[WikiEN-l] Are TV screencaps reputable sources?

[jayjg]

On 8/13/06, Matt Brown <morven at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 8/13/06, jayjg <jayjg99 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > The accuracy of a quote in a book can easily be verified by going to a
> > library and looking it up; often the quotes can even be found online.
> > How does one verify the accuracy of a screencap?
>
> Presumably by obtaining the movie in VHS or DVD form.  Many libraries
> have collections of movies for loan, and there are commercial
> providers as well (cf Blockbuster, etc)
>
> Once there, one can look for the scene.

24 frames per second, times 2 hours? That works out to over 170,000
frames.  Is the fact-checker supposed to skip through a frame at a
time? And even then how can one assure that the screencap hasn't been
altered in some subtle way? And then one must actually describe what
one sees in the screencap, which, of course, is open to many different
interpretations (i.e. original research).

With a quotation, it's quite simple - get the book, open up to the
page number listed, and read a couple of hundred words. Do the words
in the article match what's in the book? Verified.

> A corollary of this is that screencaps of movies or TV programs not
> available in purchaseable/rentable/loanable form should not be used as
> source material, since they are effectively unverifiable.

In my view *all* screencaps are effectively unverifiable.

Jay.