A woman stands on a beach during a snow storm, feeding chocolate to the screaming heads of people buried in the sand.
The "creepy" TikTok video is one of two made by Otago Polytechnic student Brodie Seelen which have gone viral around the world on social media, each gaining more than a million views in 10 days.
"It’s unreal to see it reach a million views — especially because it was one that we weren’t even going to post because it was all right but it wasn’t the best we had done.
"It’s extremely weird and creepy — so random. It’s scary what people like to watch."
The 19-year-old said he made the TikTok videos as part of an assessment for his New Zealand diploma in digital media and design.
The aim was to find a "recipe" for a popular TikTok post.
His other viral video showed a person throwing a slice of bread into Otago Harbour, which was quickly pounced on by Mr Seelen wearing a bright yellow duck suit.
His videos usually featured his polytechnic friends who were very good at leaving their dignity at the door and putting their bodies on the line.
But in this case, the fact it takes multiple shoots to perfect the timing in each video, meant his mates were not so keen to oblige.
"So I took it. Getting a million hits made it worthwhile though."
His friends did not get off easy.
They have starred in other video clips of people sprinting with opened bottles of milk, dancing in precarious places or snowboarding down a frozen Dunedin street in nothing but undies — nothing seems to be out of bounds.
Mr Seelen said he and his friends spent about two hours coming up with ideas for each video and then another two hours filming a video clip lasting as little as five seconds.
"It’s pretty silly how much time goes in to it.
"We’ve noticed that people like the shorter, faster videos that don’t last as long, just because they’re easier to watch over and over again."
He said the process had been very educational for him and his friends.
"At the end of the day, we’ve spent so much time on making these five-second videos and having so much fun doing it, it’s made us closer friends."
