House Hippo 2.0

Begin by showing students the video in the student chapter House Hippo 2.0. Pause the video just after the narrator says “It looks like Canada has a house hippo problem.”

Ask students: Is this video real? Could it be real? Let them discuss for a few minutes without giving a firm answer.

Show the last part of the video and explain to students that the video was made to show how easy it is to be fooled by what we see.

Ask students how they think the video was made. Most will probably say “computers” or “CGI” (computer-generated imagery). Don’t give a specific answer yet, just let them suggest different ways that the video could have been made.

Explain to students that while computers, animation and other special effects are a big part of what makes things onscreen seem real, there’s an even more basic tool that’s also used: the camera frame.