No, This Video Of A Man Disappearing Into A Puddle Is Not Real

A dramatic video of a man holding an umbrella and disappearing into a large puddle while walking on the street, is not real and has been created digitally using visual effects.

The video which was viral in 2020 also, is being shared in the backdrop of heavy rains lashing Mumbai on June 9, 2021, with reports of water-logging reported in low-lying areas of the city. (Read here)

In the 16 seconds clip, a man with a green umbrella can be seen walking in the rain and suddenly vanishes into a puddle of water.

Click here to view, and here for an archive

Click here to view, and here for an archive

BOOM also received the viral clip on its WhatsApp helpline number (7700906111).

FACT-CHECK

BOOM analysed the viral clip and found that it had been digitally edited using visual effects to show the man falling into the puddle.

These are the anomalies that we spotted in the clip which indicate that special effects have been used

1) The video is not CCTV footage captured from a location. The video is shot in anticipation of something happening which indicates that the action is staged. The person shooting the video does not react to the man falling. In fact, the person recording moves closer to take a close-up shot of the spot where the man fell. This indicates that it was a premeditated and not an actual incident. Additionally, the video is still and is not at shaky, which is usually the case when videos of real accidents are captured.

2) As we see the man falling, we do not see any reaction from him. There are no hand movements or any reflex reaction to break his fall.

3) On observing the man falling, we noticed that the water remained stagnant and did not create much of a splash which is unusual.

4) On slowing down the clip, we can spot that the man's reaction is the same, which also indicates visual effects being used to show the man falling.

After slowing the video down and watching it, we can clearly see that the man's hand gestures remain the same till he vanishes into the puddle, which shows that the shot of the man has been frozen to show him vanish.

5) We also found VFX tutorial clips on YouTube that showed how to edit a person falling into a water puddle, the below video explains how software tools like Adobe can be used to create the intended effects. The visual effects used in this tutorial match with the effects seen in the viral clip.

We can spot how the intended person frames are pre-shot and then added over the water puddle to make it seem as if he is falling into it.

View the complete tutorial below

The same clip was previously being shared on social media in September 2020, with the false claim which was earlier fact-checked by SM Hoax Slayer.