He's just behind you.

November 10, 2010 9:36 PM

A few weeks ago, we attempted to shoot a short film. But when we got the footage back, there was clearly something very wrong.
posted by boo_radley (54 comments total)

What?
posted by Jon_Evil at 9:39 PM on November 10, 2010 [1 favorite]

there is a carnival beyond the trees.
posted by clavdivs at 9:40 PM on November 10, 2010

Even though it's a parody of my nightmares, I will still have nightmares of this.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 9:42 PM on November 10, 2010 [5 favorites]

If the purpose of this video was to make me horribly and inexplicably depressed, it succeeded. I don't know why. But all of a sudden I'm lonely and really need a hug.
posted by Jon_Evil at 9:44 PM on November 10, 2010 [5 favorites]

Backstory to the reference.
posted by flatluigi at 9:44 PM on November 10, 2010 [2 favorites]

This was more terrifying that the Slenderman videos.

(also it didn't get bogged down in annoying mythology building)
posted by shakespeherian at 9:51 PM on November 10, 2010

I liked that more than I thought I would. Well played, convoluted inside joke.
posted by Sticherbeast at 9:56 PM on November 10, 2010 [5 favorites]

:D

Also, speaking of Slenderman, it looks like Marble Hornets is gearing up for Season 2.
posted by Rhaomi at 9:57 PM on November 10, 2010

There was no Colin Mochrie or Adrien Brody in there.
posted by Pseudonumb at 10:06 PM on November 10, 2010

Meta?
posted by Ron Thanagar at 10:15 PM on November 10, 2010

Beat me to it, Pseudonumb. Here's some Colin and company for all you geezers (previously).
posted by maudlin at 10:17 PM on November 10, 2010

[6]
posted by Taft at 10:21 PM on November 10, 2010 [2 favorites]

Oh wow that's the first time I've seen that name in forever...
posted by setanor at 10:32 PM on November 10, 2010

I hate it when the videos end right before they start to get good.
posted by Brocktoon at 10:33 PM on November 10, 2010

That was effing creepy.
posted by oddman at 10:34 PM on November 10, 2010

I can't believe no one's discussing the performances. Riveting stuff.
posted by philip-random at 10:35 PM on November 10, 2010

the stilts deserve best supporting actor.
posted by clavdivs at 10:41 PM on November 10, 2010 [18 favorites]

The performances were a little stilted...
posted by gonna get a dog at 10:50 PM on November 10, 2010 [10 favorites]

Oh Neil, keep on truckin', you complete and utter weirdo. When I saw this pop up on my youtube subscriptions I was concerned that he'd made something rib-stickingly terrifying, because Slenderman messed me up in the most enduring way. But he managed to subvert it just enough to wash out whatever stain had been left by the original. Then again, anything this Cicierega kid does hits all the right notes for me. I guess I'm just aligned with his idiom or something.
posted by Mizu at 10:53 PM on November 10, 2010

Bah.
posted by davejay at 11:06 PM on November 10, 2010

gonna get a dog: "The performances were a little stilted..."

no, oh no...
posted by dancestoblue at 11:06 PM on November 10, 2010

no logic
posted by mannequito at 11:21 PM on November 10, 2010

You done gone and made me watch all of Marble Hornets.
posted by Xoebe at 11:24 PM on November 10, 2010

Now is it the strange cuts, static, quick image flashes (a kitten, a ferris wheel) that I'm supposed to be impressed by? Or is it the strange person in the costume at the end? Or is there something else I'm supposed to be paying attention to?
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 11:25 PM on November 10, 2010 [5 favorites]

like I said, it's the acting
posted by philip-random at 11:26 PM on November 10, 2010

Something Splendid This Way Comes.
posted by HFSH at 11:38 PM on November 10, 2010 [1 favorite]

That totally made up for having to sit through Marble Hornets. Or perhaps MH was always intended to have a punchline...
posted by lekvar at 11:56 PM on November 10, 2010

My feeling is that this was an attempt to capture on film the way that porn would be conceptualized and internalized by the mind of a 4-year-old.

Or maybe it was just silly. I don't know.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 11:58 PM on November 10, 2010 [3 favorites]

Well that was about the most perfect video to watch alone in the office at 9pm right as the after hours timer cut the lights and the air conditioning, with my back to the window, and having had three cans of V because I'm studying for an exam tomorrow. Thanks.
posted by doublehappy at 12:10 AM on November 11, 2010

Well, it's ok. But it's no Pickle Surprise.
posted by sebastienbailard at 12:45 AM on November 11, 2010

The comments here made me think the video wouldn't scare me, but it made me think of slenderman and now I'm scared again.

I liked the dancing though.
posted by painquale at 1:41 AM on November 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

It's all fun and games until he rips out your soul
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 2:54 AM on November 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

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posted by obiwanwasabi at 3:09 AM on November 11, 2010 [7 favorites]

I don't get art, so can someone please tell me: the sprinkling at the end. Is he achieving...er...satisfaction?
posted by dzaz at 3:38 AM on November 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

Wow. Neil Cicierga has been making hilarious stuff consistently for longer than most filmmakers can claim.
posted by griphus at 4:12 AM on November 11, 2010

Intro's too long.
posted by BeerFilter at 5:33 AM on November 11, 2010

He's been making stuff since he was what, 14?
posted by empath at 5:34 AM on November 11, 2010

Now is it the strange cuts, static, quick image flashes (a kitten, a ferris wheel) that I'm supposed to be impressed by? Or is it the strange person in the costume at the end? Or is there something else I'm supposed to be paying attention to?

It's a marble hornets spoof.
posted by empath at 5:35 AM on November 11, 2010

Yes, it's a total inside joke (if such a thing can exist on the internet), but I thought it was pretty awesome. Whoever played Splendorman has the moves of a high school mascot.
posted by muddgirl at 5:40 AM on November 11, 2010

the stilts deserve best supporting actor.

Don't you mean "best actor supporting"?
posted by blue_beetle at 6:10 AM on November 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

BOOOOO!
posted by Scoo at 7:02 AM on November 11, 2010

well, not going to get that 2 minutes back....
posted by photoslob at 7:32 AM on November 11, 2010

I was expecting this to turn into 2 girls 1 cup, unfortunatly it did not.
posted by Ad hominem at 8:00 AM on November 11, 2010 [2 favorites]

So... this video is basically an inside joke related to an ARG based on an urban legend running gag on the SA forums?

Well, then.
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:07 AM on November 11, 2010 [3 favorites]

It's fucking hilarious if you get it, though.
posted by empath at 8:07 AM on November 11, 2010 [2 favorites]

sebastienbailard: "Well, it's ok. But it's no Pickle Surprise "

Look I don't wanna say too much but even Pickle Surprise was no Pickle Surprise if you know what I'm saying.
posted by boo_radley at 8:27 AM on November 11, 2010

> Look I don't wanna say too much but even Pickle Surprise was no Pickle Surprise if you know what I'm saying.

That's the surprise!
posted by SteelyDuran at 9:10 AM on November 11, 2010 [4 favorites]

Thanks for ruining it, SteelyDuran.
posted by Mister_A at 9:30 AM on November 11, 2010 [2 favorites]

Pickle Surprise very well might be my favorite thing on the internet, but Slender Man is a close second. Thanks for this.
posted by orville sash at 9:56 AM on November 11, 2010

Once I recognized Emmy Cicierega (an artist I follow on Livejournal) II knew it was going to be silly. Because any film she and her friends appear in is going to be silly and fun.
posted by happyroach at 10:37 AM on November 11, 2010

I don't get art, so can someone please tell me: the sprinkling at the end. Is he achieving...er...satisfaction?

You get art just fine.
posted by clarknova at 12:04 PM on November 11, 2010

Is this something I would have to be possessed by Zalgo to understand?
posted by fuq at 2:57 PM on November 11, 2010

I cannot thank you enough for posting this.
I spend a lot of time working alone in the basement of an old armory. It's creepy and cement, and full of old scenery and props and shelves. Other organizations use the same basement for storage, and so I occasionally catch glimpses of people moving around, walking quickly through the maze of fences and shelving.
In our area of the basement, there is a hallway. It's four or five feet wide, about eight feet tall, and somewhere between forty and sixty feet long. There are no doors. There are no lights. It's just a long hallway to nowhere. At the far end there's a pile of rubble and a dirt floor and a wall made of two by fours, with braces to the floor, holding back.... whatever is on the other side. Most of the hallway is crammed with props and small set pieces, and about six feet from the entrance a large pipe stretches from wall to wall at about chest height. Between the trip hazards, the pipe, and the fact that I'm navigating by flashlight, I couldn't get out of there quickly if I wanted to.
It's always been creepy, but I was fine back there until a couple of weeks ago, right after I watched the most recent Marble Hornets. I was maybe thirty feet into the hallway, looking for a particular chair, when the part of my brain that is in charge of alerting me to imaginary danger suddenly became convinced that Slender Man was at the end of the hallway, lurking. I decided that really, some other chair would do just fine, and I should just mosey on out of the scary hallway now.
Ever since then, my frequent trips down the hallway have been plagued my the certainty that the Slender Man is waiting for me, right past the three fake ficus trees. I hurry down, only go as far as I have to, and spend the trip back to the lit part of the basement whirling around and pointing the flashlight back down the hallway. It is difficult to make progress while trying to watch my step and look behind me at the same time.
This morning I watched this video.
Today I entered the hallway, walked all the way to the end, looked around, proclaimed "Splendor Man!" in a delighted voice, and giggled all the way back.
So thanks.
posted by Adridne at 4:20 PM on November 11, 2010 [3 favorites]

I missed the original slender man thread. Holy goddamn do those pictures stoke the primal terror region of my brain, Flatluigi.
posted by Decimask at 7:04 PM on November 11, 2010