Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2009 February 6

Welcome to the Wikipedia Entertainment Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

February 6

Now that Brandon Lee is Six Feet Under...

In the DVD commentary for the opening title sequence of Six Feet Under, they made an interesting comment that "filming a real crow for commercial purposes is illegal in the United States". Why is that ? All I can think of is that the movie The Crow somehow has a copyright on all usage of crows on film. However, that seems to be way too broad of a copyright to be granted, IMHO. StuRat (talk) 04:47, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

From googling around all I can suggest is this - Crows are migratory birds and are thus subject to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, in this you may not "pursue, hunt, take, capture, kill [...] possess, offer for sale, sell [...] purchase, import [...] any migratory bird, any part, nest, or eggs of any such bird". If you want to film a crow for a wildlife documentary, you just get a permit to film in the area and record a crow doing what a crow does. If you want to film a crow for commercial purposes, you generally want it to do a specific thing multiple times so that you can get the shot you want. To get a crow to do what you want without catching it (illegal) and training it or getting one that someone owns (illegal) is not very viable under this treaty. I am not a lawyer etc Nanonic (talk) 05:19, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

Can this be right? It seems ridiculous. What about Hitchcock's The Birds? Or indeed the Brandon Lee film?91.111.67.60 (talk) 15:05, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

I found it difficult to believe myself, since crows are dead common in the US, are pests for farmers, and hardly seem deserving of such a protected status. Still, the title sequence did use another type of bird painted black, and it doesn't quite look like the common crow, so it seems like they are telling the truth. StuRat (talk) 17:14, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

Here is a link from the Federal Wildlife Service : [1] and more can be found about halfway down the page here: [2] cheers, 10draftsdeep (talk) 17:32, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

Wow, thanks. So Nanonic was right. What a mind-numbingly stupid law (it's inclusion of crows in the treaty, at any rate), especially this part: "Interestingly enough, there is a hunting season for crows in many states (an exception to the treaty). You can kill them, but you can't use them in commercial movies." StuRat (talk) 18:07, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

Resolved

Jennifer Hudson's rendition, as well as others

I feel the Jennifer Hudson rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner should be released as a CD single, with a portion the proceeds going towards the charity she established. Is there a copy of the Brian McKnight/David Sanborn rendition, as well as the Marvin Gaye rendition of the song available anywhere?72.229.135.200 (talk) 08:51, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

TV Weathermen

What computer software do TV weathermen use for their maps and forecasts? If you know, are their any websites that are open to the public for download?74.202.252.56 (talk) 14:57, 6 February 2009 (UTC)nicholassayshi

Let's try to narrow this down some: are you wanting meteorological software to create the forecast? That's a highly competitive field and not simply available for download. Are you wanting software to handle the blue-screen projection? Our digital compositing article has a partial list. Are you wanting software to handle the graphics and animation? There's probably some overlap with the compositing software, but it could be as simple as Adobe Flash or the like. Note that there's almost certainly an all-in-one solution out there, but such a product is likely to be quite expensive (it is marketed to professional broadcasters, after all). — Lomn 15:05, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

Incidentally, your local weatherman isn't likely to come up with a forecast himself, but just copies it from somebody else, such as NOAA. StuRat (talk) 16:51, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

Then why do all of the different weatherpersons in a single area come up with different forecasts? AnyPerson (talk) 23:55, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

NOAA publishes data from multiple computer models; and some weathermen may weight the data they get from those models differently. NOAA does publish forcasts, but they also make their raw data availible for meteorologists to use themselves; and as such different meteorologists may arrive at different conclusions. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 05:30, 7 February 2009 (UTC)

Also, WeatherStar is a system that generates forecast info on local TV and cable systems. You may be interested in an emulator for home use, although it is currently unavailable. --Mdwyer (talk) 20:12, 7 February 2009 (UTC)

On Line Radio

Dear Sirs, I’m writing in the hope that you can assist or direct me in my Endeavour to launch an On-line radio station.

I would be grateful for any information surrounding the legalities of such a venture, and direction towards the rules and regulations concerning the same.

Respectfully Yours, Tom Drury. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.120.244.136 (talk) 16:42, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

The big legal issue will be getting permission to play copyrighted songs, which will only be granted in exchange for royalties, in most cases. There may also be a concern that people would use your site to make illegal copies of songs. Personally, I don't see much future for online radio. People aren't likely to be willing to pay for such a service, as free radio is available both online and over the air. That leaves you with just ad revenue. However, people aren't likely to keep an ad banner displayed while they listen to the radio. So, knowing this, advertisers probably won't even pay enough to cover the royalties you would need to pay out. The only online radio I see as paying for itself is that which is bundled with an ISP, which can use part of their monthly service fees to subsidize the radio programs. Perhaps another business model is possible, where you only play songs artists agree to allow you to play for free (in order to get free publicity for themselves). You could provide a link to the artists' web sites in lieu of payment. StuRat (talk) 16:54, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

Movie Text

I have an odd question. On movie posters and such they have really small text at the bottom with stars, director, production company, blah blah blah. Does anyone know what that font is and (if not a standard Microsoft Font) where one could find it for download? Thanks!76.120.187.80 (talk) 19:16, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

I don't know which one they actually use. But a free font whose purpose is just as you describe is here. Fribbler (talk) 19:35, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

Thank you wonderful Fribbler! That's exactly what I was looking for!76.120.187.80 (talk) 19:42, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

That font includes a set of eleven icons consisting of an open square with two or more small black squares. What's that about? —Tamfang (talk) 19:42, 10 February 2009 (UTC)

Those show placements for speakers in a room. Surround sound#Surround sound specifications shows and explains most of them. --jh51681 (talk) 08:48, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

maze game, optical illusion, flash games...have you been tricked by them?

I got tricked with an optocal illusion on YouTube. Have any of you gotten scared? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 189.58.23.100 (talk) 23:48, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

This is the Reference Desk, not a discussion forum. Yes, undoubtedly many people have been spooked by something that purports to be an optical illusion and turns out to contain a sudden scare, but if you want a lively discussion about the topic, you're probably better off in some forum better suited for that purpose. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 00:56, 7 February 2009 (UTC)