Bad News: Your Favorite YouTube Videos Might Be Fake

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it looks like those "trick shot" videos on YouTube aren't exactly what they look like...

Captain Disillusion, a YouTube channel devoted to debunking visual tricks, shows exactly how these videos are made, and also explains the technology and statistics behind these videos.

Basically, the videos fall into two categories: visual effects and basic luck. The visual effects videos are easier to make, as it only involves editing together two different shots to make it look like the trick shot was done in one easy try. A perfect example of this, as is seen in the video, is a reverse basketball shot.

The basic luck type of video takes much more time, but Captain Disillusion shows that the more times a shot is attempted, the more likely the next shot is to go in. That just seems like way too much work for me, but then again, I don't have a YouTube channel with millions of rabid subscribers itching for my next video. Although these shots technically are "real", the ease of the shot is made to seem much simpler than it really is.

Of course, the real explanations of this are much more complicated than that, but I'll leave Captain Disillusion to explain them in a manner that mixes Mystery Science Theater 3000, How It's Made, and a slew of visual effects.

Check the video out below: