Not too terribly long ago, part of my job involved organizing "fireside chats" that gave certain celebrities the opportunity to interact with small groups of their devoted fans. These events were essentially just Zoom interviews that were attended by virtual audiences, with the real draw being that everyday people had the chance to interact with their favorite stars in a semi-one-on-one setting.
Anyway, one of our regular audience members was a woman whose background resembled a spacious, well-maintained estate. Without fail, the celebrity being interviewed would remark on it, and a variation of the following dialogue would take place:
CELEBRITY: Wow, that looks gorgeous! FAN: Oh, thank you! I'm so happy that you think so! CELEBRITY: Where is that, if you don't mind me asking?
At this point, the woman would turn around, apparently looking at the scenery. The motion would cause those telltale artifacts to appear, though, which seemed to undermine the performance.
FAN: Well, this is our place in Maine. We came up here about two months ago. CELEBRITY: So you're... you're there right now? FAN: Yes! Oh, but this is just a picture. Let me see... I think I can...
After a few seconds of clicking, the backdrop would fall away... only to reveal exactly the same scene, albeit without all of the digital glitches and such.
The first couple of times that it happened, I genuinely thought that the woman was playing a prank on the people being interviewed, but she was so earnest about the whole thing that I started to question that assumption. Either way, I always had to restrain my laughter when a look of bemusement crossed the star's face.
ChrisStoneGermany on February 3rd, 2021 at 13:11 UTC »
The green aura of lies
RamsesThePigeon on February 3rd, 2021 at 13:28 UTC »
Not too terribly long ago, part of my job involved organizing "fireside chats" that gave certain celebrities the opportunity to interact with small groups of their devoted fans. These events were essentially just Zoom interviews that were attended by virtual audiences, with the real draw being that everyday people had the chance to interact with their favorite stars in a semi-one-on-one setting.
Anyway, one of our regular audience members was a woman whose background resembled a spacious, well-maintained estate. Without fail, the celebrity being interviewed would remark on it, and a variation of the following dialogue would take place:
CELEBRITY: Wow, that looks gorgeous! FAN: Oh, thank you! I'm so happy that you think so! CELEBRITY: Where is that, if you don't mind me asking?
At this point, the woman would turn around, apparently looking at the scenery. The motion would cause those telltale artifacts to appear, though, which seemed to undermine the performance.
FAN: Well, this is our place in Maine. We came up here about two months ago. CELEBRITY: So you're... you're there right now? FAN: Yes! Oh, but this is just a picture. Let me see... I think I can...
After a few seconds of clicking, the backdrop would fall away... only to reveal exactly the same scene, albeit without all of the digital glitches and such.
The first couple of times that it happened, I genuinely thought that the woman was playing a prank on the people being interviewed, but she was so earnest about the whole thing that I started to question that assumption. Either way, I always had to restrain my laughter when a look of bemusement crossed the star's face.
PopeliusJones on February 3rd, 2021 at 13:56 UTC »
Interviewer: “thank you for meeting today, can you give me a little information on your background?”
Interviewee: “sure, it’s the living room from The Simpsons”