Hacker Cinema
Spin
1995 · Film · documentary · 57 min
Directed by Brian Springer
Pirated satellite feeds revealing U.S. media personalities’ contempt for their viewers come full circle in Spin. TV out-takes appropriated from network satellite feeds unravel the tightly-spun fabric of television—a system that silences public debate and enforces the exclusion of anyone outside the pack of journalists, politicians, spin doctors, and televangelists who manufacture the news. Spin moves through the L.A. riots and the floating TV talk-show called the 1992 U.S. presidential election.
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7 comments on Hacker News
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spin_(1995_film)
"Spin is a 1995 documentary film by Brian Springer composed of raw satellite feeds featuring politicians' pre-appearance planning. It covers the presidential election as well as the 1992 Los Angeles riots and the Operation Rescue abortion protests.[1]"
Spin is a documentary capturing a number of similar conversations captured from satellite feeds before/after the actual "show".
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spin_(1995_film)
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uock08dy19s
> She said during the news, rather than ads, you saw the hosts smoking and chatting.
Sounds like she was viewing the direct feed or something. There is a documentary called "Spin" which was recorded footage of the downtime between ads. You can see, for example, George H.W. Bush chatting up Larry King. There is footage of Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and others. The people being recorded don't seem to realize that the satellite feed continues during a break or downtime.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spin_(1995_film)
I will forever associate Larry King with the movie “Spin”. [1] It’s a rather brilliant indie documentary about the 1992 (Bill Clinton / HW Bush) election based on a fascinating technological element: back then, Satellite TV feeds would often just keep running during commercial breaks, or warmups.
So the director recorded a TON of footage from these moments where the politicians and news anchors acted themselves, seemingly unaware that anyone was watching.
The segments with Larry King are, um, memorable. Very candid moments.
1: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spin_(1995_film)
>I haven't seen evidence for it as the norm.
You might like Spin, a 1995 documentary composed of unauthorized behind the scenes footage of the political maneuverings of newscasters and politicians.
https://youtu.be/PlJkgQZb0VU
Your topic is kind of wide-ranging and it's difficult to know if something will be off-topic or not. Let's try:
In terms of someone hacking the system, not for himself, but for the benefit of the people, there's this guy Edward, with a documentary made about him called 'CitizenFour' (2014). It's pretty good! It doesn't end like 'The Founder' though.
In terms of continuously hacking an invention to find new ways of exploiting it, I'd say the hard sci-fi indie movie 'Primer' (2004) pretty much revolves around that (although it might not be completely obvious during the first viewing).
I have to mention 'Spin' (1995), about the 1992 US election candidates. The hack here is not really the subject, but the documentary itself: it is entirely made of unauthorized satellite feeds of pre- and post-interview scenes not meant to be broadcast, i.e. you see all politicians talking unfiltered and off-the-record, as they were all unaware that, even though they were not being broadcast at those very moments, the cameras were still on and transmitting over satellite -- and their feed could be easily intercepted.
Rant on actual/software hacking movies: it might be different for some other medium, but I don't know of any movie that depicts hacking in a realistic way and is a decent movie. In my opinion, this is because there is nothing cinematic in hacking. As far as I know, the only one that marketed itself as 'realistic' on this topic was 'Blackhat', but that aspect of the movie was boring, and almost everything else was lazy and/or dumb. Maybe something on TV?
This was an excellent review of a book that has been given standard reviews elsewhere. I may be buying this book.
The content reminds me of the documentary film 'Spin':
* Using the 1992 presidential election as his springboard, Springer captures the behind-the-scenes maneuverings of politicians and newscasters in the early 1990s. Pat Robertson banters about "homos," Al Gore learns how to avoid abortion questions, George H. W. Bush talks to Larry King about Halcion—all presuming they are off camera. Composed of 100% unauthorized satellite footage, Spin is a surreal expose of media-constructed reality.*
Yep, H W Bush was on Halcion, not good!!!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spin_(1995_film)
A highly recommended film given the election season and on youtube too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlJkgQZb0VU