Crobard > Hoax

OPERATION HOAX :
phase 2 : our interview - phase 3 : the studio recording
Context :
 Following their meeting with our fake punks the journalists changed the scenario of their report.
As much as it initially seemed essential for them to interview our two fake punks as well - which was causing quite a few problems for us since Benoit and Viven had their mohawks for only a few hours on that Sunday - it now seemed out of the question for these interviews to happen, after they had actually met them, or even for them to just see them again, since it is to us that they gave the broadcasting release forms that our punks had to sign.
We have to explain that our instructions to Vivien and Benoit were simple: to be blatant enough that no doubt would arise. In this spirit and by general agreement we had placed the following limits: at the least to show their asses, at the most to piss against the bar.
We were conscious that even if those scenes weren't broadcasted, or even recorded, it was necessary for them to happen to lend credibility to our hoax in the eye of the journalists.
Our conversation the next day with the journalist proved that we were right. He was obviously very impressed by what he had seen the day before. The reality of our punk-trashed exhibit was all the more obvious to him that he had been directly involved.
Everything now rested with how our jokers and how well they'd be able to keep the secret. Their instructions were simple: forget everything that had happened during that Sunday February 29th at least until the show was broadcasted - several months later.
Sham interview: 03/25/04 in the offices of R&G Productions
Our interview was scheduled a few weeks after the fake exhibit, and took place at the offices of the TV production company. We had pored over our notes before going there and our objective was to be able to say that yes of course our misfits rental service (completely fictitious, for those of you who are not following) really does provide actual misfits and that such authenticity, on which the quality of our service is based, would not be possible with actors.
We won't have to make a very big effort during the 10 to 20 minutes of the recorded interview to have them ask us a question on that subject. Fab then replies on a very business-like tone that "the feeling wouldn't be the same if they were actors".
Our objective reached, everything is now in the hands of the team of journalists and we'll have to see if they'll keep that sentence in the final edited version.
Studio recording of the show: 04/27/04 at Studio 217, la Plaine-Saint-Denis
 As the subject of a part of the show we are treated as VIP, which gives us access to their catering, with the delicious feeling that we are seriously abusing the situation.
This time our objective is simple : to write a detailed outline of the show (click here to see it ), to see the final version of the edited video, and to see how it's presented and the way it's perceived by the public, so we can tell our fellow jokers and prepare the coming out of the hoax.
A security staff member leads us to our seats. We are carefully seated outside the cameras' field of vision - it's true that we look kind of different from the rest of the general public present at the recording - but our seats are ideally located to carefully observe the show.
crobard

The Room Warmer gives his speech - we'll have to smile, applaud, stand up and go "aaaah!" - he takes the opportunity to move a few cute girls closer to the front (right in the cameras' field of view this time).
They record some more applause that they'll use later during the editing and the show then starts.

The various topics follow one another without great surprise.

" I'll have, for my part, a sequence the title of which has been suggested by Jean-Pascal. It will be called "Le faviez-vous ?" (a bad pun playing on the French words for "did you know it?" and the name of the show host) and it will be made of numerous short sequences that'll work like a quiz.." Sophie Favier

Sophie Favier now speaks for her sequence entitled "Le faviez-vous ?". She starts talking about how to enliven a party and we immediately know that it's about our hoax. Our hearts are beating faster.
The report starts with Sex Pistols' "Anarchy in the UK" on the soundtrack, images flash before our eyes, and then there's a close-up on Fab's face from the interview: "the feeling wouldn't be the same with actors" : BINGO !
The hardest part after that is to not spend the rest of the show with dumb satisfied smiles on our faces.
Our hoax ideally happens at the beginning of Sophie Favier's very first sequence, right before the first advertisement break, during the first third of the show.
Denise Fabre presents us with a nice "When one works in TV, one has to be careful about what one says...", about another subject, okay, but we just hope they'll keep it in the final cut of the whole show.
The different topics continue to follow each other till the end of the show, the Warmer motivates the audience one last time so they can re-shoot two or three transitions, and we leave the studio still a little bit dizzy from what we have seen and what we were able to do.

We created a hoax that's going to be broadcasted on national TV !

Now we just have to wait for the broadcast while preparing these web pages, savoring the pleasure of having fooled a mass media, with no financial means, just a bit of cleverness and a lot of solidarity.
Later :
06/29/04 : through a phone call to R&G we learn the broadcast date. Our hoax in the show "Incredible but True" is scheduled for Monday July 12th 2004 at 10:35pm on TF1.
07-05-04 : first broadcast of "Incredible but True" for the summer season 2004, which allows us to see the studio again and to discover that our seats actually weren't so much out of the cameras' field of view as we thought they were. We'll still have to see whether they shot images of us without us realizing it while we were seated.
Above all else, THE NEWS is to have access to the first summaries of the show that confirm that it will really be OUR show. Luck being with us till the end, our hoax is not listed in the summary which will help prevent a last minute leak of our secret.
07-09-04 : first and last sign of humanity in this whole story, an R&G production assistant calls us to confirm to us the date of the broadcast. Thanks again to her for her kindness and sorry if we got you into that boat without your knowledge.
07-12-04 : the day passes slowly, we study the TV guide for tonight and we try to arouse interest among people while at the same trying to remain discreet.
07-12-04, 11:21pm : our hoax is broadcasted on TF1!

back