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Help & F.A.Q.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is this site about?

WTM player Deviant wrote a neat article about whatthemovie. If you don’t speak German, check out this translation by DrDoetz.

What does You did not score a point yet mean?

You see this line when you solve a snapshot in the category New Submissions. You didn't score a point (yet) because you can't score on snapshots which are in this category. If the snapshot is transferred to Feature Films, you'll automatically get your deserved point. Read more here.

What's with the abbreviation CM below my name?

CM stands for Cable Monkey, the first rank in the WTM set hierarchy. Read more here.

What's a WTM supporter and how can I join the club?

As most of you know whatthemovie is run by kinoute. We like developing whatthemovie but we have a tiny problem. It's simple: Money. We spend a lot of time on whatthemovie and still the server costs more than the ads cover. We don't mind filling the gaps but doing that every month is a bit of a burden.

WTM supporters show their dedication to the site by donating € 1,- per month. They:

  • Have a black Avatar tag
  • Can have 3 snapshots in the New Submissions and Contests
  • Gain a unique shiny Memorabilia
  • Have Awesome Uploads (1 free upload per subscribed month, e.g. 6 or 12 according to 6 or 12 months of being a supporter). You get the uploads all at once after becoming a supporter. You however can't get more than 12 Awesome Uploads, to keep the game in balance and not letting supporters gain advantage over the others.
  • See recent visitors on their profile
  • Show a Gallery of your Best Shots
  • And a lot more to come ...

You can become a supporter for either 6 months, a full year or any additional number of months. Show your love for the site and help us to keep it running:

Read about all the advantages

How can I earn WTM bucks?

Certain actions on the site will award you WTM bucks. You can earn a maximum of 300 WTM bucks per day. Read more here.

How does the Hall of Fame work? What is the feature Show Solution?

Every Feature Film shot gets a 30 day time counter. During these 30 days you'll get a point for solving this shot. After the "solve time" (i.e. the 30 days) are over, you get no more "Hall of Fame (HoF) points" for this shot. Your personal solvecounter (at your profile page) still raises when solving, your HoF counter doesn't. You can request the solution for those shots by pressing the Show Solution button.

As we want this HoF to actually mean something, any cheating or unfair help is prohibited. Sharing hints and solutions or using scripts and/or automated search engines (such as TinEye or Google Images) is strictly prohibited.

How to take movie snapshots?

There are many possibilies to capture a still of your favourite movie.
An easy method is to:

  • Use the VLC Media Player (download here: videolan.org)
  • Equip you DVD player with your recently bought DVD of the original movie
  • Play the DVD with VLC Media Player and go to VIDEO > TAKE SCREENSHOT
  • The still will be saved at a predefined location (can be changed in the options)

You can also find a more detailed tutorial here.

Recently released Movies

If you are trying to post a snapshot from a recently released movie, that has no snapshot in the Archive yet, you are expected to prove that it's officially out on DVD/Blu-ray. To do this, leave a spoilered shout below the shot you've just uploaded, with a link to a (web)store showing the DVD/BD retail release date and, therefore, proving it can currently be purchased. If you won't, we will assume your shot does not come from an official release and it will be deleted.

Do I get my awesome upload back if my shot gets deleted?

  • If your shot was a duplicate of a snapshot which is still in the Feature Films: Yes, obviously not your fault since it didn’t appear on the upload page.
  • If your shot was a duplicate of a snapshot which is in the Archive: No, the shot appeared on the upload page where you should check for duplicates.
  • If your shot was deleted for bad quality or black bars: No, you shouldn't have posted a bad quality shot in the first place and you should have cut the black bars.

What's new in WTM 2?

New quiz structure

The essential new feature: WTM users unlock new movie snapshots themselves. The queuing process is no longer maintained by a group of moderators.

All movie snapshots are now divided in 3 main categories:

  • Feature Films lists all snapshots from the last 30 days. Solving snapshots in this category gives you points for the Hall of Fame.
  • The Archive includes all snapshots which are older than 30 days and shows a thumbnail overview of all shots (Similar to the old Overview, but sorted by date).
  • New Submissions contains all freshly uploaded movie snapshots. You are able to access this category with 50 Feature Film solves or more. Based on their rating, the best snapshots are transferred to the Feature Films. Every snapshot stays in New Submissions for at least 24 hours and no longer than 48, until it is either transferred to Feature Films (accepted) or rejected. Solving snapshots in this category won't give you any points for the Hall of Fame. However, if you solve a snapshot, which is later transferred, you will get the point (you don't have to solve it again). Rating a snapshot in New Submissions gives you 5 WTM bucks. Every day there is a fixed amount of movie snapshots which are transferred from New Submissions to Feature Films based on their rating.

Upload section

The upload page has undergone a complete redesign. When adding a new movie snapshot, the uploader is able to check for shots which have already been posted. The solutions to snapshots are no longer saved with the snapshot itself, but with the movie. If your intended movie is already posted on WTM, all you have to do is specify the snapshot on your harddisc. Title, alternative titles and IMDB link are added from our database. All your uploaded snapshots will immediately be posted in the category New Submissions

You are not able to post more than 2 snapshots of the same movie (5 if you are a Supporter) and have more than 2 (3 if you are a Supporter) snapshots simultaneously in the category New Submissions. The reason why we put a limit when uploading a new snapshot is simple: It's quality. We believe that it's best to take a new snapshot, right after watching a movie. All the impressions of the movie are fresh in your mind. Version 1 of WTM has shown us, that the quality of snapshots significantly decreases, when people upload many snapshots in a row.

Profile pages

Every user is able to fill out his/her personal profile page, supply personal information, a short bio ... the usual stuff. By default, everyone is randomly given one out of ten predefined autograph pictures. If you are not happy with Clark Gable and his friends, feel free to upload your own image.

WTM bucks & set hierarchy

WTM 2 introduces its own currency: The WTM buck. It indicates your activity on the site. The following actions give you WTM bucks:

  • + 2 WTM bucks for adding an alternative title to a movie.
  • + 5 WTM bucks for rating shots in the category New Submissions.
  • + 10 WTM bucks for uploading title/end snapshot in movie and character shots.
  • + 200 WTM bucks for writing a movie review.
  • + 10 WTM bucks for each thumbs up on your shouts and/or movie reviews.
  • - 10 WTM bucks for each thumbs down on your shouts and/or moview reviews. You lose 2 WTM bucks for each down-vote to give them more credibility.

You are able to earn a maximum of 300 WTM bucks per day. This hard earned money affects your rank in the WTM set hierarchy:

    Bronze

  • 0 WTM bucks: Cable Monkey (CM)
  • 500 WTM bucks: Focus Puller (FP)
  • 1000 WTM bucks: Clapper Loader (CL)
  • 2000 WTM bucks: Grip (G)

    • Silver

  • 5000 WTM bucks: Best Boy (BB)
  • 10 000 WTM bucks: Boom Operator (BO)
  • 15 000 WTM bucks: Lighting Technician (LT)
  • 20 000 WTM bucks: Costume Designer (CD)

    • Gold

  • 30 000 WTM bucks: Property Master (PM)
  • 40 000 WTM bucks: Stunt Coordinator (SC)
  • 50 000 WTM bucks: Set Decorator (SD)
  • 75 000 WTM bucks: Cinematographer (C)

    • Platinum

  • 100 000 WTM bucks: Editor (E)
  • 150 000 WTM bucks: Executive Producer (EP)
  • 200 000 WTM bucks: Producer (P)
  • 300 000 WTM bucks: Writer (W)

    • Ivory

  • 400 000 WTM bucks: Director (D)
  • 500 000 WTM bucks: Studio Boss (SB)

Advancing in the set hierarchy unlocks additional features:

  • A Cable Monkey (which is basically everybody from the start) is able to write reviews, shout on movies/users/snapshots, vote on snapshots/movies.
  • A Grip can upload snapshots and see all movie snapshots.
  • A Clapper Loader is allowed to tag snapshots or movies.
  • A Best Boy can add alt-titles to movies.
  • A Boom Operator is able to delete tags (besides his own).
  • A Lighting Technician can start or participate in a snapshot vote-delete.
  • A Property Master is able to delete alt-titles of movies and deletion votes of other users.
  • A Stunt Coordinator is able to change the name, the description and delete character.
  • A Set Decorator is able to change the name, year, director or IMDb url of movie or write abstracts.
  • A Cinematographer is able to re-upload bad quality Archive snapshots (snapshots which are older than 30 days)
  • A Executive Producer can add series, lock movies and turn stuff into series.
  • A Writer can send shots straight into limbo (=delete shot directly).
  • A Director can organize his own sidequest.

Memorabilia

Certain actions on WTM award you these collectibles. For example every set rank has its own goblet. Visit the Memorabilia page to view them all. The shiny awards are designed by pixel maniac Martin Wörister.

Love, bookmark & tag snapshots

Your loved snapshots are displayed in your profile gallery. Bookmarked snapshots are visible there as well by default. Make them private in your settings. If you advance to level 2 in the set hierarchy you will be able to tag snapshots. Tags must be in English, and only related to what can actually be seen on the snapshot.

Movie pages

Every movie has its own page in WTM 2. You are able to:

  • Rate movies
  • Write movie reviews
  • Add movies to your favourites/bookmarks/watchlist
  • Add genres to movies
  • Add alternative titles to movies

Control difficulty & snapshot options with the Awesome Button ©

The Awesome Button © gives you the possibility to narrow your random search results. Specify a tag, adjust the difficulty (which is based on the overall solves) or include shots from the archive. These options are only one click away thanks to the mighty Awesome Button ©.

Vote-Delete feature

Everybody with set rank 7 (Lighting Technician) or higher is qualified to start a Vote-Delete. If you think a snapshot violates the 5 Golden Rules of Uploading state a short reason and hope for more people to think your way. If a total of 5 people think the shot is inappropiate, it is deleted automatically.

Shout at everything

Registered users are able to shout at movie snapshots, movies or other users. Shouting at Feature Film snapshots is allowed for people who have solved the still. Shouting at shots in the Archive is allowed for everybody.

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