These recordings take your breath away.
Divers swim next to a giant crocodile. Next to the reptile, the people appear almost tiny.
The video spread on Twitter with the message that it was a man-eating crocodile of more than nine meters that was filmed in the US state of Maine.
But is the incredible predator really real? What’s the deal with the video?
The killer reptile from the clip is not a real crocodile – but a Hollywood movie prop.
The watermark in the clip leads to the website of the Stan Winston School of Character Arts – a school that teaches how to create realistic and fantastical characters as props for Hollywood film productions.
Name giver and special effects expert Stan Winston was involved in legendary blockbuster series such as “Terminator”, “Jurassic Park” and “Predator”.
School staff post a making-of video on YouTube that shows the process of creating the mighty crocodile. Hundreds of hours of work go into the production of the electric reptile doll.
The location of the recording is also given incorrectly on Twitter: the video is made in Los Angeles and not in Maine.
The case makes it clear how easily videos taken out of context can lead to false reports on social networks. He also shows how realistic Hollywood props can sometimes look. This is how a mighty crocodile puppet becomes a supposedly real killer reptile.
How do we check videos for manipulation in the editorial office? It is important to look at the details. The individual frames of a video often reveal whether a video has been edited. We take a close look at each image and enlarge individual sections. Indications of a fake are, for example: lack of motion blur, unnatural shadows or editing errors. The general rule at stern is: Seriousness before speed. We always double-check facts and material thoroughly before publishing them. For this we work with the cross-editorial “Team Verification” together with RTL, NTV, RTL2, Radio NRW.