Strange clip featuring a mother and boy at a swimming pool
Sept 26, 2020 16:50:30 GMT
dycaite, likechance, and 1 more like this
Post by mosquitor on Sept 26, 2020 16:50:30 GMT
I wondered if anyone here may be able to help me identify and possibly locate a particularly strange clip that I saw on TV-AM as a child. I saw this in the mid-80s, I think it was 1986 but may possibly have been '85, and I was only about 3 or 4 at the time. It was shown as a clip during a feature on Good Morning Britain, I think it was during an interview but I can't remember for certain. This clip seriously disturbed me as a child and still does, so I will be extremely grateful for any help in identifying what it was!
The clip showed an aerial view of a busy outdoor swimming pool on a hot summer's day. On the far left of the screen, there was a woman sitting on one of the chairs surrounding the edges of the pool area, and stood in front of her was a little boy, whose shirt buttons she was unfastening. The mother had very short black hair and was wearing a black top, black trousers and shoes. The boy was a typical-looking toddler with short light brown or blond hair, wearing a shirt and shorts.
The mother was talking to the boy as she unfastened his shirt buttons. The boy didn't say a word throughout the clip, it was just a long monologue by the mother. I recall her having a gentle, high-pitched voice but didn't take in a single word she actually said. So anyway, she was talking to the boy while unbuttoning his shirt, but after about a moment or so the mother suddenly changed her voice mid-speech to a funny, comical voice - a sharp, silly voice right in the back of the throat - and she kept talking to the boy, only in a funny voice though her tone was still serious, and the boy didn't react to this at all, just stayed staring straight ahead at her. Then after another moment or so the mother was lifted by nothing out of her chair, lifted diagonally forward into the air, hung suspended in mid-air for a few seconds still in a sitting position, then fell into the swimming pool with a huge splash, and let out a bizarre scream as this happened, still in a funny voice though she sounded terrified. Absolutely no-one reacted to this at all - the camera hung on the scene for a few seconds after the mother had fallen in the pool, and the swimmers around the pool didn't acknowledge a thing, and even the boy didn't react - just stood staring straight ahead at the empty chair as if the mother was still there.
I have been trying very hard to identify this clip for over 10 years now but have had only minimal luck. A few people on various forums I have asked on say they remember it, and they recall it being an advert but can't clearly remember what it was about - three separate people have said they think it was a Public Information Film, one said she seems to recall the mother buttoning the shirt back up after unfastening it and it was something about sun cancer and keeping covered up in the sun, while another said they thought it was something to do with looking after children responsibly at a swimming pool, because if a child drowns or has an accident it is easy for no-one to notice. This makes the most sense to me, as news stories about children drowning in pools while their own families fail to notice are common to this day, and it seems an obvious subject to make a PIF about. But the PIF enthusiasts I have spoken to have not managed to find it, and I enquired with the BFI but they had no knowledge of it.
Although I find the PIF theory the most likely explanation, I can't rule out that it might have been a clip from a TV show or a short film or something, so I would be very grateful for any help from anyone with any recollection. One person said he thought it was an ad for something like Irn-Bru or Tizer but I find this very unlikely; I've looked at ads from the 80s for those drinks on YouTube and none of them were anything like this clip. (I have tried the TV-AM archive but unfortunately they are only able to search the archive and locate footage for people requiring it for business purposes.)
If anyone has any recollection of this, however vague, or better still knows for sure what it was, please feel free to post here and solve the mystery for me!
The clip showed an aerial view of a busy outdoor swimming pool on a hot summer's day. On the far left of the screen, there was a woman sitting on one of the chairs surrounding the edges of the pool area, and stood in front of her was a little boy, whose shirt buttons she was unfastening. The mother had very short black hair and was wearing a black top, black trousers and shoes. The boy was a typical-looking toddler with short light brown or blond hair, wearing a shirt and shorts.
The mother was talking to the boy as she unfastened his shirt buttons. The boy didn't say a word throughout the clip, it was just a long monologue by the mother. I recall her having a gentle, high-pitched voice but didn't take in a single word she actually said. So anyway, she was talking to the boy while unbuttoning his shirt, but after about a moment or so the mother suddenly changed her voice mid-speech to a funny, comical voice - a sharp, silly voice right in the back of the throat - and she kept talking to the boy, only in a funny voice though her tone was still serious, and the boy didn't react to this at all, just stayed staring straight ahead at her. Then after another moment or so the mother was lifted by nothing out of her chair, lifted diagonally forward into the air, hung suspended in mid-air for a few seconds still in a sitting position, then fell into the swimming pool with a huge splash, and let out a bizarre scream as this happened, still in a funny voice though she sounded terrified. Absolutely no-one reacted to this at all - the camera hung on the scene for a few seconds after the mother had fallen in the pool, and the swimmers around the pool didn't acknowledge a thing, and even the boy didn't react - just stood staring straight ahead at the empty chair as if the mother was still there.
I have been trying very hard to identify this clip for over 10 years now but have had only minimal luck. A few people on various forums I have asked on say they remember it, and they recall it being an advert but can't clearly remember what it was about - three separate people have said they think it was a Public Information Film, one said she seems to recall the mother buttoning the shirt back up after unfastening it and it was something about sun cancer and keeping covered up in the sun, while another said they thought it was something to do with looking after children responsibly at a swimming pool, because if a child drowns or has an accident it is easy for no-one to notice. This makes the most sense to me, as news stories about children drowning in pools while their own families fail to notice are common to this day, and it seems an obvious subject to make a PIF about. But the PIF enthusiasts I have spoken to have not managed to find it, and I enquired with the BFI but they had no knowledge of it.
Although I find the PIF theory the most likely explanation, I can't rule out that it might have been a clip from a TV show or a short film or something, so I would be very grateful for any help from anyone with any recollection. One person said he thought it was an ad for something like Irn-Bru or Tizer but I find this very unlikely; I've looked at ads from the 80s for those drinks on YouTube and none of them were anything like this clip. (I have tried the TV-AM archive but unfortunately they are only able to search the archive and locate footage for people requiring it for business purposes.)
If anyone has any recollection of this, however vague, or better still knows for sure what it was, please feel free to post here and solve the mystery for me!
