"A brave young man...who saw a broken machine...and fixed it."

January 26, 2012 6:41 PM

After a string of projector malfunctions occurred during a screening of Martin Scorsese's Hugo in New York City, the pre-show advertising began playing over the film's climactic scene. Metahilarity ensues.
posted by alexoscar (45 comments total)

Fabulous! Accidental mashups are the BEST!

And the audience took it really well! Really enjoyed it! Maybe move theaters should start trying this kind of thing more often!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:46 PM on January 26 [4 favorites]

Some of those YouTube commentors need to get back on their meds. Sheesh.
posted by Xoebe at 6:48 PM on January 26

Some of those YouTube commentors need to get back on their meds.

Good lord, you... you... you READ YouTube comments?
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:50 PM on January 26 [33 favorites]

Fabulous! Accidental mashups are the BEST!
Agreed, but is this another example of turning up the volume on ads? The advertising seems much "louder" than the Scorsese.
posted by StickyCarpet at 6:50 PM on January 26

Years ago I saw a screening of La Dolce Vita that was subtitled in English. Except rather than having the subtitles on the screen, they scrolled on a red LED display *below* the screen. Awful, awful way to do it. But it got even worse when the subtitles somehow got corrupted and restarted from the beginning. My memory is pretty hazy, but I'm pretty sure there is a scene near the end where the protagonists are standing around some dead sea creature on a beach. Now subtitled with the dialogue from a nightclub scene at the start: "you have such beautiful eyes...". No-one seemed to catch that mistake either.
posted by tim_in_oz at 6:50 PM on January 26 [2 favorites]

[fixed the link, carry on]
posted by jessamyn at 6:51 PM on January 26

I like this.

Then I realized with horror that this is the future. Ads directly overlaid on movies. Just fucking mashed right on top.
posted by odinsdream at 6:56 PM on January 26 [9 favorites]

"Everyday, I'm shufflin'"

- Martin Scorsese
posted by Mister Fabulous at 6:56 PM on January 26 [9 favorites]

Wait, some business has 866-666-6666 as its actual phone number? I thought if you called that number it rang the hotline in hell!

Of course, in hell, they're all hotlines.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 6:58 PM on January 26 [11 favorites]

Ads directly overlaid on movies. Just fucking mashed right on top.

Well, product placement ain't all that different, is it?
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:01 PM on January 26

No, I mean literally this exact thing is what I think will be the future. Already people accept ads all over their browser, all over their smartphones, tablets, e-Readers.

The first step will be sidebars playing along with the movie. The next step will be this.
posted by odinsdream at 7:05 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]

Looked like the guy shooting it was trying to follow it with his 3D glasses on, his view was drifting all over the place... I wish I knew what it must have been like watching both 3D and 2D at once, wish he could have captured that. cmon, bootlegging technology, catch up!
posted by gusandrews at 7:05 PM on January 26

The actor reminded me of Mr. French from A Family Affair for some reason.
posted by KokuRyu at 7:13 PM on January 26

Wait, Hugo is in 3D?
posted by swift at 7:23 PM on January 26

This was probably just the universe breaking through consensus reality to roll its eyes at Hollywood annointing top contenders that are both films about the joy of Hollywood.

Good lord, you... you... you READ YouTube comments?

The top comment is good:

To correct the description, the "film" didn't "broke" -- Regal is all Digital now. The file was possibly corrupted and caused the movie to stop, kicking on the pre-show. The manager probably re-started the movie from a laptop in his office [i.e., no one in the booth paying attention], and this is what you get.
posted by mediareport at 7:31 PM on January 26

All the giggling is what got me. That and the stupid dancing hamsters.
posted by Existential Dread at 7:31 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]

Wait, Hugo is in 3D?

Yeah, and it was pretty good 3d. Not the blow you away kind but the kind that adds a ton of depth to the visual elements of the film. Loved that movie.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 7:46 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]

No, I mean literally this exact thing is what I think will be the future. Already people accept ads all over their browser, all over their smartphones, tablets, e-Readers.

Uhh, no they don't.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:47 PM on January 26 [5 favorites]

MetaFilter: Good lord, you... you... you READ YouTube comments?
posted by ZenMasterThis at 7:49 PM on January 26 [4 favorites]

Yikes! Still, could have been worse; they could have sat through a full screening of Hugo.
posted by Greg Nog at 8:12 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]

No, I mean literally this exact thing is what I think will be the future. Already people accept ads all over their browser, all over their smartphones, tablets, e-Readers.


I am hating that regular tv (dishnetwork, but basic stations) have lower third adds that look exactly like the ones on youtube and take up as much relative space, if not more, and you can't click them away. >_<

Sadly i couldn't stop laughing at this video, although i'd be pretty pissed if i paid that much for a movie ticket and this happened. Even refunded, i go to theaters so rarely that it would have ruined my evening. :P
posted by usagizero at 9:04 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]

Our local small-town cinema had a hiccup where an anti-smoking / cancer will eat your face type commercial had it's audio play over the top of a fantastic four trailer.

Something along the lines of "every cigarette is doing you damage / this is what happens to your body when you smoke" was being solemnly uttered while the human torch caught fire and flew off into space.

Guessing there's a few kids that smoked themselves into a coma after that one.
posted by fluffypancakes at 9:05 PM on January 26 [2 favorites]

It does look amazing. 21st century aesthetics. I wonder how two overlaid layers of 3D would look through the glasses...

(On top of what mediareport said about how the show being digital meant there probably wasn't anyone upstairs paying attention, it's likely that even if there HAD been they wouldn't have been able to do much about it, if it really was a problem with the digital file itself hiccuping and making the preshow kick in).
posted by bubukaba at 9:10 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]

Correct me if im wrong but I'm pretty sure the pre show is done with a much much much shittier projector than the main feature, probably to save bulb life. So what you have here is two projectors running simultaneously. So if they'd known it would be a real simple fix.
posted by nathancaswell at 9:16 PM on January 26

Could be, depends on the theater and the level of automation they've got going on up there.

It almost certainly is two projectors running simultaneously - I don't know of any way you can get two image sources going through a single projector!
posted by bubukaba at 9:20 PM on January 26

So why would they be unable to fix this? Turn the pre show projector off.
posted by nathancaswell at 9:24 PM on January 26

moviegoers got to watch the climactic thirty minutes of the film with the commercials for the cinema laid on top.

it actually breaks my brain a bit that hey would sit through hlf an hour of this. a minute or two, maybe, and watch he rest if it gets fixed, but more than that and it's off to the manager and get my money back time.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 9:36 PM on January 26 [2 favorites]

How the hell does that happen?
posted by Anything at 9:38 PM on January 26

I'm amazed they haven't arrested the YouTube guy for pirating Hugo with his phonecam...
posted by the_artificer at 9:41 PM on January 26

The advertising seems much "louder" than the Scorsese.

I don't think it's so much that the ads are visually louder, I think it's more that movies like Hugo are being post-produced down to inoffensive teal and orange palettes. [previously]
posted by rh at 9:43 PM on January 26

wrong link: teal and orange...
posted by rh at 9:45 PM on January 26

Wow, it may not be related to what happened at the Hugo showing, but the description of the keys used to unlock digital "prints" (aka DCPs or Digital Cinema Packages) in bubukaba's link is fascinating:

Because the [DCP] file is ingested into a projector it can...be kept there indefinitely and so, having created this situation themselves, the studios and distributors lock the files so that they can only be screened at the times scheduled, booked and paid for by the cinema. This means each DCP comes with what is called a KDM (Key Delivery Message). The KDM unlocks the content of the file and allows the cinema to play the film. It is time sensitive and often is only valid from around 10 minutes prior to the screening time and expiring as close to 5 minutes after the scheduled time. Aside from the obvious fact that this means screenings really do need to run according to scheduled time, it is also means the projectionist can’t test to see if the KDM works or that the quality of the film is right before show time. This isn’t always a problem. But when it is....

The next part, about the cumbersome process you have to go through if the KDM doesn't work, is also interesting.
posted by mediareport at 9:46 PM on January 26 [2 favorites]

What a shame no reviews of the movie included the phrase "Scorcese's bold yet baffling choice to sell out and include the dancing kia hamsters...."
posted by zarq at 9:50 PM on January 26 [3 favorites]

nathancaswell, it really does depend on the how the system is set up at that theater. Most theaters are using something like an AMX system to control how all of the components in their booth talk to each other. Depending on how their system is configured - and I've only worked with systems that are configured to give a lot of control to the projectionists, with no automation at all, so I am speculating here - it's possible that just turning off the preshow projector wouldn't be as simple as hitting "off". Maybe the glitches in the DCP file of Hugo they were showing were repeatedly causing the automation to kick the preshow projector back on, even with some projectionist hitting the video mute every time. Maybe it was something as dumb as the 'video mute' relay for the preshow projector being busted (we were having a similar issue with the sound mute at the theater I work at recently). But we really can't know for sure without knowing what the tech set-up is at the theater where this happened.

The main point, though, is that it's often much more difficult for projectionists to fix things when they go wrong with elaborate digital systems that they don't have direct control over, even when they are actually able to be there keeping an eye on things. Of course, things can also go horribly wrong with elaborate physical-film projection systems - wish I could find a picture!! - but even then the system is in the direct control of the projectionist, and there is almost always a physically achievable solution to the problem.

Of course, the ultimate physical intervention was still open to whoever was running this booth: piece of cardboard over the port window. (Unless the projector was mounted on the ceiling higher than they could reach and they didn't have a ladder...)

...but all of this is assuming that whoever was in charge of the booth - if they were present - was competent to deal with the the problem. Considering that the average pay for motion picture projectionists is in minimum wage territory (though it is higher than average in NYC - I believe they still have a union), there's certainly no guarantee of that, and that I won't argue with.
posted by bubukaba at 10:09 PM on January 26 [3 favorites]

Good lord, you... you... you READ YouTube comments?

The first thing I do with any new browser install is adblock and then something to remove all youtube comments (chrome: No Youtube Comments). My roomie at one point asked why I don't just 'not read the comments', and I had to explain that it was akin to trying to eat dinner off of a plate that is precariously balanced over an open sewer. Sure, your food isn't actually TOUCHING all of the human effluvia below, but it's so close, and so easy to slip...
posted by FatherDagon at 10:34 PM on January 26 [4 favorites]

My guess is it was two separate projectors. You can see that, visually the images are 'added', meaning the light from both is hitting the screen. If it were an in-computre glitch you'd expect to see the images averaged.

I went back to check the comments and found these gems.

If SOPA passes the uploader of this video will be extradited to Syria and dipped into a vat of acid for 1000 hours, which is what the founding fathers would have wanted.

NothingToCompareItTo 3 hours ago

---

WOAH WOAH.. YOU RECORDED THE INSIDE OF A CINEMA?! UH UHH.. NO WAY! PACK YOUR BAGS FOR GITMO, TERRORIST!

desktorp 1 week ago

Funny. But it is actually a federal felony to film inside a movie theater these days.
posted by delmoi at 10:37 PM on January 26 [4 favorites]

Relevant posters from the National Association of Theatre Owners (click thumbnails for EXTREMELY LARGE, AMAZING JPGS).
posted by bubukaba at 10:42 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]

Jesus, sometimes I really hate Hollywood.
posted by mediareport at 10:45 PM on January 26

Relevant posters from the National Association of Theatre Owners (click thumbnails for EXTREMELY LARGE, AMAZING JPGS).

NATO looks ripe for some primo Photoshop fun.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 2:53 AM on January 27

How the hell does that happen?
posted by Anything at 12:38 AM on January 27 [+] [!]

Ask the 16 year old in the booth. No scratch that, because there is no one in the booth. Whatever happened to the Projectionists Union?
posted by Gungho at 5:46 AM on January 27

I saw Dazed and Confused when it was playing at the multi-multiplex discount dollar theatres. The cheap theatres. The theatres weren't pretty, they weren't big, the screen was dirty, they had no frills but, by gum, admission was dollar.

Anyhoop, the movie is set in the 1970s and the look and soundtrack were important elements. During one scene set at night when everyone was sitting around toking up, the song All Time High played softly in the background. That was weird, thought I. That's a James Bond theme from the 80s. Still, "All Time High", I get it, but someone working on the movie slipped up on that one.

The movie ensues. During the next quieter part of the film I notice Moonraker playing in the background. Well that song was from the 70s but I was confused at why it would be used. What was the running James Bond subtext for?

By the next quieter scene I realized they had not cut out the lobby music in the theatre and they simply were playing a tape of James Bonds themes over the entire movie. :P

You get what you pays for.
posted by mazola at 6:31 AM on January 27 [1 favorite]

I might go see that film now. Scorsese often makes real snorers, but this one look like a hoot! Who knew he was such an absurdist?

This is like an updated "Let's all go to the snack-bar" homage. Hilarious!
posted by clvrmnky at 9:29 AM on January 27

I like YouTube comments, but the video is gone now.
posted by mrgrimm at 10:14 AM on January 27

Having worked as a projectionist for the last four years, This whole story just feels like a cathartic release as it shows just how bad things can fuck up with digital.
First, for all the people blaming any person in the theatre for this: *Fuck You*
I can assure you with almost 100% certainty that this had nothing to do with them. The 3.5 hours they had to wait through this thing *IS* someone's fault as I would have cancelled that show ages before then, but the movie breaking has nothing to do with a projectionist.
We're all smart people here in The Blue, we kinda know how a 35mm print of a movie works. If the movie stops, there's a physical problem. You can either fix the problem in time, or you can't.
With a digital projector, it's a whole other ball game.
You know when your computer freezes on you, and you don't really know why? Sure, you can run scans later. But not while the computers frozen. So you need to reboot the thing first, maybe even start it in safe mode.
Same thing with Digital Projectors, it's nothing more than a linux distro running the projector program. Something crashes, you need to restart it. But you don't have 200 people waiting for your home computer to boot back up. So even if the projector only takes 5 minutes to reboot, it feels like *ages*
Regarding the KDM files, yes they suck just as much as that article suggests. Our key for the re-release of Ghostbusters activated 10 minutes before the show, and ended *3 minutes* after the show was scheduled to end. If there had been some sort of variant in the schedule, the movie would have stopped just as credits rolled.

Which, btw, is exactlly what happened here. This theatre had a small projector, almost like the kind you can buy in Best Buy, that runs the pre-show. The clusterfuck in the Hugo screening ran into the scheduled time for the ads (which don't actually start until about 20 minutes before the *next* show for just these sort of situations) and since there's two projectors, you had two images. This is why most of the chains are switching to just having the One Projector and having the bulb go on half power between shows.
posted by WeX Majors at 10:30 AM on January 27 [8 favorites]

Is there any way to see this video now that it has been taken down from these links?
posted by matt_arnold at 7:15 PM on January 31 [1 favorite]