Popcorn Time: Hollywood's Worst Nightmare Is Only Just Beginning

sheepslayer247
Honestly, with the ability to get almost anything you want off the web, it would be wise for Hollywood to start streaming their content for free and sell advertising spots during the stream. I'd bet that would be much more profitable and no more need to spend the money to fight piracy.

They do that with cable TV networks - it's called premium channels and video-on-demand - with VOD you have to pay a small fee, around £2.50 to £3.50 watch a movie once. Other times, a particular premium channel is played unencrypted and you get to see the movies and trailers for free.

But there is a whole order of distribution to maximize revenue: movie theaters, cable networks pay-to-watch, video rentals, TV stations, store shelves. They won't release to another until the revenue from the others has fallen by a certain amount. In the UK, the newspapers give out free movie DVD's with their papers. These had a mix of movie trailers, adverts and a movie.

reply to post by AzureSky


Wait, you're saying avatar is a remake?

stutteringp0et
reply to post by AzureSky

 

Wait, you're saying avatar is a remake?

Yep it was a remake of "Dances with Smurfs" starring Kevin Costner

GeorgiaGirl

Soulhacking

GeorgiaGirl
I am always astounded at the number of you who think it is your right to have any digital content you want for free.

Piracy is theft. Period. You can say "everyone is doing it" or "movies are too expensive" or "they made enough money so why do they need mine" all day long, but you are still a thief.

No its not. Theft and stealing require the original is taken we are dealing with infinite copies. I can't wait till science invents a replicator like from star trek and we start coping food. The food corps will try and say its illegal to use as its piracy to make copies of hamburgers.

Um, no, your definition of theft and stealing is wrong. Theft is taking something that doesn't belong to you.

But, hey--whatever helps you live with yourself, right???

with a definition like that, i really hope you don't have ANY paper money on yourself. don't you? you are a thieve!! This paper does not belong to you and you took it from someone! It's federal reserve property, i suggest you to send it back to them right now.

When you watch a movie, you don't take anything from anyone as they still have the movie and they can watch it over and over again.

Hollywood is victim by its own design. They put hundred of millions in movies and i'm pretty sure a lot of this money could be spared if they were spending smartly. An actor doesnt need 50 millions to make a movie. Everything that touches this industry is over-inflated.

How could a low budget movie that doesn't come from hollywood make a really good score in the box office and a high budget movie be a total mindless POS? Right, because the ones that made the low budget movie spent smartly and put a lot of efforts to give a good product while the big a$$ hollywood only prides itself on the amount they've put into a movie.

They are supposed to like their job so they could surely do it for less as anyone in this industry. That way, they could significantly lower the costs of the movies for everyone to be able to purchase them 'legally' (with stolen money, see the above definition of theft).

Peace out.

What a lot of people don't understand with downloading torrents is not that they are taking money from the artists themselves, but that in fact creative industries that employ a lot of people are getting smaller and therefore reducing the amount of quality content that is produced. Sure, you get your American Idol, and your Justin Biebers, but a lot of smaller interesting music no longer is able to access the money that 'lowest common denominator' music can. Would it be possible for a David Bowie, A Led Zeppelin, or even a Camper Van Beethoven to make a living in this new digital world? Never mind the giant rockstars of old, most of them are sorted, but the new Indie music artists really suffer in this digital economy. Engineers, mixers and even teaboys can no longer find work in the industry. Similar things are happening in journalism, publishing, and film.

I don't know what the answer is (if there is any), but for anyone wanting to work in a creative industry who finds that there are less or no jobs available, it could be worth looking at whether you yourself have supported said industry in any way. For those bemoaning a lack of quality content, it could be worth pondering if illegal downloading has in any way contributed to this lack of quality that is available.

GeorgiaGirl
I am always astounded at the number of you who think it is your right to have any digital content you want for free.

Piracy is theft. Period. You can say "everyone is doing it" or "movies are too expensive" or "they made enough money so why do they need mine" all day long, but you are still a thief.

The US government seems to think it can have all of our home-made content for free, so why shouldn't everybody else be able to snarf up content for free?

Additionally, there are a lot of people who have bought LPs and then CDs of some albums, yet the record companies want to charge these people again for them to get a digital download copy.

As to theft and crime in general, corporations are involved in lots of crime and they get away with it because they buy off politicians. Why should anyone else feel that they have to play by the rules and give even more money to some of these corporations.

Then there is the fact that artists and others involved in creating content get paid relatively little relative to what the media corporations make. Again I don't know why anyone would feel compelled to put more money into the hands of already stinking rich executives.

What goes around ,
comes around .

The whole world knows Hollywood's
dirty little secret .

They have been stealing intellectual property for a long time
... so suck it up up Hellywood !

I wish i didnt have to [pay £10 for a single seat in a non 3D movie, and then have to put up with the fools talking through the movie.

I have to watch advertisements too!! I JUST PAYED A TENNER and yet i still have to put it with this, not fair at all.

Movie and tv piracy came about because of hollywoods greed, not through people being criminals.

The same goes for microsoft, they make a KILLING off business, they could just make home copies free for home users and schools - and they would still be filthy rich.

reply to post by Cabin


I wonder if you would feel the same if you worked for a movie company and I don't mean a star I mean anyone of the jobs listed in the credits such as.


Background Artist
Best Boy
Boom Operator
Camera Loader
Choreographer
Cinematographer
Color Consultant
Construction Coordinator
Costume Designer
Costumer
Dialog Coach
Dolly Grip
Editor
Extra
Foley Artist
Gaffer
Grip
Key Grip

That's the kind of people that really get hit by piracy NORMAL working people.

How would you feel if you worked for a company and people could PIRATE your product and you lost your job would you be so keen then somehow I don't think so

reply to post by wmd_2008


I would be absolutely at the mercy of market forces enacted by the negligence of my employer in protecting it's IP; the same as in any other industry.


US Movie industry revenues throughout the internet era: infobeautiful2.s3.amazonaws.com...

Harvey Weinstein doesnt need another swimming pool, Will Smith already has a private jet etc etc.

It's not my problem if the people who work lower down in the industry are ignored by their employers when it comes to job stability...time to find a "normal" job in an office like everyone else if they don't like it.

If Hollywood was actually serious about revenue it would stream new releases in HD at an accessible price point on a 1 time basis to anyone who wanted to watch at home rather than the cinema.
People would still pirate but at the right price in the right quality using the right delivery mechanism; the average joe who d/l's a movie but doesnt support theft might be tempted to pay?

Because it cost me £32 for car parking, 2 tickets and popcorn last time I went to the cinema; I don't go anymore.

If Hollywood goes under, something else will replace it.

As it stands there's more than enough money going around (with piracy) and all the people making millions per movie might have to settle for hundreds of thousands instead....?

I have a lot of thoughts on this subject. The first is that a digital copy is not theft. The original owners still have the original piece of work. The example was brought up earlier in the thread but making a recording from a radio broadcast is not theft, it's simply duplication. We can all thank Mr. Rogers for being critical in that being the case from a legal standpoint. Digital copies are still duplication not theft.

Soulhacking
Um, no, your definition of theft and stealing is wrong. Theft is taking something that doesn't belong to you.

But, hey--whatever helps you live with yourself, right???

My reply to your post is theft by your definition. I have copied the contents of it without your permission and am using it for my own purposes. This is no different than copying a movie, book, song, tv show, or game, it's all just digital data.

sheepslayer247
reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan

 

Just think, with the technology we have these days, the ads that scroll across the bottom of the movie could be tailored to each viewer based on their activity on the net.

For example, if you happen to be in the market for a gorilla suit and have searched the web trying to find the right one, a banner could scroll across the screen during the movie advertising "XYZ Gorilla suits".

You're trying to come up with a solution but there's a couple problems here. Who wants a copy of a movie with embedded advertising? Why not just get the pirated movie without advertising which improves the viewing experience AND costs you less? This is a lesson pc video game developers have already learned (my field, it also happens to have a piracy rate of 97% compared to the movie industries relatively low 15% rate in the US). If you give the paying customer a worse product than the pirated copy, no one is going to buy your product.

Aside from that, trust me you do not want corporations to have access to your internet search habits. Using them for targeted advertising is only the tip of the iceberg. All the stuff the NSA does, do you want a bunch of large corporations doing the same thing to you?

If you want to sell advertising in a movie you need to be more subtle about it such as product placement. That may mean it's less effective by some measurements, but in otherways it's more effective because people are actually paying attention rather than tuning it out. I don't know how it relates to ad effectiveness on the whole but it's what the industry needs to move to. They already do product placement but it's a bit weak. With the technology today anyone with the knowledge of 3d software (something I have as one of my degrees is in the field) and the proper filming techniques can rent product placement on an already aired broadcast.

With the proper setup what a company can do is film each episode of a TV show using products that are completely brandless but the objects themselves are fitted with markers so that cameras can track them in a scene. After the scene is filmed someone can go in and attach each object to a certain image file. The computer can then render the scene with that image over the object. With a few keystrokes you could change the textures to a new directory and have a totally different set of product branding in the scene. This technology is already widely used for special effects in movies and TV. For example, think of Harvey Dent's face in The Dark Knight where they overlay a physical deformation onto the actors skin. This is a relatively simple effect and something that can be applied broadly to products in movies and tv shows.

This would allow not just more subtle advertising but it would let the companies license advertising for a set amount of time. In Stargate SG1 (sorry my references are out of date... I don't watch TV so can't name a current show) their computers are Dell and always will be Dell. But a tv show filmed this way could be using Coke cans on the first airing, Pepsi on the repeat, and Jones on the DVD release. All from a scene that was only filmed once. Companies could even do something like have one model of cell phone on the first release, but when the DVD comes out a season later have the phone updated to look like the new model (assuming it has roughly the same dimensions).

This type of product placement gives both studios and advertisers more control of branding, which leads to less intrusive advertisement and a better viewer experience.

Of course if you want to get evil, you take everything I just said and attach using search your history to target product advertisements. But then you're back at step one, people are going to avoid the product that's trying to exploit them.

wmd_2008
How would you feel if you worked for a company and people could PIRATE your product and you lost your job would you be so keen then somehow I don't think so

edit on 25-3-2014 by wmd_2008 because: (no reason given)

Hi. I don't believe we've met. I'm a computer game developer. In the past I worked for SOE, then I went to college, and now I try to make games on my own in between working other jobs (major lack of opportunity in my area) while establishing myself. It's the field with a 97% piracy rate on blockbuster titles (this means there's 1 legit copy of the game out there for every ~33 non legit copies). Want to know what it did to my field? It changed it for the better. The major studios are starting to crumble. There's still some good ones that put out some truly exceptional products but many large-midsize companies are falling away because they clung to an outdated model.

Know what games thrive these days? It's games with a subscription service. It lets you sell the game again and again, provides continual rather than one shot income, and provides decent (though not absolute) protection from piracy. Then you have the world of indie games which has been a fairly recent thing. Some truly amazing work has come out of them.

Jukiodone
reply to post by wmd_2008

 

It's not my problem if the people who work lower down in the industry are ignored by their employers when it comes to job stability...time to find a "normal" job in an office like everyone else if they don't like it.

I will ask YOU if that was your job on the line would you feel the same

reply to post by Jukiodone


Well you know what to do do what I did have your OWN home cinema.

92 inches of HD for just over 20 of your cinema trips!!! I have hundreds of dvd's all LEGIT never paid full price for any and about 60+ Blurays all legit never paid full price for those either, the price drops very quickly and there are always deals to be had.

Also if you stick another 15 cinema trips in your piggy bank you can have 800 watts of surround sound as well.

No parking charges and guess what my popcorn is cheaper as well.

Also its great for tv and the kids games.

reply to post by wmd_2008


I listed the reasons in the OP...

The problems lies in the international policies of the companies. The prices are set incredibly high for even poorer nations, so that the people there have to wait 2-3 years for some movie or series coming out. Rather lose the international regional policies. When something comes out, it immediately should be available to every nation around the world. Why make countries wait for the time the prices go down? Rather get the same money immediately for the series. Personalise the prices of buying in the movies/series according to the nations average salary. It is impossible for channels in small nations to pay same amount as some US channel does... The target group is so much smaller, which leads to significantly lower advertising income. The current regional policies do not work, as certain regions are simply left out because of this. More popular things reach there year-two later (unless cinemas, which have same movies as US currently does), less popular often never reach these countries. Most people are living now. People are talking what is happening in Breaking Bad or whatever popular series right now, rather than what was happening two seasons ago. Internet is global, you have friends all around the world. Why do you have to wait for some copy (which no harder to make than ctrl+c) to reach your country, when others get it now...

wmd_2008
reply to post by Jukiodone

 

Well you know what to do do what I did have your OWN home cinema.

92 inches of HD for just over 20 of your cinema trips!!! I have hundreds of dvd's all LEGIT never paid full price for any and about 60+ Blurays all legit never paid full price for those either, the price drops very quickly and there are always deals to be had.

Also if you stick another 15 cinema trips in your piggy bank you can have 800 watts of surround sound as well.

No parking charges and guess what my popcorn is cheaper as well.

Also its great for tv and the kids games.

edit on 25-3-2014 by wmd_2008 because: (no reason given)

I guess when you invest good money in quality home cinema equipment, you don't like to waste time on some crappy downed content. Got myself 140 inch off HD3D on the wall and wont even bother to get anything but 3Dbluray. Don't pay too much more for the 3D version and what WM says, just wait a few months and get your keeps cheaper than a trip to the cinema would cost yah. No cinema I have been to recently can compete with a half decent HDprojector, if the source is not compressed to bricks that is.

You have one smooth crispy frame there. What projector is that?

I agree it is a type of theft however i disagree with a lot of the reasoning.

Digital copy some of you are saying is theft therefore if i take a photograph of any work of art is that then theft too?

If i download a legal copy should i have to pay again if i want it on my pc, tv, kindle,pad or does paying for 1 download allow me to make multiple digital copies legally?

If just for personal use I assume you want me to pay to copy it on to my 'x' number of children's devices too ?

I stopped going to the cinema years ago as for the price of a couple tickets, travel, parking I can subscribe for probably 6 months and watch in the comfort of my own home and i don't need to pay each time i watch it as well as being able to watch it when i want to and not when it's convenient for the cinema.

Also yes the internet is costing the film industry jobs but then it has cost many other industries a lot more jobs - like high street business. This is nothing new as technology advances more and more people have no jobs to do - look at how labour intensive farming and manufacturing used to be, employing most of the labour force but not any more.

GeorgiaGirl
I am always astounded at the number of you who think it is your right to have any digital content you want for free.

Piracy is theft. Period. You can say "everyone is doing it" or "movies are too expensive" or "they made enough money so why do they need mine" all day long, but you are still a thief.

True but what about the Hollywood corporations/lobbyist buying our senators to pass laws that are anti competitive and manipulating the market to force the consumer to pay what ever they dictate. Is that right?

Also What about the Trillions they steal from the public? Why are their more prosecuted teenagers who downloaded a song than corporate executives or senators that rob the general public on a daily basis?

The findings verify that over $16 trillion was allocated to corporations and banks internationally, purportedly for “financial assistance” during and after the 2008 fiscal crisis.

www.forbes.com...

reply to post by wmd_2008


/jealous.
I occasionally acquire a digital version of movies that I already physically own and there are lots of sites offering 1080p blu-ray HD rips if you can a: find them and b: bear downloading >7GB.

In reply to the person asking me what I would think if it was me: I have already answered: no one has a right to employment so unless that dolly grip/foley artist can come up with a way to either distribute at a fair price or protect from copying; it's just tough.

Next you'll be suggesting we protect people who work in typewriter manufacturing or weep about the guys who got fired when ceefax shut down?

Maybe ban 3d printing because it will mean CNC guys have less work..
If your job skill set is being able to crush some polystyrene in time to Russel Crowe eating some crisps on screen- maybe consider nightschool??

Jukiodone
reply to post by wmd_2008

 

/jealous.
I occasionally acquire a digital version of movies that I already physically own and there are lots of sites offering 1080p blu-ray HD rips if you can a: find them and b: bear downloading >7GB.

In reply to the person asking me what I would think if it was me: I have already answered: no one has a right to employment so unless that dolly grip/foley artist can come up with a way to either distribute at a fair price or protect from copying; it's just tough.

Next you'll be suggesting we protect people who work in typewriter manufacturing or weep about the guys who got fired when ceefax shut down?

Maybe ban 3d printing because it will mean CNC guys have less work..
If your job skill set is being able to crush some polystyrene in time to Russel Crowe eating some crisps on screen- maybe consider nightschool??

COMPETITION IS FAIR in business ie another company shoots the film for a more competitive price, THAT'S not what piracy does and you know that!!!!

bigfatfurrytexan

gwynnhwyfar

sheepslayer247
reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan

 

Product placement is doing quite well these days, isn't it? It generates revenue and the viewer, although they may not notice, is being pushed towards a certain product.

I wouldn't put commercials in to the streams, but I would run "banners". Throughout the movie, they could run small banners that advertises for Coke or whomever pays for that ad. There are no commercials to walk away from and you are still holding the attention of the viewer.

Noooooo....! We hates banners...... Not more banners, please!

better a banner than to have to stop for a commercial

True dat!