Rending The Veil: Spin by Brian Springer

Brian Springer - Spin
57 min 26 sec - Apr 9, 2006
Average rating: (547 ratings)

Using the 1992 presidential election as his springboard, documentary filmmaker Brian Springer captures the behind-the-scenes maneuverings of politicians and newscasters in the early 1990s.

Pat Robertson banters about "homos," Al Gore learns how to avoid abortion questions, George Bush talks to Larry King about Halcion -- all presuming they're off camera.

Composed of 100% unauthorized satellite footage, "Spin" is a surreal expose of media-constructed reality.

I found this doco today and thought, "Wow! I had no idea this is what happens..."

There are several things happening here. For starters, we have a person with an idea - it's kind of a curiosity really based on intuitive feeling. The seemingly strange idea leads him to a very mundane and time consuming task of taping live satellite feeds.

The point of difference here is that what gets beamed up in the sky is raw footage taken from the very moment interviewees sit down and get their make-up done.

Now, this is when the interesting stuff happens. This is where you get to see the reality behind the camera - the reality behind the news. In the meantime, the raw footage is downloaded by news media to be cut and pre-digested for public broadcast.

It is then gulped by people like you and me and then absorbed by our minds.

So this dude spent like a whole year downloading raw footage from the satellites, going one by one and looking out for interesting snippets regarding the presidential elections in the US (1992 presidential elections - Clinton vs. Bush Sr.).

Here we have contemporary presidents, future presidents, future vice-presidents, news commentators, fundamentalist Christian preachers - all of them speaking their mind. Raw and uncut.

After all, who could be watching, right?

As the Australian elections are coming - and pretty much most other countries are about to have one, too - this is a definite must-see. Learn about the tricks the news media uses to screw with your mind and manipulate the outcomes of the political process.

If you dare to wake up, that is...