Elan Frank interview- April 8, 2008

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In early 2008 an Israeli filmmaker named Frank Elan set out to make a documentary on exceptional women in the world. He asked Sarah Palin if he could include her and she said yes.

He followed her around for four days (one source says three) in early April, 2008. I do not know exactly which four days but we do know that April 8th was one of the days, so we are talking within ten days of the time she gave birth. After the announcement of her selection by John McCain, word spread quickly in the media of the existence of this footage. Ultimately, Frank Elan sold the footage to Fox News, who also signed him on as a commentator.

Very little of the footage I believe as ever seen the light of day. My suspicion always has been that in much of it she does not look very pregnant - and looks far less pregnant that she does in the famous Andrea Gusty photo taken only days later. I have always suspected that Fox may have purchased it to "trash can" a lot of it. However, we do have small bits and pieces.

 

This is as far as I know the only "still shot" of the shoot every released.

 

Below, are numerous screen grabs from various days during the shoot. The grab with the Hebrew letters is from a clip that was put on Elan Frank's own website, here.

It never appeared in any footage released by Fox. All other screen shots come from Fox footage.

This picture below has generated a great deal of controversy. Why? Because when the image is lightened, bringing out highlights more clearly, it is easy to see that the shape of what is under her shirt is square. While one blog comment famously pointed out that "Perhaps she was giving birth to Sponge Bob Square Pants," in fact this is no joke.

This is the initial grab, untouched.

This is the grab, with intermediate enhancement. Square outlines are faint but visible.

Here is the grab with highlights set to very high. Obviously, much detail is lost, but the square shape of what is under her shirt is unmistakeable.

 

Here are some of the blog posts I have done about the Elan Frank footage and screen shots.

Some New Photo Evidence
To a Hammer
Elan Frank Screenshots