Wild Applause, Secretly Choreographed (2013)

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/arts/dance/designated-cheering-spectators-thrive-at-the-bolshoi-theater.html

by baxtr • 8 years ago

67 39 8 years ago

At least it looks like the claquers are paid.

The NFL one the other hand doesn't generally pay the people who it signs up to be "enthusiastic" about the half-time performance.

http://www.espn.com/espnmag/story?id=3883771

Sometimes the half-time show can be a dud, but it looks good on TV due to them focusing on the "enthusiastic" volunteers.

https://www.businessinsider.com/crowd-quiet-justin-timberlak...

ryandrake• 8 years ago

Those cries of “Bravo!” that ring out after a spectacular pas de deux? It may be that the audience is genuinely electrified. Or it may be the sound of a very elegant theatrical protection racket.

I’m more and more convinced every day that the ability to detect fake signals of quality is becoming an essential life skill that should be taught in school or something. From fake reviews on Amazon and Yelp to PR masquerading as news to payola on the radio, to web site SEO / search rank manipulation, phony followers on Twitter accounts, you can’t seem to rely on anything as an impartial measure of quality. There’s no way to tell what’s any good anymore without observing yourself. It’s all fake!

kylek• 8 years ago

We used to call this "critical thinking"

mc32• 8 years ago

I think you’re right but also it’s become more pervassive and more nuanced and less detectable and sime so overt we don’t even care anymore. I think the magnitude has changed, for the worse.

mdpopescu• 8 years ago

Yep, and unfortunately schools have been teaching its opposite for decades - unthinkingly accepting authority just because it's authority.

will_brown2• 8 years ago

No amount of “critical thinking” expose some of the tactics corporations employ to market products, especially in the internet era of fake positive reviews, fake negative reviews and just simply fake (counterfeit products).

For example, in the real world I did some independent marketing jobs in undergrad and while some marketing is obvious (ex. red bull team giving free red bull or handing free packs of gum out on the beach)...ever see a good looking couple driving a new car (yeah in my day driver was paid $25/hour to drive around a model in the passenger seat who got $50/hour. And it’s dozens in every major city), ever have someone at a bar casually engage you in conversation and buy you a drink/beer (yeah good chance that was paid marketing, and we aren’t talking bud light girls).

jancsika• 8 years ago

Suppose you can use your critical thinking skills to convince 1 member of an anti-vaxxer group to consult experts and discover they don't know what they're talking about.

If the group consists of two members, then you just decreased its size by half. Great job!

Now suppose a influence campaign sponsored by a nation state helps an anti-vaccination group grow from 2 members to 20 members.

Now your critical thinking skills only decrease the group's size by 5%.

Your impact is an order of magnitude smaller without your skills having decreased.

So I don't think this is a matter of "critical thinking."

stevecalifornia• 8 years ago

Is there any documentation on what feels like paid applause at Apple product reveals? It always feels like there are a ton of employees in the front rows who are told to gasp and cheer for really benign feature demos.

everyone• 8 years ago

benign? Do you mean banal?

mikeyouse• 8 years ago

I think it's "paid applause" in the sense that they often invite the product teams that were responsible for the features to be in the crowd, and they're cheering for themselves and their teammates. Of course they're proud of their accomplishments and will cheer their CEO or other various VIPs pointing out the results of their hard work.

microtherion• 8 years ago

The last time I had a seat in the actual venue in a product reveal was during the Steve Jobs era, and applause was definitely not coached — Steve was simply a gifted presenter.

These days, getting an invitation to a product reveal is a rare treat for employees (because there aren't that many seats), so I'm pretty sure the enthusiasm is genuine. I generally watch these reveals in satellite offices (where there are no cameras or audience for whose benefit one would have to fake enthusiasm), and there is still applause.

hugey010• 8 years ago

I've been to WWDC and other Apple product reveals. 1/8 of the audience applauds wildly for everything. Apple staff, koolaid drinkers, and high school aged folk shipped in.

The other 7/8 might be interested, but are either taking notes or outwardly upset they have to support whatever new feature or product being pushed.

Developer quality of life improvements, cool demos, and non-novelty product announcements get real applause.

wccrawford• 8 years ago

I went to a live taping for a popular talk show host and was surprised to see how much they prodded the audience into cheering at the correct times for the hosts's jokes. I always knew that some of it was fake, but they really, really worked hard to make sure the audience applauded at the right time and for the correct length of time.

It left a sour taste in my mouth because I genuinely think the audience would have cheered for most or all of it anyhow, but knowing how it was forced really ruined it for me.

joe_the_user• 8 years ago

Indeed, Everywhere, A fair portion of apparently spontaneous reactions in the media are fake.

I suspect the main significant thing in looking at Russia is that you have an important in-person performance rather than performance broadcast on a screen. In Russia, in-person performance is important while TV and later media are what matter in the West.

On a screen, a lot is by definition fake since real people and situations look strange broadcast on a screen with no tweaks/improvements.

crazygringo• 8 years ago

That's interesting. I went to Late Night with Stephen Colbert the other month, expecting there to be some kind of red "applause" sign to coordinate it -- but it was 100% organic, which I found fascinating.

There's a warm-up act to rev up the audience and get them high-energy and excited! But all this is just to put them in a state of mind: once the cameras are rolling, it was all real.

What show did you go to and how did they "prod"?

pradn• 8 years ago

My experience at Colbert was a mixed bag. They got all the guests in the lobby and one of the workers told us that our energy was very important, Colbert really feeds off of it, that it's important for the show. So they told us of the importance. But during the show there wasn't much prodding I guess. I forgot if they had an opener comedian.

What was a bit offputting was how quiet Colbert was when the camera was not running and how much more energetic he was when it was. I know they are playing it up for the camera, but it does make it feel ungenuine.

And add to that the format of the talk show. Each of the guests sorta comes up with a routine, planned by their publicists. If all goes well, they get their message across while being spontaneous. A hard thing to do, but also something that feels authentic. It's not just two buddies hanging out on TV.

You also realize that the TV audience is by far the most important part of the filming process. You're just a setpiece.

I'd almost say don't go to a talk show taping if you like them.

borkt• 8 years ago

Craig Ferguson show did have applause coaching, a sign, etc when I lived down in LA and went to a taping.

jujulet• 8 years ago

I genuinely think the audience would have cheered for most or all of it anyhow

How much of that is because the general audience is conditioned over time to adapt to that particular kind humour?

maxxxxx2• 8 years ago

You can safely assume that in show business they put a lot of effort into making sure they get the maximum effect without risk. Which means audiences get selected and pumped up, actors have plastic surgery and take steroids to look better, "reality" shows are highly scripted, "candid" paparazzi shots are planned. There is way too much money involved to allow for randomness or things to go wrong.

NorthOf33rd• 8 years ago

David Levine's Some of the People, All of the Time in the most recent issue of N+1 Magazine is a fantastic short story that revolves around claqueurs.

https://nplusonemag.com/issue-32/fiction-drama/some-of-the-p...

edw519• 8 years ago

Reminds me of perhaps the world's sleeziest use of claqueurs: Tony Robbins conferences. At some cheap local weekend event, when Tony presents his coming attraction, the more expensive week long conference, the crowd goes wild. People jumping up and down and cheering. Your fellow attendees shouting to you, "Wow! I HAVE to go to that!"

Then you sign up and find out 2 weeks later that your fellow attendees at the loss-leader conference are your trainers at the big gig.

gonehome• 8 years ago

My roommate was watching some documentary about him and I couldn't watch it - everything about him screamed scam and conman, I found him extremely unlikable. The few clips I saw were him giving someone terrible advice and showing off how rich he was.

maxxxxx2• 8 years ago

I was at a Tony Robbins weekend once and I still remember how I was sitting there and not getting why so many people went completely crazy. It was really surreal.

braindongle• 8 years ago

This is the most entertaining (false) stereotype that I've seen in some time. Those artists with their big egos and weak constitutions! Makes me nostalgic.

“Artists have very fine and delicate natures, they have a very delicate nervous system, and, unfortunately, all of them have a strongly inflated self-image,”

scarface74• 8 years ago

I went to a Wheel of Fortune taping. Steve Harvey did his own warmup and when people didn’t laugh, he coached people to laugh and said most of the time you have to pay $x to see his stand up and we were getting in for free.

Wild Applause, Secretly Choreographed (2013)

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