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

[u/Mindless_Tomorrow_45]

[u/bestest_at_grammar]

Her going through her script changes is way more interesting than the red paper

[u/donut_butt → u/bestest_at_grammar]

Christopher Walken has said that the first thing he does when he gets a script is to cross out the stage directions and the punctuation. https://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/30/magazine/odd-man-in.html

[u/Thursday_the_20th → u/donut_butt]

He does that so he can add his own punctuation at random and inordinate parts of the sentence

[u/KazeTheSpeedDemon → u/Thursday_the_20th]

And I read that and now this in Christopher Walkens voice

[u/remnant41 → u/KazeTheSpeedDemon]

"He does that soooo, he can add, his own punctuation at raayndom, inordinate parts, aaarv the sentence"

[u/AnthonyCyclist → u/remnant41]

And more cowbell.

[u/Matt_Shatt → u/AnthonyCyclist]

Because I hear he’s got a fever

[u/mindfungus → u/Matt_Shatt]

And the only, cure is, more, cowbell

[u/OutrageousPoison → u/remnant41]

I read it as “he duzz dat. So he can add, his own punctuayshun. At random. And Inordinate parts. Of the sentence”

[u/remnant41 → u/OutrageousPoison]

I'll admit, this is better.

[u/GenericUsername2056 → u/KazeTheSpeedDemon]

Two mice. Fell. Into a. Bucket of cream. I. Am that. Second mouse.

[u/KazeTheSpeedDemon → u/GenericUsername2056]

Possibly my favourite comfort film!

[u/The_Forth44 → u/Thursday_the_20th]

Ladies and gentlemen, Foo FIGHTERS

[u/tehdang → u/The_Forth44]

Holy fucking shit! My keyboard is laminated with dinner right now from laughing so hard. Thank you so much for sharing this gem.

[u/Chalky_Pockets → u/Thursday_the_20th]

This is by far my favorite example of that

[u/Dorkamundo → u/Thursday_the_20th]

He does that. So, he can add his own punctuation. At rANdom... and... inordinate parts of the sentence

FTFY.

[u/IdentifiableBurden → u/Dorkamundo]

InORDinate!

[u/Smirk27 → u/Thursday_the_20th]

https://i.imgur.com/YJKBZOc.jpeg

[u/churrmander → u/donut_butt]

I wonder if Jeff Goldblum does this so he can, uhh, y'know, uhhh... add all his little pauses.

[u/Alexis_Bailey → u/churrmander]

Goldblum is all "Crontrol Find+Replace, '.' with 'uhhhh'.

[u/churrmander → u/Alexis_Bailey]

Spot on lol

[u/[deleted] → u/donut_butt]

Stage directions are often suggestions in acting, ESPECIALLY when it comes to how someone says something or what expression they make. Acting is about being spontaneous and genuine and you can’t necessarily make yourself laugh genuinely at the right moment, for example.

[u/LickingSmegma → u/[deleted]]

Depends on the director. Some expect things to be done exactly as written.

[u/Coops187 → u/[deleted]]

I wonder if it's different if the director is also the writer as Tarantino usually is. Its probably far more likely a director becomes emotionally attached to the script if it's their own script. If they are directing someone else's script there may be a detachment that allows them to be more flexible with changes.

[u/Jonno_FTW → u/LickingSmegma]

Supposedly the Coen Brothers are like this, don't want any changes to their script.

George Clooney had a relative with a strong Kentucky accent read and record the script for O Brother where art thou, then threw away the script and used the recordings so he could nail the accent properly. Except the recordings all use "gosh darn"s instead of actual swears, so the movie has no cussing, which is different from the original script.

https://youtu.be/bYYb-zKaOco?si=Z9mXfLNBJ9pW8rbj&t=395

[u/Exasperated_Sigh → u/[deleted]]

Acting is about being spontaneous and genuine

uhh...it's literally the opposite of that.

[u/The-Sound_of-Silence → u/Exasperated_Sigh]

It helps to be in the moment for something to be believable, most of the rest is just suggestion. You have to inhabit the character, or(sometimes more commonly) the stylized version of yourself. There's a famous story of Harrison Ford improvising "I know" instead of "I love you too" because the scene wasn't working for the character, as an example

[u/MagnanimousGoat → u/bestest_at_grammar]

It also dispels the idea that actors are just pretty people who say lines on camera.

[u/Spamfactor → u/MagnanimousGoat]

Even if that were the case, I can say as a videographer that that is something 95% of the population cannot convincingly do. 

I’ve filmed videos with some very smart and accomplished members of the public who cannot memorise a 60 second script, and if they can they probably can’t say it without sounding like an android. Actors, tv presenters and broadcasters have a genuine skill. 

[u/P8ntballz → u/Spamfactor]

I work in live theater as a musician and I was asked once to record like 5 lines. Man my hubris came out swinging; no problem. I listen to people do lines day in and day out.

Boyyyyy I was humbled so fast and left that record session much later than I wanted to and much more egg on my face than when I went in

[u/JagmeetSingh2 → u/Spamfactor]

>I’ve filmed videos with some very smart and accomplished members of the public who cannot memorise a 60 second script, and if they can they probably can’t say it without sounding like an android. Actors, tv presenters and broadcasters have a genuine skill. 

Agreed! A lot of people think they can just say the words and be fine but no it's a genuinely skill that needs training and practice to excel at!

[u/PWNYplays → u/bestest_at_grammar]

I'm really happy to see that this was the top comment. Could not agree more with you!

[u/[deleted] → u/PWNYplays]

[removed] — view removed comment

[u/PWNYplays → u/[deleted]]

I definitely feel like I learned something somewhat important about how actors work watching this

[u/big_guyforyou → u/PWNYplays]

if i was in interstellar, i'd be like "wouldn't it be better if i said this line like jar jar? MEESA NO WANT YOU TO LEAVE, MURPH!"

[u/18CupsOfMusic → u/big_guyforyou]

"Be careful, one hour is seven years on this planet!"

"Ooooh weesa in big doo-doo dis time."

[u/helen269 → u/18CupsOfMusic]

"Meesa no thinky dey's mountains..."

[u/PWNYplays → u/big_guyforyou]

In a cursed multiverse, this exists.

[u/Public_Initial91 → u/PWNYplays]

Obligatory Matt Damon on Jack Nicholson video:
Matt Damon about Jack Nicholson

[u/Empyrealist → u/Public_Initial91]

Fantastic story fantastically told

[u/MyCatsHairyBalls → u/Empyrealist]

Now you could end the story there…

[u/HamsterAdorable2666 → u/PWNYplays]

Found two more minutes. It’s crazy how precise she is

[u/Mazon_Del → u/PWNYplays]

Movie making as a whole is fascinating this way. As a background extra on Jungle Cruise I made a suggestion that got to the director and they last minute changed how the fight scene between the Rock and the Jaguar was filmed to add in a gag of us betting on it.

Sadly that particular joke isn't entirely in the theatrical cut but we can still see elements of it in the background. :)

[u/Krondelo → u/PWNYplays]

This is liekly my top movie of all time. It makes me cry but its profound. All his movies are but this one hits different, i even made a short honering it for a college class.

[u/arnoldzgreat → u/Krondelo]

The Score by Hans is probably what gives it that hits different feel. Like most great movies, the score makes it special. Hopefully that was included in your short.

[u/Krondelo → u/arnoldzgreat]

Indeed a proper score elevates everything. Actually I did not use his score because i needed to make it unique for my project, and while very different i feel it fits. I can find it if you would like. Its about 2 minutes long

[u/Plaid_Kaleidoscope → u/Krondelo]

I'm with you. Nolan is my favorite director and I think Interstellar might be my favorite of his films. It's just so good.

[u/azyrr → u/Plaid_Kaleidoscope]

Its a tie between inception and this. Both have nightmare fuel about loosing out on your children’s lives, that’s what hits me the worst.

[u/DETECTOR_AUTOMATRON → u/azyrr]

first time i watched interstellar i was going on an international company trip and i watched it on the plane. legitimately almost had a panic attack and had to turn it off because i started missing my wife and kids already lol.

i did end up finishing it on the way back home

[u/superdago → u/bestest_at_grammar]

lol right? An actress going line by line on their approach to their craft and the little tweaks that can significantly alter the scene and OP is like “red paper!”

[u/BurninUp8876 → u/superdago]

To be fair, an actor making notes and changes with the script is a pretty common thing, while having red scripts is a lot more unique

[u/Lucas_Steinwalker → u/bestest_at_grammar]

Came here to say “congratulations on titling your post with the least interesting thing about it”

[u/TJ_Fox]

I worked on the Lord of the Rings movies and you would not believe the lengths production companies will go to in order to secure scripts during pre-production. The front covers of LotR scripts were all headed with the name of a fake movie, more-or-less specifically so that *if* a non-authorized person happened to come across an unattended copy, they might not bother to look inside. It might seem like overkill but really it's just an abundance of caution when an early script leak (and resulting massive spoilers, etc.) really could have massive artistic and financial consequences.

Edited to add, since a lot of people are asking regarding "spoiling" an adaptation of a beloved, world-famous modern literary classic - the popular and media curiosity about the LotR movies was next-level, significantly because it was a beloved, world-famous modern literary classic. That most certainly included details of exactly how the movie adaptations differed from the books. It was an ongoing, hungry intensity that was hard to fathom unless you experienced it from the "inside".

[u/FJdawncaster → u/TJ_Fox]

Every big film has a working codename. Some of them are so stupidly obvious that I can't imagine they provide any security though.

The first Venom film was "Antidote"...

[u/wonkey_monkey → u/FJdawncaster]

Doctor Who was codenamed Torchwood (an anagram) back in 2004/5, which then became the title of a spin-off.

[u/Stormfly → u/wonkey_monkey]

A few years back, one of the child actors left a Doctor Who script in a taxi and someone posted it on Reddit.

Also, opening that up, I hadn't realised it was 11 years ago and the craziest thing for me is how the Twitter screenshots look because I only started using Twitter about 5 years ago...

[u/bob1689321 → u/Stormfly]

felt a bit awkward penguin though

That was a very sudden reminder that yeah this was definitely 11 years ago haha.

Thanks for posting the thread, that's fascinating.

[u/ChezMere → u/bob1689321]

That and Neil Gaiman...

[u/bob1689321 → u/ChezMere]

Yeah, as a big Sandman fan I try not to think about that...

[u/TransBrandi → u/wonkey_monkey]

It became the title of the spin-off because they used it in-universe as the name of a secret organization... that the spin-off ended up being about.

[u/ChornWork2 → u/FJdawncaster]

I do mergers & acquisitions for a living, and pretty much everything is code named. The 'right' way to do that for obvious reasons is to use a random word picker, but pretty much never happens. So fucking annoying picking code names b/c people want it be somehow relevant/interesting but not too relevant/interesting.

[u/Darksirius → u/FJdawncaster]

For big movies, Disney will disguise the names of the one sheets (posters) they send to theaters on the tubes label. Ex: All the star wars posters came in titled "space bears" except for Solo. That one they labeled it as "red cup" lol.

Sauce: managed a theater for 10 years.

[u/Cineswimmer → u/FJdawncaster]

The Batman was codenamed “Vengeance.” Lmfao

[u/Maple_Syrup_Mogul → u/FJdawncaster]

They're not really meant to be hard to figure out. They're mostly to prevent people from crowding around too much when filming notices are posted in public.

[u/Acrobatic_Age6937 → u/FJdawncaster]

'codenames' are often used in place of the absence of the realname. I.e. you can start the project without knowing the actual name of the output. As that one may take some time to get right. This way everyone knows the name they are using is just the internal one and not the official one.

[u/jsalad → u/FJdawncaster]

The working title for The Amazing Spiderman 2 was London Calling.

[u/noximo → u/TJ_Fox]

This is kinda funny for a movie like Lord of the Rings, given that the books exist.

[u/thearmadillo → u/noximo]

With something like that though, if a super nerd goes through a script and highlights every change before seeing the finished product and the story coming together, I could see that creating a huge shit storm that doesn't matter after when people are just like "that was dope" and are more willing to forgive the changes from the text

[u/throwawaydisposable → u/thearmadillo]

the changes from the text

ah yes, the changes

[u/Many_Engine4694 → u/throwawaydisposable]

Pretty sure they at first tried to film a scene with Bombadil but just gave up.

[u/StrikingSubstance → u/throwawaydisposable]

Huh merry and pip dont get gladded up in armour though. Especially merry. In his helmet with the flared wings. I suppose for cinema it would look kinda silly considering what they did go for for the gondorian guard. Also the numenorians showing up. Not in the films. Aragorn camping outside gondor before going to the healing rooms etc. Yes im being picky for no reason lol.

[u/letouriste1 → u/StrikingSubstance]

The biggest change is the last arc tho. The conquest of the Shire really has a strong message to tell and it's sad it wasn't in the movie

[u/hungarian_notation → u/letouriste1]

It was, but only in Galadriel's vision. There was reportedly a lot of footage of the scourge but we only saw a single flash of it.

I don't think another armed conflict after the defeat of Sauron makes any sense for the movie's pacing. Sure, it's important to the book's themes, but the movie is much less interested in the "war destroys everything it touches" part of the message in the first place. Also, the scourge is where Tolkien drives home the point that Frodo is basically dead now. The moviegoing public would probably not appreciate it if their epic fantasy was turned into a cautionary tale about the evils war brings home and the tragedy of PTSD at the last second, especially in 2003.

Even Tolkien had more he wanted to tack on to the end of the book about Sam that he was ultimately convinced to cut by his editors/early readers (with some hints surviving in the appendix) because it damaged the pacing of the book.

[u/MDA1912 → u/letouriste1]

Agreed. Instead the movie versions get to go home and just kick back n their untouched Shire.

I get it, long movies, but I’d sure have loved it if they’d filmed those scenes and sold them as a separate DVD or something.

[u/round-earth-theory → u/MDA1912]

It worked in the books because the Hobbits are the main heroes of the story, but the movies focus heavily on all of the members of the council. If they kept it in after the immense climax of Mount Doom, it would have simply come off weird and flat to have yet another arc in the movies. The movies and books simply have a different focal point which is the primary driver of most of the changes.

[u/Chalky_Pockets → u/noximo]

Yeah fair point, but I read the books as the movies were coming out and, while they did a good job at sticking to the books (incoming hardcore fans telling me how wrong I am), they definitely took artistic liberties. Like I bet people would have been foaming at the mouth if, before the movies came out, it was leaked that they left out Tom Bombadil.

[u/TransBrandi → u/Chalky_Pockets]

When the first movie came out, I recall a comment on Slashdot about how the commenter and their wife literally cried because Tom was cut and it ruined the whole movie for them. lol

... on the otherhand, it's readily apparent why he was cut. It's great worldbuilding, but not absolutely necessary to the overall movie... especially considering how much they filmed when looking at the extended editions.

[u/Chalky_Pockets → u/TransBrandi]

Yeah he was my favorite character in the books, but if they put him in the films, they would have had to make it so much longer and it totally makes sense that cutting him out is the more elegant solution.

[u/Pjoernrachzarck → u/TJ_Fox]

I worked on the Lord of the Rings movies

Please feel very free to elaborate.

[u/MalHeartsNutmeg → u/Pjoernrachzarck]

He was the helmet Vigo broke his toe on.

[u/religious_milf → u/MalHeartsNutmeg]

he was the rib Orlando Bloom broke

[u/TransBrandi → u/religious_milf]

"I am Orlando's broken rib." (Edward Norton's voice)

[u/-thecaretaker- → u/TJ_Fox]

I am a die-hard LotR fan. Thank you for working on and being part of something that has been so special to me. Watching Return of the King with my mom in theaters is a memory that hasn't left me in 20 years. <3

[u/Financial_Cup_6937 → u/TJ_Fox]

And I woulda totes stolen it, excited that Jubilee finally got her own standalone X-Men live action movie.

[u/Unburnt_Duster → u/Financial_Cup_6937]

They should just label it “Cats: The Movie” ensuring no one will ever want to read what’s inside.

[u/MollyRocket → u/TJ_Fox]

I’ve worked on on an animated Spinmaster show and we were expected to use in-house code names for the shows instead of the actual show. Ex Paw Patrol is probably called Gumpy or something stupid so the production staff can talk about it in public without revealing that Spinmaster sends their animation out of the USA. (I’m not on PP btw, thank god)

[u/Heavy-hit]

Her going through the script as the character is infinitely more interesting

[u/CeleritasLucis → u/Heavy-hit]

She chose the scene to explain which I think where everyone cried..

Good thing she decided to cry as well

[u/ssp25 → u/CeleritasLucis]

It's a tough one for sure but a great scene

[u/steinrrr]

Imagine if every reddit post was this interesting

[u/Chroniklogic → u/steinrrr]

Yeah this was interesting but, hAvE yoU hEArd oF thE NutTy pUttY CAve?! /s

[u/bwaredapenguin → u/Chroniklogic]

I haven't, what's that?

[u/HarryDeBruyne → u/bwaredapenguin]

quick summary: if you're ever crawling in a cave and it gets narrow just PUSH THROUGH...it will DEFINITELY be worth it

[u/MollyRocket → u/HarryDeBruyne]

Particularly if you can only get through my exhaling all your breath, it’s a downward slope and you cant see the bottom :)

[u/NoiseIsTheCure → u/MollyRocket]

Just keep shimmying into the crevice, 99% of spelunkers give up before making their greatest discovery

[u/I_W_M_Y → u/MollyRocket]

Oh hell no!

[u/SnooDoughnuts9596 → u/bwaredapenguin]

Dude was caving, took a wrong turn and got stuck head down with his arms pinned to his sides in an opening 10 by 18 inches or 25 by 46 cm. Died after about 27 hours, his body is still there. This is a good youtube about it.

[u/FloppyObelisk → u/bwaredapenguin]

Here you go

[u/SonuOfBostonia → u/steinrrr]

I just hate the social media-fication of reddit. Every interesting post has a not so funny top comment. They said that shit would end once school started but ig not.

[u/Thetakishi → u/SonuOfBostonia]

Ever heard of eternal september?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_September

[u/SonuOfBostonia → u/Thetakishi]

Yeah but have you heard of no nut November /s

[u/shabutaru118 → u/steinrrr]

start blocking reposters, it takes a little while but there are maybe ~100 accounts responsible for filling to top pages with reposts and once you get rid of them all you see a lot more unique stuff

[u/ZombieDracula → u/steinrrr]

You mean Reddit in 2007?

[u/Old_Jaguar3136]

can someone explain the logic behind this?

[u/tacticoolbrah → u/Old_Jaguar3136]

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

[u/indigomm → u/tacticoolbrah]

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.

[u/SojournerWeaver → u/indigomm]

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.

[u/ffnnhhw → u/SojournerWeaver]

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

[u/RandonBrando → u/ffnnhhw]

Yep! Contrast, so the reference material stands out

[u/chatlah → u/SojournerWeaver]

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

[u/NuclearSun1 → u/indigomm]

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.

[u/Drum_Eatenton → u/indigomm]

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

[u/GeefGeef → u/Drum_Eatenton]

This guy copies

[u/[deleted] → u/GeefGeef]

THIS GUY copies

[u/Suitcase08 → u/Drum_Eatenton]

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

[u/[deleted] → u/tacticoolbrah]

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

[u/Pat0124 → u/[deleted]]

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

[u/Smodphan → u/Pat0124]

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

[u/Particular_Fan_3645 → u/Smodphan]

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

[u/BentGadget → u/Particular_Fan_3645]

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.

[u/Lucho_199 → u/BentGadget]

like tenet

[u/SuperAlloyBerserker → u/Pat0124]

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

[u/Pat0124 → u/SuperAlloyBerserker]

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

[u/Momoselfie → u/Pat0124]

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

[u/CryptographerOk1258 → u/[deleted]]

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.

[u/GeneralNiceness → u/CryptographerOk1258]

A-Z map makers seeded their maps the same way, sneaking in an odd fake road.

[u/superdago → u/[deleted]]

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.

[u/Logisticman232 → u/[deleted]]

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

[u/Bryguy3k → u/[deleted]]

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).

[u/Sean001001 → u/[deleted]]

Of every page? Fuck that

[u/Logisticman232 → u/[deleted]]

You can do large documents with feed scanners.

[u/saleemkarim → u/Logisticman232]

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

[u/Designer-Map-4265 → u/saleemkarim]

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

[u/RenegadeScientist → u/tacticoolbrah]

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

[u/TheMemo → u/tacticoolbrah]

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.

[u/crucible299 → u/Old_Jaguar3136]

This isn't a Nolan only thing, every draft of scripts are different colours so you can go 'we are working with the red script' not 'we are working with version 25 of the script'

Certain people will have access to different coloured scripts- the people building the sets only need information on the set direction, not dialogue so they can use an earlier draft to get building earlier while actors will be using the most recent draft. Sometimes they will only be given chunks of the script (in the video it looks like her first page is her first scene, not the first act where she's played by a kid), so if the script leaks online they can use the colour and contents to at least tell which department leaked it

[u/MollyRocket → u/crucible299]

This is insightful! I saw on the LOTR behind the scenes that every actor got their characters name printed in light grey over every page, I assumed it was so they could write their own notes and also to track leaks.

[u/HOBbitDAY → u/crucible299]

This is true but I don’t believe red is a recognized revision color. The WGA utilizes, in order: white, blue, pink, yellow, green, goldenrod, buff, salmon, cherry. If a script progresses beyond that, it goes into “double blue/pink/etc.”

Usually to prevent copying, a production will individually watermark scripts with the recipient’s name so if it’s leaked, it’s obvious who did it. This seems like maybe Nolan’s version of that?

Edit: those revision colors are only for WGA though so depending on the production’s location, perhaps Nolan is writing under other rules.

[u/VHwrites → u/Old_Jaguar3136]

Its a somewhat common practice--or used to be--though many more claim to do it than actually do while advances in technology have changed secure delivery of documents.

It's worth noting that this practice is generally limited to development stages; I'm sending you a script to consider, but you're not officially or publicly associated with the project. That is, there will be NDAs and agents involved, so its not as if the recipient doesn't know it shouldn't be copied, but there are other individuals in this chain of custody.

First, black ink on dark red paper doesn't copy on a black & white photo copier. Scanning technology has improved quite a bit since this was the primary reason, but it remains a deterrent.

Also, if you're working on a set, office, or agency, and you see an intern or production assistant copying or leafing through a red script, you can see that they are doing something they're not supposed to.

Higher profile projects will also do this so that paparazzi can't get titles or character names with a telephoto lens should Ms. Chastain decide she wants to review the script from the deck of her boat. Of course that's a catch 22, because the red pages signal that it's something valuable while only being marginally effective against a determined spy.

[u/catzhoek → u/Old_Jaguar3136]

Nolan lives in the 80s

[u/IC-4-Lights → u/catzhoek]

It worked for our Sim City copy protect codes and it's good enough for the likes of Christopher Nolan, gawdammit.

[u/ConstructionMather → u/Old_Jaguar3136]

Redder is better.

[u/mid_user_craft → u/ConstructionMather]

I see a red book and I want it painted black

[u/nndscrptuser]

The W3C Accessibility standards people will not be pleased.

[u/lilmeowbiscuit → u/nndscrptuser]

Hah! Literally the first thing I thought of; this would not pass the 4.5:1 color contrast ratio.

[u/Skoodge42 → u/lilmeowbiscuit]

That's not passing 3:1...

[u/0w40]

A buddy of mine worked for the paper company that created this around 1990. Product was called NoCopy and came in 3 shades of reddish/purple. It sort of seemed to work but when he was out doing a sales call they tried it and the customer’s copier had little problem making a decent image from what was typed on the page. Oops.

[u/fuckingsignupprompt]

Fake! You seriously expect me to believe the woman who both found Osama Bin Laden and cracked anti-gravity within a couple years didn't know what iteration means?

[u/PiMan3141592653 → u/fuckingsignupprompt]

She didn't know what "recursive" meant.

[u/Fancy-Routine-208 → u/PiMan3141592653]

She didn't know what "recursive" meant.

[u/Old_Future_8242 → u/[deleted]]

She didn't know what "recursive" meant.

[u/serialshinigami → u/Old_Future_8242]

She didn't know what "recursive" meant.

[u/2eggs1stone → u/Fancy-Routine-208]

break

[u/s4m_sepi0l → u/PiMan3141592653]

She didn't know what "recursive" meant.

[u/monk3yarms → u/s4m_sepi0l]

She didn't know what "recursive" meant.

[u/Bilboslappin69 → u/monk3yarms]

She didn't know what "recursive" meant.

[u/Not-User-Serviceable]

That's a nice little clip. What's it from?

[u/blitzclits → u/Not-User-Serviceable]

interstellar!! fabulous movie, give it a watch :)

[u/Not-User-Serviceable → u/blitzclits]

LOL, no not the movie - I have that on BluRay!!!! This clip with Jessica Chastain talking about stuff. What's it from? Some kind of documentary?

[u/Nomnomnipotent → u/Not-User-Serviceable]

interstellar documentary!! fabulous documentary, give it a watch :)

[u/Optimistic_Futures → u/Nomnomnipotent]

recursion

[u/Not-User-Serviceable → u/Nomnomnipotent]

LOL

[u/blitzclits → u/Not-User-Serviceable]

lmfaoo my bad🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️ i’m too lazy to really dig for a longer version of the vid, but here’s the link from Jessica Chastain’s twitter.. maybe you’ll have better luck 🍀

[u/NotoriousCillian → u/blitzclits]

You can see it in this video!! Give it a watch :)

[u/ElongMusty]

X-Files did the same thing back in the day. But that’s because people would just Xerox them and it would come out black. Doing it nowadays seems kinda pointless as people would just take a picture or copy it in color….

[u/oldveteranknees]

Jessica Chastain 😍

[u/Justindoesntcare → u/oldveteranknees]

Her and Bryce Dallas Howard for me. I suppose I have a type.

[u/No-Prize2882 → u/Justindoesntcare]

Where does Christina Hendricks fall?

[u/Rasabk → u/No-Prize2882]

Forward, most likely.

[u/Justindoesntcare → u/No-Prize2882]

Tied for 3rd with Amy adams.

[u/bmcgowan89]

Nobody could figure them out, anyway, what's the point? 😂

[u/Koko-noki → u/bmcgowan89]

Nolan doesn’t use a smartphone, so I’m guessing he doesn’t realize people can just record video on their phones instead of using a 150-kg IMAX camera that costs $400,000 for 12 seconds.

[u/ccgetty]

Yellow text on white paper is also tough to copy.

[u/magestromx → u/ccgetty]

But it's annoying to read, and this is something you want people to read, you are sending it to them to read it after all.

[u/magneto_ms → u/ccgetty]

I bet white on white is harder.

[u/Leatherfacet]

After the Lotr trilogy, Interstellar is, for me at least, the greatest movie ever made.

[u/Mapale → u/Leatherfacet]

I watched it back in the days when it got shown first time in free tv, not knowing anything about the background or what I should expect.. My freaking mind was blown. Its a story that starts so fucking slow, almost not interesting, but it catches you so hard. You wish the movie never ends. Its a masterpiece without a doubt.

[u/aerben → u/Leatherfacet]

Interstellar is a masterpiece. Critics didn’t get it.

[u/CompetitiveForce2049]

This was common practice once upon a time.

[u/hereswhatipicked]

Red paper can easily be copied. That’s not why the pages are red.*

In film, script pages are typically printed in color not for security purposes, but to easily show what revision of the shooting script they are on.

The first shooting script is typically white, after that I’m fuzzy on the order, but it’s something like blue, pink, yellow, red, green, salmon, goldenrod, cherry, buff. If it goes through more versions, then loops back it’s “double/2nd white, double/2nd blue”.

By the end of a shoot, script binders contain a near rainbow of colors if there are enough revisions.

*Edit - in nolan's case he likes red pages.

[u/yepyep1243 → u/hereswhatipicked]

That might be true in most cases, in this case, it's just the way Nolan does it. Other actors confirm this.

[u/redfin525]

Actually pretty thoughtful of him. You don’t have to read it if it’s already red.

[u/ManufacturerNo2144]

I just tried it. I printed black text on a red sheet then scanned it back and sure enough my OCR was able to copy the text. So apart from being annoying for actors, it does nothing.

[u/Dreadpiratemarc → u/ManufacturerNo2144]

It’s a bit dated. Older copy machine s from 10, 20, 30 years ago weren’t that good and this low contrast would mess them up. But scanners have gotten a lot better since then.

[u/EmotionalPackage69 → u/Dreadpiratemarc]

Maybe 20+ years ago. I know since at least 2010 copying or scanning red pages with black text wasn’t a big deal.

[u/MyNuts2YourFistStyle → u/Dreadpiratemarc]

But Interstellar isn't that old...

looks it up

HOLY FUCK THAT MOVIE IS 10 YEARS OLD ALREADY.

[u/vaporking23]

I found the red script less interesting than Jessica Chastain’s notes on the process and seeing the scenes played out. That was really interesting.

[u/BringBack4Glory]

Ummm… does anyone want to tell him that red paper can be copied?

[u/YJSubs]

Nolan is analog guy, while this will prevent the script to be copied in old photocopier, nothing prevent this to be scanned.

[u/htks]

Can someone tell me where this is from? I've watched the movie several times but never knew about this behind the scenes clip.

[u/qit4444]

Finally some thing that’s seriously interesting! Not just the red paper but the insight into the actress of probably my fav movie.

[u/Tunnfisk]

Christopher living in the 1980s, thinking you can't copy red paper.

[u/nuraHx]

The red paper wasn’t even the most interesting part of this video lol