Don't Be Taken For A Ride

This video is an excerpt of an interview that Greta Van Susteren conducted with Sarah Palin. Greta tells us that we're riding on the Going Rogue tour bus. But is the bus really moving?



Watch. Something is wrong. The video's frames are moving around. No, it's not about the cuts between Greta and Sarah; it's not about the cuts to out-of-the-bus scenes that were spliced-in after the interview occurred; it's about how the frame moves while the camera is pointed at either Greta or Sarah. My first thought was that that must be a very bumpy road, but, no, that wasn't the explanation. There is side-to-side as well as up-and-down motion. Then it hit me: the bus wasn't moving; the camera was being wobbled aboard a stopped bus! Why? For the sake of cinéma-vérité. To create the impression that we're not just on the bus, but that the bus is moving.

A longer on-the-bus video, in which Greta starts by telling us, "Now you are taking a ride on Governor Palin's book tour bus as it rumbles across the country. We hopped on the bus with Governor Palin after a book signing at Ft. Bragg," can be found in Gryphen's Sarah Palin in her own words with Greta Van Susteren post. In the longer video, you can watch the wobble for about nine minutes as Sarah Palin tries to explain why she resigned the governorship of Alaska. Warning: watching that could make you nauseous. We have watched the whole thing and can assure you that the frames are wobbly whenever a camera is pointed at either Sarah or Greta as they converse.

What do you think? Are we imagining this? Are we "makin' stuff up?" If you think we're imagining this or making stuff up, please explain why you think the bus was actually moving.

Was the bus moving, Sarah Palin? Were you "rumbling across the country" during that interview?

Inteview With Sarah Palin is a transcript of the interview aboard the bus.