Proving date and time on video
 

Bit of a thought experiment here.

Say you were conducting some procedure on a lab bench, and you wanted to record the whole thing to prove it to someone else. So you decide to film the entire thing with a fixed camera. It doesn't mater what the procedure is, it might be something to present to a jury, it might be something to prove an invention to a sceptical audience - but you want to make absolutely sure there is no way the video was edited, and that video recording is the whole thing uninterrupted from start to finish.

What objects could you place on the bench to prove the date, time, and the uninterrupted sequence of filming?

I was thinking a newspaper for starters - that confirms the no earlier than date, but not some later edit using a copy of an old newspaper.

I'm having trouble thinking of something to prove the time of day - a clock can be set to any hour later, and something to prove an uninterrupted sequence - needs to be something random that can't be stopped and reset, but I can't think of what.

Any ideas?

An alternative idea --- make it a live broadcast?

Good thinking.

Might not work for all situations though - like a jury.

And given the amount of yelling of 'fake!' over live broadcasts of the WTC, it might not be accepted even if it were an option.

It would be problematic but if you could you would include in the view something that can be independently verified, maybe a street scene where rego numbers could be checked? Those would be pretty limited though.

I was thinking of having a small TV on showing a sports broadcast - but even that can be recorded and played back later.

Yes I thought that as well and discounted for the same reason. If it was someone elses TV though, maybe, obviously someone not related to the issue, cops could ask where you watching Laura Norda SVU on Thursday evening. It also has the same drawbacks as the traffic example in that it is limited.

Invite a celebrity to watch, then chop their arm off?

Maybe it needs to have a window in shot, with a view to some public display going on, or in some public place.

If it is a lab situation maybe set up a waterbottle or something that is sealed and leaks at a known rate and is in shot, that might give you a duration, especially if drops could be times to check viscosity and they are at freefall speed. Doesnt fix it in time though.

Probably doesnt help, just putting up on the butcher paper to inspire.

With the current state of CGI, it would be very hard to use video to conclusivly prove anything (beyond the fact that you are currently playing a video with the aim of proving something.)

especially if drops could be times to check viscosity and they are at freefall speed.
-------------
Drops only fall at freefall speed if they are dislodged by nanothermite.

Maybe some chemical reaction in a flask that slowly bubbles and froths over, the bubble pattern couldn't be paused, reset or duplicated exactly a second time around.

That doesn't establish the time and date.

Simpler would be to break something, but again it wouldn't establish the time and date.

there's three thing to establish - date, time and continuity.

Might require three different things on the bench.

someone's newborn baby ... somehow ... but they all look the same, so maybe not.

LOL. I was thinking of that too.

Maybe one of the best options is to have some random people there as witnesses. Contact 3 different employment agencies asking for 2 temps each on 1 day between the hours of such and blah. Don't tell the agencies exactly what it is, tell them it's something menial like setting up chairs and tables for a social function. Their timesheets and payroll records could be evidence.

But then you'd end up employing them to agree with you.

And if you get someone else to contact the agencies, you now have a "double blind" experiment.