Yep...article in the Star as well...
Baby-snatching eagle video goes viral, but Montreal animation school admits it was fake
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1304371--baby-snatching-eagle-video-goes-viral-but-critics-say-it-s-a-fake
For several hours, millions of people around the world thought it was a real golden eagle swooping down and snatching a tot from a Montreal park before dropping the baby unharmed.
A YouTube video titled The Golden Eagle Snatches Kid went viral, leaving many to ask: Could this be a hoax or did this happen?
Well, the truth came out Wednesday afternoon when a Montreal animation school admitted that the hoax was hatched by third-year students.
Both the eagle and the child were created in 3D animation and integrated into the real shooting, the school, Centre NAD, said.
Normand Archambault, Loïc Mireault and Félix Marquis-Poulin, who were taking part in the simulation workshop class, had brain-stormed with each other about making a video with wide appeal.
And they decided on their subject because everyone loves babies and animals.
But how to combine the two?
The idea took flight about five or six weeks ago. Once the project was approved, they made a deal with their teacher that if the video surpassed 100,000 views on YouTube, they would get 100 per cent on the assignment.
It did much better than that, wildly growing past 5 million views by Wednesday afternoon, which made the 400 hours they put into the project well worth it.
The video was picked up by dozens of media outlets across Canada, the United States and Europe.
We were also surprised by the events, Claude Arsenault, spokesperson for the school, told the Star.
Weve done some hoaxes in that class before, but they never reached such proportions. We were the first ones this morning to see the numbers going up, she said. Were very proud of our students. This was definitely great quality work. Needless to say the students will get a full mark on that assignment.
Other hoaxes performed at the school involved a penguin that had apparently escaped from a zoo in Montreal (watch below).