I hope I can visit them in Belgium or France or Russia or Holland or Minneapolis or wherever they're from

January 18, 2011 11:22 AM

Todd Bieber was skiing in New York City's Prospect Park when he found a mysterious roll of film documenting the NYC blizzard. He hopes that with $26 and your help, he can find the owners and return their negatives to them.
posted by Captain Cardanthian! (53 comments total)

Those Bieber brothers are always up to no good.
posted by hal_c_on at 11:26 AM on January 18, 2011 [2 favorites]

Was the film a video? Why not just post the photos.
posted by mulligan at 11:28 AM on January 18, 2011 [6 favorites]

Pretty transparent ploy to get on "This American Life" if you ask me. He's even got that "This American Life" voice nailed.
posted by ghharr at 11:28 AM on January 18, 2011 [20 favorites]

Not gonna help him.
posted by fixedgear at 11:31 AM on January 18, 2011 [2 favorites]

He should just post a flyer at the Park Slope Food Coop or something
posted by Ad hominem at 11:32 AM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

That's pretty neat.
posted by koeselitz at 11:38 AM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

He hopes that with $26 and your help, he can find the owners and return their negatives to them. get tons of free viral publicity for his film career.
posted by aught at 11:39 AM on January 18, 2011 [18 favorites]

Those are some really nice pictures. Judging by their look and skills, probably visitors from Germany.

(Though I'd be kinda bummed if I found a film cannister in the street and it had film in it and not weed).
posted by Flashman at 11:41 AM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

Maybe he's trying to get free publicity, but when you're young and broke that's the only kind you can afford.

I wish the photos were a little better and/or sexier though.
posted by Mister_A at 11:41 AM on January 18, 2011 [2 favorites]

Each week we choose a theme, bring you a collection of stories on that theme...

This week... international crime syndicates and their vacations...

How one kid's quest for adventure leads him to what he hopes are new friends...

... but really just turns out... to be a bloody end.

We'll be right back.
posted by odinsdream at 11:42 AM on January 18, 2011 [11 favorites]

SEE WHAT YOU'VE DONE NPR??? DO YOU SEE WHAT YOU'VE DONE???
posted by nathancaswell at 11:43 AM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

I'm okay with him trying to drum up publicity! It was a neat little story and told very well.
posted by joelf at 11:44 AM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

It seems a bit intrusive to find a film canister and judt go have it developed and look through all the prints, no? I mean, anything could have been on there.
posted by tylerkaraszewski at 11:45 AM on January 18, 2011

He's even got that "This American Life" voice nailed.

QFT.
posted by MrMoonPie at 11:47 AM on January 18, 2011

Was the film a video? Why not just post the photos.

They guy who made the video "writes and directs videos" according to his website, so I'll cut him some slack, but I hear you. There is a trend towards using video when a few words and pictures would do a much better job of transferring information, by virtue of being lower bandwidth, quick to review and search, and save-able. Video needs lots bandwidth, is almost impossible to search, and is displayed at a constant rate. Most people can read much faster than someone can speak. But I guess it's easier to make a video than to write up a little something. Also, people with video cameras are always on my lawn.
posted by exogenous at 11:48 AM on January 18, 2011 [3 favorites]

I like the guy with the huge mane of hair. He seems like a front man. The other guy, more like a drummer.

I FOUND MY FILM
I FOUND MY FILM
A GUY HAD IT
AN AMER, IC ANNNN
posted by circular at 11:48 AM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

Judging by their look and skills, probably visitors from Germany.

Ya, ze Germans ah known foa der schkills und looks.
posted by The World Famous at 11:49 AM on January 18, 2011 [4 favorites]

I worried, watching the video a second time, that maybe I should be more cynical about this video and go with the assumption that he'd faked the pictures and the discovery in an attempt to get internet famous. But then I was like, "Nah, fuck that. The pictures are nice, and this dude sounds nice, and I like adventures. I hope he finds his mystery tourists." So I went ahead and I posted it, and I hope he finds his mystery tourists.
posted by Captain Cardanthian! at 11:49 AM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

He's even got that "This American Life" voice nailed.

I'd say it's more like an icepick than like nails, but sure, I suppose they're both unpleasant to have in your ears.
posted by uncleozzy at 11:54 AM on January 18, 2011 [2 favorites]

They don't look like New Yorkers. I'm guessing they're either from Holland or they're Russian or they're French or they're from Belgium. They've got this Europe look to them.

Oh man do I hope that these are two dudes from Astoria.
posted by Greg Nog at 11:54 AM on January 18, 2011 [9 favorites]

Three posts in, and... "transparent ploy".

Can't anyone do ANYTHING anymore using a widely read medium in an effort to do something nice without being snarked for it? Maybe it is a job application for a photojournalism student, but why not, for once in your scathing little vat of molten bitchiness, assume FIRST that it is what it appears to be, and save the snark for later, if it turns out otherwise?

(For the record... a few years back, I found a roll of film in the sand on Sanibel Island. I got it developed with precisely the same motive in mind that this guy verbalizes but while the photos were mildly interesting, they were hopelessly pedestrian and included nothing that would distinguish them from anyone else's shots of any nice sandy beach anywhere on the planet. And no people to boot. So I gave up any thought of getting them back to an owner.)

But geez, people, whatever happened to innnocent until proven guilty?
posted by Mike D at 11:56 AM on January 18, 2011 [2 favorites]

But geez, people, whatever happened to innnocent until proven guilty?

The rise of viral marketing?
posted by interrobang at 11:59 AM on January 18, 2011 [8 favorites]

The key to tourist identification is examination of jackets, shoes, and backpacks. The shoes are hard to discern because they're snowy - they do look American, though. The backpacks appear to be standard American ones and the jackets do not really seem to be particularly characteristic of anywhere other than the U.S.
posted by The World Famous at 11:59 AM on January 18, 2011

Oh man do I hope that these are two dudes from Astoria.

Nobody in Astoria uses film- such madness is only allowed in Brooklyn.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 12:01 PM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

Isn't Queens the new Brooklyn?
posted by Mister_A at 12:03 PM on January 18, 2011

Wait, did you mean Astoria, Finland? Cuz yeah, then.
posted by Mister_A at 12:04 PM on January 18, 2011

why not, for once in your scathing little vat of molten bitchiness, assume FIRST that it is what it appears to be, and save the snark for later, if it turns out otherwise?

I think it might be Descartes' fault.
posted by Beardman at 12:07 PM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

There is a trend towards using video when a few words and pictures would do a much better job of transferring information

Video does a much better job of transferring information in this case, because there's no way in hell that people are going to forward a static blog post with text and pics as much as they are going to forward this video.
posted by 23skidoo at 12:09 PM on January 18, 2011

Oh, man, wait, maybe this is actually a teaser for one-a-them fake-homemade horror movies, where this guy is going to be haunted by these vaguely-Eastern-European-looking ghosts until he gets a shaman to consecrate Prospect Park or whatever.
posted by uncleozzy at 12:14 PM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

Personally don't care if it's real (which I think it is) or if the entire thing is fictional. I thought it was a pretty neat story.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 12:16 PM on January 18, 2011 [2 favorites]

So precious. Just like everything else in the non-poor parts of Brooklyn.
posted by slogger at 12:19 PM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

A few months before, they were looking for jonmc.
posted by Judith Butlerian Jihad at 12:22 PM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

But geez, people, whatever happened to innnocent until proven guilty?

New to the internet?
posted by MrMoonPie at 12:22 PM on January 18, 2011

This American Hype.
posted by spitbull at 12:43 PM on January 18, 2011

The World Famous: The key to tourist identification is examination of jackets, shoes, and backpacks. The shoes are hard to discern because they're snowy - they do look American, though. The backpacks appear to be standard American ones and the jackets do not really seem to be particularly characteristic of anywhere other than the U.S.

The backpacks look like they have that little Eastpak logo fabric rectangle in the bottom corner of the front. Eastpak does seem to sell their stuff in Europe and parts of Asia (though they don't really seem like European tourist bags). But, I agree, the clothes and stuff says US or Canada to me.
posted by hoyland at 12:55 PM on January 18, 2011

I might be a detective. The guys in the picture with the digital cameras are not the person with film camera who took the pictures. We don't know what that person looks like. It could be anyone (except Todd Beiber) behind the camera.
posted by Xurando at 1:12 PM on January 18, 2011

I cared the first 15 times this story happened.
posted by cashman at 1:23 PM on January 18, 2011

I might be a detective. The guys in the picture with the digital cameras are not the person with film camera who took the pictures.

What, they couldn't have a tripod and extra cameras?
posted by The World Famous at 1:24 PM on January 18, 2011

Sponsored by Nikon!
posted by johnny novak at 1:41 PM on January 18, 2011

Eastpak backpacks are pretty common in Europe. I still think they're German architecture students on holidays, staying with a friend's sister who works for Allianz Bank and lives in Bushwick. (Or maybe: French - BNP - Bedford-Stuyvesant)
posted by Flashman at 2:08 PM on January 18, 2011

I imagine that the person behind the camera is a wistful romantic, jaded by a world of social network transparency and fake connectedness. One that longs to be with another who has a spark, a boundless sense of adventure, and an unquenchable inner drive to seek out an anonymous someone based solely upon the contents of a message in a bottle, or the undeveloped film in a tiny canister, and search across time, space and the interether. The mystery person hopes that just enough soul is in each and every photo (except for the lame one) that the finder will be inspired to plumb the depths of his or her creative resources to reach out , and that their connection will be as timeless as the snowscape upon which the canister was so carefully laid.
I also imagine that the story, once complete, will be made into a major motion picture, and that Ted Williams will be asked to do the voiceover for the trailer.
I'm romantic like that.
posted by OHenryPacey at 2:33 PM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

Three posts in, and... "transparent ploy".

I don't know about the rest of those bilious bitchy snarkmosters but I was making a joke about how the dude talks.
posted by ghharr at 2:33 PM on January 18, 2011

that Ted Williams will be asked to do the voiceover for the trailer.

He should be out of rehab by then.
posted by fixedgear at 2:48 PM on January 18, 2011

Is this a teaser for Cloverfield? Because I already saw that.
posted by shakespeherian at 2:53 PM on January 18, 2011

But geez, people, whatever happened to innnocent until proven guilty?

Metafilter did.
posted by Seekerofsplendor at 7:31 PM on January 18, 2011

Maybe I'm a naïve optimist (but not optimistic enough to watch the video without muting), but I hope this is real. The photos are lovely.
posted by elsietheeel at 8:26 PM on January 18, 2011

The pics remind me of this guy's work somewhat. Not the dog pictures. Look through the archives.
posted by tamitang at 9:36 PM on January 18, 2011

Mike D: "Can't anyone do ANYTHING anymore using a widely read medium in an effort to do something nice without being snarked for it?"

Can't anyone find something and make an attempt to get it back to the rightful owner without making it into video and calling attention to oh-how-precious and caring they are? Maybe a Craigslist posting or a flyer somewhere? It just strikes me as creepy that anyone would feel it's ok to find a bunch of someone else's photos and plaster them on YouTube regardless of their motivation.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 12:07 AM on January 19, 2011 [2 favorites]

Eh, self promotion seems to be Bieber's primary goal -- I mean if he was really trying to get the film back to who lost it, wouldn't he at least say what kind of film it is?

I would guess the film belonged to some freshman photography student. The photos all seem to be shot with a 50mm lens, film's probably tri-x or something like that -- who shoots on b&w with a fixed lens and then changes rolls in prospect park in a blizzard? And hangs out with dudes equipped with entry level american market DSLRs?

So if it's self promotion Bieber's after, he's got it. Me, I'm interested to see if the 'original photographer' ever turns up.
posted by headless at 3:59 AM on January 19, 2011 [1 favorite]

Oh for fucks sake, we get it. You're all such jaded and cynical internet savvy authorities on authenticity. I personally don't care if it is all just self-promotion (it would be a pretty good attempt at that) or not. All the complaining about it really does just sound like jealousy.
posted by Jeeb at 6:49 AM on January 19, 2011

Jeeb: "All the complaining about it really does just sound like jealousy."

Busted. You got me.

When my full-length feature film about some wallet I found, flopped at Cannes, I retreated into a sullen, angry exoskeleton and drank the days and nights away. Thanks to Smuggy McNeckbeard, I'll never get my just due.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 9:51 AM on January 19, 2011 [1 favorite]

I found somebody's house key once, so to try to get it back to them I wrote a novel about it. It was a roman à clef.
posted by Flashman at 1:05 PM on January 19, 2011 [2 favorites]

Boooooooooooooo
posted by shakespeherian at 1:09 PM on January 19, 2011