# Is this breathtaking video clip real, or photoshopped? (human canonball) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 31, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-breathtaking-video-clip-real-or-photoshopped-human-canonball/508390 "2009-08-31T19:21:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-breathtaking-video-clip-real-or-photoshopped-human-canonball/508390/1 "2009-08-31T19:21:53Z")
This clip shows a “human canonball” who slides on his back down a home-made ski jump, flies up in the air and lands a couple hundred yards away, with a splash in a **VERY** small inflatable swimming pool. link to the video (only 15 seconds long): [http://www.acetj.com/videos/player.php?mediaID=3045](http://www.acetj.com/videos/player.php?mediaID=3045) It would seem to be a very,very dangerous stunt. But I’m amazed because it appears to be a stunt which could not be “designed” in advance (calculating velocity, height of fall, distance to target,etc) .It could only be done by trial-and-error, and that would be too dangerous. So how was it done? (and is it possible to “photoshop” video as easily as still photos?) ---
**Author:** ![badlyburnttoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ad7895/32.png) [@badlyburnttoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badlyburnttoast)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-breathtaking-video-clip-real-or-photoshopped-human-canonball/508390/2 "2009-08-31T19:30:07Z")
It’s fake, it’s an ad for Microsoft. There was another thread about it somewhere but I can’t seem to find it at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-breathtaking-video-clip-real-or-photoshopped-human-canonball/508390/3 "2009-08-31T19:39:16Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > …(and is it possible to “photoshop” video as easily as still photos?) “Photoshop” is not the colloquial verb you want to use for fake videos. “Fake” usually works. Anyway, it takes a lot of work and is harder to learn than still-image manipulation. It’s rarely done as well as it is in that video without it being payed for, although it is getting easier and easier as time moves on. ---
**Author:** ![frostythesnomn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@frostythesnomn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frostythesnomn)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-breathtaking-video-clip-real-or-photoshopped-human-canonball/508390/4 "2009-08-31T19:39:33Z")
“Photoshopping” a video like this would be a lot like photoshopping 30 photos for each second of footage, while ensuring that every frame is consistent with the previous and next frame, and that changes of angle and such are properly taken in to account. My theory about this video: The scene was recorded twice with motion-control cameras. After dummy testing the ramp and figuring out the probable fall area, a safety device (boxes or an inflatable bladder) was placed in an area large enough to be reasonably sure that the stunt man would hit it. They then record the stunt man jumping and landing in the safety device. For the second shot, they remove the safety device and put the pool in place with a splash-making device. I think you can see where this is going. They then composite the two sequences together, then add a third with the stunt man popping his head out of the pool. This wouldn’t be that difficult to do. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-breathtaking-video-clip-real-or-photoshopped-human-canonball/508390/5 "2009-08-31T19:52:12Z")
There’s another video floating around showing how they did it. From the moment the “stuntman” starts sliding down the slide, he’s not real. He’s a computer graphics model composited into the scene. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-breathtaking-video-clip-real-or-photoshopped-human-canonball/508390/6 "2009-09-01T00:44:25Z")
> [@frostythesnomn](#): > > My theory about this video: > > The scene was recorded twice with motion-control cameras. After dummy testing the ramp and figuring out the probable fall area, a safety device (boxes or an inflatable bladder) was placed in an area large enough to be reasonably sure that the stunt man would hit it. They then record the stunt man jumping and landing in the safety device. For the second shot, they remove the safety device and put the pool in place with a splash-making device. > > I think you can see where this is going. > > They then composite the two sequences together, then add a third with the stunt man popping his head out of the pool. It doesn’t need motion control, you can do it handheld. It is actually poorly done, because the motion of the guy flying off the ramp doesn’t match the potential speed buildup, or show an accurate arc. It just needed a couple of tweaks to get it right, that they didn’t go to the effort to perfect. In fact, the method they probably employed to achieve it was most likely more complicated than it needed to be. ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-breathtaking-video-clip-real-or-photoshopped-human-canonball/508390/7 "2009-09-01T01:22:45Z")
[We just discussed this here a couple weeks ago](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=11440079). That thread includes a link to a “making of” video, which shows the stuntman only making it a few meters down the ramp. > [@frostythesnomn](#): > > After dummy testing the ramp and figuring out the probable fall area They didn’t even do it with a dummy. The ramp wasn’t anywhere near long enough for any real object to gain that kind of launch speed. Nearly the entire trip down the ramp and through the air was just overlaid animation. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-breathtaking-video-clip-real-or-photoshopped-human-canonball/508390/8 "2009-09-01T01:27:11Z")
Another way you know it’s fake is because the “splash” sound is heard instantaneously from the point of the cameraman, when there would otherwise be a slight delay due to distance. (There’s also no reason to infer they had a second microphone near the pool, provided there was no second camera). ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-breathtaking-video-clip-real-or-photoshopped-human-canonball/508390/9 "2009-09-01T13:55:15Z")
> [@frostythesnomn](#): > > “Photoshopping” a video like this would be a lot like photoshopping 30 photos for each second of footage, while ensuring that every frame is consistent with the previous and next frame, and that changes of angle and such are properly taken in to account. > > My theory about this video: > > The scene was recorded twice with motion-control cameras. After dummy testing the ramp and figuring out the probable fall area, a safety device (boxes or an inflatable bladder) was placed in an area large enough to be reasonably sure that the stunt man would hit it. They then record the stunt man jumping and landing in the safety device. For the second shot, they remove the safety device and put the pool in place with a splash-making device. > > I think you can see where this is going. > > They then composite the two sequences together, then add a third with the stunt man popping his head out of the pool. > > This wouldn’t be that difficult to do. Pretty close actually. According to the “how it was made” article I read, it’s several composited shots. 1. The stunt man slides down the slip and slide attached to a tether that stops him from launching off the ramp. 2. The stunt man in flight. I forget if it is 100% CGI or an actor hanging from cables in front of a blue screen digitally composited 3. Stunt man is dropped from an apparatus a short distance above the pool. It’s a relatively simple manner to digitally remove the various apparatus and composit the shots together. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-breathtaking-video-clip-real-or-photoshopped-human-canonball/508390/10 "2009-09-01T13:58:38Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > It is actually poorly done, because the motion of the guy flying off the ramp doesn’t match the potential speed buildup, or show an accurate arc. It just needed a couple of tweaks to get it right, that they didn’t go to the effort to perfect. I think that was the idea. The ‘ad’ IIRC was supposed to be for some new material with an extremely low coefficient of friction. So he was supposed to be going way faster then you’d think he should be at that point.