Werner Herzog Movie About Nessie Getting a "Blair Witch" Treatment?

[c0rbin]

Skeptics know what Hollywood can do to myths. We have seen oh so many times before on all manner of subjects: UFOs, Crop Circles, Jesus--the list is long.

But add to that the current trend in Infotainment and mockumentary, and credulity can grow like mold on bread.

Werner Herzog (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001348/) is apparently making a movie about the Loch Ness Monster. A web site is currently "stirring things up" with accusations of fraud, and mystery about two missing crew members.

The author seems to think that the US film crew is making more mystery out of these missing crew members who supposedly died in a boating accident.

Did Nessie sink their vessel? Is this a "Blair Witch" job of creating mystery around a flick?

http://www.truthaboutlochness.com/index.htm

Some cool video and not really a whole bunch else, however, like I said, we know how these things blossom.

[jnelso99]

This was brought up on another board a few months ago, and I did a quick google search on "Michael Karnow" (the name of one of the "missing" people from the boat), and found a link to a talent agency which said the following:

"Writers Michael Karnow and Charlie Newton: television writers, currently writing a feature script for Media Ventures with Zak Penn attached to direct"

Zak Penn is writing or producing Herzog's film. Interesting connection. The links that I had found back then seem to have been changed since then, so take this as you will. The site where I had gotten this info was www.barberknight.com (http://www.barberknight.com/talent.html). There were also on-set pics of the "accident" here (http://www.thezreview.co.uk/comingsoon/e/enigmaoflochnessthe.htm).

Herzog is apparently known for "eccentricities" during filming as well.

[WildCat]

Ha ha ha! A Playmate on the boat and Nessie is filmed. Reminds me of the Bigfoot film where another Playmate is also present. Obviously, mythical creatures like girls w/ huge knockers. :D

[UnTrickaBLe]

So what was the story with that "whale" footage??

http://www.truthaboutlochness.com/video.htm

Did they drag a whale to Loch Ness and flim it? The reactions of the crew -- "OH MY GOD!!! WHAT IS THAT??!!" -- seemed kind of rehearsed.

Apparently the guy running the website was deluged with emails from skeptics, so he offered this:

The Whale Footage
I do agree with many of you, in the end, that the footage of the 'creature' surfacing in the water must have been a whale. I know youcan train whales - as I have visited Sea World in the United States - and it is not unreasonable to think that a big Hollywood producer could afford to airlift a whale into the Loch for a few shots. That's my opinion, as reflected by many of your emails too.

The bubbles at the very end of the clip make me think it was a whale also. Who knows where the footage was shot.

[davidhorman]

Or maybe, and this is a whacky theory, but maybe a Hollywood producer knows a few people in the special effects industry. It doesn't even have to be CGI, it could just be a big model being dragged through the water.

IIRC this isn't Herzog's first foray in to mixing fiction and reality, either.

David

[Tanja]

Apparently the film is to be screened at the Seattle film festival. Here is the link. (http://www.seattlefilm.com/film/detail.aspx?id=320)

[DangerousBeliefs]

Here's a link I found while looking into these two missing persons...

http://www.livejournal.com/community/hoaxes/99109.html

[Hexxenhammer]

Originally posted by davidhorman
Or maybe, and this is a whacky theory, but maybe a Hollywood producer knows a few people in the special effects industry. It doesn't even have to be CGI, it could just be a big model being dragged through the water.

IIRC this isn't Herzog's first foray in to mixing fiction and reality, either.

David Yeah, that footage looks very cool, but it wouldn't even be as difficult to film as some of the scenes from Jaws. I thought model as soon as I watched it.

[Errol Flynn]

Originally posted by Hexxenhammer
Yeah, that footage looks very cool, but it wouldn't even be as difficult to film as some of the scenes from Jaws. I thought model as soon as I watched it.

What video was cool?

The "whale" one does look like they brought a little pilot whale or something and filmed it. Can whales survive in fresh water, assuming that is fresh water?

[Hexxenhammer]

Originally posted by Errol Flynn


What video was cool?

The "whale" one does look like a brought a little pilot whale or something and filmed it. Can whales survive in fresh water, assuming that is fresh water? Yeah, the "whale" one is pretty neat. But there's no reason to think it has to be an actual animal. If it IS an actual animal, there doesn't seem to be a lot of evidence that the filming is actually taking place on loch ness. It could be the english coastline or anywhere else. Somewhere there might actually be whales to film in the wild.

[Uh_Clem]

That was clearly a snallygaster they saw in the water. No two ways about it.

Seriously though, the second one would have been a little more convincing without the audio.

[UnTrickaBLe]

I think it would be easier to film an actual whale than to take a chance and CGI it. CGI effects leave tell-tale signs, so it could be debunked easily. Using a real whale, on the other hand, might be tougher to debunk.

That's just a layman's guess, however.

[Hand Bent Spoon]

Originally posted by c0rbin
...we know how these things blossom.

Yes! They blossom like Kennedy's magic-bullet exit wounds. :D :eek: