Phrogging

So I found this video on YouTube the other day, being the first part in a multi-part documentary series made my two girls who are "phrogs" - people who squat in other people's houses while the owners are still there.

To be honest, I'm not sure what I think. It all seems rather unlikely and it could easily be a couple of actresses round a friend's house, but I wouldn't rule it out as impossible as yet. Because my internet is being slow at the moment, I've not had a chance to watch beyond day one part 3 yet, but I thought I'd share and get my fellow snopster's opinions.

Have you ever heard of phrogging before? And do you believe these specific videos?

[Andrew of Ware]

Well, I've watched about half of their videos. True or not those two are really obnoxious girls. Frustratingly the final video ends with the girls sleeping - one in an upstairs bath (so she can warn the other when the owners awake) and the other underneath the dining room table. (If the owners are up how can the upstairs girl warn the downstairs one that the owners are up?)

No idea if it is true or not, but if it is I hope those two get caught and punished. I watched the video on 'Crime on You Tube' when a boring man says that what they're doing is true, but that they should be punished for 'breaking and entering'.

Some of the comments about that video says that the girls' videos are fakes. But I don't know. I hope it is fake, because i would not like anyone 'phrogging' in my flat. Mind you it only has two bedrooms and no suitable hiding places.

Originally Posted by Andrew of Ware

Well, I've watched about half of their videos. True or not those two are really obnoxious girls. Frustratingly the final video ends with the girls sleeping - one in an upstairs bath (so she can warn the other when the owners awake) and the other underneath the dining room table. (If the owners are up how can the upstairs girl warn the downstairs one that the owners are up?)

Actually, that's just the end of day one. There's at least 5 days, and there's possibly going to be seven.

But I totally agree with you. There's a part of the idea of this that kind of appeals to me in a schoolboy anarchy "Yeah! Smash the system!" kind of way, but that's not much more than the kind of thought that you might occasionally have along the lines of "wouldn't it be fun to jump off a skyscraper?"

I, like you, have so far found the girls to be totally obnoxious. I mean, I can appreciate the idea of not wanting to work a 9-5 job, but "we want to live in luxury"? In other words, they want to live in a nice house, but they don't want to pay for it, so they make other people pay for it for them. Hardly admirable.

And I don't know how the two girls sleeping apart thing is supposed to work, either. Especially if the timeline is right - they seem to have come home a few hours after the video where the girls noted the time which was then 8 in the evening. Then they seem to have spent a couple of hours watching a film or the telly. Then the girls had to wait for the couple to go to bed and be asleep for a while. So probably gone 12, at least.

But they got in to the house at 8, having been waiting since 6, and they said that the man had left ages before the woman. Which means that it looks like the homeowners get up probably around 6 or 7. That's not a huge amount of sleeping time, especially as you'd have thought that the girls would have to be up before the homeowners.

Mind you it only has two bedrooms and no suitable hiding places.

Mine's got just the one. There's no room to hide under my bed, as that's my only storage space. You can't hide behind it, as it takes up the majority of my bedroom. I have beanbags rather than a sofa or anything in my living room, so there's nothing to hide behind here. I don't have a kitchen, I have an alcove with a sink and an oven in it. And my bathroom only has room for the toilet and a small shower. So good luck to them if they want to try it.

It only goes up to Day Two part 3 on YouTube. The rest are here

With anything on UTube who knows if it is fake or not. I can't see someone not knowing someone was in their house though. There might be some people who would be oblivioius, but the average person would hear someone moving around, houses tend to creak etc. especially if someone is walking up stairs.

Besides being illegal, it would be increadibly dangerous. Although some state laws require you to retreat and only use deadly force as a last option, other states (Texas, South Carolina to name two) don't require that you as the home owner retreat and can use deadly force if you feel threatened. In my view someone that breaks into my house is threatening me, I have to assume their intent is to harm me. You really don't have to the time to wonder if they are someone just filming a stupid video or are they there to rob and kill you. Not that I recommend killing people that break into your house just because you can legally do so, but I would hate to be put in a position of making that choice just because of some stupid prank.

Originally Posted by Bunion

With anything on UTube who knows if it is fake or not. I can't see someone not knowing someone was in their house though. There might be some people who would be oblivioius, but the average person would hear someone moving around, houses tend to creak etc. especially if someone is walking up stairs.

Well, they don't move around when the owners are in (except for the instance of creeping downstairs to go to sleep). And I've just watched a bit of day two where they have one of them downstairs while the other one walks around upstairs, and then do it the other way around to check for creaks and stuff.

Besides being illegal, it would be increadibly dangerous.

That I agree with.

Not that I recommend killing people that break into your house just because you can legally do so, but I would hate to be put in a position of making that choice just because of some stupid prank.

Ah, it's not a prank. These girls seem to consider it "a way of life", deluded about that though they may be. From what I've been able to gather from what they've said so far, the usual way that it goes is that they'll live in someone's house for 3 or 4 days, then they'll sleep on a friend's sofa for a couple more days while they stake out a new place that they've checked before to see if the routine is still the same. And then they'll go to that new house for the next 3 or 4 days, and then on to a different friend's sofa. Lather, rinse, repeat.

The premise of these videos is that a young, wannabe documentary-maker heard of this, found the girls, chatted to them for a bit, then gave them a camera with which to record themselves doing it.

I'm not saying that it's true, but you don't seem to have watched any of the videos, as you're raising objections that are covered in the videos.

I've just seen a bit that definitely looked set up. Day two, part 8, Loren falls off the settee, and the way she does it looks like it's something she meant to do. Hardly conclusive, and even if it was a set-up that doesn't mean anything other than that that particular bit of that particular video was fake, but it definitely set off my radar.

That said, she does genuinely look absolutely shattered. Could be method acting, could be because she's a party animal when the camera's not rolling, or it could actually be real.

I'm far from convinced either way, as of yet.

[James G]

I've been doing a bit of investigation, and am a bit skeptical.

1. The Kabloobfilms website, the Youtube User account and the Wikitionary entry on Phrogging were all created mid-late 2006.

Website: July '06
Youtube account: August '06
Urban Dictionary: July '06
Wikitionary: September '06 (But appears insipred by the urban Dictionary Entry)

There seems also to be a myspace group, Jun '06 this time, but little or no visible activity before July. Tracking down the early activity, I reckon this may be one of the people behind it:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm...endID=83794282

Surprise surprise Google only picks up their Phrogging posts.

Sadly I'm not on myspace so can't see much.

2. Attic fan who created the Urban Dictionary entry has made no further contributions to Urban Dictionary.

3. The Whois records show the use of a proxy to maintain annonymity.

4. Google news picks up nothing from the mainstream press on phrogging.

4. Despite claims of other films to their name, I can only turn up the Phrogging stuff.

5. I cannot find any references to phrogging which are clearly seperate from this film. (Save perhaps the Myspace group)

I'm trying to track down the identity of 'Shadow Girl'

[James G]

I've been doing a bit of investigation, and am a bit skeptical.

1. The Kabloobfilms website, the Youtube User account and the Wikitionary entry on Phrogging were all created mid-late 2006.

Website: July '06
Youtube account: August '06
Urban Dictionary: July '06
Wikitionary: September '06 (But appears insipred by the urban Dictionary Entry)

There seems also to be a myspace group, Jun '06 this time, but little or no visible activity before July. Tracking down the early activity, I reckon this may be one of the people behind it:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm...endID=83794282

Surprise surprise Google only picks up their Phrogging posts.

Sadly I'm not on myspace so can't see much.

2. Attic fan who created the Urban Dictionary entry has made no further contributions to Urban Dictionary.

3. The Whois records show the use of a proxy to maintain annonymity.

4. Google news picks up nothing from the mainstream press on phrogging.

4. Despite claims of other films to their name, I can only turn up the Phrogging stuff.

5. I cannot find any references to phrogging which are clearly seperate from this film. (Save perhaps the Myspace group)

I'm trying to track down the identity of 'Shadow Girl'

Edit:

Hmm, now a livejournal account. http://harmon82.livejournal.com/ I picked this person up from a post (September '06) asking about the difference between phrogging and squatting, yet this post is made only a few minutes after the person makes their first journal entry about, yes, phrogging. But if they are already writing about it, why do they need clarification?

Good detective work. I'm halfway through day three now, and I'm remaining sceptical, too. I also found the Urban Dictionary entry and little else when I first noticed this, which did give me pause for thought.

I have to say, though, that whether it turns out to be real or a fake, I like it. It's either an interesting documentary or a fiction with a rather original and cool conceit.

To be honest, though, I'm wary of saying anything one way or the other until I've at least watched all the videos. There's only 5 for day 5, and the last one is called something like "The Girls' Fun Ends", which makes me suspect that something unexpected happens at the end. Whether it's something credible, utterly ridiculous, or a message coming up telling you to buy a PS2 game I have no idea. But I don't want to skip ahead to it, because I am finding the narrative compelling, regardless of whether it's true or not. Far more interesting than either Ghost Rider or The Prestige, which are the other two films I've watched this weekend, so far.

I only watched the first couple of them as it seemed pretty stupid, so if they do indeed check for stuff like creaking etc, it may make it slightly more possible. There is still no way of knowning if it is just some stunt and the home owners are in on it.

Bunion

[ThistleS]

If someone were staying in my house, even if I had a relatively large house, I would notice. People notice very small changes in their living space- food rearranged in the fridge, the cushions arranged differently, a noise they've never heard before.

I really don't think that these girls could keep their activities hidden for 5 or 7 days. Perhaps the owners are incredibly oblivious though.

Originally Posted by ThistleS

If someone were staying in my house, even if I had a relatively large house, I would notice. People notice very small changes in their living space- food rearranged in the fridge, the cushions arranged differently, a noise they've never heard before.

I really don't think that these girls could keep their activities hidden for 5 or 7 days. Perhaps the owners are incredibly oblivious though.

I'm waiting for the last couple of days to load (I should be in bed, but I have to know how it ends, even if I feel lousy tomorrow), and I've tried not to look at the descriptions of the episodes, but day four part 1 is called "The Beginning Of The End" and there's one of them on day four (possibly that one) for which the description is something like "Rennee describes what she overheard last night". So I think it's entirely possible that, assuming it is real, the homeowners do notice things that are amiss.

I have to admit that I thought the same as you. I mean, they're using paper plates and plastic forks and just throwing them away when they've used them. I'd notice paper plates in my rubbish bin. And, as you say, I'd notice food gone and stuff. You can't have 2 extra people in a house eating 3 meals a day and not have it have an impact.

Mind you, if it were true, then it would explain why people only stay in other people's houses for 3 or 4 days at the outside (they claim that they're going for 7 just because of the video camera/documentary).

I've now watched it all the way through, and I'm still not convinced. However, I'll definitely say that it's well worth watching all the way through, as days 4 and 5 are intense.

I'll do some checking into it James-stylee tomorrow but, for now, I have to say that that was one hell of a compelling drama. Much more so than, say, the beginning of Lost series 3. So, whether it's true or not, I have to say that I found it worthwhile.

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by Bunion

There is still no way of knowning if it is just some stunt and the home owners are in on it.

Bunion

Or maybe they're doing it in their own house, even.

My BS meter went up on episode #3, where they went racing through the house when the wife came back. She didn't hear people stampeding through her house? And one girl was whispering on the video camera the entire time--smart.

I also feel like if there were people in my house, I'd just know. And anyway, back when I was living in an actual house, there were people in every room at least once each day. Except for maybe those back/storage rooms in the basement. Plus, I know our neighbors would've noticed people coming in and out and have said something from day one.

Originally Posted by Bunion

Besides being illegal, it would be increadibly dangerous. Although some state laws require you to retreat and only use deadly force as a last option, other states (Texas, South Carolina to name two) don't require that you as the home owner retreat and can use deadly force if you feel threatened. In my view someone that breaks into my house is threatening me, I have to assume their intent is to harm me. You really don't have to the time to wonder if they are someone just filming a stupid video or are they there to rob and kill you. Not that I recommend killing people that break into your house just because you can legally do so, but I would hate to be put in a position of making that choice just because of some stupid prank.

Florida now allows use of deadly force if you feel threatened. House, car, work, anywhere.

I think I remember seeing a commercial for a TV show based on this kind of thing -- a sitcom or something similiar I think.

I think it was on FX... I know it was during a King of the Hill repeat, but I tape that on a couple of channels so not 100% sure.

Sorry I'm not much help, but I have a DVR box so I tend to skip commercials lol.

[Magpye]

Houses that are empty sound very different from houses with even one other person in them. Unless it were an incredibly large house I would find this very hard to believe.

[Spikey]

As weird as it sounds, I think I'd be able to smell other people if they were living in my house, especially if they were sleeping on my sofa all night.

Originally Posted by Spikey

As weird as it sounds, I think I'd be able to smell other people if they were living in my house, especially if they were sleeping on my sofa all night.

Funny you should say that, because that's what the thing that Renee overhears is - that the owners noticed that their sofa smelled like cigarettes because the girls had been sitting on it.

But they don't sleep on the sofa, one sleeps in the bath in the second bathroom, and one sleeps under the dining room table. Except for the night where both sleep under the table, and the night where they both sleep outside on the roof.