Scary technology - hack/slash movies?? (1 Viewer)

[Leo]

Saw the news story on TechTV Live about a new process to reduce duplicate frames from movies/TV in order to allow broadcasters to put in more commercials.
Link Removed

 

[Scott Kimball]

So, now we have computers making editing decisions.

When was the last time you met a computer with comic timing?

Reminds me of the time-compressed Wargames that plays on TV from time to time (though that was done by humans). The scene where Matthew Broderick and Dabney Coleman first meet in Coleman's office... orignally, the phone rings, and there is a very long, uncomfortable, dramatic pause as the two just stare at eachother, and finally Coleman answers the phone. In the time compressed version, he answers on the first ring.

Gee... since nothing happened in that 10 second span, it MUST be expendable...

-Scott

 

[Scott Bell]

This is insane!! Not only do they do this, but have the nerve to say that nothing is missed at all. It may be microseconds of film, but there needs to be a commitment to the Film/TV makers. Why not just tell TV show makers to cut the running time of all the shows. Something like this only the beginning of a lot of cut up movies. "They didnt miss one frame, so lets try 2 or 3 frames in a second. They'll never know!! (followed by evil laughter)"

 

[Gil Jawetz]

This reminds me of how radio stations sometimes slightly speed up long songs to get them over more quickly. If you are a tv station or a radio station and you are screwing with your content like that then maybe you need to either go to an all-commercial format so you can show just the stuff that you really want to show or just go the hell out of business.

He says the device is completely programmable, meaning TV stations can make sure ads run in full, while duplicate frames are removed from the program itself.

See? The only thing they respect is the commercials, not the programs. Just go all commercials then! I hate this sort of thing.

 

[Douglas Bailey]

Time compression has been around for a long while, and not just on TV, either.
The original Star Wars CED disc, issued by CBS/Fox way back in 1982, used time-compression to shoehorn the 121-minute movie -- plus studio logos, etc. -- onto a 120-minute CED disc. (source: http://www.cedmagic.com/featured/star-wars.html)
More recently, the MGM/UA laserdisc edition of Woody Allen's Love and Death (backed with Bananas) was also time-compressed: it was subtle enough that I didn't notice it until I had the chance to compare it to the DVD edition, which sounded much better.
The Love and Death disc was simply sped up: I imagine that the Star Wars CED probably was, too. This new frame-dropping technique is somewhat more sophisticated -- there's no pitch-change, fr'instance -- but I still think it's a violation of the integrity of the material on which it's used.
And knowing that so many stations are using this technique... well, I guess I don't feel too bad about abandoning US television all those years ago.
doug

 

[Jonathan David]

Also didn't a local American station get fined by the NFL for time compressing games so they could fit in more ads?

 

[RicP]

See? The only thing they respect is the commercials, not the programs. Just go all commercials then! I hate this sort of thing

Pardon me for pointing out the obvious but...
..since when has television ever been about anything except the commercials? That's why it was started, that's why it continues to prosper today. The content on television is there merely to sell advertising; it has been that way since the very beginning and there is no reason to think it will ever change.

 

[Sean Oneil]

Just tune out, that's what I do.

 

[Gil Jawetz]

Of course every business is about making money but they have to do it in trade for a service or product. When a milk company sells you milk their only objective is to get your money. But if they determine that it would be cheaper (and therefore more profitable) to sell you empty cartons then they would no longer be delivering on their part of the deal.

A TV station's job is to show the TV shows and in return get ad money. When they start trying to figure out how they can get around showing the shows but still take in the money (or take in even more money) they are starting to withdraw from their end of the bargain.

And then there is the whole "artistic intent" issue. If they don't want to pretend that there is anything artistic in their product then they should withdraw from awards shows and stuff like that that has the express purpose of rewarding "artistic quality". They should just go into the advertising business and leave it at that.