Thoughts and questions regarding Most Haunted

[whyvetfeelding]

Hi,

I have been a lurker for a while now but have become so enraged by MH that I really felt the need for discussion; to vent some of my anger and to get some more information about what goes on behind the scenes (looking at you Jon!)

I have always had a fascination with the paranormal; an interest that was passed on by my mums interest. You could say I hold dissonant beliefs in that while I consider myself atheist, I do have some belief (or hope) that there is something more after death. I am also someone who strongly believes in science; and I know and accept that there has never been any actual, professionally and meticulously gathered evidence of ghosts, poltergeists, the afterlife, stone tape theory or anything considered paranormal. I cannot deny however that I do have some belief that ghosts may exist.

I watched MH from the start. I kept up with it for years. I would have been probably 18 years old when it first started, and I watched it all through the Derek-era and a few years after. I never believed Derek or any of the mediums who followed, but the paranormal stuff I generally always felt it was genuine, with maybe a bit of embellishment here and there, but on the whole I thought they were legitimately trying to investigate the paranormal. Over time though it became very stale and I lost interest. I maybe even began to suspect that things were being faked, especially on the live shows; and so my interest in the show lessened and I stopped watching.

Then, a few weeks ago an advert on TV caught my attention. It was advertising the latest series of MH on REALLY. I was surprised to see that it was still going. I decided to give it a go and so I signed up to the UKTV website and started watching. I cannot remember which series I started with but I know I watched a fair few episodes and, embarrassingly, I was actually really impressed and even more embarrassingly, genuinely scared of the evidence they caught. The three part Shrewsbury prison investigation I found particularly exciting. Karl was in what looked like a kitchen and there were footsteps that sounded like they were creeping up on him. Intense! Scary! Exciting!

Then... the big kahuna. The full body apparition! WOW! A ghost caught on camera walking up some stairs! 19 seasons and they finally caught a ghost in all its glory. I was amazed. I was so amazed that I immediately took to the internet to see what the world was saying about it; and then the inevitable happened. I realised the truth. Most Haunted is 100% fake.

I quickly came across BadPsychics where you debunked the ghost video. It was clear as day that this was an overlay effect, and even more clear that it was Elmer Fudd who was the ghost. It was so blatant; like how Karl puts the camera down to make editing in the 'ghost' easier. I began reading more of the reviews on this site for MH, viewing the videos on Youtube of the team being caught faking stuff. And after realising what was really going on, it was so easy to predict what was going to happen to whom (Stuart and Karl usually). Every instance of something being thrown off camera stood out like a sore thumb. Every instance of Karl diverting the attention of others in one direction only for something to happen in the other felt more and more rehearsed.

I actually carried on watching the remaining episodes that are online where I had been watching them with the hope of seeing some evidence of ghosts, I was watching in anger to see what stupidity would be passed off as ghosts. In the end it felt like I was watching the same episode over and over again, just in a different location. Same silly calling out. Same objects being thrown. Same Karl and Stuart throwing things at each other.

I appreciate I have rambled on here and I thank those who have read. I do actually have some questions; primarily to Jon as I would imagine he would be the most informed.

1. It is obvious that Karl, Yvette, Stuart and Fred are the ones responsible for any of the bangs or throwing, but are all the crew in on the gag or are there some members who just experience whatever the aforementioned morons do?

2. You mention in your reviews the 'fake night vision'. Are you saying that the black and white filter is just that, a post-effect desaturation of the video? When they say they're in the dark, is that bull s*it?

3.  Regarding Fred, you mention that he is bank rolling the show. Can you elaborate on this?

4.  In the latest season, there have been 3 highly questionable incidents: Wentworth Stuart-Ghost, Fred being caught throwing something and the recent Karl-Knife-Toss incident.  Now, I see 3 explanations.  Either they are so s*it at editing and just didn't notice the gaffs (in the case of Fred-Throw and Karl-Knife), they simply don't care and/or don't think their viewers are intelligent enough to notice or care... or is it possible that by having these incidents, they will generate discussion, whether its from true fans or front critics and hopefully draw some more viewers in?


I am sure I have other questions but those are the ones that were in my immediate thoughts.

Thank you for reading and I look forward to reading your responses.

[Mr. Jon Donnis]

Jun 6, 2017 23:05:26 GMT whyvetfeelding said:

Hi,

I have been a lurker for a while now but have become so enraged by MH that I really felt the need for discussion; to vent some of my anger and to get some more information about what goes on behind the scenes (looking at you Jon!)

I will do my best.

I quickly came across BadPsychics where you debunked the ghost video. It was clear as day that this was an overlay effect, and even more clear that it was Elmer Fudd who was the ghost.

To clarify I saw the episode about a month before it aired on TV (yes I got into trouble with UKTV for spoiling their whole PR thing)
My immediate thought was that it was simply Glen who was the only person not present. A video overlay effect never occured to me until someone mentioned it to me on Twitter. Regardless of that, one thing for sure was that it was 100% not a ghost. And after looking at the video and listening to peoples opinions, I changed my opinion and accept that the video overlay is the most likely explanation.
Especially when you consider that Yvete herself stated that she thought the ghost was Stuart! Even if a stone tape version!

1. It is obvious that Karl, Yvette, Stuart and Fred are the ones responsible for any of the bangs or throwing, but are all the crew in on the gag or are there some members who just experience whatever the aforementioned morons do?

Everyone on the crew knows that things are faked, it would be impossible not to notice such things, especially when you are there all night, and things are reshot, or when things are ommitted from the TV airing.
So although all the crew might not actively take part in the fakery, everyone knows it goes on, and they keep their mouths shut for two reasons, the Non Disclosure agreement in their contract (this is standard) and also it is a job, they get paid, simple as that.

2. You mention in your reviews the 'fake night vision'. Are you saying that the black and white filter is just that, a post-effect desaturation of the video? When they say they're in the dark, is that bull s*it?

I am sure sometimes the night vision button is pushed on the camera, but it is 100% not needed. They are never in total darkness, health and safety rules would not allow it.
Plus they have been caught out faking night vision before, by me! Something they never replied to. Just go to youtube and search for Mary Loves Dick. That scene aired "live" on a Most Haunted Live show, the problem was it was recorded in the day and in full colour, but on the live show it appeared in night vision.
We exposed that, as well as David Bull rehearsing what he would say to the pre-record, and so on.

So most of the time the night vision is just a filter, one easy way to spot it is to look at their eyes. If their pupils are massive, then its dark, if they are not, then it is much lighter than they are letting on.

3. Regarding Fred, you mention that he is bank rolling the show. Can you elaborate on this?

Ok basically UKTV as far as I understand do NOT commission tv shows, there might be a few exceptions, but in general they just purchase the rights to air shows made by other companies, that is why the vast majority of shows on the various UKTV channels are repeats from BBC, from ITV, are from America and so on. Now UKTV do NOT commission Most Haunted, in other words they do not give Antix Productions any money to go and make a TV show.
Antix Productions fund their own production of Most Haunted and then sell it per episode to UKTV.
When they first started off on REALLY, I believe UKTV paid about £5000 per episode. Which is peanuts in the world of TV.
And this is no where near enough to cover the cost of an episode.

Also Antix do NOT own the rights to the Most Haunted format, ONLY the name Most Haunted, so they cant even use mediums on the show which would have been easy for them as mediums would queue up to go on the show for free just for the exposure.

Anywho, for whatever reason Fred Batt wants to be famous, and he is loaded, so due to his friendship with Karl, he agreed to pay for the first season on REALLY as long as he appears on the show.

Now things may have changed, but as far as I know he still pays for the show.

I know they do that Most Haunted Experience thing which they make good money on, so losing money making a TV show gives them enough publicity to sell the crappy tours to the gullible wannabes. So there must be profit it in somewhere, but not from the TV show.

So think of it like this Fred pays for the show, he gets to be in the show, and is the real boss of the show.

4. In the latest season, there have been 3 highly questionable incidents: Wentworth Stuart-Ghost, Fred being caught throwing something and the recent Karl-Knife-Toss incident. Now, I see 3 explanations. Either they are so s*it at editing and just didn't notice the gaffs (in the case of Fred-Throw and Karl-Knife), they simply don't care and/or don't think their viewers are intelligent enough to notice or care... or is it possible that by having these incidents, they will generate discussion, whether its from true fans or front critics and hopefully draw some more viewers in?

I asked a source about the Fred throw, and that was simply just something that was missed in the edit, and I believe they have not addressed that or answered any questions regarding that.

The Stuart overlay effect they thought they would get away with as it looked pretty damn good on camera, but the fact they then released a video showing the so called raw footage direct from the camera, means they knew they got caught and thought this would help them have plausible deniability, the problem is that their own video then revealed that the footage HAD been edited, so they kinda exposed themselves.

Karl throwing the knife, they have plausible deniability as the actual throw was not caught on camera, I am guessing the thing with the knife disappearing when everyone turned their back, they just never considered that anyone would notice, keep in mind they are not the brightest.

Now with all that said, ALL that matters to them is the ratings, and the ratings on UKTV have been very good this year. They did spend a fortune on PR for the Episode 2 stunt which has helped them. But sometimes controversy is good, as it gets people talking, and that will turn into viewers, even if the vast majority are only watching to catch them out.

Remember back in the day Karl would get Ciaran to feed me info about the show and Acorah, so that I would write about it, and in turn give them free publicity. (Yes I was used, yes I regret that, yes I was an idiot to trust Ciaran) So all publicity is good publicity.

At the end of everything, only one thing matters, the show is advertised as Entertainment only.
OFCOM stated the show was not a serious paranormal investigation, so breaks no TV rules.
Think of it like Pro Wrestling, within the show they might say it is all real and act like it is real, but outside of the show everyone accepts it is fake. The same with Most Haunted.

Any more questions feel free to ask and I will do my best.

[whyvetfeelding]

Thanks for answering my questions Jon. Appreciate it.

Will have a think of anything else that comes to me.