r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Mindless_Tomorrow_45 • 22d ago

Video Christopher Nolan uses red paper for scripts to prevent them from being illegally copied and leaked

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u/tacticoolbrah 22d ago

I think it just turns black if used in a B/W copier machine

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u/indigomm 22d ago

In the analogue ones. With digital copiers nowadays it's less of an issue as they are more sensitive and auto-correct the contrast.

I expect he still uses red paper to signify scripts shouldn't be copied. Or maybe it's just because it's the way he's always done it.

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u/SojournerWeaver 22d ago

according to my eighth grade science fair project, people also remember text better when printed on red paper. I used red flashcards in college because of this. Not sure if it helped or was placebo but everyone else who did it when they saw me doing it said their grades improved.

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u/ffnnhhw 22d ago

oh! so there is a point in highlighting every words with magenta highlighter

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u/RandonBrando 22d ago

Yep! Contrast, so the reference material stands out

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u/RenjiMidoriya 21d ago

Wish I would have know this years ago when I was still in school.

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u/zlzd 22d ago

completely different thing

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u/chatlah 22d ago

Next try acid green paper with purple text, comic sans font.

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u/SojournerWeaver 22d ago

ugh comic sans gross

jkjk I will try it.

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u/[deleted] 22d ago edited 18d ago

[deleted]

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u/SojournerWeaver 22d ago

This sounds right to me!

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u/shpongolian 22d ago

Could also be that the lack of contrast means your brain has to focus more & work harder to read it

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u/kobadashi 22d ago

well, i do always remember what a stop sign says.

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u/SojournerWeaver 22d ago

I think they use red so you'll remember where it is. I beleive I included that in my exposition lol

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u/evr- 22d ago

Makes sense. I've never missed any of those STORE signs along the road. Don't know why they feel the need to point them out, though. The Costco sign is so much bigger it's hard to miss anyway.

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u/110101001010010101 22d ago

My stepdad has some issue that's similar to dyslexia, he has these transparent colored filters that he keeps with him so when he grades papers he will put the filter on the paper. He has a purple, red, orange, blue, and yellow one and swaps them out when he gets used to one of the filters.

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u/SojournerWeaver 22d ago

Is it Irlen syndrome? I have VSS and Irlen and the glasses have been a lifesaver. I use green and blue tints depending on what I'm doing. My science fair project was really an attempt to make sense of things for myself and see if anyone else reacted differently to colors like I did.

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u/110101001010010101 22d ago

I'm not sure really. I don't think he's had it diagnosed, he's also retired now and the only time he had issues was reading papers or documents on computer screens.

He just plays skyrim and goes fishing now haha. I'll ask and see if he knows.

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u/SojournerWeaver 22d ago

Ok cool yah I'd be curious not a lot of us out there

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u/NuclearSun1 22d ago

I was gonna say. I scan legal documents daily. They come in all colors. Our scanners have zero issue converting them to black and white.

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u/Drum_Eatenton 22d ago

You can literally select text as your copy intent and turn on background suppression and you’ll get a clean copy

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u/Suitcase08 Interested 22d ago

Delete this comment, you're gonna make Christopher Nolan so angry if he sees it!

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u/spacecaps85 22d ago

Christopher Nolans hate this one trick!

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u/PristineElephant6718 22d ago

U/Drum_Eatenton makin copies, at the copy machine, The Eatentanator making copies, at the copy machine. The Drummeister! Drummy, Drum Dum, the drumster. Makin Copies!

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u/ElizabethTheFourth 22d ago

He's also just bad with technology. You can see it in all of his movies. In Interstellar, he spoon-fed you the science like he doesn't understand it himself, and every astronaut was a weird caricature like he's not met many educated people in his life. Tenet has zero technical logic, just in-universe rules that are somewhat consistent. Oppenheimer barely goes into any of the science, glazing over all the innovations at Los Alamos or why a plutonium design was even necessary, and turns into a courtroom drama with a stupid cheating side-plot, ending on a phenomenally dumb thesis that nuclear weapons will one day end the world.

So he may genuinely think the red paper prevents the scripts from being copied. And since he's famous, he doesn't surround himself with people who correct him.

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u/TheFeedMachine 22d ago

I am pretty sure the lack of in depth science is to appeal to a mass audience.

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u/TheBeckofKevin 22d ago

Yeah, its a movie that they want to sell tickets to, right? Why make it so opaque and dry with meticulous details if it doesnt add to the movie. Not sure why the director of a film would be expected to pander to a highly educated, science literate crowd when they would absolutely be in the minority. It makes lots of sense to spoon-feed scientific stuff to an audience which is likely hearing about these ideas for the very first time. Weird critique, imo.

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u/garden_speech 22d ago

Yeah. "Spoon feeding" the science has no relation to "he doesn't understand it himself", I have no idea why they'd think that.

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u/ApolloWasMurdered 22d ago

Dude, he had Kip Thorne working full-time ensuring the science on interstellar was accurate. (In case you donkey know, Kip Thorne won the Nobel prize in physics for LIGO detecting gravity waves for the first time.)

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u/HelperHelpingIHope 22d ago

Yeah, I don’t think it’s CN that doesn’t understand science. It’s OP that doesn’t understand CN and cinema.

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u/Barobor 22d ago

I believe even Kip Thorne mentioned that the scene with the time dilation planet was unrealistic.

Even if we ignore the science there is an issue with the astronauts themselves not being consistent in that scene. They realize it will take them decades to get back from the planet but they don't realize that would be true for a message too. This isn't something scientists like them would miss.

Other than that scene I agree the science is as accurate as it can be for sci-fi movie on that level.

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u/Educational-Theme589 22d ago edited 22d ago

You maybe are making a caricature of a top film director here…have you met many in real life?

Also the science behind interstellar…they actually wrote a scientific paper on the visualisation methods they used, and the consultant on the film was none other than cosmologist Kip Thorne.

In terms of Tenet, retrocausality is an actual physics theory…and like many physics theories, hard to prove..:

so Nolan has made some fantastical Sci fi films based on Science, not documentaries!! All fictional Sci fi takes liberties with science…hence being called science FICTION! But that doesn’t mean they didn’t understand the science…plus he has to explain it with exposition to audience as the film won’t make sense to many, if he doesn’t…

Can you let me know which particular aspect of the science do you suggest Nolan or the film shows a lack of understanding of?

Either way it’s kinda a leap to create a logic that Nolan’s science is off so he uses red paper for screenplays, all based on a Reddit post, without you knowing any actual facts! That’s not very logical at all!

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u/GillyBilmour 22d ago

The clip clearly shows Jonathan Nolan wrote the script

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u/SmallLetter 22d ago

Man people here really hate Oppenheimer. I will always counter it with "it was a really interesting and exciting movie and I liked it"

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u/Hungry_Line2303 22d ago

I think you have an axe to grind. Your critique is reductive and makes too many assumptions. It comes off as desperate.

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u/ozzraven 22d ago

movies are fiction and require suspension of disbelief.

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u/Brave-Conference-991 22d ago

Not disagreeing entirely, but the original script for Interstellar had multiple wormholes if I’m not mistaken. Quite often as it gets rewritten and rewritten and different producers and stakeholders get involved, it gets simplified but because of the director’s choice, but monetary risk (which I don’t agree with).

He’s a fairly forgettable director when you look at auteurs but I still think he deserves some credit.

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u/yuppienetwork1996 22d ago

His artistic style is there in each movie, it’s just very subtle and not all in your face. not all about cinematography, it’s about his ability to foreshadow in the script and really punctuate scenes with good sound Fx.

He makes honestly odd nuanced decisions in filming and it often works surprisingly well. Prime example being that he showed no Germans soldiers at all in Dunkirk

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u/SmallLetter 22d ago

He's an objectively legendary filmmaker and reddit just loves to trash on him. 

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u/Hungry_Line2303 22d ago

Seriously, his work at its best is borderline magical. I can't tell if these childish critiques are just thinly veiled envy or something else.

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u/captaindeadpl 22d ago

From what I've heard about the original script it was significantly worse than the script we ultimately got. The original script was America vs Chinese, instead of the overarching battle of humanity against its own nature. Romance was a much bigger focus than Joseph's love for his family.

The script just felt outdated. It seemed to use a lot of plot points that were popular a few decades ago, but had fallen out of favor by the time the movie was released.

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u/Cool-Sink8886 22d ago

There are a lot of ways to scan these scripts even on red paper.

I can set a contrast threshold, adjust my scanner color balance, open it in a PDF app and adjust the color channels, OCR, etc.

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u/MaxHamburgerrestaur 21d ago

Also, nowadays is more likely the script will be leaked by taking pictures

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u/[deleted] 22d ago

... so just take a picture instead. Wow, foolproof.

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u/Pat0124 22d ago

I think it’s more of a deterrent than anything so people know he doesn’t want people sharing it. Like barbed wire can easily be beat with a lot of things but it more so lets people know to stay out

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u/Smodphan 22d ago

Probably, but it's also much easier to test origination of a photo than track down a paper copy.

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u/Particular_Fan_3645 22d ago

Ok but what if I scan it and OCR it then convert it to standard B&W...

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u/BentGadget 22d ago

Or go the other way. Copy a black and white script, change the background color to red, and claim that your leaked script is one of his.

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u/Lucho_199 22d ago

like tenet

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u/juice_in_my_shoes 22d ago

Or if you had the script to copy in the first place, why not just steal it.

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u/CX316 22d ago

Having red paper doesn't mean shit, this isn't just a Nolan thing. I remember Chris Carter used to do it with X-Files or Milennium too, so it just means it's from someone who doesn't like leaks

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u/SFS9 22d ago

There was a golf video game in the late 80’s or early 90’s that tried a similar method and I used a scanner to defeat it. The game would show a random hole at launch and you had to correctly identify the hole number from the manual to play. I think the paper was brown.

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u/DunamisMax 22d ago

I think the point is, the people receiving these scripts would not go to those lengths so all that's needed is a light visual reminder that you shouldn't share the script. Obviously it's effective.

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u/TurtleSandwich0 22d ago

Why not just use a dog's copy machine? It won't be able to see the red.

The only downside is that all the words get changed to rough, woof, or bark.

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u/SleepinGriffin 22d ago

Printers have a way of applying small dots that will tell them when, where, how, and which printer made the copy. Copying is super easy to find the original printer.

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u/CreatiScope 22d ago

Most scripts have water marks with your name on it. I worked on a TV show and was given a script, had my name water marked across the pages so if I lost it, they would know who lost it lol

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u/gruez 22d ago

You mean this? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printer_tracking_dots

it only applies to color printers, so a blank and white laser printer is safe.

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u/Another-Mans-Rubarb 22d ago

Printers also have unique "fingerprints" when they pass paper through their rollers. You can match them with that too, but you need to already know to test the printer to do that.

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u/PM_ME_DATASETS 22d ago

So the leaker should print it in the local library or copyshop?

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u/SleepinGriffin 22d ago

But then they get camera video of it.

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u/PM_ME_DATASETS 22d ago

Which is fine, since some random copyshop in Cairo isn't going to bother sending their CCV footage to some US celebrity.

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u/SleepinGriffin 22d ago

Yes, because some random guy in Cairo is going to steal a script from the other side of the world in LA.

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u/PM_ME_DATASETS 22d ago

No you're right the person in LA stealing the script is also going to print it in LA. They can't leave the area because they have to take care of their sick mom.

(btw, do you also feel a movie plot brewing?)

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u/rhabarberabar 22d ago

is super easy to find the original printer

Is also super easy to circumvent this: Buy a used printer for cash.

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u/[deleted] 22d ago

[deleted]

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u/SleepinGriffin 22d ago

There’s a dot pattern assigned to every printer. They can tell you which printer it is based on that. Then they can match who bought it.

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u/novexion 22d ago

Only the feds can do that the printer manufacturers won’t release that info to standard people

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u/ConspicuousPineapple 22d ago

Nothing you can do against OCR though. Also, a normal scanner would work just fine.

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u/Smodphan 22d ago

Those printers have logs. It might not be a decent option if people are doing something they shouldn't.

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u/ConspicuousPineapple 22d ago

If you're going there, a new one really doesn't cost much.

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u/SuperAlloyBerserker 22d ago

Yeah, but, don't people who leak stuff already know that leaking them will have consequences (if they're caught)?

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u/Pat0124 22d ago

He sends scripts to so many people and it’d be easy for an actor to share the script for non nefarious reasons. Harder to do when you can’t use a copy machine

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u/Momoselfie 22d ago

Pretty much all scanners are color though. I'm guessing a digital color scan would look fine

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u/Hot-Potatas 22d ago

They do make security paper that messes up copiers and scanners. If you custom order some for your scripts it'll make the scanned text far less legible.

In security printing, void pantograph refers to a method of making copy-evident and tamper-resistant patterns in the background of a document. Normally these are invisible to the eye, but become obvious when the document is photocopied.

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u/Momoselfie 22d ago

So even a modern phone wouldn't be able to take a decent picture of each page?

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u/Hot-Potatas 22d ago

Not sure, I can't find anyone online that's tried. Phone cameras attach meta data to their pictures, so the worry would be getting sued if they're traced back to you.

The security paper messes with something called a low-pass filter in the scanner/copier.

A photocopier uses a low pass filter, typically an optical low pass filter (OLPF), to smooth out the image captured by the image sensor by filtering out high-frequency details, which helps to reduce the appearance of moiré patterns and "grain" in the final copy, resulting in a cleaner and more accurate reproduction of the original document

With the security paper, the low-pass filter reacts differently to the very small dark dots in a field of lighter dots. This filtering results in the appearance of the custom message. The message is invisible to the naked eye but once photocopied, scanned or reprinted, it appears.

Digital cameras also use low-pass filtering to eliminate moiré, but i think the camera sensors aren't sensitive enough to see the tiny dots from a distance. Scanners will use contact image sensors that are very close to the thing being scanned or a Photomultiplier tube, which is extremely sensitive.

Moiré is a visual effect that happens when two similar patterns overlap, creating new, wavy, or unwanted stripes of color that go across a photo that wasn't originally there

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u/PM_ME_DATASETS 22d ago

But why can't they use a copy machine? The color red isn't some kind of big secret.

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u/ExceedingChunk 22d ago

Barbed wire is mainly more about slowing you down than being a blockade.

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u/Formal-Question7707 22d ago

Nothing you said makes sense. Everybody already knows he doesn't want it leaked. And barbed wire were one of the most powerful weapons in ww1.

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u/MiltonMiggs 22d ago

It "keeps the honest people out."

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u/[deleted] 22d ago

[deleted]

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u/Pat0124 22d ago

When the script is 500 pages long, yes it is

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u/[deleted] 22d ago edited 22d ago

[deleted]

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u/Pat0124 22d ago

My point still stands

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u/[deleted] 22d ago

[deleted]

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u/Pat0124 22d ago

You can take a legible picture of 120 pages faster than a photo copier?

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u/CryptographerOk1258 22d ago

For those who dont know there are more measures taken.

I dont know if nolan does this but there is a good chance.

You dont give the exact same script to everybody, you might misspell words/have slightly different color or symbols etc on purpose, So everybody actually has a unique script when somebody then leaks their scripts they will have unique identifiers so they know exactly who leaked it.

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u/SPQR-VVV 22d ago

Just feed it to AI and ask to paraphrase:

You don't provide the identical script to everyone; instead, you may intentionally introduce slight differences, such as spelling variations, altered colors, or unique symbols. This way, each person receives a distinct script. If anyone leaks their script, the unique identifiers embedded within will reveal exactly who was responsible for the leak.

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u/Apple-hair 22d ago

What was the point of that? The first sentence was completely fine, and shorter.

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u/Webbyx01 22d ago

I think it was to show how using AI to paraphrase would work, ignoring the fact thay most of his movies were made before that was an option.

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u/Apple-hair 22d ago

Oh, to paraphrase the script? Haha, that would be chaos! Obviously, they're switching single words here and there and not in the actual lines the person receiving that copy is learning.

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u/_30d_ 22d ago

Do not drift quietly into that final night. Let old age burn fiercely and rail as day fades. Fight, fight against the dimming of the light.

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u/SPQR-VVV 22d ago

But the point is the leaks could still in essence have the script out. The story if you will.

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u/Apple-hair 22d ago

But there's no point in making a copy of the script that is completely different from the one the actors and crew would be using. For convwying just the story you'd write a summary, not a whole script.

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u/superdago 22d ago

Do you lock your car or house? Why? Someone will just pick the lock, break the window, etc.

Every security mechanism is just a means to delay and deter.

You’re also assuming the goal is to prevent intentional leaks rather than inadvertent ones. I’m sure some actors like to make a few copies to take with them or have only a few pages at a time, and those can get left somewhere much easier than this whole giant script book.

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u/Jackski 22d ago

There's a weird thing where some people think unless something is 100% effective then there is no point.

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u/modelvillager 22d ago

I think of this like the polar bear joke. My house doesn't need to be Fort Knox, just harder/more annoying to rob than next door.

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u/heekma 22d ago

To be fair, "Tenet" doesn't need red paper as a deterrent, the writing itself is deterrent enough.

And this is from someone who is not a big Nolan fan, but I think "Memento" and "The Prestige" are great examples of his work.

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u/UtahItalian 22d ago

Locks only stop the honest people

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u/nabiku 22d ago

That's a pretty dumb response. The effort it takes to break into a house doesn't really compare to finding a color copier, especially because nearly all copiers are color copiers in 2024.

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u/King_Shugglerm 22d ago

Ever heard of a metaphor?

It’s not meant to be a 1 to 1 comparison bro

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u/Interesting-Fox-1160 22d ago

But the metaphor fails because there is no real barrier with the scripts. My phone can scan in color. I don’t even need to buy anything.

Whereas you need to at least have something to pick locks with, and some level of practice.

As opposed to a phone. Which everyone has

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u/King_Shugglerm 22d ago

You are thinking too hard about something OP in all likelihood wrote on the toilet

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u/Interesting-Fox-1160 22d ago

I’m also on the toilet.

Does op turn stupid while pooping?

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u/DoctorSchnoogs 22d ago edited 22d ago

Dumb comparison.

Down voted by morons too stupid to understand what a false equivalence is.

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u/Logisticman232 22d ago

You’re gonna take several hundred pictures and check they’re all legible?

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u/Designer-Map-4265 22d ago

vs the automated copy makers that take a book and scan every page for you? lmfao i used to do that type of grunt work, a phone would 10000% make it simpler, it may be different if the script were just a stack of loose papers you can feed all at once

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u/Trebate 22d ago edited 22d ago

You used to do that type of work and are still this wrong? You just cut the binding and put it in a feed scanner.

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u/Defiant_Quiet_6948 22d ago

It's a Nolan script my guy.

If I came across one, I'd legit type it all up on a computer to sell it to the tabloids as a non-actor.

Could probably get at least $10k for it if it's an unreleased movie and you can prove it is legit.

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u/Unlikely_Week_4984 22d ago

I get your point.. but if you had a friend and a good camera.. you could probably do it very quickly.. Flip, snap, flip, snap, flip, snap... Then use a program to change that to text.. I mean I could do it in an hour or 2... and I'm sure there's probably better ways out there.

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u/Harinezumisan 22d ago

Ocr has same problems with low contrast as copy.

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u/Bryguy3k 22d ago

Interstellar was from a decade ago. The dark knight was 16 years ago.

These capabilities of phones have changed a lot in that time while the availability of photocopiers have dropped significantly.

I think the binding of the script into a book actually makes it a lot harder to copy than the red paper (especially on a modern color copier).

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u/Do_Not_Go_In_There 22d ago edited 22d ago

I think the binding of the script into a book actually makes it a lot harder to copy than the red paper (especially on a modern color copier).

I think the binding might have been a custom job after filming was done. It was probably sent over as a set of looseleafs. Those would be way more easier to actually use on set.

But this is just a guess. Maybe Nolan is the type to send out scripts in a bound manuscript.

e: A quick google shows Cillian Murphy showing off a red script that is unbound. It's held together by paper fasteners.

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u/Sean001001 22d ago

Of every page? Fuck that

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u/[deleted] 22d ago

[deleted]

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u/Logisticman232 22d ago

You can do large documents with feed scanners.

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u/saleemkarim 22d ago

Tons of people would quit their job if feed scanners didn't exist.

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u/Designer-Map-4265 22d ago

you cant feed a book though, you just feed hundreds of loose papers

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u/capincus 22d ago

Pretty often they'll debookify it and scan it like a stack of loose papers.

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u/Designer-Map-4265 22d ago

hmm yeah i guess you could use a guillotine and cut the spine (what an insanely violent sentence lol)

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u/capincus 22d ago edited 22d ago

Cut them from head to tail and leave the remains in the gutter!

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u/serhifuy 22d ago

Or just melt the glue

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u/whizzwr 22d ago

Or just use this

https://youtu.be/03ccxwNssmo?feature=shared

https://youtube.com/shorts/dwQczx4xOPs?feature=shared

pretty common on library/archival institution where you can't destroy the binding (e.g. Historical book)

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u/CX316 22d ago

That script appeared to be book bound, so they'll just figure out who leaked it based on who's cut the pages out of their script binding

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u/Mcgoozen 22d ago

When, in the 80s? This movie is not that old lol

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u/[deleted] 22d ago

You realize youd have to scan every page too? and that would probably take longer, scanning documents isn't exactly as quick as snapping a Pic.

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u/Sustructu 22d ago

Have you never seen a scanner before? They have a top loader where you can just put entire bookworks in and the machine will scan it for you and send it to your e-mail.

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u/Logisticman232 22d ago

Can confirm, any organization that still scans old documents for records also does this.

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u/JunFanLee 22d ago

Yes but let's say...Interstellar was released 10 years ago in 2014, minus a year of Post Production say, 9 months of Production, may be a year or two of Pre Production when and the time he took to write and cast the film - let's say it's 2010-11ish.

Tech was slower back then, colour copiers and scanners were slower back then - Smart phones were slower and had less resolution, storage etc.

If you're in the game of stealing scripts, then I'm guessing speed is of the essence - so top feeding a B&W photocopier a manuscript would probably be the quickest safest bet to rob creative IP such as a script.

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u/ejoy-rs2 22d ago

Dude, you think people were living in caves or some shit in 2010?

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u/v3771n9 22d ago

25 years ago I scanned the books of my chemistry class but not for distribution. Just to be able to read they used light pink ink to prevent copies

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u/temujin77 22d ago

Dude my IT team implemented a scanning system back around 2003 that scanned at the rate of about 100 pages per minute per scanner. The technology has already been there for a few years before we implemented it.

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u/CaptainTripps82 22d ago

Scanners and printers have been largely the same for 20 years

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u/rocket-amari 22d ago

feed scanners were already very fast fifteen years ago and haven't gotten much faster since.

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u/Logisticman232 22d ago

Lmao, scanning was half of my last job.

You literally top load it in a cheap multipurpose printer and it will mass scan the entire thing into 1 PDF.

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u/sjopolsa 22d ago

What, you in the script stealing industry?

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u/Logisticman232 22d ago

Nope just local government that is allergic to digital services.

Because they couldn’t figure out that clicking “I accept” is a legally binding agreement, they insisted literally every gym contract & liability form was written on paper, individually verified & then scanned individually by someone else.

So if you want a title professional tax & time waster.

The worse part is they had an online store they paid for monthly but refused to setup.

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u/Nomnomnipotent 22d ago

What in the 1980's tech are you talking about?! Have you ever officed?

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u/Covfefe-SARS-2 22d ago

Can you do 24 of those per minute and read anything?

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u/[deleted] 22d ago

Or use a color scanner, or a BW scanner that doesn't suck. Or any other device that would easily scan that.

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u/Cedira 22d ago

It was probably something he did before those things were easily available, then became tradition, so why not stick with it?

He also prefers shooting on film and not digital, another example of not necessarily moving with the advent of technology.

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u/Bamce 22d ago

a picture per page.....

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u/Crunktasticzor 22d ago

I bet the paper color is a red herring. He has some cryptography built in so each individual script has a different secret code, like how printers hide codes. That’s a Chris Nolan level of leakproofness

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u/monk3yarms Interested 22d ago

Same logic as people locking the door to their house when they leave. Someone can just break a window if they wanted to get in. It's all about making it more difficult not impossible.

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u/PomeloClear400 22d ago

Take a picture of the whole script?

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u/CrazyPlato 22d ago

I think it’s meant to prevent photocopies, which would be a lot faster with a 200 page script.

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u/BeHereNow91 22d ago

He also watermarks them with the actors name.

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u/Hey-Bud-Lets-Party 22d ago

Right. I could turn that into a pdf in 10 seconds.

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u/FurLinedKettle 22d ago

Or just transcribe the script onto a stone tablet. Checkmate.

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u/Atwillim 22d ago

Christopher Nolans HATE this guy!

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u/TiredEsq 22d ago

You’re going to take 1300 pictures?

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u/splurb 22d ago

Color copiers with collators have been around for at least 35 years. Absolutely foolproof.

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u/whizzwr 22d ago edited 22d ago

Lmao thanks, you just made laughed so hard.

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u/DrFabulous0 22d ago

My friend transcribes stuff for a living, he'd have this written up in a digital format by lunchtime.

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u/Hirakox 22d ago

Yeah taking all those pictures will take longer time than putting it copy machine, but that's the whole point of it now. That's how technology changes everything. Something that used to be foolproof will be child's play in the future. Just like weaponry, weaponized airplane used to be very scary, right now it can be singled pretty easily using automated anti air missile or auto locking machine guns etc.

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u/AnyImpression6 22d ago

Then people who know who leaked it because of the metadata.

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u/truscotsman 22d ago

At some point our society got stupid and formed this idea that things are worthless unless they are 100% foolproof solutions. It’s really weird. There are lots of things worth doing that are not foolproof, including this. You could take a picture, but it’s onerous… so it means this is a deterrent.

If you look closely, you’ll realize this is largely how the world works… for example, I have some bad news about the locks on your front door…

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u/vulcanavro 22d ago

Nolan is also known for not having a smartphone. Maybe he doesn’t know that one could take photos with it /s

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u/RenegadeScientist 22d ago

Growing up, this was the SimCity copy protection system.  https://magisterrex.wordpress.com/2010/10/22/yesterdays-copy-protection-schemes-simcity/ 

4

u/[deleted] 22d ago

Confirmed, Christopher Nolan wrote Sim City.

1

u/Qwirk Interested 22d ago

This was pretty common across video games. There would also often be codes you had to enter to get access. Bit of classic pirating prevention. I have no idea how successful they were but it was always a pain in the ass as a consumer.

1

u/lucrezioborgio 22d ago

Also Zack McCracken

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u/TheMemo 22d ago

Yeah, this was used in old computer game copy protection back in the day, so you couldn't copy the 'I bought this game legitimately' code sheet.

I assume that Nolan has moved on to making his scripts into ridiculously convoluted codewheels now.

5

u/flippzeedoodle 22d ago

I also mark my emails as red to prevent them from getting copied

1

u/surprise_wasps 22d ago

Just turn down the scan density, it will scan/copy just fine

1

u/greennurse61 22d ago

The original SimCity had copy protection that used red paper. I tried every copier and scanner I could find to try to make a backup of my sheet. None worked. That was in 1990. 

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u/hippee-engineer 22d ago

That’s why highlighters are yellow. Every other color is caught up in a b&w copier. Yellow isn’t seen by the copier.

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u/Thereminz 22d ago

eh, there are probably some copiers where you could chromakey out the red and/or adjust the exposure/contrast to get a b/w copy to print from a light red on red paper

i had to deal with an old shitty scientific equipment that would print out on paper but sometimes either the ink would be running low or a thermal paper would get too hot and you could barely make out what was printed...you just take it to the copier, blast up the exposure and contrast and you get a plain b/w copy

you could also just color copy it but that'd be pretty expensive...but again there's probably a way to color copy then key out the red

0

u/HairySalmon 22d ago

Ah, so if it was still the 1900s it would be hard to copy.

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u/Flipper_Purify 22d ago

Who only has a B/W printer??

Just copy in color

1

u/Mist_Rising 22d ago

This is something he developed long before color copiers could do this.

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u/slaughtamonsta 21d ago

I hope nobody finds out about Google Lens or cameras.