Cam and
camming (deriving from the word
camera) refer to a specific method of
motion picture copying, usually
infringing upon its
copyright. Unlike the more common
DVD rip or
screener recording methods which involve the duplication of officially distributed
media, "cam" versions are original clandestine recordings made in
movie theaters.
Typically, the person filming the movie will
smuggle a compact
digital camcorder into the theater by hiding it in their clothing or in a bag such as a
purse or
backpack. For this reason and people bringing outside food in, some establishments now ban customers from carrying bags or other containers into theaters. The filmer then records the movie using the camcorder as unobtrusively as possible. They may try to pick a seat as far back in the theater as possible to avoid the attention of other patrons (and to ensure proper framing of the screen) or may choose sparsely attended showtimes. The filmer may also know employees of the cinema who deliberately overlook infringement activity. Sometimes cam versions are made by
projectionists themselves, either for home use or to distribute (with or without profit). These versions can be recognized easily as the audio sounds original, as opposed to "muddy" or noisy. This is owed to the fact that program audio is not recorded by the built-in microphone of the camera, but rather by a direct electronic link into the stereo monitor output of the audio rack. In parts of the world where the video standard is PAL, such as in England, where the standard frame rate is 25 per second, a problem with frame rate conversion can be avoided as the projectionist can speed the projector up from film's traditional 24 frames per second to PAL's 25 FPS and then use a standard PAL video camera to record the film picture.
Starting in 2001, many major motion pictures started to arrive at the theaters with unique patterns of tiny dots embedded throughout the film, known as
Coded Anti-Piracy technology. If the cammer is unable to catch and blur all of these sequences, the
studio will be able to determine at which theater the cam was recorded. As an additional form of deterrent, for highly popular films such as
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace or
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, ushers might utilize
night vision goggles to discreetly catch a bootlegger in the act of recording.
With exception of the type of cam mentioned above as made by a projectionist with access to connections in the audio rack, a cam uses audio recorded via the camera's microphone. Because of the nature of the audiovisual recording method, the audience can often be heard laughing, or
silhouettes can be seen as people head for the restroom or concession stand.
The overall quality of cam bootlegs is highly dependent upon the quality of camera used, the skill of the operator in framing the screen, minimizing camera movement, and the method of
encoding used before distribution (which is most commonly
XviD). Cams are generally considered to be the lowest
fidelity method for duplicating video and film content, somewhat behind Telesync and markedly worse than DVD rips or screeners. For newly released films, however, cams are often the only illegal copies available. One can often find these DVDs available from
street vendors for prices equivalent to
US$1-$2 (
PPP) in the developing world.
See also
