If you’ve spent enough time online, you’ll know that there’s no limit to what people will find funny, entertaining, disgusting, or, in other words, worthy of watching. Eagles snatching babies and pigs saving drowning goats generally go in the same category.
But even before AI did a number on our brains, there were sometimes staged, sometimes computer-generated videos that fooled the sweet summer children! Oh, and let’s not forget how editors.
Today, anybody with a screen can pick up some software, right there in their browser, and trim footage, rearrange scenes, add sound, add horns, whatever. Take Clideo video editor, for example, you can add subtitles, utilize a lot of AI features to translate the audio, play with hues, and so much more. Not to suit bad intentions, of course, but have a bit of fun with video.
Want to question your eyes? Here are 10 most famous videos to consider.
Before YouTube, TV fooled the heck out of us
1. The BBC’s Spaghetti Harvest (1957)
This is almost too good to be true. On April 1, 1957, the BBC’s Panorama showed Swiss farmers harvesting spaghetti from trees. Yep, no exaggeration. Presenter Richard Dimbleby narrated the report with complete seriousness, explaining an apparently successful spaghetti-growing season.
Viewers contacted the BBC, and some genuinely believed the story. Spaghetti was still relatively unfamiliar in British households, which helped.
The entire production consisted of staged footage and authoritative narration. No special effects necessary. Just a respected broadcaster telling people pasta was agricultural produce. Think you would fall for it back then?
BBC: Spaghetti-Harvest in Ticino | Switzerland Tourism
2. Lonelygirl15: The Teenager Who Didn’t Exist (2006)
In June 2006, a 16-year-old girl named Bree started posting webcam diaries on YouTube. She spoke about her sheltered childhood, family issues and regular teenage issues.
She led audiences on her adventures until September when investigators revealed the truth: Bree was fictional, actually played by actress Jessica Rose.
First Blog / Dorkiness Prevails
Her room was a neat set-up. Some props still had price tags on them, Wired reports.
Rather than simply a story, they wanted to make it interactive, but many people had thought that they were watching someone’s real life. One of the first things I was taught about not believing anything that was shot on a pink bedspread.
3. The BBC’s Flying Penguins (2008)
But the BBC wasn’t satisfied with getting away with spaghetti, and came back in 2008 with the flying penguins.
The April Fools’ video featured a flock of flying penguins. The impossible became very real when the computer did the job of animating the scene.
The BBC also shared a behind-the-scenes video on the production.
That ought to have done the trick. Rather, the same footage of the animals was captured and recorded by AFP back in 2020 and presented as a real wildlife find. After twelve years, the punch line disappeared from the joke.
When Animals Became Internet Celebrities
4. The Pig That Rescued a Drowning Goat (2012)
A small goat is struggling in a pond. A heroic pig swims toward it, pushes it to safety and becomes an internet sensation.
Except comedian Nathan Fielder orchestrated the entire rescue for his television programme Nathan for You.
The production featured a trained pig, underwater divers who controlled the animals, and some sound effects were added. The actual petting zoo pig wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about swimming.
The video garnered more than 7 million views before it was exposed in 2013. To be an animal hero, one needs to have expertise and a good post-production team, apparently. Did you have Slideo on hand there?
5. The Eagle That Snatched a Baby (2012)
A video shot in Montreal revealed a massive eagle swooping down to briefly lift a child off the grass. Needless to say, the Internet went crazy.
Later, the students at Montreal’s Centre NAD confessed to the animation.
The eagle and child are both digital designs and were added to the live-action shots.
Since the video went live, it has garnered more than two million views. In retrospect, some viewers noticed that there were “suspicious” discrepancies, but the very shock was the beginning of the problem.
6. The Giant Mutant Spider Dog (2014)
Think of a dark street where you come across a huge hairy spider!
In Poland, it was unsuspecting pedestrians who had the same horror, thanks to some kind of prankster Sylwester Wardęga and his dog Chica.
The dog was dressed up in a big spider costume. The reactions were the entertainment, rather than a serious claim that giant spiders existed.
YouTube has picked Mutant Giant Spider Dog as its most popular trending video of 2014. At the end of December, it had around 113 million viewers.
No over-blown compositing or CGI. Only one cooperative dog and some people who have changed their mind about nature.
Mutant Giant Spider Dog (SA Wardega)
When Editing Became the Main Character
7. The Twerking Accident That Went Up in Flames (2013)
In September 2013, a woman attempting to film herself twerking fell backward and caught fire.
The accident attracted over nine million YouTube views in less than a week. Television programmes discussed the shocking footage.
Then Jimmy Kimmel revealed that he’d arranged everything.
The woman was stunt performer Daphne Avalon, and the published video deliberately omitted the ending in which Kimmel extinguished the flames.
That’s an excellent demonstration of selective editing. Even a simple cut can determine whether viewers see a disastrous accident or a carefully planned performance.
Jimmy Kimmel Reveals “Worst Twerk Fail EVER – Girl Catches Fire” Prank
8. Tony Hawk’s Real Hoverboard (2014)
In March 2014, legendary skateboarder Tony Hawk appeared in a demonstration of a supposedly functioning hoverboard.
Christopher Lloyd (Doc Brown from Back to the Future) was also involved. The virtual HUVr company showcased the technology as a groundbreaking innovation.
Sadly, the stunt was the handiwork of comedy website Funny or Die.
The production featured wires to make the illusion of flight. Its star athletes assisted in the sale of an incredible technological promise.
The hoverboard was still a figment of imagination and the commuters still walked like peasants.
9. The GoPro Shark Encounter (2014)
A swimmer has apparently swum into the path of a great white shark in Sydney Harbour and managed to fend it off as she recorded the incident on a GoPro camera.
The horrific video went viral, with millions of views.
Back in 2016, Australian production company the Woolshed Company announced they had staged the encounter.
Managing director Dave Christison said this illusion required editing and meticulous cuts.
A good reminder that two scary shots in a row don’t necessarily show one single event. Think about it next time you open a video editor, sweets.
GoPro: Man Fights Off Great White Shark In Sydney Harbour
10. The Snowboarder Chased by a Bear (2016)
Young woman is enjoying herself snowboarding down a mountain and taking selfies with a selfie stick. A bear is charging in the snow behind her.
She appears to be totally unaware.
This encounter was also made by the Woolshed Company. The snowboarder actually filmed herself, but the bear was forced to come from stock footage. The trio also included her singing a Rihanna track, adding to the “ignorant bliss” factor.
The studio’s two created viral videos combined reached over 205 million viewers in 180 countries, in its 2016 disclosure.
Snowboarder Girl Chased By Bear – I Was Singing Rihanna Work And Didn’t Know It Was Behind Me!