MovieChat Forums > The Newsroom (2012) Discussion > A Quibble ABout the Whole GENOA Affair.....

A Quibble ABout the Whole GENOA Affair...

posted 9 years ago by GayIthacan2
9 replies | jump to latest

I found the entire 'edited master footage' subplot to be almost inconceivable.

Video tape that is used by the major networks (especially that used in computer-editing systems) would have a data information bar along the bottom that included the full date and a counter accurate to the hundredths of a second. There would be no way that Dantana could edit said tape believably on the MASTER TAPE - which would have said data information bar along the bottom - without the timing error being apparent. In fact, said timers are there to prevent precisely this kind of tampering.

Any videotape editors around here to confirm my position?

Qui tacet consentire

[–] GayIthacan2 9 years ago

Bump.

Qui tacet consentire

[–] Darth-VeX 9 years ago

I've never worked for a major network or anything close, but I have used professional video editing software in an editing bay.

That being said, for the editing he was doing, it's fairly obvious that he knew a lot more than the average editor at a technical level, so it's entirely possible that he could have also re-rendered the edited footage and then simply edited the encoded data stamp to match that of the original footage.

At that point, only a very skilled technical investigator examining the encoded data would have been able to tell that the video was not an original ... other than the fact that he forgot the basketball game's shot clock in the background.

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So the short answer is, yes, the technology is designed to prevent this kind of tampering. But it's also entirely plausible that Jerry Dantana's past work history included time as a video editor before he became a producer so he might have had the knowledge to do the complex editing and cover it up.

Suspend your disbelief. Enjoy the story.

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Matthew 5:5 - Blessed are the geeks, for they shall inherit Middlearth.

[–] Ajones47 9 years ago

Building on this, I'd also say it's conceivable that the crew trusted a senior member of the production staff not to doctor the tape, and therefore they weren't looking for any evidence of tampering.

That being said, as soon as the basketball was in the shot, it was pretty clear what would happen.

[–] GayIthacan2 9 years ago

Well, no, actually Mac specifically says, "I want to see the raw footage." during the Red Team III meeting and he shows it to them. No one notices the edit or the shot clock.

Qui tacet consentire

[–] jquick99 9 years ago

Agreed. It made zero sense to have the b-ball game on in the background, so you knew that it was going to be used somehow later.

[–] GayIthacan2 9 years ago

Yes...

Plus Will expounded at length on shot clocks later in his office.

Sharp viewers knew right then how they were gonna nail him.....

Qui tacet consentire

[–] sati_84 9 years ago

Except... that reveal should not have been possible, I think:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1870479/board/nest/248210000?d=248210000#248210000

Am I missing something, or they got it wrong?

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[–] TurnerJazz 9 years ago

I just replied to that post you linked but I think the "cropping" they showed was of the footage to be aired, not the raw footage. He edited them both but separately. The raw footage was only edited to remove a few things to make it sound like he said they used chemical weapons.

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[–] sati_84 9 years ago

Yep, that makes sense, thanks! I thought Jerry was smarter than that.

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