My favorite type of video to analyze is one where I don’t have to do any research (because I am very, very busy and lazy). So the latest “Chaplin’s Time Traveler” clip that’s taken the Internet by storm should be right up my alley. Unfortunately I did have to do one bit of research. I had to watch the horrifyingly tedious original 8+minute video itself.
After promoting his own name and films in the first 20 seconds, indie UK filmmaker George Clarke spends the rest of the time introducing a 6-second-long piece of old footage taken at the Hollywood premiere of Charlie Chaplin’s 1928 film “The Circus”. The shot shows what looks like a woman talking on a cell phone. An amusingly anachronistic illusion, to be sure. But Clarke’s conclusion is that this might be a time traveler.
Now, the obvious reasons for why this couldn’t possibly be the case have already been pointed out - like the fact that a cell phone requires a wireless network of transmission towers, relay stations and satellites to work. Here’s a casual and hilarious dismantling of the whole thing by the Skepchicks.
But I think we’re all missing the real mystery right in front of us:
COULD THIS BE AUTHENTIC FOOTAGE OF A GUY WHO IS NOT A REAL FILMMAKER, BUT JUST… A POSER??
Think about it…
First of all, neither of his films (“Battle of the Bone” and “The Knackery”) appear on the Internet Movie Database, even though he says one of them won an award, which would mean it’s been in some kind of festival and hence should be listed on IMDb…
Furthermore:
- -His video is painfully devoid of any sense of pacing.
- -His camcorder is not properly white-balanced, making everything look orange.
- -He filmed the Chaplin footage off his TV screen rather than pull it directly from the DVD which any amateur filmmaker could easily do.
And finally… he failed to make the most significant observation about this footage that a filmmaker might contribute:
THE LIGHTING!
Look at the deep, sharp, long shadow cast by the woman. The late afternoon sun is blasting her from the side on what must have been a very bright day, considering the low sensitivity of such old film. The woman is simply shielding her face from the light. She may or may not be holding something (like a coin purse or whatever it is people in the 20′s carried around) and she is speaking (perhaps to the man ahead, as the Skepchicks propose) but the reason her hand is up is for shade.
"Arrgh, it burns!"
The only other person we see passing by – the man in the light suit- isn’t shielding his face. But it would’ve been great to see a larger sample of people. Something tells me a few of them would have been holding their hands up, in a similar way.
So yeah, I’m not saying that George Clarke is a hack. I’m totally not saying that. But… you know… a real filmmaker would’ve noticed this. And his video is quite orange. And long. You be the judge. And don’t forget to watch my award-winning YouTube series “Captain Disillusion”.
Well, I guess we all learned a valuable lesson here. Extraordinary claims require…
I’m sorry, what? … This crap has almost 3 MILLION VIEWS???
FFFFF –
Haaa!.. that was the most logical explanation I’ve read: blocking the sun.
Just to add to the poseur un-professionalism: not only is he orange, long and without pace; he also watches his chaplin dvd in the wrong picture ratio.
Of course she has big feet! You are watching it “anamorphic-aly” (16:9) on your HD screen. Here’s how it should be viewed : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1W6AfTadt4&feature=player_embedded
Cheers (and good job)
Over 3.1 million views now Captain D. I attribute it’s growth to the conspiracy website AboveTopSecret.
Seems the battle sanity continues to change where the line is drawn.
Why don’t you create a fanatical claim video just to show the world how it is done.
I too am skeptical of this “independent film maker”.
Hey Captain Disillusion,
Thanks a lot for posting about this video. The popularity that this video has gotten and the number of people that have been seriously taking the “time traveller” theory is making me lose faith in humanity… Or just in YouTube.
I saw a number of comments on YouTube which pointed to the fact that the woman is most probably holding up ice to alleviate the pain of a hurt tooth. This would also make perfect sense, given the time period in which it’s filmed in.
Also, I’d like to respond to the fact that the video was filmed handheld and not properly captured. The person might be doing this in order to not break the DMCA. The way how he uses the video is technically fair-use, but most DVDs nowadays have copy protection, and breaking copy protection would be to break the DMCA. I’ve seen a few other real and educational videos who wanted to use DVD footage in such a way and could only legally do it by filming the screen (granted, those people actually took the time to properly setup the lighting and the end result didn’t look too bad).
I can’t wait for your next video. Keep up the great work!
I came to a slightly different conclusion (which I posted in the YouTube comment section).
It looks to be almost certainly a man dressed as a woman, trying to shield his/her face from being seen by the camera as s/he is loudly speaking directions to extras or the crew (since there this was a silent film and s/he would not have been heard). S/he turns slightly to face the camera (mistakenly) and we see her/his lips moving. Why would s/he do this? S/he is a production assistant trying to blend into the crowd and not doing too good of a job.
And yeah, this whole matter smacks of someone trying to promote themselves. And he was quite successful.
I am an actor (and occasionally, a director) and I’ve executed and seen all sorts of maneuvers to try to get a scene just right, using limited resources. I doubt it was much different in Chaplin’s day.
Except this shot isn’t part of the movie. It’s documentary footage from the premiere of the movie.
Good point, CD. Good point. I didn’t realize that. Still, I can see where the “time traveler’s” talking is independent of his/her left hand being held up to the side of his/her head.
The movie has a Wiki page. o.0
but you’re all missing the most obvious evidence of all! as best seen at 4:02 of the video, a small (possibly alien) robot enters in the bottom left of the screen, then quickly makes an exit! no doubt there’s a conspiracy here! …ok i’m done messin’ around. i apologize, lol. this is an interesting take on it tho CD, challenging the presenter himself. very crafty. and i’m sure this has a reasonable explanation. perhaps the lady was just embarrassed to be on camera, covered her face, and when spoken to (from off camera) laughed and talked back. the lights idea makes sense too. it’s probably just something mundane and simple like that.
That intro sequence looks suspiciously like one of the default Motion sequences available with Final Cut Pro. Don’t you think?
here is clarke’s film:
Belfast zombies unleashed in cinema
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/film-tv/news/belfast-zombies-unleashed-in-cinema-13912044.html
I imagine that by the time Time Travel exists cell phones will just be implanted into our brains. :)
Just one thing about the original explanation of the hand used to conceal the sun. If this were the case, there will be a shadow of the hand on the woman´s eyes, but the only shadow we can see comes from the hat (which, by the way, is its mission).
On the other hand, it is not entirely impossible that the woman was carrying some kind of radio device. Crystal radio devices of that size were available at the time (although there were not many stations). Besides, they needed headphones but, in principle, the technology was there:
http://www.antiqueradio.com/Kenmac_9-96.html
I am not saying I believe she is carrying an actual radio, only that even that is a more credible possibility than a time traveler.
A lot of good theories and quite different in here. Just one of them would be correct, but it’s certainly more logical than a time-traveler :-)
G’day Captain,
Just sussed out IMDb and both ‘Battle of the Bone’ and ‘the Knackery’ appear on the database. Even our friend George Clark the founder of independent film company “Yellow Fever Productions” has a profile on there too. And it appears it was last modified on Tuesday, the 11 January 2011 at 10:12:32 PM?
If indeed this information is fraudulent and he’s posing as a film maker, he’s going at great lengths to keep his Chaplin Time Traveler discovery a hit.
Really enjoyed your post mate. Cheers for the read!
Tooroo,
Kane.
Ever wonder that CD told us that the film didn’t exist just to show up those that don’t do their own research?…
At the time of the post, neither of the films was listed on IMDb.
The slogan of George Clarke’s website is
“Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
That is perhaps more fitting than it was intended to be.