Some news outlets have raised questions about time gaps in the Nick Berg murder video, citing an 11-hour gap in the sequence. Complete hogwash. The video is in real time and is shot with 2 video cameras with their internal timestamps set differently. The final video is edited back and forth with shots from both cameras, with one 22-minute gap while the group execution scene is prepared after Berg's initial statement. At times the scene shows the second cameraman in the margins of the video as they switch back and forth.
Here is the sequence and the timestamps shown on both cameras:
Begin, camera one, 13:26:24 to 13:26:28
Berg talking, seated in a chair.Cut to camera two, 2:18:35 to 2:18:43
Berg still talking, still in chair, viewed from another angle but no time gap. Berg's statement takes about 12 seconds.Skip ahead 22 minutes, camera two, 2:40:30
Now we see the five terrorists standing behind Berg, who is now seated on the floor, with the center man preparing to read a written statement. This scene runs until 2:44:48, taking 4 minutes 18 seconds, and ends with the center man pulling his knife, grabbing Berg by the hair, and the other men grabbing and holding Berg down.Cut to camera one, 13:45:47
Execution scene continued from other camera angle, no gap in action. At 13:46:30 you can plainly see the other cameraman in the right margin of the frame, and you can see him using his video camera for the remainder of this shot. This scene runs for 46 seconds as the head is sawed off, until 13:46:33.Gap of 73 seconds, to 13:47:46
Cut to scene of killer lifting up and then holding severed head up to the camera. This scene runs until 13:47:53.Cut back to camera two, 2:46:18 to 2:46:22
Shows the killer holding the head from another camera angle.Cut to camera one, 13:48:34
Head is shown resting on the chest of the decapitated body, camera pans to the severed neck for a few seconds, video ends 13:48:49.
There are two short time gaps in the sequence. First there is apparently a 22-minute gap between Berg's statement and the actual execution scene. Second, there is a 73-second gap (camera one) while the killers apparently finish severing the head and get it loose to hold up. Camera two is missing 90 seconds at this point. With the obvious editing back and forth between scenes from two cameras, this gap is probably not significant. Perhaps the terrorists did not want to show the difficulty of severing the spine to get the head loose, which I suspect would be quite hard with a knife.
Total elapsed on camera one (13:26:24 to 13:48:49) 22 minutes 25 seconds.
Total elapsed on camera two (2:18:35 to 2:46:22) 27 minutes 47 seconds.
Camera one was probably not running during the reading of the terrorist statement, and perhaps camera one has a time "counter" as opposed to a "clock" meaning it shows time filmed, not real clock time. If that were the case with camera two, then it is missing 22 minutes of actual footage, not 22 minutes of real time. I think that unlikely. However, the value of the numbers on camera two seem more likely to be clock time than footage time, unless the cameraman simply forgot to reset his counter from prior sessions. Leave this to someone more knowledgeable than me on video cameras.
Forget any bizarre theories being put forth about 11 hour time gaps in this video. It was done in real time, with two cameras running near continuously, and then edited only slightly to produce the final film.
I would welcome other analysis and comments on this subject. Perhaps someone will spend more time than me looking at this gruesome thing. I've had enough of it.
Note added 2:57 PM EDT: The 11-hour fallacy is probably based on the shortened, edited video circulating. The full 5-minute-plus (5MB) video can be found at Northeast Intelligence Network. They have had to keep moving the link due to traffic, so I don't copy it here. Scroll down to the bottom of their article.
Note sent to Associated Press:
To: info@ap.org
Subject: correction
In the story widely circulated today on the murder of Nick Berg, which begins:
By: ROBERT H. REID, AP Writer
Submitted: 5/12/2004
BAGHDAD, Iraq
the author states, "The video is of poor quality, and its time stamp seems to show an 11-hour lapse between when the assailants finish their statement and push Berg down, to when they behead him. That suggests a delay between those two portions of tape posted on the Web site."
This is completely incorrect, as a viewing of the full 5 minute video will show without any doubt. There is no time gap, but two cameras being used and then edited back and forth throughout the film. The timestamps on the two cameras are set at about 11 hours apart, but are incorrect and being run simultaneously. Please view a full analysis at:
http://www.truth-teller.com/000041.html
The author evidently relied on a much condensed version of the full video that has been circulating, and may give this wrong impression.
Thank you. Posted by truthteller at May 12, 2004 12:42 PM | TrackBack
I see that you are correct. I neglected to view the last few seconds of the video and my copy is corrupted and won't show the head on the chest. It is clear that there are two cameras.
But that still doesn't explain the lack of blood.