Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/07/30/excellent-bumper-at-the-end-of.html
…
Betamax recording
I remember, with dread.
Years ago someone left a VHS for some crappy flick (“The Wedding Singer” I think) over my house, and one night during a blizzard I finally watched it. While I was annoyed the picture quality was so poor, I chalked it up to an old TV and dying VHS player.
Then at the end of the film right as the credits began to roll the silhouette of a guy standing up and walking past the screen appeared.
I’ve never seen another bootlegged videotape but I wonder how common that actually was-- might’ve been the biggest laugh in the whole movie.
My favorite video store used to have all kinds of amazing bootlegs of things you couldn’t get anywhere else, circa 2003 or so. Japanese animation, Italian nunsploitation flicks, withdrawn Disney material…I loved that shop for their dedication to the archive and for always having something you didn’t even know existed. They might still have some of those bootlegs, but it might all be behind the counter and by-special-request-only now.
“If it’s a good picture - It’s a Miracle!”
This is great. I remember seeing it on an episode of The Oddity Archive on Youtube…a poorly produced, awkward series that is absolutely fascinating for fans of 50s-80s television and related nostalgia.
A couple of the local Rocky Horror actors had a bootleg copy of the film on VHS in 1982… it was a bit worn out, as they had watched it dozens of times. We eventually made an audio cassette dub of the dialog, interjected the LP recordings of the songs, and did a live-actor, lip-synced stage production of the movie in a gay bar.
No permission was requested, none granted.
Now a days, you did that, you’d be sitting on a pile of lawsuits, unfortunately… Sounds like great fun, though!
And now I will take this opportunity to post my two favorite bumper stickers of all time
one is maaaybe familiar but presented here in full size for superior viewing quality
I love the Moog one!
yeah I feel like it legitimately improved my life upon discovery three or four years ago, every time I think about it I get a good chuckle.
I can scarcely recall ever seeing INTERPOL mentioned anywhere outside of that ol’ white text scrolling up a blue screen before many a video started. One could be left with the impression that the organization does nothing but hunt down video bootleggers.
On this topic here is an article from a 1980 TV guide on the new “rise of Video-Tape pirates: Tv’s Modern Bootleggers” I recently posted to Archive.org.
I Love it!
This is art!
We need this kind of spirit for our cyberpunk age.
If you ever get go to Asheville, go to the Moog factory. It’s free and fun!
Oooooh, that’s not out of the question at all
If you can get there, it’s totally worth it, and it’s free (you just got to email or call them and get a spot reserved - it’s on the Moog website). That and go to the Pinball Museum…
“…our cyberpunk age.” The 1980s?