Dave Bell wrote:
>
> merryb wrote:
> > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LHoyB81LnE
>
> Yeah, I've been showing that one around!
>
> Even if the elephant's been laboriously trained to produce that
> particular painting, it's amazing.
>
> Even if he's responding to subtle trainer clues - hand
> gestures, touches, etc. - it's *still* amazing!

I'm not convinced this is for real. The elephant
clearly has been taught to hold a brush, but I
think that is being spliced between other scenes
in which a person with a long glove that looks
like an elephant's trunk is doing the "fine"
painting.

If this were not a hoax, then why does the view
zoom in and out wildly, which helps to disguise
the scene cuts? If there were no scene cuts
at all and no zooming, and if you could clearly
see the elephant making something sensible on
a blank canvas, I'd be more tempted to believe it.

If it can be a fake, rest assured it is a fake.
The sort of money people in the West would pay
for alleged "elephant paintings" is certainly
a great temptation for someone in Thailand.