Filmmaker forces British film censors to watch 10 hours of paint drying

[Rixis]

what was the shade? Its texture? Did it invoke any emotional reaction???? I MUST KNOW!

http://metro.co.uk/2015/11/20/someon...rying-5516229/

Image at the top, from an article 2 month ago.

[haxartus]

Why only 10 hours ?

[Dendrek]

http://metro.co.uk/2015/11/20/someon...rying-5516229/

Image at the top, from an article 2 month ago.

OMFG, so triggered right now.

Did you look at that video? There are like 70 bricks (yes, I counted) and all of them are WHITE. Probably cis too...

[Masark]

Why only 10 hours ?

Because the BBFC charges by the minute and 607 minutes was as much as they could afford with the money they raised.

The BBFC charge an initial fee of £101.50 ($144.88) to view a film and then and additional £7.09 for each minute that the film lasts

In the end, the campaign raised £5,936, meaning that Lyne was able to send a film of paint drying lasting 607 minutes to the BBFC, which examiners were required to sit and watch in its entirety in order to award it a certificate.

[Ragedaug]

The thread title should be "guy pays bbfc 6000 quid to watch 10 hours of nothing".

I'd do that, someone gimme 6k and I'll watch 10 hours of a still image.

This is the post I was looking for. I was thinking the same thing. Dude paid them 6 grand to watch his movie. Who's the joke on?

I liked the BBFC's review:
The BBFC confirmed it had awarded the movie a U certificate along with a note warning that the description of the film "may contain spoilers". It also read: "Paint Drying is a film showing paint drying on a wall. It contains no material likely to offend or harm."

That's someone who really takes their job seriously.

[Orlong]

The MPAA rating board is not necessarily an improvement.

Its also not required to send your movie to the MPAA for rating. You can just release it as unrated

[Forogil]

OMFG, so triggered right now.

Did you look at that video? There are like 70 bricks (yes, I counted) and all of them are WHITE. Probably cis too...

Yes, pure white. For more action look at:

[Tyrianth]

I guess im not understanding his "fight". What needs to change? And yes I could quit. Im not going to watch 10 hours of paint drying for minimum wage. Im going to be sick that day.

He's raising awareness for the fact that movies can't be sold in the UK without a rating. It puts an unfair burden on indie filkmakers if they can't afford to get their movie rated.

[ellieg]

He's raising awareness for the fact that movies can't be sold in the UK without a rating. It puts an unfair burden on indie filkmakers if they can't afford to get their movie rated.

I don't agree with his tactics then. Its like the BLM protesting by blocking a highway. Inconveniencing people who aren't at fault isn't going to make them support you. I feel bad for the movie raters who actually have to watch it for close to minimum wage because they are being labeled as guilty by association. Why doesn't the guy write letters to his congressman or whatever they have over there? Or convince other indie artists to get behind his cause without attacking innocent people who are just trying to do their job? Also, in the us I believe you can release a film as unrated. you cannot do that over there?

[Pann]

He's raising awareness for the fact that movies can't be sold in the UK without a rating. It puts an unfair burden on indie filkmakers if they can't afford to get their movie rated.

The average film would cost less than £1000 to be rated this is a tiny amount compared to the cost of producing even the smallest commercial movie.

[Ragedaug]

I don't agree with his tactics then. Its like the BLM protesting by blocking a highway. Inconveniencing people who aren't at fault isn't going to make them support you. I feel bad for the movie raters who actually have to watch it for close to minimum wage because they are being labeled as guilty by association. Why doesn't the guy write letters to his congressman or whatever they have over there? Or convince other indie artists to get behind his cause without attacking innocent people who are just trying to do their job? Also, in the us I believe you can release a film as unrated. you cannot do that over there?

Looking at the BBFC website, you can own an unrated movie which was purchased abroad, but you cannot sell or distribute unrated media in country.

[Kalis]

I don't agree with his tactics then. Its like the BLM protesting by blocking a highway. Inconveniencing people who aren't at fault isn't going to make them support you. I feel bad for the movie raters who actually have to watch it for close to minimum wage because they are being labeled as guilty by association. Why doesn't the guy write letters to his congressman or whatever they have over there? Or convince other indie artists to get behind his cause without attacking innocent people who are just trying to do their job? Also, in the us I believe you can release a film as unrated. you cannot do that over there?

BBFC examiners don't get close to minimum wage, they earn about £35-50,000 pa ($50-70k) for watching films or playing computer games. It's one of those jobs that hardly anybody leaves.

The problem is that films require a classification in the UK for release, in effect it is a film tax. That's not really an issue for most film makers, as a few thousand isn't really a dent in most budgets, but for extremely low budget films then it can be an issue. However, as virtually nobody watches those types of films, people generally don't give a shit and he's trying to make people care.

If he creates enough headlines and gets some MPs to back his cause, then he may get some exemption on the fee for films below a certain budget.

[ellieg]

Looking at the BBFC website, you can own an unrated movie which was purchased abroad, but you cannot sell or distribute unrated media in country.

ok thanks for the clarification. That's dumb lol. IMO, as long as you state its unrated, I think you should be able to distribute it.

BBFC examiners don't get close to minimum wage, they earn about £35-50,000 pa ($50-70k) for watching films or playing computer games. It's one of those jobs that hardly anybody leaves.

The problem is that films require a classification in the UK for release, in effect it is a film tax. That's not really an issue for most film makers, as a few thousand isn't really a dent in most budgets, but for extremely low budget films then it can be an issue. However, as virtually nobody watches those types of films, people generally don't give a shit and he's trying to make people care.

If he creates enough headlines and gets some MPs to back his cause, then he may get some exemption on the fee for films below a certain budget.

Gotcha. I just said minimum wage because that's what someone else said. I just don't see this being a big deal if the average cost to get it rated is 1000. I just think hes a prick for making people watch paint dry to prove a point. Those people watching the movie probably aren't in any position to get some sort of law changed. Taking it out on them seems dumb to me.

[Belize]

Absolutely hilarious

[Kalis]

Gotcha. I just said minimum wage because that's what someone else said. I just don't see this being a big deal if the average cost to get it rated is 1000. I just think hes a prick for making people watch paint dry to prove a point. Those people watching the movie probably aren't in any position to get some sort of law changed. Taking it out on them seems dumb to me.

It's a protest and they are pretty much the only people he can protest to. They are the ones who would deal with the Government over any changes, so it does make sense to protest to them.

It's such a minority issue the fact that he made headlines is fairly impressive, though apparently he is a Guardian columnist, so he works in the mainstream media and would know how to get his issue highlighted.

[ellieg]

It's a protest and they are pretty much the only people he can protest to. They are the ones who would deal with the Government over any changes, so it does make sense to protest to them.

It's such a minority issue the fact that he made headlines is fairly impressive, though apparently he is a Guardian columnist, so he works in the mainstream media and would know how to get his issue highlighted.

Gotcha. I don't know if the movie watchers are in a position to make a change though. id assume their bosses are or the people in their government are. Id feel they would have better luck by going to those peoples parking spots and pissing on them.

[bewbew]

Looks like the censors weren't able to brush this one aside, I suppose it paints a pretty good picture. Hope they appreciated dry humor.

Phreak, is that you?

[Kalis]

Gotcha. I don't know if the movie watchers are in a position to make a change though. id assume their bosses are or the people in their government are. Id feel they would have better luck by going to those peoples parking spots and pissing on them.

They'd be able to make comments to their managers, who in turn can make recommendations to the Government.

He may actually get some form of action, as it does seem a bit silly to charge people £1,000 to get a film classification when your film only cost £1,000 to make. Having said that, who is going to want to watch a film where the budget can't stretch to an extra £1,000? It is more of benefit to the egos of student filmmakers than it is to audiences.

[ellieg]

They'd be able to make comments to their managers, who in turn can make recommendations to the Government.

He may actually get some form of action, as it does seem a bit silly to charge people £1,000 to get a film classification when your film only cost £1,000 to make. Having said that, who is going to want to watch a film where the budget can't stretch to an extra £1,000? It is more of benefit to the egos of student filmmakers than it is to audiences.

Id write up some form to give him that took him over 10 hours of writing the same sentence a few thousand times. If he did that, id let him get his next movie rated for free.

[Ragedaug]

They'd be able to make comments to their managers, who in turn can make recommendations to the Government.

He may actually get some form of action, as it does seem a bit silly to charge people £1,000 to get a film classification when your film only cost £1,000 to make. Having said that, who is going to want to watch a film where the budget can't stretch to an extra £1,000? It is more of benefit to the egos of student filmmakers than it is to audiences.

The managers won't care. Probably cost the manager £200 - £400 in employee wages for the department to earn £6,000. As has been noted, the only person being "hurt" is the employee. But even then, the employee basically just got a free day at work, and maybe earned some OT. So it's likely that the employee doesn't care either. I still say the joke is on the people who donated and gifted £6,000 to the FFDC.