Would it be ok?

[lummy_al]

I was thinking I might put together a short documentary about the event. Like what goes on? Who goes there? Why they go there? What is there to do?

Do you think it would o.k. for me to wander about with a camcorder recording the event? Of course I would ask the people giving the talks if they would allow me to record their talk and maybe even interview them, so no problems there.

But do people normal walk round with camcorders, are there any problems/restrictions you can see?

And who might I have to talk to if I was wanting to do this?

Maybe you could even tell me who would be good to interview?

[jesse]

You'd probably have to register as a member of the press to film defcon.

And cameras/videocams are allowed in all the official con areas, but not by the pools/rooms of the hotel (unless you have permission from whomever you are taping).

[Joey2cool]

but not by the pools/rooms of the hotel (unless you have permission from whomever you are taping).

What happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas! :D

[noid]

You'd probably have to register as a member of the press to film defcon.

And cameras/videocams are allowed in all the official con areas, but not by the pools/rooms of the hotel (unless you have permission from whomever you are taping).

Actually, cameras and video are allowed by the pool and in all 'public' areas (hallways, walkways, rooftop, etc). However, its polite to ask before filming people; It shows that you are a nice person and saves me from having to fill out an incident report when someone shoves you and your 10K betacam in the pool. As far as video taping in the convention itself, you are bound to some rules as a media person. You are only allowed to film the speaker from designated areas and at designated times. There are a lot of people who attend defcon that value thier privacy for both personal and professional reasons.

I remember a few years ago when a camera crew kept panning the crowd and quite a few people got upset. 3 of those people worked for a government agency and were concerned as thier superiors had allowed them to attend Defcon provided they 'maintain a low profile'. I explained to the film crew that these guy's jobs were on the line and they (grudgingly) agreed to delete any portions of their tape that featured these guys.

So respect the privacy of others and they will respect you. As far as the need goes, you're not the first film student to have come up with this idea. I would almost go so far as to say its been done to death.

[astcell]

I took a single crowd picture at pool #1 and a goon almost had me for breakfast.

[highwizard]

I was thinking I might put together a short documentary about the event. Like what goes on? Who goes there? Why they go there? What is there to do?

Do you think it would o.k. for me to wander about with a camcorder recording the event? Of course I would ask the people giving the talks if they would allow me to record their talk and maybe even interview them, so no problems there.

But do people normal walk round with camcorders, are there any problems/restrictions you can see?

And who might I have to talk to if I was wanting to do this?

Maybe you could even tell me who would be good to interview?

It depends on how good the documentary is...

What kind of Camcorder do you have?

I'm just wondering, honestly, why do you want to do the documentary? Maybe be more specific then just: "what goes on? Who goes there? Why they go there? What is there to do?"

[renderman]

So respect the privacy of others and they will respect you.

Even then, camera crews are sneaky:

I was working at a Client about 6 months after DC7 and they had CNN/FN running on a bigscreen in the next room from where I was working on the network. They were doing an hour long piece of tripe about Hackers (middle of the Mellisa outbreak). They mentioned Defcon so I wandered over to see what they were saying. They showed a pan shot of the vendor area and you could see my ugly mug clear as day wandering past, no doubt who it was.

If the client had seen that I would have been dead on the spot. Fortunatly they had gone for lunch and missed it. Since then, I keep an eye on the press badges and where they are pointing.

I wish DT would take the suggestion I make every year of making all press wear bright orange prision issue jumpsuits so you can't miss where they are.

[Gadsden]

Even then, camera crews are sneaky:

I was working at a Client about 6 months after DC7 and they had CNN/FN running on a bigscreen in the next room from where I was working on the network. They were doing an hour long piece of tripe about Hackers (middle of the Mellisa outbreak). They mentioned Defcon so I wandered over to see what they were saying. They showed a pan shot of the vendor area and you could see my ugly mug clear as day wandering past, no doubt who it was.

If the client had seen that I would have been dead on the spot. Fortunatly they had gone for lunch and missed it. Since then, I keep an eye on the press badges and where they are pointing.

I wish DT would take the suggestion I make every year of making all press wear bright orange prision issue jumpsuits so you can't miss where they are.

... and cowbells. Make them wear cowbells with the jumpsuits, so they can't sneak up as easy.

[converge]

looming around this whole idea was the collective documentary effort known as Project Darkroom.. it basically died do to lack of time from parties interested (and the disappearance of a certain bluehaired person). It would be great if the flag were picked up and misc video footage combined onto a dvd. I am starting to push for more time, so maybe I can try this again :p

the con doesn't need another interview-based documentary on hackers and hacker culture.. it needs footage of different events, goings on, talk snippets, etc (of course exclusively with permission of included parties per noids post)

[lummy_al]

Well I wasn't so much going tolook at hacker culture and stuff I was just wanting to look at the event. Like the events that go on and having a section about that. Like the wifi challenge the ethics competitions and such like. That would be good. And I'm not making this for other people, but I think if you like it you can watch it but it's your chouice. But hey converge if you have any ideas I'd be glad to jump onboard.


Well to be honest the idea to do this really came out of know where. I've always wanted to right a script for a movie (I'm british so it's no kind of LA bug thing going on) I've just always been kind of creative.

I've wanted, for quite a while now, to go to defcon and come other cons. And then I saw this mini documentary "Professional Gamers 2" which was done by another British student. He went to Quakecon with the 4k team and made a rather interesting short film that's been on the net. And then I saw a few other small things and thought what if I made a short documentary for fun, really low budget and interviewed a few people and put that on the net. Maybe if it was any good people might be like hey that was good you should do it again. Then I figured what ever, maybe chabnnel four when it's got nothing better to show at 4 in the morning might eventually show one of the documentaries I've done. I dunno, pipe dream but hey I'd really like to do it.

And, BTW I loved the orange prisoner suite idea, so if I can find one by the time I do it (which increasingly looks like next year because I'm in so much debt at the mo') then I'll wear one. And what's more I'll spray "Press" on the back when I'm going round to do interviews, but the bells would just annoy the hell outa me.

So really if you look at it I just want to see what I can do, if I have the talent to do something like this.

Also I have no intention of filming people without their concent or anything like that. I've only come on here so I can find out what people would think of a acceptable and how to do things wrong. Because the last thing I would like to do is annoy some on.

And finally how would I register as press, would I have to do that on the day?

[noid]

And finally how would I register as press, would I have to do that on the day?

mail press [at] defcon [dot] org. The day of the event, you just get in the 'press/media' queue and get your badge

[lil_freak]

And, BTW I loved the orange prisoner suite idea, so if I can find one by the time I do it (which increasingly looks like next year because I'm in so much debt at the mo') then I'll wear one. And what's more I'll spray "Press" on the back when I'm going round to do interviews, but the bells would just annoy the hell outa me.

What size would you need? I can get them in Large, X-Large, XX-Large, and XXX-Large. :)

[wetw3rx]

What size would you need? I can get them in Large, X-Large, XX-Large, and XXX-Large. :)

bring enuf for everyone at the con. we can all wear wigs, dark glasses, and there will be no worry about who ends up on screen. :D