7 ms·
The Root Kit
- sbilstein 14y agoThis guy seems incredibly unprofessional. His writing style and grammar are totally off. I don't think I would trust his attention to detail for a movie on hacking.
- randartie 14y agoIf only he would have mentioned who is going to act as his actual advisor when it comes to what 'hacking' really is these days.
- dsrguru 14y agoYeah if you want to get an accurate portrayal and clear up media inventions, you might want to start with the right name of what you're portraying.
- RootKitFan 14y agoI think he did pick the right word. At first the "hacking" vs "cracking" term thing came to my mind too. However, seeing him talk about hacking being about seeing the world in a certain way, finding something you want to change and then doing it without the need to ask permission. This film does involve cracking, but these characters from what I can see are true hackers as well. In the Bitchan interview, she may be a phreeker, but she's also definitely a maker.
- jschiefer 14y agoIt's pretty long, but here's a link to a chat I had with one of my technical advisors for The Root Kit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eFnyhwsnzE&feature=player_embedded http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eFnyhwsnzE&feature=playe...
- lancewiggs 14y agoThis could be a great idea - or not. The Kickstarter pitch lost me in the first section (I did skim the rest), and the video lost me at "Plato". I would have thought that Kickstarter respondents would be likely to embrace the idea of a movie depicting what a hacker really is, but along with that we need a great story, a great plot. Perhaps that was in the video.
- tejaswiy 14y agoHonestly, there's a lot of potential for a great story within that theme. The video was entertaining even if the reference to plato was a little cliched. I'm backing it.
- anigbrowl 14y agoAnd then there's sound. One of the really quick ways you can tell a low-budget film from a major studio film, other than the logo, is by the sound. We've decided that we're only going to be recording the voice on set. What that means is that all of the other sounds, from footsteps to car engines, from smart-phones buzzing to a fist slapping against skin, all that has to be recorded and synched after the fact. Sound guy for over a decade here [1], and I am off to shoot another feature starting Saturday. This is emphatically not true. You record as much as humanly possible on set. Even if you layer and resync it afterwards, doing all that in post is crazy expensive. On your limited budget it's self-defeating. Engineering the room response of the real location in post is very time consuming compared to capturing your raw material on location. I'm open to helping with this project (EDIT: but won't be in the Bay area or online much until after 12/18); it pains me to see someone tying their hands unnecessarily. 1. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1961377/ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1961377/
- ripperdoc 14y agoThis is what HN is about - expertise, pointing out an area of improvement, and offer of help. Kudos.
- tptacek 14y agoPlease tell me there's a Youtube clip of you as "Alcatraz Guard" somewhere we can see it.
- anigbrowl 14y agoHa! I doubt it, but I have the DVD in a box somewhere in the attic, I'll upload it when I get back. Edit: apparently it's on Netflix. I'm in the opening scene (in fact I have the first lines in the film), which is a good thing because it will spare you having to watch the rest of it. I wasn't supposed to act in it; IIRC we were one actor short that day so I got drafted. It's awful in so many ways. After I played the film for my wife she turned to me and said 'that's 2 hours of my life that I will never get back.' Good times :-)
- bengl3rt 14y ago
- DonCarlitos 14y agoI found the trailer to be a half-hearted affair. Not compelling at all. And I have a pressing question: Why this director and this project for this particular subject? He does not clarify why it should be he that makes this film. If anything, I get the impression he should be kept a mile away from the subject. I failed to see a review of his expertise or qualifications, other than being a video jock with some minor credits to his name. Not likely to get funded.
- InfNBeyond 14y agoThey seem to be on the right track as far as threat aspect. Unfortunately, the fundraising probably won't make it in time. The truth about a "hacker" is not the scripts they run or, the code they bash on the keyboard. It is the lifestyle & the methodology that drives every thought the enters their minds. They think by scale, from the smallest fundamental interaction of electrons and strings, to the largest interaction between information networks(such as the multiverse itself) too the human brains great quantum-electrochemical neural exchange. Some, even possess the ability to bring into existence new forms of conscious entities such as artificial intelligence. Hackers as a collective whole, have a choice, and a responsibility. When the world goes flat, we make sure the Earth still has reason to spin around.
- RootKitFan 14y agoYou're very right about hackers. It's a mindset. I just found this project a few days ago, but I think Jonathan Schiefer gets this basic notion. Here's an interview that shows this quite clearly. http://youtu.be/o9iS0Khm7XA http://youtu.be/o9iS0Khm7XA His reason for making this film is to show how empowering the hacker way of thinking is, that great things are possible with the right mindset
- taylorbuley 14y agoWhich are the hackers that ping localhost? https://s3.amazonaws.com/ksr/projects/359366/photo-full.jpg?1351303642 https://s3.amazonaws.com/ksr/projects/359366/photo-full.jpg?... I ping therefore I am, I guess.
- ripperdoc 14y agoI see it as an existential test. If you ping localhost, and it doesn't answer, is anything at all real anymore? ARE we living in a DREAM?? IISS ITt 4LL MANOFACTURED TROoTH????
- madethemcry 14y agoGood idea. Will try this in my next lucid dream instead of pushing the light switch
- derleth 14y agoIs it even possible for a ping to localhost to time out?
- BerislavLopac 14y agoThis should be the film's slogan, methinks. ;-)
- benregenspan 14y agoWasn't this already done in a truly exemplary fashion by Hackers (1995)?
- splicer 14y agoI wish there was another movie like Hackers. Accurate depictions are boring.
- antihero 14y agoThe computer that wore tennis shoes?
- unkoman 14y agoHackers is in my world reality.
- bcoates 14y agoA good choice, but no movie ever made will ever top Sneakers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlKDkTbUFhU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlKDkTbUFhU
- mindstab 14y agoHa thanks, that looks "amazing"! I will definitely check that out.
- logn 14y agoYup. Movies that mess with the best die like the rest.
- meanJim 14y agoI read somewhere that exceptional hackers follow the defect report logs of major software and find ways to exploit problems before patches come out... so is this movie going to cover that exhilarating process? Personally I like movies like "Hackers" and "Swordfish", I don't think legitimate malicious hacking should ever become mainstream.
- hawkharris 14y agoHaving directed in the festival scene for a while, I respect the amount of energy and passion it takes to realize this kind of project. I think the concept looks great, and I'd like to offer two friendly suggestions concerning your pitch. First, as others here have pointed out, you should define and limit the scope of "hacking," as it relates to your story. Maybe consider how your movie will complement (or intentionally contradict) the growing role of cyber-security in current news and events. You seem to have a firm grasp of the abstract concepts that you want to explore, which is great. That said, prospective investors will be more likely to donate if they sense that your project has a concrete lead linked to real, specific issues. (I'm not saying you need to have it all figured out now; your plot can still evolve as you do more research and writing.) Second, the adage "Show, Don't Tell" came to mind as I was watching the pitch video. Rather than telling how you're going to make the movie — i.e. who's operating the camera, writing and acting — you might consider diving into the topics that your film will explore. (To be fair, you did that a little with the Plato reference, but I'm thinking of something more immediate and less abstract.) By leisurely introducing the characters in this way, you may lose donors with short attention spans. Anyhow, that's just my take. I took some time offer feedback because I think the project as a whole looks amazing. I look forward to hearing about production and seeing the finished product.
- jschiefer 14y agoThanks for that. I'd love to talk more about your festival experiences, as it's one route I'm debating on. Send me an email: jonathan at spiritusvult dot com. Thanks.
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- Morphling 14y agoRoot kit which can monitor your email and social networks. Oh no! Are you telling me that someone can read my plain text emails or check my facebook for what I publicly post there!?
- s_henry_paulson 14y agoAdding in all of the computer screens in post-production to make sure you get the code right? (1) Un-necessary (2) Expensive (3) No one really cares (4) If you know you're going to fuck it up, why not just plan and do it right the first time? Very few people will pause a movie to read code, and those people are such a small demographic, that to make them a target audience to the point that you're willing to go off the deep end on the film budget seems absurd.
- batgaijin 14y agoIt's the demographic for the movie.
- jschiefer 14y agoThe reason I have to do it in post is because I don't have time to do it all correct before we start filming (scheduling and all). While it would be expensive, normally, I'll be doing all the post myself, so it's free. My target demographic really does care; that's why they're backing the movie in the first place. I hope that clarifies.
- wellpast 14y agoI really wish the script would be made available to potential backers. If I liked the writing I might be inclined to contribute to the project. What would be the downside of publishing the script for a film that is trying to get social funding like this? The script is copyrighted, registered with script guild, etc. is there something to worry about?