Punk’d

Punk’d is an American hidden-camera prank series created by Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg, which premiered on MTV in 2003. Hosted by Kutcher, it staged elaborate practical jokes on celebrities and ran for several seasons before later revivals. Each segment built a convincing small disaster around an unsuspecting star, then revealed the hoax on camera.

Unscripted television carries an effects burden of a very different kind from a feature. A prank format depends on staged catastrophes that have to survive scrutiny on cheap consumer cameras, which puts the weight on extending practical gags digitally, removing crew, safety rigs and hidden-camera hardware from wide shots, building screen inserts and graphic elements, and compositing a dozen mismatched formats into one broadcast cut. Terminal FX contributed visual effects and animation to Punk’d as part of its film, television and commercial portfolio.