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The Avengers: Why Pirates Failed To Prevent A Box Office Record

torrentfreak.com

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Re: The Avengers: Why Pirates Failed To Prevent A Box Office Record

#81

Post by lawnchair_larry »

AndyKelley wrote: post #76
tptacek wrote: post #74

Fatuous. A cam'd version of The Avengers is not a market substitute for seeing the movie in a theater. Of the movies you could possibly consider this way, The Avengers is among the least amenable to substitution via cam'd copies. All the widely-available torrents of The Avengers are cam'd or equivalent. There aren't screeners circulating. A DVD rip is a near-perfect substitute for a DVD (or a streamed version of the…

I don't think you read the entire article, which explained everything you said here quite clearly.

Entire article? He didn't even read the bold teaser, evidently. That was, indeed, the entire point of the article.

There are a few sites that tptacek will insta-contrarian on HN. Torrentfreak is one of them. You know the xkcd comic about someone is wrong on the internet? Substitute "being wrong" for "generating rageviews with libertarian nerds" and that is tptacek.

"Despite the widespread availability of pirated releases, The Avengers just scored a record-breaking $200 million opening weekend at the box office. While some are baffled to see that piracy failed to crush the movie’s profits, it’s really not that surprising. Claiming a camcorded copy of a movie seriously impacts box office attendance is the same as arguing that concert bootlegs stop people from seeing artists on stage."

Re: The Avengers: Why Pirates Failed To Prevent A Box Office Record

#82

Post by lawnchair_larry »

cdr wrote: post #36
jcr wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I certainly do not qualify for "have the background" but I do have some information. One part is cost of reproduction; it's rumored to cost $1,500 for each reproduced film reel set. The current work (that I know about) is the move towards digital distribution. http://singularityhub.com/2012/04/27/movie-theaters-ramp-up-... Another part is translation. Though language barriers have been decreasing during the last two…

My local indie theater recently ran a substantial (for them) fundraising campaign to upgrade to digital. They claimed that within a year or two, the major studios were going digital only and any theater without digital would be completely shut out. I didn't verify this, but I have no reason to doubt them.

Kevin Smith just mentioned this on reddit today as well.

"I like both, but it doesn't matter what I think, as the last 35mm film camera rolled off the assembly line months back and most studios are ceasing print distribution altogether: first overseas, then domestically."

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/tcxgh/i_am_thekevin_sm...

Re: The Avengers: Why Pirates Failed To Prevent A Box Office Record

#83

Post by fryguy »

mayanksinghal wrote: post #49

> anti-camcording technologies [ http://torrentfreak.com/movie-spy-cameras-attack-the-dying-a... ] This is largely off-topic but I was wondering if there are any other popular anti-camcording technologies? Also could a large IR lamp facing the viewers (or aimed at screen) be used to disrupt the usage of camcorders? This will be additionally beneficial as a large part of the world requires heating solutions during sig…

At the avengers screening I saw at midnight, it was like an oven in the theatre. That's not the best idea with a room full of comic book nerds. In theory, as long as the lamp is as bright as the movie it would make the movies really dim for anybody recording it.

Re: The Avengers: Why Pirates Failed To Prevent A Box Office Record

#84

Post by mayanksinghal »

fryguy wrote: post #83
mayanksinghal wrote: post #49

> anti-camcording technologies [ http://torrentfreak.com/movie-spy-cameras-attack-the-dying-a... ] This is largely off-topic but I was wondering if there are any other popular anti-camcording technologies? Also could a large IR lamp facing the viewers (or aimed at screen) be used to disrupt the usage of camcorders? This will be additionally beneficial as a large part of the world requires heating solutions during sig…

At the avengers screening I saw at midnight, it was like an oven in the theatre. That's not the best idea with a room full of comic book nerds. In theory, as long as the lamp is as bright as the movie it would make the movies really dim for anybody recording it.

Didn't know that idea is already used, I was just throwing a possibility!

Re: The Avengers: Why Pirates Failed To Prevent A Box Office Record

#85

Post by tptacek »

lawnchair_larry wrote: post #81
AndyKelley wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think you read the entire article, which explained everything you said here quite clearly.

Entire article? He didn't even read the bold teaser, evidently. That was, indeed, the entire point of the article. There are a few sites that tptacek will insta-contrarian on HN. Torrentfreak is one of them. You know the xkcd comic about someone is wrong on the internet? Substitute "being wrong" for "generating rageviews with libertarian nerds" and that is tptacek. "Despite the widespread availability of pirated rele…

I read the entire article; my point is that it doesn't say anything. Did anyone think Avengers cams were what Hollywood is truly concerned about with BitTorrent?

Re: The Avengers: Why Pirates Failed To Prevent A Box Office Record

#86

Post by lloeki »

sliverstorm wrote: post #80
nextparadigms wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine how much money they could make if they released a 1080p HD version online, globally, 4 weeks at most after the launch in cinemas, and for a price of $5. That may or may not kill the cinemas in the long term, depending on how hard they fight to become more competitive and unique compared to watching the movie at home, but it would definitely not hurt the studios and movie makers. If anything, they stand to mak…

720p or 480p would be more realistic; the bandwidth costs for serving 1080p would chew through that $5 pretty quickly. (Assuming reasonable video bitrates) Besides, a very large chunk of consumers own machines that cannot handle 1080p. Before you scream bloody murder, remember DVDs are only 480p.

For 5~6€, Zune on XBox 360 streams movies at 1080p while iTunes/Apple TV streams 720p and soon 1080p (or is that the case already?).

Re: The Avengers: Why Pirates Failed To Prevent A Box Office Record

#87

Post by ChuckMcM »

Nice post, he fails to mention that the camcorder version may have increased ticket sales. I know people who have watched a torrent of a movie to see if it was worth the $10 - $20 it costs to see it in the theater.

So of the 100,000 people who downloaded it, it would be interesting to poll how many went to see it after seeing that it was a decent movie.

Re: The Avengers: Why Pirates Failed To Prevent A Box Office Record

#88

Post by lawnchair_larry »

tptacek wrote: post #85
lawnchair_larry wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Entire article? He didn't even read the bold teaser, evidently. That was, indeed, the entire point of the article. There are a few sites that tptacek will insta-contrarian on HN. Torrentfreak is one of them. You know the xkcd comic about someone is wrong on the internet? Substitute "being wrong" for "generating rageviews with libertarian nerds" and that is tptacek. "Despite the widespread availability of pirated rele…

I read the entire article; my point is that it doesn't say anything. Did anyone think Avengers cams were what Hollywood is truly concerned about with BitTorrent?

It says that cam recordings are not a big deal. Hollywood claims they are a big deal. This has nothing to do with concerns about BitTorrent - you've introduced a straw man. An article about what they are doing to "combat cam recordings" is linked[1]. This includes sending people to jail for capturing a few seconds on their cell phone[2][3].

[1]https://torrentfreak.com/movie-spy-cameras-attack-the-dying-...

[2]https://torrentfreak.com/new-moon-pirate-camming-farce-comes...

[3]http://gizmodo.com/twilight-bootleg/

Re: The Avengers: Why Pirates Failed To Prevent A Box Office Record

#89

Post by rmc »

ljf wrote: post #26
rmc wrote: post #21

that there is a detrimental effect on international box office figures. The researchers attribute this impact to the wide release gaps Damn right. It makes sense that if you release a film in Europe 6 months after the USA that there will be more piracy in Europe. Why should we have to wait? There is a simple solution: Release films at the same time/day. This is an example of piracy making things better for the consum…

It's a hangover from the 'old days' where those lower down the release date list got 'hand me down' film reels. Reels are one of the last major costs for film distributors, and even in the face of piracy they would rather cut costs there, than put there risk onto their own shoulders and produce more reels. They are scared of being stuck with a flop movie, and many theatres in the UK and elsewhere outside of the USofA…

until we have digital projecting, I'm not sure how it will be solved

Digital projectors exist. Physical reels are unnecessary. The general public does not care that it's expensive for you, we want to watch films now. Cinemas of the world: Adapt or die.

Re: The Avengers: Why Pirates Failed To Prevent A Box Office Record

#90

Post by Kuiper »

sliverstorm wrote: post #80
nextparadigms wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine how much money they could make if they released a 1080p HD version online, globally, 4 weeks at most after the launch in cinemas, and for a price of $5. That may or may not kill the cinemas in the long term, depending on how hard they fight to become more competitive and unique compared to watching the movie at home, but it would definitely not hurt the studios and movie makers. If anything, they stand to mak…

720p or 480p would be more realistic; the bandwidth costs for serving 1080p would chew through that $5 pretty quickly. (Assuming reasonable video bitrates) Besides, a very large chunk of consumers own machines that cannot handle 1080p. Before you scream bloody murder, remember DVDs are only 480p.

CrunchyRoll offers unlimited 1080p streaming for a $7 monthly subscription.
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