Broadcast #1 Analysis

Hello, my name is Elias Doyle.

Here is a creepy video.

Before I get to the analyzing, I want to give a little introduction for you.

I love weird. I've always had a fascination with weird and odd things that the average person might call an unhealthy obsession. When I was a freshmen in high school a few years back, I stumbled on an internet message board called 4Chan, specifically /x/ aka the Paranormal board. Everyday after school I would go on /x/ and browse, and I've been doing that ever since. But very recently I found a thread about a strange YouTube video called Broadcast #1 on a strange channel called Cave of Shadows. This has since peeked my interest. So, I've decided to make a blog dedicated to analyzing Cave of Shadows.

So let's talk about Cave of Shadows itself before we talk specifically about Broadcast #1

The term "cave of shadows" generically refers to Greek philosopher Plato's "Allegory of the Cave".
This ideology basically describes how people are chained to a wall inside a cave, forced to look at shadows. These people believe that the shadows they are seeing are the real objects themselves. Then, if one of these people leaves the cave and becomes free, he or she comes to understand that the shadows on the wall do not make up reality at all, for they can perceive the true form of reality rather than the shadows seen by the prisoners. This, of course, is a metaphor for life. It reminds me of The Matrix.
Now, all of this doesn't apply to the channel or its videos at all, right? Well, yes, except for one thing. And that is the channel background.

While researching the Allegory of the Cave, I realized that this channel art is a heavily distorted version of an art piece depicting Plato's Allegory.

This information might be useful in the future.

Alright, now to the analysis of Broadcast #1

The video starts off with a title card and a welcome message from someone called "The Overwatcher." Assuming from the name, the Overwatcher is the person (or thing) that controls the broadcast or it could possibly be a mascot of sorts for Cave of Shadows. It tells the viewers that "we appreciate your viewership" and "to show our graditude, we will now show you this". The video then cuts to a very pixelated video.

The video then cuts back to the Overwatcher, but if you look closely, there are a few frames in right before the cut where some text appears near the bottom left corner that says "he is watching".


The exact same thing happens right at the very end of the video.

Then the segment called "You Know More" plays. I cannot find the source of this information anywhere. If you know where the video played comes from (if anywhere except CoS) please let me know.


Next segment is called "Mr. Giraffe". This one legitimately creeps me out. I analyzed it and nothing is embeded in the music, no hidden text. It is just cut and dry. I don't know what else to say about it.

Next segment is called "Weather Forecast". This has some clear hidden messages. The whole thing is a looping message describing a very generic weather forecast and the video doesn't specify the area being talked about. Very boring, until near the middle. 3 different strings of text flash on the video briefly.



These strings of text are in Base64, a computer language similar to binary code. It's purpose is to basically condense ASCII (normal text) information.
Here is the translation:

I checked, the Overwatcher stopped watching the broadcast.
I need to confirm that this is a good way to communicate privately 
We need to wait until the next broadcast to relay any serious information

From this, we can presume that the Overwatcher is an actual person that holds some kind of power. Hopefully we will gain more information about this in the next broadcast. After the strings of text. the segment goes back to the looping text and music.

Next segment is called "Relaxation". Nothing really unusual here. Just a looping forest background and some text near the middle of the segment giving the viewer complements. An interesting note: in the Broadcast #2 schedule this segment is not listed.

Then, the next and last segment called "Closing Remarks". A similar setup with the beginning, the Overwatcher thanks the viewers for watching and the video comes to a close. The "he is watching" message pops up briefly as stated before and the video ends.


This video and channel really intrigues me. I will continue to follow it and post updates whenever anything interesting or significant happens. I know I will post another analysis for Broadcast #2 for sure.

Until then.