Historic event - The unexpected death of Princess Diana.
Friends playing cards learn that Princess Diana was injured in a car accident, then react when TV news says she has died. I recorded this home video in 1997 and it sat in a box for many years. This is the full, unedited version as I recorded it that night, from the original videotape.
To answer some questions that have popped up - Why was I recording? I was trying out a new camcorder by recording friends playing the card game UNO. We had been having a great time, laughing and joking, for more than an hour when my mom called me to say that Diana was in a car crash and we should turn on the TV. We kept playing UNO and joking around as usual - Ken made fun of how the TV announcer kept repeating himself - and gradually the seriousness of the situation began to sink in. It took a few minutes to transition from our upbeat party mood to serious. When the screen text changed to "Diana dead" the true reality of the situation hit like a ton of bricks and we stopped playing UNO of course, and rushed over to the TV. This was recorded in America, in the state of Iowa. All of the guys in the video are still alive today (as of today, November 20, 2023). The guy who screams when he learns Diana has died is my friend Ken who still lives in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It is his genuine reaction to the news of Diana's death. Some people call it a "Wilhelm scream." (Apparently that's a movie term). The guy who stifles a smile after Ken's scream is Scott. (His brief smile was a reaction to Ken's loud silly scream, NOT to Diana's death). When CNN announced that Diana had died I didn't turn the camera back to the TV because my instinct was that it would be more interesting to capture my friends' reactions. Some people call this video the first of what are now called "reaction" videos, a term that didn't exist in 1997 (and neither did RU-vid, which began in 2005). I don't think this really is the first "reaction" caught on camera. I mean, there is footage of an announcer reacting to the Hindenburg disaster in 1937, for example, and many others on film. - I keep in touch with all the guys today.
17 ноя 2020
