Hot Water Bottle Car Prank Demo

I have been picking my brain for awhile on how to perform a really cool car prank. I came up with this idea.

Items needed:
1) Hot Water Bottle - $6
2) 2" to 3" hose clamp - $1
3) Some gaff tape - $10

All you have to do is secure the hot water bottle to the tail pipe of a car for this prank. It is important that the car is single exhaust (unless you want to double the cost and do it to both pipes) and the tail pipe has a diameter of approx. 2 to 3 inches. This is because all hot water bottles seem to have a 2 to 3 inch flap on the end. Once you get the clamp secured, fold the hot water bottle under and tape it to the exhaust. Make sure and only put a little tape as you want the bottle to come undone and pop up when it is pressurized.

Once the car is started, the victim should notice a lack of power immediately. Then when things look like they can't get any worse, a large explosion occurs.

The more gas that is given, the quicker the bottle will fill up and explode. At a idle, this video shows the bottle explode in about 30 seconds.

WARNING:
This video is for demonstration purposes only. Bodily harm might occur if this prank is performed wrong. Mechanical problems could occur if this prank is performed wrong.

Here is the video demonstration:

Film Distribution: Guerilla Filmmaking Case Study

1. Start simple. Arin Crumley and Susan Buice shot their film from a one-page outline, a crude storyboard, and with small cameras and a small crew.

2. Tell the story behind your story. When they couldn't find a distributor for their film, they decided to do daily video blogs to reinforce their creative talents and build an audience. A result was that people started to feel like they knew the filmmakers firsthand; that, in turn, fueled curiosity about them and their work, and eventually put people in theaters.

3. Involve your audience, part A. The filmmakers actively sought out feedback from their fans via platforms like YouTube and MySpace, and took the advice seriously. It impacted new episodes of the podcasts and the film itself, which they were still editing. In other words, the audience actually shaped the final product.

4. Involve your audience, part B. When determining where to distribute their film, the couple went to regions where they knew they already had fans, thanks to emails and zip codes they had collected from their podcast and other marketing activities. They also created a "heart map" so that people could see the requests for the film to play in their town grow and who was going -- a social network of sorts.

5. Network in the real world, too. Film festivals used to be about getting a film acquired by a distributor or a short into the hands of a talent agent. But Crumley and Buice went to hundreds of festivals around the world and thought strategically about whom they encountered. When they met the guys at Spout, they realized that Spout needed publicity and users. 4EM had those two things, but needed money. It turned out to be a fruitful (and fateful) match.

In this video, the filmmakers behind "Four Eyed Monsters" reveal how they used YouTube, community and the web to erase their credit card debt and get their labor of love into theaters. If you don't have time to watch the whole video (it's 29 minutes long), here are some of the key takeaways:

The PRANK Video Phenomenon

The world wide web has sprung many different types of video genres over the last few years. One the most interesting is the PRANK video. My own personal experience as a producer has found this genre to be a worthwhile endeavor. While many types of conventional storytelling approaches doesn't seem to hit online for reasons beyond my comprehension. PRANK videos seem to always be popular. Perhaps audiences enjoy living vicariously through the pranker who goes after a unsuspecting victim. Perhaps the popularity is paralled with the fact that originality, creativity, and short duration video is the key to success online. Audiences have short attention spans online and they want to be entertained quickly.

With this being said, I set out to make my first PRANK video which has been very popular over the last year. Generating over 100,000 views across all aggregate sites, it has secured it's foundation in my continual use of this genre. Enjoy this prank I played on my wife to her dissaproval. LOL

Matt Chapman
Chapman Digital Motion Pictures
"ChappyShowcase"