Attention test (for photographers)

[MichaelChang]

<p>We photographers take pride in our ability to "see" things others miss. This 1 minute ad is a fun test. <br>

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpPYdMs97eE">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpPYdMs97eE</a> - 1:15</p>

[Matt Laur]

<p>The only thing I missed was the pig.<br /><br />And the taxi.<br /><br />Well, and the bicycles. <br /><br />But otherwise, just the pig.</p>

[Hector Javkin]

<p>Michael, nice test. Thank you.<br>

I missed a lot of stuff, and thought the pig was a cat.<br>

<br />My wife noticed that, although the printed name of the car manufacturer was <em>Škoda</em>, (pronounced the way we would pronounce Shkoda in English) the announcer said, "Skoda." But she works on Slavic languages, so she might be expected to notice that.</p>

[MichaelChang]

<p>Hector, you and Matt did much better than I had. I was too busy looking at the girl walking across the scene. :-) </p>

<p>To add insult to injury, they hung a giant teapot in front of the building on the right! </p>

[lex_jenkins]

<p>Sorry, I was distracted by the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2514920/The-creepiest-calendar-Scantily-clad-models-pose-COFFINS-advertise-casket-company.html">scantily clad women posing with coffins</a>. Didn't even notice the car.</p>

[aplumpton]

<p>We see what we want to. If you see everything you finish by seeing nothing.</p>

[James G. Dainis]

"If you see everything you finish by seeing nothing."

 

Oh wow,man. That is some heavy fecal matter. (Not to be confused with the '60 punk rock band of the same name.)

 

 

I saw this thread when it was first posted. I suspected that after every blink something had changed but I couldn't spot it.

[MichaelChang]

<p>James, I suspect the blinks (and their duration) were deliberate to make spotting changes more difficult. </p>

<p>I had initially thought slowing the video down would make it easier to spot changes, but to my surprise it was quite the opposite - speeding up the video incrementally made it respectively easier. In fact it wasn't until 8x speed that I spotted the gorilla on the left-building rooftop! </p>

[lex_jenkins]

The blinking transitions were designed to take

advantage of the temporary blindness we

experience from sudden flashes of light,

compounded by shifting our eyes rapidly to look

for clues. Same old magician's trick using

misdirection and flash paper or powder.

 

With a gradual fade or dissolve it would be

easier to spot not only the woman holding the

pig, but also her new hairdo, dress and the fact

that she'd lost five pounds.

 

 

Oh, you didn't notice that either? Typical.

[aplumpton]

<p>Without the blink we would no doubt see more of the changes, but I admit I would still probably have missed many (except for the lady and pig and bicycle replacing barrier). I really missed the huge building changes. No doubt a failing grade for me. But a clever ad.</p>

<p>As a photographer, or artist, in looking at a multiple subject matter scene a bit like this one we probably see very selectively and thereby ignore much of the overall detail, except that related to the chosen subject and its immediate surroundings. Less so, I would guess, if our interest is in the overall scene as a subject, as say landscape or urban ambiance photogs. I guess I should change directions and become a pig photographer.</p>

[Palouse]

<p>I saw the ape, but the woman in the red skirt was topless, wasn't she? :)</p>

[MichaelChang]

<p>Good God, Nick, I think you're right! lol</p>

<p>I had to view it again in 1080p a number of times before I saw that! </p>

[lex_jenkins]

<p>The walking woman looked like she was wearing a flesh colored knit pullover. There were little telltale signs of fabric bunching around her arms and midriff, unless she has really weird skin.</p>

<p>Reviewing some frames at 1080p revealed some sloppy editing and visible artifacts. But it probably didn't matter for video purposes. Most viewers won't examine it frame by frame.</p>

[fotolopithecus]

<p>Well I saw quite a few of the changes, but it's only because I've seen this kind of test before. There's a scientific explanation for all of this. What it basically comes down to is that we're much dumber than we think. ;)</p>

[MichaelChang]

<p>Without intentions to veer off-topic, advertising has become ever more clever in an effort to punch through the sheer volume of noise on the Internet, and that's only the half of it.</p>

<p>Statistics have shown that pre-roll ads on YouTube are skipped over by the vast majority of viewers within 5 seconds, and who can blame them when all ads have become a blur. Well, GEICO's ad agency decided to tackle the problem with a series of "Unskippable Ads" by playing the entire ad in the first 5 seconds tantamount to beating you to the punch; too late, you already saw it!</p>

<p>The ads are simply brilliant. This is the best one:<br>

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvcj9xptNOQ">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvcj9xptNOQ</a> <br>

Others are here:<br>

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/GEICO/videos">https://www.youtube.com/user/GEICO/videos</a></p>

<p> </p>

[lex_jenkins]

I hope that dog has insurance because it's a

menace.