Follow That Tape

[Eve11]

(cross-posted from Kansas)

Hello everybody!

Well, with the start of reruns at the end of this month, I thought I'd make a call out for some volunteers for a campaign project.

Here's what you have to do:

1) Get a t-120 VHS tape.
2) Over the course of March/April (or in another way if you can!), record the following episodes on the tape in EP format so they will all fit:

-Premiere
-DNA Mad Scientist
-A Human Reaction
-Nerve
-The Hidden Memory
-Family Ties

(These are the eps that appear on the "Best of Season 1" DVD set)

3) Label your tape with a tracking number and a website (TBD)
4) Give it to a friend, with instructions to
a) watch the tape
b) visit aforementioned website and log that tape's tracking number, maybe saying what city it's in, who watched and what they thought of it.
c) Give it to another friend (most important! Keep it moving!)
d) Repeat instructions a-d to the friend

So... all we have to do is set up a website with a simple database for distributing numbers and tracking tapes, make the tapes and have at it! Chain Reaction Farscape.

What do you think, sirs? I think, in less than six degrees, we'll have Kevin Bacon on our side.

[saska]

Hi Eve,

I love it, but then, I have this weird obsession with "wheresgeorge.com". :)

I might be able to help with the website and the code to track/register/report tapes easily. Let me talk to my husband and we'll see if between the two of us we have enough time to set it up. We have our own dedicated web server but it's on a single T1, so we've never wanted to face the kind of massive traffic this site gets on a daily basis.

I'll pm you with what I find out.

Saska

[Budong]

Isn't recording programmes and using them for your own purposers illegal?

Hazz.

[saska]

Recording programs and selling them or airing them for a profit is illegal.

It's absolutely within your legal rights to record a program on your own VCR for later viewing.

I worry more about the rights of Henson/ADV films than Skiffy in this scenario. Recording them off of SciFi when they air at least does not directly pirate what ADV has published.

Even so, it's a very grey area. There is nothing that says it's illegal to tape "Alias" and loan it to your friend who missed it. You just can't charge them for it. In this instance, I believe if the eps are recorded from the SciFi channel's reruns, the same scenario applies.

Saska

[Delinquent]

cool idea! I was planning to get a whole bunch of tapes (33 at least) and record ALL the eps between seasons 1-3, i have all of season 4 on tape ;) I'll try this out and see if I can do it.

[Dominar of Action]

Only problem I have is that I only have 1 VCR and 1 cable connection, and I was planning on taping all of the eps in order so I can have another set of eps to share with converts. (I haven't seen my DVDs since September!)

[Kerlin]

DoA, I would suggest calling up your local Cable Access television station. A lot of times they will, for a very small fee, copy over tapes for you. And then if you know someone who works there you've got an extra "in" because then usually they'll do it for free. That's where I intend to go!

[Eve11]

yeah DoA, I was thinking the same thing about the recording. I don't know how to get around it, though. We'll have to see how many people volunteer.

As for the legality... I think if it's a small enough operation, nobody is going to mind. These are EP tapes which probably won't have all that great of quality. It's like a taste... if people like it enough, they'll start getting merchandise on their own, and watching the reruns.

[RobinC]

This idea has a certain charm to it. I'm game, and I can even think of the first person to hand it to.

I really don't think the legalities are a problem here--we're not mass-producing tapes for sale. We're doing one-off's (of dubious VHS EP quality) to build the audience of the show.

Robin

[DenAstrogeek]

I think "loaning" a tape of episodes off of a regular TV airing is well within fair use. If each person is not making 80 (or any) copies of the tape they made of episodes as they aired, this project looks legal to my non-authoratative eye.

I would be happy to see this project get off of the ground.

[Hmpf]

Great idea. I love it. Unfortunately, I'm in the wrong continent to help. :-(

[jadeshand]

I will volunteer to make copies. I can do it from two television setups.

[TenDeuChen]

I found the upcoming schedule earlier...and seeing this thread I thought I'd post the times of the eps you mentioned to tape...

31-MAR-03 12:00 AM FARSCAPE PREMIERE
10-APR-03 12:00 AM FARSCAPE DNA MAD SCIENTIST
21-APR-03 12:00 AM FARSCAPE A HUMAN REACTION
24-APR-03 12:00 AM FARSCAPE NERVE
27-APR-03 12:00 AM FARSCAPE HIDDEN MEMORY
29-APR-03 12:00 AM FARSCAPE FAMILY TIES


the entire schedule is at:
http://www.scifi.com/schedulebot/index.php3?program=FARSCAPE&x=129&y=40

[Eve11]

Thanks TeuDeChen! And thanks jadeshand! I also might be able to set up a two-vcr thing with which to make copies. Okay, so that gives us a month to get the website set up (the only thing I'm worried about now is, what if nobody comes to it??? Arg, that could be a blow. )

[PkTechSquirrel]

I wouldn't say you're on the wrong continent Hmpf, you could still distribute the tapes around Germany, and then perhaps the tapes could make their way around Europe. We need all the eyeballs we can get.:)

[waltersgirl]

bumping

[jfranka]

I actually did this the "illegal" way, by taping off my DVD's and leaving the tapes around with a sticker on the cover explaining what this tape was, why I was doing this, the Save Farscape website address, the Karlsweb website address, and my e-mail address.

I had a little extra money in October so I also bought a couple of "Best of" DVD's and left those around as well, with the sticker.

I actually taped eight episodes. I bought the tapes that hold eight hours on EP. The list of episodes I used were the same of "Best of" listed above but I also added "PK Tech Girl" because of the dynamic between John and Aeyrn, and "Durka Returns" for the introduction of Chiana.

I left the tapes around anywhere: In doctor's offices, in the lounge area of the mall, in completely crowded stores that were out of place (like a clothing store), in fast-food places and resturaunts, and anyplace I can just leave a tape. I must have left about 20-25 tapes around.

I recieved several responses asking me for more eps! I actually ended up making a few 8 episode tapes for season 2 & 3.

Personally, I think this is a great idea, now that the repeats are running. Instead of making tapes of the next couple of seasons, just tell them to watch it on TV!

Also, one other point: I watched the first episode of Lexx when it came out first-run, but I never watched the other two season. Sci-Fi re-ran the last two seasons at 2:00am, and I happened to catch the first two episodes of season two because I happened to be up late. That hooked me. I HAD to watch Lexx all the way through. I had to tape most of the episodes, but I couldn't miss it for any reason.
Because of that re-run, if by some miracle they resurge Lexx, I wouldn't miss it. (That was cancelled for a completely different reason that Farscape was cancelled. The actors were ready to let it go, and the last episode had the words "THE END" strewn across the screen.)

Sorry for the long post, but this is a great idea. If everyone left around a some tapes, we'd get a lot more viewers.

[Sparky]

Good idea - I have converted 7 people with Best Of Season One loans.

PLEASE add this to the instructions a-d for recipients:
WATCH THE REST OF THE SERIES on Sci Fi
Time/Days/ for cable AND Satellite (way different than cable)

One more thing, I had 2 people who never saw an ep watch Out of their Minds and Green Eyed Monster. One of them was hooked half way through GEM, and the other said OOTM told her a lot about the characters. (that surprised me). The first one went out and bought BOS1 the next week.

If you miss the 6, pick others to tape! Crackers... and GEM is also popular with men who've never seen FS before.

For DOA's dilemma, try to find a friend/neighbor with Tivo and
beg, that's what I am going to do. Beg and provide tapes, prune their trees, bring over dinner, walk the dog, whatever to get extra tapes. Tivo owners can store many eps for taping depending on hard drive and amount of shows recorded daily.

[jadeshand]

TIVO would be a wonderful investment for Scapers who can afford it.

[farscapefan4eva]

sounds like a great idea apart from the fact some of the above eps have already been aired during the re-runs in england and i havent worked out how to tape of cable (ntl) any enlish scapers help out with that one would be most helpful!:rollin:

[Hmpf]

Originally posted by jfranka
I left the tapes around anywhere: In doctor's offices, in the lounge area of the mall, in completely crowded stores that were out of place (like a clothing store), in fast-food places and resturaunts, and anyplace I can just leave a tape. I must have left about 20-25 tapes around.

I recieved several responses asking me for more eps! I actually ended up making a few 8 episode tapes for season 2 & 3.


jfranka, this is so incredibly cool, I'm lost for words.

[BlackThorn]

Another shameless bump. Just thought it'd be good to keep this visible since the reruns start in a few days for anyone wanting to do this.

[Johnsgirl727]

Good idea about the bump BlackThorn, I was thinking the same thing myself! I read this thread a few days ago, and I'm absolutely intrigued with this. I just have to find a way to fit this into my schedule, and I'll be totally game to helping.

[Eve11]

Cool!

If there is anyone out there who knows how to set up a website database for this kind of thing, please pm me. I was thinking of something relatively simple; we just need a way for people to register a tape that they made, and a way for people to log on with a username and password according to that tape, maybe. Like, a mainscreen that has one of three user-friendly options -- register, comment, browse. Something that makes commenting as easy as humanly possible, so more people will be inclined to do it.

I unfortunately have no idea how to do this.

[Johnsgirl727]

bumping again

[Eve11]

Hey all,

Working on the database now. We're actually going to set it up so you can register a tape with a set of whatever episodes you want on it, and set it free. So if you want to make a tape for "Follow That Tape" that has episodes other than Best of Season 1, go ahead!

[Stargate2077]

Can someone tell me the essential episodes for each season?
I have the ability to record it to the VCR from the computer.
Note: This requires an indirect and lenthy conversion process

[Kerlin]

Glad to hear it's moving forward, Eve, I'm all ready to start making Best of Season 1 tapes. Keep us updated!

[Eve11]

Essential eps from each season... hoo boy, that's a tough one.

Hmm.. Lemme take a stab at some six-ep stretches for season 2 to 3. I'm trying for a story mini-arc that is relatively self-contained and that showcases the different faces of Farscape -- drama, humor, action, etc.

So here are two lists from me:

Crackers Don't Matter
The Way We Weren't
Beware of Dog
Won't Get Fooled Again
Die Me Dichotomy
Season of Death

A good story arc for season 3

...Different Destinations
Eat Me
Thanks for Sharing
Scratch N Sniff
Infinite Possibilities 1
Infinite Possibilities 2

[Stargate2077]

How about Season 4?

[Kerlin]

I'll try that one..

Crichton Kicks
Promises
Unrealized Realities
Terra Firma
A Constellation of Doubt
Bad Timing

...hm. There were a lot more good Season 4 episodes than I remembered!

[Eve11]

Okay, does anybody know a good site for info on php? I and my boyfriend know some of the basics, but ...

I'm trying to pass information through a hyperlink -- like is done when you click on a forum title in the "Frell Me Dead" board -- that will tell the server which information to retrieve. Basically, I want to have a tape ID number that is a hyperlink, and clicking it will get you to the responses logged for that tape, very much like a thread title on a messageboard.

Arg, anyway, if anyone knows a good site where I can get the basic rundown of php syntax (I know C, C++, and HTML), send the link please!

[Eve11]

A reminder to folks playing along at home:

"DNA Mad Scientist" (Best of Season 1, episode 2) airs tonight!