Taking photos/videos at the shoot - "How to not be seen"

[Zorlac]

With apologies to Monty Python's Sketch about "How not to be seen"...

Last year's shoot had a pretty ad-hoc solution for those who attended the shoot but who (for whatever reason) did not want their faces to be shown in pictures of videos. I think it was a high-tech solution that involved a roll of purple(?) tape to make a cross on the persons body to show that they didnt wish to be photographed, or at least would prefer it if any photographs had their faces blurred or removed.

Any idea if such a system will be in place again this year, hopefully discussed a little earlier than 5 minutes before the range went hot? :)

[Deviant Ollam]

Re: Taking photos/videos at the shoot - "How to not be seen"

well... how did people feel about last year's solution? the big, purple "X" on each shoulder (some people also wore one on their back and chest, heh) as an indication of "no photos of me please" seemed to kind of go over well enough.

if we want to come up with something else, i'm all ears. i was planning on having more colored tape again, that's all.

[TheCotMan]

Re: Taking photos/videos at the shoot - "How to not be seen"

well... how did people feel about last year's solution? the big, purple "X" on each shoulder (some people also wore one on their back and chest, heh) as an indication of "no photos of me please" seemed to kind of go over well enough.

if we want to come up with something else, i'm all ears. i was planning on having more colored tape again, that's all.

I liked this. It was a great way for me to decide where to take video and pictures, and when I left my video recording, and people with purple "X" or single "/" walked in front of my shots, allow me to edit them from video before publishing it anywhere online. It might even be good enough to include on the website and maybe in a FAQ.

[Zorlac]

Re: Taking photos/videos at the shoot - "How to not be seen"

It worked fine from what I saw, I was just trying to bring it up for discussion so attendees are aware of it before arriving. Last year, as a n00b, I was over excited, grinning like an idiot (and deperately hot) by what was about to happen, so the "here are some things to remember so that you dont get yourself or anyone else shot" parts of the talk was great, but the "dont film the guys with purple stripes" may get missed.

[seeess]

Re: Taking photos/videos at the shoot - "How to not be seen"

I have a suggestion that I'm less and less happy with as I think about it.

It was to offer the shoot shirt in a different color, or perhaps have some type of cheap vest users can throw on.

I see a few immediate problems with this though, people who dont want to be photographed would have to plan ahead and be forced to buy the right shirt, and the vest idea might conflict with RSO / volunteers. Tape is probably the way to go for a cheap/last minute solution, but you could do both (offer tape and offer the shirt in a different color perhaps).

Another possible option, offer shooting glasses in a unique color for people who dont want their picture taken. But this only protects against face shots since it might be hard to tell what glasses they are wearing from the side/rear.

I'm just throwing these out there in case tape is determined to not be acceptable for some reason this year.

[Deviant Ollam]

Re: Taking photos/videos at the shoot - "How to not be seen"

i like all the candor and energy that seeess has put into his suggestions... but as he points out, there are a number of problems with those plans.

1. cost
2. encumberance
3. identifiability

my whole goal is to do this in a way that basically costs next-to-nothing, does not encumber the user in any way, and is rapidly and easily identified in any footage with greater than 90% probability.

vests, eyewear, special t-shirts, etc... all those are neat ideas but they fail in at least two of the three above categories... some fail across the board.

colored tape costs effectively about 13 cents per person, can be applied over basically any garment or even (if you're kooky) bare flesh without changing how the garment hangs or performs or heats up, and it is like 99% guaranteed to be noticed in person or through a camera lens.

if people can offer up reasons why the colored tape solution was not ideal, i'm all ears.

[astcell]

Re: Taking photos/videos at the shoot - "How to not be seen"

How about this.

The press can get wide shots of the entire event form the rear with no one identifiable.
For close ups, interviews, group shots by press, they go to a designated lane.
Anyone at this lane can be photographed, interviewed, videoed or waterboarded by the press.
Those folks who want their 15 minutes of fame yelling "Hi Mom!" can get in line, think of something to say, and have their fun.
If the press wants to pick out a certain person (like a midget with a Barrett) then they will move to the designated press lane for the interview.
All other lanes are off limits.
If there are lots of people who want their mug in the paper, then we can have two press lanes.

This way no one has to look over their shoulder, wear extra flair, or wonder where the press is.

[Deviant Ollam]

Re: Taking photos/videos at the shoot - "How to not be seen"

i think a combination of the "designated lane" and "X marker tape" systems may work well.

one of the end lanes can serve this purpose... i may even ask registered folk how they feel about being photographed and try to group two or three end lanes together if they happen to share that policy.

the real issue, i believe, will be "unofficial" photos... people just casually shooting images or video of themselves or their own friends. hard to police that and if it takes place on a "non photo" lane, i am not going to ask people not to.

[not5150]

Re: Taking photos/videos at the shoot - "How to not be seen"

I was videotaping last year and I forget exactly what I wore.. but I think was a vest with a bright PRESS nametape.

I'm not adverse to wearing a different colored vest or some other press identifier.... this actually may work better. Instead of marking people who don't want to be filmed, brightly mark those who want to do the filming. Something similar to one of my helmets below.



Or take a ballcap and wrap colored gaffers tape around it (same manner as the helmet in the pic) and write PRESS, TV, ATF, etc.

[xor]

Re: Taking photos/videos at the shoot - "How to not be seen"

Just be anti-social and unpopular and no one will want to take your picture ;-)

xor

[FirmWarez]

Re: Taking photos/videos at the shoot - "How to not be seen"

Just look as dull and uninteresting as possible. I don't think anybody took any pics of me.

[RoboHak]

Re: Taking photos/videos at the shoot - "How to not be seen"

This is somewhat related, but may be a bit off topic. Does anyone know if the documentary crew will be covering the shoot?
If so, we should coordinate with them so they know who does not want to be filmed.

[Deviant Ollam]

Re: Taking photos/videos at the shoot - "How to not be seen"

Does anyone know if the documentary crew will be covering the shoot?
If so, we should coordinate with them so they know who does not want to be filmed.

they did not contact us again this year, so i do not believe they will make any sort of official appearance.

they did have a good time with us last time, however, so it would not surprise me if they wanted to show up just for some fun, however.

[RoboHak]

Re: Taking photos/videos at the shoot - "How to not be seen"

they did not contact us again this year, so i do not believe they will make any sort of official appearance.

they did have a good time with us last time, however, so it would not surprise me if they wanted to show up just for some fun, however.

I was actually referring to the documentary being done by Jason Scott. He was hired to do a documentary for DEFCON 20. You can find more information about it here http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/3602

Also, he created a teaser trailer about the badges with Joe Grand

Since our event is unofficial, I don't know if they were planning on covering it or not. I think it would be nice to be included, but we would need to make sure that people who do not want to be recorded are not included.