A style and, arguably, genre of film-making in which real, non-actors are manipulated into becoming part of a fictional, plot. This is similar to the hidden-camera genre of comedy, but different in that the unwitting participants
may be aware that they are being filmed - just not fully aware of the true nature of the filming.
Significant examples of cinematic concealism include:
Vampire'
s Kiss (1988) - some scenes featured Nicolas Cage interacting with real
people, unaware that they were being filmed, on the streets of New York
Windy City Heat (2003)
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006)
Bruno (2009)
Under the Skin (2013) - some scenes featured Scarlett Johansson interacted with real
people, unaware that they were being filmed, on the streets of Glasgow
Look Who's Back (2015) - some scenes featured a man presenting as Adolf Hitler interacting with members of the general public in front of cameras, mostly assuming they were in some sort of comedy film
Impractical Jokers: The Movie (
2020)
Bad Trip (
2020)
The phrase originates from the comedy film podcast Diminishing Returns, following a discussion of the
work of Sacha Baron Cohen, the film Windy City Heat and the film
Vampire's Kiss (where the hosts finally settled on a specific phrase to use for the genre).
