YouTube's Slow-Mo Guys Break Down Their Quick Thinking

High-speed cameras, commonly known as slow motion cameras, imbue milliseconds with the weight they’re so rarely granted. A balloon pops, with the water inside it still holding its shape; a bullet shot underwater leaves an attenuated cone of air in its wake. Daniel Gruchy and Gavin Free, known on YouTube as The Slow Mo Guys, have captured these moments and more than 150 others in painstakingly slow detail. (In one personal favorite, the duo recorded the fracture pattern in glass that was heated and then rapidly cooled. At 343,000 frames per second, five seconds of IRL action resulted in 19 hours of footage.)

“Everything looks cooler in slow mo,” says Free, who aside from his involvement in multiple RoosterTeeth productions also works as a slow-motion cinematographer on big-budget features (Dredd, Snow White and the Huntsman).

Since November 2010, the Slow Mo Guys channel has amassed millions of subscribers and nearly 1.5 billion views—which is a lot of frames, feats, and stories to share. In this Tech Support, the guys answer viewers questions about where they get all of the food they blow up, and which stunts were the messiest, the hardest and the most painful (like having a soccer ball thrown against your face). Gruchy shares that he’s tried much of that exploded food, and Free reveals his sound design technique for filling lapses in sound during the videos.

Watch the video to learn more. Don’t worry, it plays at regular speed.

---

More Great WIRED Stories

Tech

The Airline Whose Planes Are Said to Break Down In Mid-Air More Often Than Anyone's Is About To Have a Big PR Problem

Absurdly Driven looks at the world of business with a skeptical eye and a firmly rooted tongue in cheek. 

They say you should get out ahead of a bad story.

Present your version before the story hits, so that people can have good feelings about you before aspersions are cast.

I wonder, therefore, what Allegiant Air might do this weekend.

I wrote about this airline a couple of years ago, after it had been accused of having planes that break down four times more often than those of other airlines.

In mid-air, that is.

Of the airline"s 86 planes, it was said that 42 of them had broken down in mid-air the previous year.

The airline fought back and claimed that the accusations were "incendiary." Indeed, its stock went up 24 percent soon after the original Tampa Bay Times article was published.

Now, though, Allegiant might have a bigger PR problem. 

On Sunday, it"ll be featured in a 60 Minutes segment, one that CBS teases will be twice the usual length.

Here"s the teaser.

Just those 48 seconds suggest that Allegiant should brace for something of calm, considered skewering.

I asked the budget airline what it thought of the upcoming exposé. A spokeswoman told me Allegiant would wait until the segment airs before offering a rebuttal.

One of the main issues with Allegiant"s record of breakdowns is that it flies old planes. Very old planes, some 22 years of age.

Recently, though, it has begun to replace these planes with Airbuses. Indeed, last May was the first time that Allegiant enjoyed the experience of fitting out a new(ish) plane.

The question, then, is how much Sunday"s 60 Minutes piece will reflect the whole current scenario.

The problem for the airline"s PR department, though, is that Allegiant will surely come out looking not so good on one of the most respected news programs in America, one that"s watched by 12 million people.

It"s inevitable, then, that it will instantly be associated with the sort of bad reputation that plagued United Airlines over the last year. 

Worse, perhaps, is the idea that instead of a brutal lack of customer sensitivity -- as in the United case -- Allegiant might be tarred with the notion that it"s simply an unsafe airline.

On Friday, the airline"s stock began to drop. What might happen to it on Monday?

Tech

Sentiment Speaks: GLD May Not Yet Be Ready To Break Out

For those that follow me regularly, you will know that I have been tracking a set up for the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSEARCA:GDX), which I analyze as a proxy for the metals mining market. I believe that the GDX can outperform the general equity market once we confirm a long term break out has begun, and I still think we can see it in occur in 2018. This week, I will provide an update to the GDX, but want to also discuss the GLD, which is an ETF which attempts to mirror the movements of gold. While I have gone on record as to why I do not think the GLD is a wise long-term investment hold, I will still use it to track the market movements.

While the GDX did move through the resistance region I noted last weekend, it did not do so in what I wanted to see as an “impulsive” move. That is a term of art which means a standard 5-wave structure which adheres to our Fibonacci Pinball methodology. Rather, when the market broke out over 22.30, it set up to run strongly towards the 23.20 region, which is the analysis I presented to those that follow my work daily. In fact, just before the market opened on Valentines Day, I sent out an Alert to my members noting how I viewed the smaller degree structure:

“Over 22.30, and we have an initial indication of a bottom in place. 23.20 then becomes the next higher resistance.”

As we saw, the market broke over 22.30, and then moved quite strongly higher, and topped out this week at 23.16. But, as I noted once we reached the 23.20 resistance region, this can still be a 4^th wave rally and point us down towards the low 20 region unless we are able to take out the 23.20 resistance strongly. As we now see, the market may be pointing us directly down towards that low 20 region in the GDX, as we have been unable to break over 23.20, and have turned down.

As far as the GLD is concerned, this is still presenting as a very bullish pattern. While I would have loved to have seen this break out already, the current micro structure is not strongly suggestive of an immediate break out. In fact, should we see an impulsive drop below 127 in the coming week, it opens the door to a drop down to at least the 124 region, but more preferably down to the 121.50-122 region, before we can set up again for a break out.

But, as I have noted many times before, for those who are looking for a long-term investment hold for gold, I would not suggest using the GLD as I have presented in this webinar I did some time ago. Rather, I tend to use the GLD as a trading vehicle rather than an investment vehicle.

Lastly, a break out over last week’s high in either GLD or GDX can alter the analysis presented above, as it is contingent on last week’s highs holding as resistance. Remember, we cannot know what will happen in the future with certainty. Rather, we can plan for what may happen based upon probabilities. But, we also have to know rather quickly when and where those probabilities are no longer in our favor. Remaining in a wrong position while “hoping” is what destroys more accounts than anything else.

Housekeeping Matters

It seems that Seeking Alpha has changed the way they tag articles. So, while my articles used to be sent out as an email to those that follow the metals complex, they are now only being sent out to those that have chosen to “follow” me. So, if you would like notification as to when my articles are published, please hit the button at the top to “follow” me. Thank you.

The Market Pinball Wizard

Our relatively new service entitled The Market Pinball Wizard has recently moved up to the 7th largest service in the Seeking Alpha Marketplace offerings of 163 services, while we have exceeded 21,000 followers on Seeking Alpha.

In fact, these are the most recent posts by our members:

“I see the charts in a whole new way and I am slowly but methodically entering and exiting trades profitably using EW Fib Pinball. The Pinball Wizard Service it is exactly what I needed to help me succeed in the market.”

"based on your guidelines using EWFPW they currently help me make better buy and sell decisions for every potential trade. My current trades are now much more profitable, and my losses are almost nonexistent (and hopefully soon there will none, thanks to you Avi)"

Disclosure: I am/we are long PHYSICAL METALS AND VARIOUS MINING STOCKS.

I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Additional disclosure: I hedged my portfolio on Friday with stops at 23.20 GDX.

Tech