BS: A Dose of Drama

Subject: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: Leadfingers
Date: 14 Apr 12 - 06:51 AM

Every now and then there is something woth looking at on Face Book like this bit of Drama

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 14 Apr 12 - 07:41 AM

Brilliant.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: SINSULL
Date: 14 Apr 12 - 07:51 AM

Hilarious. Thank you for sharing.

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 14 Apr 12 - 07:53 AM

I disagree. It was a highly irresponsible and dangerous thing to do. The beginning was bad enough, and obviously disturbed and traumatised the elderly ladies, but the gunfire etc was even more terrifying. There were children present and perhaps people with heart conditions etc. I hope this fashion for suddenly doing bizarre and startling things in public places dies out. NOT funny!

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: TheSnail
Date: 14 Apr 12 - 08:08 AM

I doubt if anybody was traumatized. I strongly suspect that all the bystanders were actors and extras. They're just cashing in on the flash mob idea.

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: catspaw49
Date: 14 Apr 12 - 08:31 AM

Ohmygawd!!!!! Eliza.....don't look there.....no...NO...NO!!!!.......Don't look there Eliza.........Its your shadow!!!!!!.................................oh the humanity.............


Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 14 Apr 12 - 08:41 AM

Is that what it's called , a'Flashmob?' Well catspaw, I'm certainly not afraid of my own shadow, and have faced quite a few extremely hairy situations in my very long life. But not everyone can cope with sudden shocks and upsets. Many of my very frail and elderly friends for example would have been terribly upset by such an event happening in front of them in Norwich. If ALL the bystanders were 'extras' (which I find even more bizarre and strange!) then I suppose it did no harm.

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: TheSnail
Date: 14 Apr 12 - 09:13 AM

If ALL the bystanders were 'extras' (which I find even more bizarre and strange!)

When the shooting started, what did the bystanders do? What would you have done?

(The shape shifting button presser is a bit strange as well.)

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: SINSULL
Date: 14 Apr 12 - 09:22 AM

Agreed.
The bystanders neither ran nor dropped to the ground when the shooting started. They may not have known exactly what was going to happen but it certainly was not a complete surprise.
A bit of funny silliness.

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: number 6
Date: 14 Apr 12 - 09:33 AM

I tend to agree with Eliza on this. In a world where violence and extreme tragic drama does spontaneously happen in public places this can be rather unsettling to some of the innocent bystanders. we don't need this kind 'flashmob' .... God knows where this kind of stuff will evolve to.

Just my opinion.

biLL

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 14 Apr 12 - 10:06 AM

I watched part of it. I think it's all theatre.

The camera just happens to be beautifully focussed on the elderly woman to show her expression of shock when the "patient" is dropped off the gurney. What are the odds of that in real life? That shot was planned.

Same thing with the boy whose reaction is shown repeatedly. He's holding too still, 'registering dismay,' as P.G. Wodehouse would have taunted. A true kid of today would have his cell out and would either be calling 999 or taking pictures of the mayhem.

In general, everything is too much in focus. We don't see the rapid panning and zooming which the amateur video-maker usually makes. The camera knew where people would be and what they would be doing.

Once again, somebody on the Net is trying to get us upset over nothing.

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Apr 12 - 10:28 AM

I had the feeling this little drama had been performed more than once. That they were expecting what would happen but were still registering surprise as it unfolded.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: TheSnail
Date: 14 Apr 12 - 10:32 AM

This isn't really very important but...

Watch the button pusher. They are at differnt times, a man on a bike, a young woman, a teenage boy and, briefly at the end, a young couple. During the sequence where the American footballers recover one of the bodies, they all appear in 11 seconds. This did not happen in real time. All very clever and a good larf but don't take it too seriously.

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Apr 12 - 10:53 AM

Yes. That's what I meant - people had done it before - this is a combination of performances.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: GUEST,olddude
Date: 14 Apr 12 - 10:55 AM

I laughed my butt off, I mean they had football players, girl in her unders riding a motorcycle, gangs,   everyone around seemed to laugh and they didn't bring the gun fire in until the end when people had figured out what it was about ... awesome

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: Ebbie
Date: 14 Apr 12 - 11:43 AM

I laughed all through it. Whether staged or not, the first button pusher's face triggered all kinds of putting-myself-in-his-shoes.

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 14 Apr 12 - 12:50 PM

Well I'm quite relieved to know that all the folk present were expecting it to happen and were playing their part. But I've seen TV adverts of a mass invasion of Liverpool St Station by dancers, and people trying to catch their train having to make their way through the Flashmob. I wonder what I would do if I saw that button which said 'Press For Drama'. I think I'd go on my way. At my age I don't like surprises!

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: gnu
Date: 14 Apr 12 - 02:41 PM

Oh, it's just a laff. Don't over-analyze it. Certainly, small children may have been frightened but I don't like most small children or small dogs.

I doubt if most everyone didn't know what was going on as soon as the button was pressed. Cheap advertising... good idea.

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 15 Apr 12 - 01:46 AM

Other clues that it's staged:

Nobody's fat.
Nobody has acne or anything unattractive like that.
Everybody's white.
The cast is all male except for the usual beautiful young woman (the princess) and the single old woman (the witch, who may be either good or bad.)
Camera must have been on a tripod - there's no camera shake.

Apparently they let in a second beautiful young woman on a motorcycle. The BYW's Union must have complained. (I didn't watch it all.)

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 15 Apr 12 - 04:45 AM

You need to get your sense of humour re-installed Eliza.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 15 Apr 12 - 09:35 AM

What a cheek! Just because I don't find this sort of thing funny doesn't mean I have no sense of humour! You, Mr Hanson, need to consider the susceptibility of elderly and frail people to shocks and alarms. The streets aren't populated solely by hee hee haa haa folk like you, you know!

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 15 Apr 12 - 03:45 PM

Only a boorish humourless booby ever denounces anyone else for lacking a 'sense of humour'. I used to say to pupils, back in my teaching days who tried a bit or quasi tongue-in-cheek impertinence, that I was wise to the trick of having to pretend not to mind as otherwise I would be revealed to have no SOH ~~ but that this ploy came unstuck because it was a matter of the utmost indifference to me whether they thought I had a sense of humour or not; so they had better mind out for their own comfort & convenience before trying to wind me up to test mine again.

It will be gathered that I am with Eliza on this. I thought it was a pathetic attempt at getting notice & notoriety.

So you think I have had a SOHectomy, & am a humourless bore.

I'll live with it.

〠☺〠~Michael~〠☺〠

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 15 Apr 12 - 03:56 PM

Thank you MtheGM! And well done for your robust attitude. I too don't mind at all what people think of me, as I gave that up about fifty years ago! As Popeye would sing, "I yam what I yam...!"

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: EBarnacle
Date: 15 Apr 12 - 08:47 PM

Lady Hillary and I both participate in ads, tv shoots, movies, etc. We, and the rest of the crowd who participate in a shoot, are told exactly how to react and are usually told to improvise within certain guidelines.

As mentioned above, this is a pastiche of several shots. If nothing else, the stories in the shoot escalate in ways that reminded me of the Three Stooges or Laurel and Hardy or a Mack Sennett comedy. We grew up with these.

Why not allow a taste of our past to amuse the people who will see and, hopefully, enjoy it?

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: Bill D
Date: 15 Apr 12 - 09:52 PM

funny?? *shrug* clever?... Heck yes...

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: Seamus Kennedy
Date: 15 Apr 12 - 11:02 PM

I was part of a flash-mob the other day. About 150 of us got together at the mall and hung a guy. No wait, that was a lynch-mob.
Never mind.

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: TheSnail
Date: 16 Apr 12 - 07:40 AM

Seamus, is it on YouTube?

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: bobad
Date: 16 Apr 12 - 08:06 AM

This is a filmed commercial - they're all actors in it - sheesh!

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 16 Apr 12 - 09:08 AM

Possibly, the first time they did it (let's assume it was the one that started with the bicyclist) there may have been surprise, shock, fear. I say "possibly".

The word surely got around, and all subsequent takes were expected, Eliza.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: Jeri
Date: 16 Apr 12 - 10:26 AM

Theater of the absurd. I think there were actors and extras, and there were people who were just there but didn't seem much more shocked than they would watching a TV show.

I believe that the cameras and sound equipment, the film trucks, the police that would have been needed to cordon off the area so the fake ambulance and vehicle containing guys with guns could zoom in without interfering with actual vehicle and pedestrian traffic. I have no doubt the people there at the time never believed that that amount of weird stuff happening in those few seconds wasn't random.

People watching it on YouTube though perhaps find their shock overwhelming their skepticism. General personal observation: I've noticed that people who've lived through real world horror and violence are far less accepting of fictional portrayals.

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 16 Apr 12 - 12:38 PM

If it was all rehearsed with all the spectators knowing what was happening it was a fake - the key thing about any kind of flash mob thing is to surprise and entertain real people.

If it wasn't a fake, and real bystanders were involved it was pretty risky and genuinely shocking. Wouldn't you feel you had to intervene if you saw ambulance staff dropping a patient?

Here's the kind of thing flash mobs ought to be about.

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: Wesley S
Date: 16 Apr 12 - 01:52 PM

So... What happens if you push the button a second time?

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 16 Apr 12 - 02:35 PM

McGrath of Harlow, that was absolutely wonderful, and just the sort of thing to do unexpectedly. I was almost dancing at my computer! Thank you for that! I can only wonder why everyone in the street didn't start to dance. Perhaps they were a bit shy.

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: michaelr
Date: 16 Apr 12 - 06:26 PM

What an idiotic stunt.

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: GUEST,LB
Date: 16 Apr 12 - 07:50 PM

If you tried that in any city in USA, 400 idiots with "concealed Carry Permits" would shoot everybody in sight and then brag about it (and also vote Republican).

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: gnu
Date: 16 Apr 12 - 08:15 PM

LB... just the two banjo players. Or were you talking about the OP?

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 17 Apr 12 - 10:41 AM

Remember, this is stated to be happening in Belgium!

But the unrolling sign is in English, not French or Walloon. So it's not aimed at the locals.

And MichaelR's and LB's comments would only make sense if it was a truly unexpected and "real" event, whereas it's obvious that everybody in the area HAD to realize that it was a planned production, with the cameras, the police and traffic barriers that had to be there. And even if it could have been pulled off (with hidden cameras and no police or barriers) without tipping the secret, that would only have worked once, and it's clear that it was done several times in order to get the various button-pushers and other mutually exclusive participants that are shown.

But, given the classical "willing suspension of disbelief", the video is GREAT!

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: gnu
Date: 17 Apr 12 - 03:50 PM

Just about every in Belgium speaks English.

Yeah, it's just a lark. Staged for the most part. But, entertaining in a way.

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 17 Apr 12 - 04:04 PM

If they wanted to do drama, why not some Shakespeare. It is, after all, his birth month.

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 17 Apr 12 - 04:27 PM

To have a babe in a bikini riding a riceburner
or not to have a babe in a bikini riding a riceburner

Is that the question?

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 18 Apr 12 - 08:13 AM

Or, "Friends, Belgians and countrymen, Lend me your Ambulance!"

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: Beer
Date: 19 Apr 12 - 11:10 AM

I just received this as an e-mail attachment and one of my friends informed me of this thread. Like you olddude I laughed at the theatrics of it all. Well done commercial.
ad.

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: Leadfingers
Date: 19 Apr 12 - 07:01 PM

Should I apologise for posting something I thought was , at least , amusing?

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: Beer
Date: 19 Apr 12 - 08:18 PM

For heaven sake No!

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: EBarnacle
Date: 19 Apr 12 - 08:22 PM

This exactly the right place for it.

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: EBarnacle
Date: 19 Apr 12 - 08:37 PM

Looking very carefully, did you note that one of the plaiclothes cops got shot and didn't even twitch? The only logo Lady Hillary and I were able to spot was on the initial bicyclist. It was a Puma jacket. There was another tee shirt with what may have been another logo. The vehicles had the only other visible logos--a sure sign of a professional shoot.

Subject: RE: BS: A Dose of Drama
From: gnu
Date: 20 Apr 12 - 04:59 PM

Of course not, Terry. It may have been rehearsed before but I doubt if all the people were actors. And I doubt there were all that many that didn't realize it was a "show" fairly early on.

I enjoyed it. Thanks.