Best. Fake. Shark. EVAH.

April 23, 2007 11:39 PM

The year is 1978. A group of 12 year-olds have decided to make a Super 8 film of their own based on Jaws. Presenting... SHARK!
posted by miss lynnster (34 comments total)

Two more features from the same kids: Elevator and Devil's Babe.
posted by miss lynnster at 11:42 PM on April 23, 2007

Ooops! Messed up the link for Devil's Babe.
posted by miss lynnster at 11:59 PM on April 23, 2007

A lake shark?
posted by moonbiter at 12:09 AM on April 24, 2007

moonbiter- they tried their best. before mom took them out to the shore it was a lawn shark.
posted by griphus at 12:14 AM on April 24, 2007

HAHA... the munch sound when the shark eats them is awesome. Also, there's not a damn thing wrong with their shark.
posted by !Jim at 1:36 AM on April 24, 2007

awesome.
dawson leery would be so proud.
posted by squasha at 1:39 AM on April 24, 2007

(and, who else forgot that the key costume item to play an adult at that age was a hat? good times.)
posted by squasha at 1:42 AM on April 24, 2007

This is great! It never occured to me that there might be stuff like this on YouTube, now I must search high and low. Because, oh yes, I do love me some lo-fi/amateur filmmaking!

And the shark was awesome! Much better than the shark I made for a school play once, I mean, my shark was just a cardboard fin on top of a RC Car.
posted by soundofsuburbia at 2:03 AM on April 24, 2007

miss lynnster proves that you can make an awesome single link youtube post, that doesn't mean you should try. It takes extraordinary skill.
posted by lee at 2:08 AM on April 24, 2007

lake sharks
posted by rdr at 2:15 AM on April 24, 2007

Charming and totally hilarious. Also impressive as a kids' production. Definitely a wonderful fake shark. How cool it's up on YouTube now. The director's YouTube profile page and his website.
posted by nickyskye at 3:18 AM on April 24, 2007

That shark is beyond awesome! Speaking of child prodigies...
posted by maxwelton at 3:19 AM on April 24, 2007

Showing the whole fake shark right at the start is such an obviously bad artistic decision that I suspect their parents made them do it so that the movie wouldn't be too scary for their little brothers and sisters. Despite this apparent production interference it is still completely awesome.
posted by teleskiving at 3:58 AM on April 24, 2007

The only two words (at least in the first 3 minutes) are "SHARK" and "WOMEN". These kids had a good grasp of the zeitgeist.
posted by DU at 4:33 AM on April 24, 2007

Yeah DU, I noticed that and thought the same thing, lol.
posted by nickyskye at 5:04 AM on April 24, 2007

This is awesome. I'm also anxiously awaiting the uptight spoil sport who showed up in the last kid made super 8 thread to angrily decry the lack of creativity here.
posted by substrate at 5:21 AM on April 24, 2007

OK, it wasn't angry, but it still was a lame complaint.
posted by substrate at 5:25 AM on April 24, 2007

Wow. What a grasp of shot composition, linear narrative, framing, and line-of-sight continuity editing.

Some college film students I know still haven't grasped stuff like the 180-degree rule...
posted by po at 5:52 AM on April 24, 2007

Also: clearly aspiring to the greatness of Ed Wood.

Which, obviously, makes them awesome.
posted by po at 5:53 AM on April 24, 2007

These kids could match cut stock-footage much better than Ed Wood ever could.
posted by nola at 7:05 AM on April 24, 2007

Showing the whole fake shark right at the start is such an obviously bad artistic decision that I suspect their parents made them do it so that the movie wouldn't be too scary for their little brothers and sisters.

Actually -- from Frank Wiedemann's commentary at YouTube:

"And wait till you get a hold of the shark we built.....(it sank after the first scene and you'll only see the fin after that."

posted by ericb at 7:06 AM on April 24, 2007

That shark was teh scary! I'll be having silent, campy nightmares for weeks!
posted by Afroblanco at 7:25 AM on April 24, 2007

That was awesome. Every time I thought "this is awesome" it got better.
posted by carmen at 7:30 AM on April 24, 2007

The only two words (at least in the first 3 minutes) are "SHARK" and "WOMEN". These kids had a good grasp of the zeitgeist.

Don't forget "TNT." 'Cuz ya always gotta label your dynamite.
posted by miss lynnster at 7:31 AM on April 24, 2007

I do love me some lo-fi/amateur filmmaking!

Ok, this seems like a good thread to bring up my little sister's movie, War and Peace and Robots. The girl is somewhat deranged.

That shark prop was incredible, by the way.
posted by buriednexttoyou at 7:35 AM on April 24, 2007

shark was awesome
posted by Betmenko at 7:36 AM on April 24, 2007

Awesome! That is so 70s-"Kids-Can-Do-Anything!" that I'm now feeling really nostalgic. What might be lost on people fifteen or twenty years younger than I am is how difficult this would have been to pull off in 1978. I mean, not everyone had the means of production, could afford that much film, and had a way to edit it. That's why most home movies are so stream of consciousness - editing took a special deck, a lot of time, and some splicing skill. I'd have been so psyched if I knew any kids that had all that available to play with like this.

I was 9 when this film was made. I wasn't allowed to see Jaws, but the big kids clued us in, and playing "shark attack" became a standard trope while swimming. Giant Shark Threatening Happy Swimmers, as a concept, certainly has a hold on the imagination.

The sound editing on this is pretty fantastic! As are the shadowy and underwater shots. Really good for amateurs!

Don't miss Terror in the Sky! An Airport-style feature also from DW Films.
posted by Miko at 7:39 AM on April 24, 2007

Those kids might have had to resort to nuking it out of the water.
posted by nickyskye at 7:46 AM on April 24, 2007

This was fantastic.

So...I'm sure at least a few of you noticed the Zombie vs Shark video in the side bar. Anyone? Anyone? I'm thinking of buying stock in No-Doz, 'cause there's no frikkin' way I'm going to be sleeping for the next few weeks.
posted by Pecinpah at 7:50 AM on April 24, 2007

is that the ICQ 'foghorn' noise i hear in the beginning?
posted by Mach5 at 7:56 AM on April 24, 2007

So...I'm sure at least a few of you noticed the Zombie vs Shark video in the side bar. Anyone? Anyone?

Can't watch it from work, but this can really ONLY be Lucio Fulci's Zombie. It pleases me to think that there could be two zombie vs. shark movies, but the world just doesn't have that much awesome in it...

...does it??
posted by kittens for breakfast at 8:15 AM on April 24, 2007

kittens for breakfast: Yes, it is. That scene is totally ridiculous, but so awesome, like so much of Lucio Fulci's stuff (all it's missing is eye-gouging, really).
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 9:56 AM on April 24, 2007

Ooooh! I love Terror in the Sky! It takes a skilled hijacker to hide a rifle in his coat through airport security. For carnage, it's hard to beat Devil's Babe, though. Giant baby tearing off people's heads in a bloodthirsty rage? Good times!
posted by miss lynnster at 12:20 PM on April 24, 2007

Their shark definitely doesn't look old, and stupid.
posted by basicchannel at 2:08 PM on April 24, 2007