Watch the video: Extreme weather – is this incredible giant tornado real?
Incredible natural spectacle: This video is spreading on social media.
Mass of water falls from the sky over the sea, swirls around and becomes a tornado.
The clip, which was allegedly shot in Libya, is being shared and commented on by numerous social media users.
But what is the video all about?
The spectacular weather phenomenon is not a real recording.
3D designer Alexandru Dineci created and published the spectacular video in December 2018.
The video producer makes it clear in the accompanying text that this is not a real natural spectacle. However, this information is often lost when the video is shared by other social media users – which means that some users believe the clip to be real.
Dineci uses the animation and 3D programs “Adobe After Effects” and “Cinema 4D” to produce the video.
The basis for the fake clip is a video filmed on the beach on the British island of Jersey, into which the tornado was subsequently inserted. The claim that the clip comes from Libya is fictitious.
He publishes making-of material for the fake tornado video on social networks.
The video shows: A video that is clearly marked as fake can be perceived as real by being distributed on social media. The lack of context turns a 3D animation into a threatening natural event.
How do we in the editorial department examine videos for manipulation? It is important to look at the details. The individual frames of a video often reveal whether a video has been edited. We look closely at each image and enlarge individual sections. Signs of a fake include: lack of motion blur, unnatural shadows or editing errors. At stern the general rule is: seriousness over speed. We always check facts and material thoroughly before publishing them. To achieve this, we work with the cross-editorial “Team Verification” together with RTL, NTV, RTL2, Radio NRW.