Film Broadway Bootlegs

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Film Broadway Bootlegs

Posted: 7/5/10 at 2:53pm

I was really wondering...whenever I see shows people really get screamed at just for taking pics before the show. How the heck do some of these people manage to film (and so well) the whole broadway show? It baffles me

Updated On: 7/5/10 at 02:53 PM

Film Broadway Bootlegs

Posted: 7/5/10 at 2:58pm

I took ONE picture of the stage/set of The Ritz before the show started and I thought the ushers were gonna beat me to death. I had no idea it wasn't allow.

Film Broadway Bootlegs

Posted: 7/5/10 at 3:00pm

The use of flash is a dead give away. A video camera is a lot harder to spot once the house lights have gone down.

Film Broadway Bootlegs

Posted: 7/5/10 at 3:01pm

Are you asking for a better method so you don't get caught next time?

"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle

Film Broadway Bootlegs

Posted: 7/5/10 at 3:06pm

My list gets yours.

Oh wait, what are we talking about?

Film Broadway Bootlegs

Posted: 7/5/10 at 3:11pm

I always wonder this, but am definitely more curious as to how people filmed older shows, when video cameras would've been so difficult to hide.

When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain. -Kad

Film Broadway Bootlegs

Posted: 7/5/10 at 3:26pm

Very carefully.

I took ONE picture of the stage/set of The Ritz before the show started and I thought the ushers were gonna beat me to death. I had no idea it wasn't allow.

I was at Memphis & an usher went off on a girl for taking a picture of curtain. "YOU DO NOT TAKE PICTURES AT ALL! NOT BEFORE THE SHOW, DURING, OR AFTER!!!" "But..." "NO!"

Then she proceeded to point out the girl to every usher in the mezzanine. Needless to say I decided to NOT take a picture.

Film Broadway Bootlegs

Posted: 7/5/10 at 3:33pm

I've been asking this same question for years. How DO they manage to film an entire performance?

2 weeks ago I saw THE ADDAMS FAMILY and those ushers at the Lunt-Fontanne were lined up throughout the length of the orchestra aisles even before the show ended. They went mack crazy the moment the flashes starting going off during the curtain call.

Film Broadway Bootlegs

Posted: 7/5/10 at 3:50pm

We have ushers stationed around the theaters here that will approach people taking pictures of the "curtain" before a show.

I posted in another thread that at the performance of "RAIN" that I attended here, a woman filmed the entire 1st act on her phone or small video device. After the Act II opener, one of the actors called her on the filming of the 1st act right from the stage. Since the show is done in a concert style, it didn't really interrupt the "flow" of the show. The woman was approached by 2 ushers at the end of the show.

I too have often wondered how some of the older shows were filmed before smaller video cameras came out. I just wonder how some people aren't annoying/distracting the person/people sitting next to them while they are filming.

Just give the world Love. - S. Wonder

#10

Film Broadway Bootlegs

Posted: 7/5/10 at 3:58pm

Fans should be allowed to take pictures before the show of the theatre and curtain and for the curtain call for a souvenir, but never during the performance as it is dangerous.

#11

Film Broadway Bootlegs

Posted: 7/5/10 at 4:02pm

The urban legend is that some of the really early shows where filmed by Ken Mandelbaum who could afford to buy the seats around him and fill them with friends.

The story goes that he was eventually caught and banned from Broadway theatres.

The ushers at the time probably weren't too aware of the possibility of filming.. so they weren't looking out for it.

I don't know if any of this is true, but I love the ballsiness of the story.

Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people. - Eleanor Roosevelt

Updated On: 7/5/10 at 04:02 PM

#12

Film Broadway Bootlegs

Posted: 7/5/10 at 4:09pm

Well I guess these people can afford to go back and actually watch the show. I would never want to film a show because I really wouldn't be able to enjoy it and I am not one to go see a show several times. I t hink the only 2 shows I paid to see more than once were "Le Miz" and "Wicked". All others I have seen more than once I haven't had to pay to see them the second time.

Just give the world Love. - S. Wonder

#13

Film Broadway Bootlegs

Posted: 7/5/10 at 4:13pm

The reason you can't take pictures before the show is because the set has a copyright. When Greg Jbara did his vlog for broadway.com, he mentioned that he rarely filmed onstage because he was not allowed to show the set. When I saw Jersey Boys, a woman took a picture of the set about twenty minutes before the show started, and an usher had to talk to her, although it was very clear that she had no intention of filming the show.

I have noticed that most bootlegs seem to have been filmed from the rear mezzanine, often what is probably the last row, so I guess it is easier if nobody is behind you.

#14

Film Broadway Bootlegs

Posted: 7/5/10 at 4:14pm

It is a ballsy thing to do but also an important one that makes shows available to people who wouldn't be able to enjoy them otherwise. Instead of speculating and drawing attention to how people do them why don't we just let them do it.

#15

Film Broadway Bootlegs

Posted: 7/5/10 at 4:18pm

I really don't agree with that Jordan. if you are not allowed, you are not allowed. I understand that there are some people that can't get to NYC to see the shows. I was one of those people but I made it a goal to be able to and achieved it. I didn't get to see a lot of shows I wanted to see but I was able to finally see shows in New York.

Just give the world Love. - S. Wonder

#16

Film Broadway Bootlegs

Posted: 7/5/10 at 4:22pm

Well it's not an opinion everyone shares, I know that.

But I also know pretty much everyone who jumps on discussions like this condemning them owns more than a few themselves. It's the "PC" thing to do. (Not that I'm saying you're doing that, just that's how it usually is)

The worst offendersare the actors who speak out so vocally about them yet actively search for videos of themselves. And there are MORE than a few of them.

Updated On: 7/5/10 at 04:22 PM

#17

Film Broadway Bootlegs

Posted: 7/5/10 at 4:28pm

Oh, I am sure. It is just my opinion!

I don't own any but I can't lie and say that I haven't seen one online.

Just give the world Love. - S. Wonder

#18

Film Broadway Bootlegs

Posted: 7/5/10 at 4:28pm

I've heard of scenarios where members of the creative team (composers, producers, etc.) have acquired a friend or colleague to be a plant in the audience during a performance with the specific intention of making a visual record of the musical.

With Irma you gotta do something!

#19

Film Broadway Bootlegs

Posted: 7/5/10 at 4:30pm

Micro DV Camcorder

#20

Film Broadway Bootlegs

Posted: 7/5/10 at 4:30pm

I agree with Jordan. They are necessary for those of us no where near New York to enjoy theater. I watch them, but I certainly wouldn't film them. And if I had the authority and I saw someone filming it, I would say something. But I'd probably still watch them.

Also, talking about how they don't get caught, there is a pretty good quality Grey Gardens bootleg on a certain site that looks like it was filmed just a few rows back from the stage. Like five or fewer rows back. It's good quality, but the entire time I was thinking, "How are they getting by with this?!"

#21

Film Broadway Bootlegs

Posted: 7/5/10 at 4:32pm

Edna, saying you'll watch them and still turn the person in is just a bit hypocritical, no?

#22

Film Broadway Bootlegs

Posted: 7/5/10 at 4:32pm

It may be frowned upon in the present, but when it comes to a documentary about said show (or specific performer) more times then not bootleg footage is shown.

#23

Film Broadway Bootlegs

Posted: 7/5/10 at 4:35pm

Exactly. Because as been said before, anyone who says how wrong they are would jump at the chance to see one if it were say a newly discovered bootleg of the original West Side Story or Gypsy.

#24

Film Broadway Bootlegs

Posted: 7/5/10 at 4:39pm

I know, Jordan, I know. I even feel hypocritical just typing it, or even having the thought that "Yes, it's wrong. I think I'll go watch one."
I guess my thinking is that it is illegal, but, unlike murder, is it truly hurting someone? Just because I watched a bootleg doesn't mean I won't see the show. I would drop everything to see many of the shows live that I've seen in bootleg form. Yes, it's a copyright issue, but still...
I don't think that is very clear, and kinda bad on my part, but I don't know what else to say. It's how I feel.

*Waits for the mean comments, or the "this is meant to be mean but..." comments*

#25

Film Broadway Bootlegs

Posted: 7/5/10 at 4:39pm

That micro camera looks pretty cool, but I'm confused as to how anyone could actually film a show with it. How would you follow the action or know if someone's head was in the way?

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