Slashdot Mirror
Convert Movies From R to PG13 to PG On The Fly
uchi writes "Trilogy Studios announced the launch of its "Movie Mask" web site - www.moviemask.com , which will eventually lead up to the release of its "Movie Mask DVD Player" and "Movie Mask Director" software. The Director software will allow users to selectively add/edit a video adding graphics and special effects, which is nothing special in my opinion. The Movie Mask DVD Player, on the other hand, will allow its users to download a movie config file(for lack of a better term) which will have various portions of the movies to bleep/cut out depending on the rating which the person set. It can be changed on the fly while watching the video. This seems like a good idea - it would allow many people who don't wish to be subjected to violence/nudity/language a chance to watch any movie they want without waiting months for it to be released on network television, already PG-13ized."
This is a fantastic idea but just like other things it means that parents and people sensitive to things have to use it. Most likely, instead of using these tools they will just complain about the content in the programs instead...
Of course we torture people, we need the information --Gen. Pinochet
Honestly, any PG-aged kid I know would either STILL know what's going on, or if not, would be curious enough to ask WHY they are smkoking. What is it we're trying to prevent here? The actual knowledge of the subject, or an example of it?
In order to use it, the system "will allow its users to download a movie config file". Why would kids go through the trouble of downloading a config file to avoid seeing nudity and cursing?!
The only way to actually implement it is with a password system that allows parents to set the rating, and automatically downloads the correct config file. It would still be a pain, though.
As an alternative, we might see different ratings become a standard feature on DVDs, with password protection built into the player. That way, you wouldn't need a computer to get the protection.
Still, within a few weeks after the release of the player, we'll probably see hacks posted everywhere that mess up the config file so 12-year-old script kiddies can see the nudity. Never underestimate kids in search of pr0n.
Ceci n'est pas une sig
o/~ Join us now and share the software
Most likely his parents will do it for him of course! However, if it just cuts scenes out of the movies, won't it really mess up the plot line sometimes? In addition, if someone, like his parents, are trying to use this technology, isn't it possible that he will find a way to bypass it, or perhaps that his parents won't be able to use it very well, and end up making things even worse?
If you really want to keep your kids from watching those kinds of movies, then try to give them values. Even if they watch those movies then, they at least won't share them with you, and you'll feel better... Who knows, they actually might even listen! Don't play censorship cop, be a parent...
[Something witty and intelligent should have appeared here.]
{Traicovn}
Damn, are slashdot readers sarcastic and pessimistic or what? I think the first 25 comments I read thought this was a laughable product.
I see a real use in this. My wife is a highschool history teacher. There are many movies that she would like to be able to show, but because of some bad language, nudity, or violence, she is not able to use the films. Community standards are a bitch. If she could pop a DVD in, hit the PG rating and let it roll, that would be great.
Beyond that, there are some movies that I think my nieces and nephews would enjoy that I have seen, that have bits in them that are just not appropriate at their age. This would help with that too.
I'll probably get flamed all to hell from the slashdot (everything must be free!) zealots now...
Casca
That doesn't mean I'm going to have my kids watch an R rated movie with this thing. Sure you can take out cussing, violence and nudity - but what about mature themes? Kids aren't immune to those.
Besides, why would I want to ruin a director's vision of what s/he would like the audience to see?
None for me, thanks.
The kid needs no convincing - it's the parents that need it. The video store shouldn't be renting videos to 13-year-old kids that are inapppropriate to begin with, but if this technology catches on, then the players should have some sort of access control wherin the parents define that their children can only watch movies that are PG13 or less (in this case) or movies that the machine can filter down to that level. If a movie doesn't have the standard "rating code" or filter available, then the kid has to get the parent to either add or remove the movie to the mahcine's allow/deny list.
It's really pretty simple, aside from getting parents to actually 1) keep parental access away from their kids and 2) play an active role in their child's life. After all, if the kid's renting his own movies, it's quite possible that the parents have left the child-raising to the TV anyway, and are not going to want to have to "work" to protect the kids from "bad pictures".
Not everybody hunkers down on the family couch for a shared evening of goat sex and snuff films.
Stop by my site where I write about ERP systems & more
A new generation of homegrown-editors will spring up on the net. You'll get the web sites devoted to erasing annoying characters from otherwise watchable movies. But you'll get so much more.
You'll get "family-friendly" web sites devoted to removing only the sexual references, but leave in John Wayne killing natives with a dagger. Other editors will run web sites that remove the violence but leave the sex.
You'll also end up with violence-prone editors. They'll give you the "Good parts" edition of Dirty Harry, featuring just the gun battles and punk shakedowns. Playboy will probably run versions of popular movies just skipping to the sex scenes.
You'll get the Short Attention Span Theatre's version of Waterworld. It'll be three minutes long, and people will still complain that it's too long! The site'll probably be run by the Cliff's Notes people, and will probably give the Cliff's Notes edition of all sorts of old classics.
Certain editors will probably become wildly popular because they trim all sorts of bad and long popular movies down to their viewable components. Before long, the RIAA will get involved because someone will come up with a "Commercial Product Placement Skipping" version.
This could be the Next Big Thing!
John
John
I thought that cinema was form of art. In the future, will museums provide glasses to selectively block genitals and breasts on certain paintings? Will e-book readers have settings too? Must everything be compromised and converted into interactive fiction?
I seriously doubt any claims that violence and sex in various mediums are the root causes of any ills of society. But I think that the lack of any concept of artistic integrity points to where humanity's problems DO come from.
LS
There is a fine line between being a cultivated citizen and being someone else's crop. - A. J. Patrick Liszkie
I can't imagine how this is going to work well. If the player automatically strips out violence/sex/offensive language, what will this do to movies where certain such scenes are integral ?
I'm thinking of movies like "Saving Private Ryan", "Apocalypse Now", "The Matrix", "Terminator", "The Wild Bunch", "Rocky", "Scarface", - heck, even "Star Wars", where the movies turn crucially on scenes that would be deleted. In the above movies, for instance, if you delete the violence you end up with something that is incomprehensible.
I know I'd like my kids to be able to watch Forrest Gump without the sex scene. While I'm fine with them knowing about sex, and knowing that characters in the film are "doing it" - I don't think they need to watch it (and this is a much better solution than fast-forward).
Being able to control and choose what you watch seems like "freedom" not "censorship".
Implementation might not be done perfectly here, but it's got the right idea (ie, we should be able to choose our editor and not be stuck with the one the studio provides).
Let's not stir that bag of worms...
What I would like to see are multiple datapaths through the DVD of varying "appropriateness" levels that would make more "family-rated" entertainment available. Multiple datapaths are the DVD spec now, and should be supported by every player...all it would take is for the producers of the DVD to include the "mangled for TV" video datapath, dubbed audi and an appropriate menu selection, and we could have family movie night without need for parental preview and fast-forward. Plus, the original theatrical release could be included along with the director's cut, as well as the now-common commentary audio track.
Aside: I do not know if the DVD rating system supports different ratings for different datapaths...anyone have an idea? That may still limit the use of DVDs that those who lock down the rating ceiling on our DVD players. I don't really have any experience, as the version of (Xine) that I run doesn't do ratings. At any rate, I'm still a believer in participating in my child's activities, so that won't slow me down any--but it would be more convenient as a whole. Your kid want to watch "Top Gun?" at his slumber party? Fine...it's just 5 minutes shorter, and the story is just as compelling.
The only obstacles to this, AFAIK, are the additional work requirements of adding the extra dubs, and (perhaps) the objections of the directors/producers/artists involved. It might not be of monumental import...but I do believe that it would help sell more DVDs to parents with young children.
So you've got a puritanical bug up your ass, and you cut out the nudity. But wait! There's some essential dialog in that bedroom scene that ties the whole plot together! What do you do?
I'm sure we can all do without Jar-Jar, no matter what he says, but in general, I can't see this working. Just who are these talented editors, who will cut and snip the patient so well that no one will even know surgery took place?
I told my mother to watch the movie "Brazil" when it was on television some years back. You know what they did? They chepped the ending, to make it a happy one!
How many copyright holders are going to agree to publishing their art in this bastardized format? The opportunistic greedy ones, like Sony et al, will be delighted, I'm sure. And an ugly mess it will be.
From "Brazil":
Dr Jaffe: "Can you believe it?! Just me and my little knife! Snip - snip - slice - slice - Can you believe it?"
and elsewhere:
Mrs Terrain: "My complication had a complication, but Dr. Chapman says I'll soon be up and bouncing about like a young gazelle."
Yeah, right.
--Lawrence Lessig for Congress!
It's no more illegal than a pen to modify a book. Or a paintbrush to modify a painting.
They are selling technology that _allows_ the user (who already has the mmovies) to make small (?) modifications to the film. It's nothing that I caouldn't do with the mute button and fast forward, just a lot more convient.
If they were reselling films they've edited, that would be. But that's not what they are doing.
Is there anyone else who thinks that this has the possibility of killing the intended story? Or at least, killing how it was intended to be told?
Movie directors and editors spend thousands of hours in the editing room, cutting a scene here, splicing one back in there, all in hopes of achieving the best story.
Fast foward about a year, with this technology in place in all DVD players and VCRs. People are able to add and delete scenes at will. Yes, you've given choice to the people. Yes, you've made videos that were previously unwatchable in schools available for educational purposes.
But there's a large chance that you may have destroyed the story as it was intended to be presented.
I know this sounds like a fine hair to split. But we the Public pay these guys a heckuva lotta money precisely because they know how to tell a good story. Second guessing them is probably a bad idea.
Just my two cents.
Adequate editing is more than chopping. While you might get away cutting out certain scenes, in general you are going to lose flow and context. Plus, anyone who is offended by a particular scene that a director included is likely to not want to watch the movie as a whole. Very few films are "ruined for the squeamish" by a single scene. The larger context of plotline, setting, character development etc. set the whole mood for a film. You aren't going to get a "family friendly" version of "Pulp Fiction" by chopping it up. Even if you tried, in the process you will lose the power behind the movie as envisioned by the director. Can you imagine "The Crying Game" with THE SCENE removed? People will walk away going, "What's the big deal?"
Sure, it might be fun to turn movie watching into an interactive effort, but I shudder at the "cleansing" of art. If something disturbs you, walk away and watch PAX, or learn to deal with being a little disturbed; it can be an enlightening experience.
What about a player that lets you re-cut a movie with the footage on the DVD? Say so that you could make a version of SW:TPM without JAR-JAR.
Or how about a cut-sheet for Memento that shows the movie in the correct order? (Something they didn't do in the DVD)
Or a hundred other movies that you could show in different orders for dramatic/comedic effect. You could re-cut the simpsons dvd and make a whole new episode. mmmmmm Simpsons.
Please do us all a favor and release your code now. I totally don't care what state it's in, what we need is the prior art so that nobody else can patent this stuff later and hit you with a suit when/if this takes off.
Just tarball it and post it somewhere with a good timestamp on it. Please! Release a good version later, or not at all, but the sooner prior art simply exists, the better!