Follow Up: Pirating.. How do You Feel About it?

I'm glad to read that many of you who read this blog agree with my stand that pirating movies is wrong. Trying to do some more research on this, I found this article on how the MPAA is ruining the movie experience. Long story short, the couple in the article felt they were subject to unfair treatment while attending the screening. (Cell phones being checked, guards maintaining surveillance throughout the movie) I've worked my fair share of screenings, and this is pretty standard procedure at all of them. It's reasonable for the production companies to try their best to protect their multi-million dollar investment! If you paid a few million dollars for something you were going to allow people to see for free, wouldn't you want there to be some security there so that no one could make a quick buck off of what you worked so hard/invested so much money in? I think most people would say yes to this. However, it also needs to be considered that this security issue would be no big deal if there weren't people out there who make a living by pirating movies. If there were no pirates, then security would not be as tight, and the experience more enjoyable.

To save yourself some trouble and enhance the experience of everyone in the theatre, just leave your phone in your car if you're going to a screening (or any movie in general). If you must bring it with you, expect it to be checked or not be allowed into the theatre. It's just people trying to protect their investment. What I'm basically saying is, I don't agree with the article I've linked above. There are always a few people out there who make it harder on everyone else. In this case, its the pirates. As for the experience itself, people need to realize that going out to a movie doesn't mean you can act like you do at home. Maybe its the fact that so many people are seeing movies at home where they can act however they want that brings about this attitude. Long-time moviegoers often know common courtesy when it comes to watching a movie in theatres!

This article provides a pretty good explanation on some of what I'm writing about here. I kinda like the idea of a plant in a theatre to make an impression on guests about not using their phones in theatres. It also provides a review of some of the larger chains (old, but still not bad). The gripes that some people have with pricing in theatres I can understand also. I know that its hard to believe, but the only reason why theatres can stay open is because of ads and high concessions prices. Ticket sales make up so little of a theatre's profit. Yes, prices are VERY high, and I'll admit that, and ads can be annoying, but they're necessary at this point. If these are that annoying to you, there quite a few ways on this blog that I've mentioned will save you money and time! A lot of people are relocating to their homes for movies, but think about it, if theatres didn't exist, the experience would be gone.

I guarantee that if theatres vanished, in 50 years, there would be people saying "I remember back in the day when I could pay $10 and watch a movie on huge screen with 500 other people" Do you want to be part of that generation? I don't. You can't tell me King Kong doesn't look good on a 60 foot screen!

Bootlegging.. What do you think about it?

Personally, I think it's wrong to even bring a camera into a movie theatre. As a manager, I've got to keep my eye out for people who bring cameras in because of all the features that they have nowadays. A typical digital camera can record long clips of video with pretty good audio, and before you know it, the clip ends up on Youtube, or some other site that offers free viewing of movies still in theatres. I found this article on the Consumerist, which tell about a girl who got caught recording part of the movie "Transformers" for her brother to watch at home. As a result of what the theatre did, there was this article, also on the Consumerist. I can understand that people think that pursing a case against this girl is rather harsh. However, I have also had to deal with a similar experience. I had a guest who was recording during Star Wars: Episode 3. A concerned guest who was also in the theatre came out and informed management. (Yes, he was snitching). When we approached the guest to talk to him about it, he ignored us, but stopped recording. We needed to see what he managed to record, though. As a result of his non-compliance, we ended up calling the cops. They came just as the movie was ending, and the guy ended up being arrested. What did he have to say for himself?

"I was just testing out the new camera I got."

Unfortunately, it is a felony to do this, as it is mentioned in the article. I don't know if the company pressed charges against him, but it is serious. Cameras are getting smaller and smaller and people are finding ways to bring them in. Please just leave them at home. They cause a disturbance to other people in there. I hate it when teen-age and college kids think its cool to take a picture while they're sitting in their seats. The lighting in a theatre is terrible, wouldn't you rather take one outside?

Anyway, there are some things which may be mistaken for a camera, so please bear with the staff if they come in to check things out. Bluetooth headsets, for example, can flash and can be seen from upstairs, so often a projectionist will call to have us check out something like that. We're just trying to do our job, and its already hard enough to get people into theatres without bootlegging movie sites.

For those of you concerned about the price of movies these days, I found this.

A quick round-up on that. If you're going to AMC there are several bulk ticket buying packages, which may be offered through your corporate office. The types of tickets and coupons available are:

$7.50 Gold Passes - Good for any movie, decent savings (usually about $1 each, can be up to $2.50 savings)
$6.00 Silver Passes - Good once a movie is no longer special engagement (after first 2 weekends generally)
$2.25 Popcorns and Drinks - I would actually suggest these and joining the frequent movie goer program, Moviewatcher. That way you'll get some free popcorn, drinks, and tickets in addition to these savings.

Other companies also offer discount tickets and rewards programs. If you want, leave me a comment and I'll let you know about those also (Gotta support my company first, right?)!

So put some money back into your pockets and go to the movies!