Alan C. Posted October 9, 2013 Posted October 9, 2013 Why are people frightened, I wonder? Why can't people intuitively recognize a prank when they see one?
nathanm Posted October 9, 2013 Posted October 9, 2013 Awesome! I don't think the reactions are necessarily irrational or anti-skeptical. It's an unexpected event, and pulled off with a high level of execution and production value. Plus you are only seeing reaction shots in the moment, not necessarily after people have had a little time to ask what the heck is going on. Maybe there were faces with knowing grins on them that weren't included. Ahh, and then it's a viral marketing thingy at the end. I see. But with 18 million views it looks like it was worth the effort.
Guest darkskyabove Posted October 9, 2013 Posted October 9, 2013 My guess is that the fear response is partly natural (to the unexpected and unknown), but mostly conditioned. As far as I know, all religions prepare people to react as shown. I'd like to see the same scenario redone with the "subjects" all atheists (in the sense of not believing in the supernatural). I wouldn't expect the results to be definitive, due to residual conditioning (many people were raised religious and only converted much later).
Rob_Ilir Posted October 9, 2013 Posted October 9, 2013 I would have clapped prematurely, ruining the table and picture act. That was a truly well done scenography.
MysterionMuffles Posted October 10, 2013 Posted October 10, 2013 eh not to mention the collective fear of the actors influence the unsuspecting customer to conform
meeri Posted October 10, 2013 Posted October 10, 2013 This video feels sadistic to me..these people seem to experience genuine fear
Guest darkskyabove Posted October 10, 2013 Posted October 10, 2013 This video feels sadistic to me..these people seem to experience genuine fear Point taken. Could be applied to an enormous number of events in modern times. Question is: why do they experience such fear?
Wesley Posted October 11, 2013 Posted October 11, 2013 This video feels sadistic to me..these people seem to experience genuine fear I always am confused by pranks as to whether I should laugh as its in good fun or whether it is mean and sadistic. It can be hard for me to decide at times. I definitely think this one is on the negative side of things. I think if I saw yelling and violence and freaky stuff going on, my first instinct would be fear because I wouldn't know what was going on and I wanted to make sure I didn't get hurt. Pretty soon I think I would realize something weird was going on and that it was fake or something, but at first when I hadn't processed what was happening, I think I would be afraid.
Guest darkskyabove Posted October 11, 2013 Posted October 11, 2013 ...but at first when I hadn't processed what was happening, I think I would be afraid. Having the ability to process one's surroundings is vital to dealing with a potential fear response. The problem is, this ability is not genetic, it is learned behavior, and must be developed through time and effort. As much as I prefer the modern world to living in mud huts, I do feel a sense of regret that many people have missed out on the chance to learn more primitive skills.
meeri Posted October 11, 2013 Posted October 11, 2013 Point taken. Could be applied to an enormous number of events in modern times. Question is: why do they experience such fear? I agree with the previous comments that they probably felt fear because they didn't know what was going on. Although, they are more likely than not superstitious as well. Like Wesley, I would have been afraid, probably as soon as the woman started yelling. Of course, there's a chance they were all actors, including the targets.. I'm curious why people would find the video funny?
Guest darkskyabove Posted October 11, 2013 Posted October 11, 2013 I'm curious why people would find the video funny? I think there's a laundry list and a half of psychological/emotional issues that lead some people to the point where they take delight in the discomfort/trauma of others. I seem to remember reading something about how laughter can be used as a defense mechanism for troubling events, so I wouldn't just label everyone who laughs as a sociopath quite yet. Though I'm not personally bothered much by such stuff, I don't find it funny, or worth my time. It might be a symptom of how jaded some have become to see the lengths taken to hype the latest horror movie.
TheRobin Posted October 11, 2013 Posted October 11, 2013 Having the ability to process one's surroundings is vital to dealing with a potential fear response. The problem is, this ability is not genetic, it is learned behavior, and must be developed through time and effort. As much as I prefer the modern world to living in mud huts, I do feel a sense of regret that many people have missed out on the chance to learn more primitive skills. Do you have a source for that?Imo, it seems much more reasonable for it to be a the natural response to before unexperienced events and things where one has no certainty about what's going on. Assuming that from a more primitive PoV it was a whole lot better to be safe than sorry (run away when you're not sure what's going on than dead), I'd assume the response was the primitive one and the reasoning would come afterwards once the fear (and brainjuices) stopped.But the situation starts with conflict and yelling, much I think gets the adrenaline flowing a little already, and thus already diminishing the reasonpart of the brain a little, afterwards the woman gets just more aggressive and freaky stuff starts happening. And even aside from the telekinti stuff: The woman behaves kind of crazy as well, screaming at the end in a weird way. So imo one would be more tha justified to get out of there from any point of view, I could come up with. But maybe I'm missing something
meeri Posted October 11, 2013 Posted October 11, 2013 I think there's a laundry list and a half of psychological/emotional issues that lead some people to the point where they take delight in the discomfort/trauma of others. I seem to remember reading something about how laughter can be used as a defense mechanism for troubling events, so I wouldn't just label everyone who laughs as a sociopath quite yet. I don't think I labelled everyone, I would appreciate if you help me understand how I've done that. Is it because I used the word 'sadistic'? It was certainly the first thought that came into my mind because when I was a kid my father took pleasure in frightening me. For example, when we were on a bridge or viewing platform, he would grab me and say he'll lift me over the edge, and laugh when I screamed and ran away. But I am aware there can be other reasons for laughing at this video.
ribuck Posted October 11, 2013 Posted October 11, 2013 Of course, there's a chance they were all actors, including the targets.. Come on people, of course they are all actors. The whole thing is scripted. Look at how it is filmed. See how many different camera angles there are? See how some of the shots are clearly taken from moving cameras? The place was a film set. See how the reaction shots are separately filmed from the action shots? Think how many more cameras would be needed to capture those if it was all being filmed in "real time". Notice how the camera operators already know what the reactions are going to be, and zoom/pan accordingly. It's not a prank. It's a choreographed promotional video for a movie about the paranormal.
Wesley Posted October 11, 2013 Posted October 11, 2013 Come on people, of course they are all actors. The whole thing is scripted. Look at how it is filmed. See how many different camera angles there are? See how some of the shots are clearly taken from moving cameras? The place was a film set. See how the reaction shots are separately filmed from the action shots? Think how many more cameras would be needed to capture those if it was all being filmed in "real time". Notice how the camera operators already know what the reactions are going to be, and zoom/pan accordingly. It's not a prank. It's a choreographed promotional video for a movie about the paranormal. It is also possible that they just took 20 takes of approximately the same scene and had hidden cameras that could be rotated in plants or in domes where people wouldn't notice (especially with crazy stuff happening there) or they would think that it was a store security camera. I saw panning and zooming, but I did not see a moving camera. What time do you think a camera actually moved? Panning and zooming could happen with professional cameras, layout, and operators to be relatively unnoticed. If they were noticed, they just didn't use that take.
PatrickC Posted October 11, 2013 Posted October 11, 2013 ribuck is quite right people. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newsvideo/weirdnewsvideo/10364039/Telekinetic-coffee-shop-prank-terrifies-customers.html
TheRobin Posted October 11, 2013 Posted October 11, 2013 Come on people, of course they are all actors. The whole thing is scripted. Look at how it is filmed. See how many different camera angles there are? See how some of the shots are clearly taken from moving cameras? The place was a film set. See how the reaction shots are separately filmed from the action shots? Think how many more cameras would be needed to capture those if it was all being filmed in "real time". Notice how the camera operators already know what the reactions are going to be, and zoom/pan accordingly. It's not a prank. It's a choreographed promotional video for a movie about the paranormal. Well, yes, they explain that in the video, all are actors EXCEPT the one customer who gets the coffee. That was the "prank" (and given the video ends with literally having the name of the movie and the words "in theater October 18, 2013" I think everyone got it was a promotion "prank"/"act") edit: ah, come to think of it, I think it took me more than one view to get that though, so I apologize for the slightly arrogant tone at the end)
nathanm Posted October 11, 2013 Posted October 11, 2013 Tone-wise, it could have totally been done without conflict and terror; more like the fun, mirthy stuff that the Improv Everywhere people do. You could still do all the moving stuff tricks without a fight over coffee spilling and screaming etc. But obviously it's to promote Carrie, so…
Guest darkskyabove Posted October 11, 2013 Posted October 11, 2013 I don't think I labelled everyone, I would appreciate if you help me understand how I've done that. Sorry for the unintended implication. I really was meaning "I wouldn't label...". Did not mean to imply that you were. I'd assume the response was the primitive one and the reasoning would come afterwards once the fear (and brainjuices) stopped. I am not making a claim that the fear response is a learned behavior. I am saying that learning can be used to help manage/control the fear response.
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