wait for a certain pixel to go a certain colour and then see if its the number. That is assuming you have a rough idea where the number flashes on the screen and what color it is.

Or you could take the easy route, and slap in an extra 50 or so numbers randomly in the film, and see if the companies try sue 50 cinemas

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

24 X 60 = a lot

and 60 X the average length of a movie is also = a lot

but like, I'm sure the piraters have plenty of friends who'd be willing to sit in front of a computer screen and endlessly flick through screens of a movie for some pot and maybe some beer.

Hagar

DOLEMAN wrote:

The one in the Savoy in Dublin is the worst. While it says things like "No smoking" and "Turn off your phone", messages like "Download ringtones and wallpaper" or "Great network coverage" or "Use 3G today" flash across the screen. Basically, it's an advert for Vodafone.

I use the time to scroll through all my ringtones and select a new one.:D

whiskeyman

DOLEMAN wrote:

but disguising adverts as "public safety announcements" is sick.

nothing new there tbh.
Look at road traffic safety ads sponsored by insurance companies..... the Diageo ads for responible drinking etc..
Fair enough, the vodafone one is a bit over the top, in that the "public safety announcement" have become a staple part of the cinema experience, almost up there with the "lets all go to the lobby" tune...
The importance of them as actual safety messages are minimal

whizzbang

Don't most films get pirated from the Oscar screener DVDs and the like? Not that many come from camcorder captures.

Sparky

whizzbang wrote:

Don't most films get pirated from the Oscar screener DVDs and the like? Not that many come from camcorder captures.

Most screeners anyway, some just have a thing that slides across maybe twice in the film, saying "property of whoever".

whizzbang

Sparky-s wrote:

Most screeners anyway, some just have a thing that slides across maybe twice in the film, saying "property of whoever".

Yep! I've got a couple of those alright