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Anonymous
December 27, 2017
Answered

Forensic analysis of a filmed Photoshopped video

  • December 27, 2017
  • 2 replies
  • 739 views

I'm writing a story which involves a movie faked with Photoshop. The question is: suppose I shop a completely authentic-looking, photo-realistic video, but I need to transfer it to film to make it appear as if it were originally filmed with a camera. If I simply filmed the video with a regular camera, would the resultant film pass intense authentication?  If the frames of the film were blown up, would it or would it not reveal the fact that the film was not an original film at all but rather a filmed Photoshop video?

I'm far from Adobe-savvy, but I was thinking that a camera-filmed Photoshop video, when blown up frame by frame, the frames would reveal pixels rather than whatever blown-up camera film would reveal (lines? dots?, etc.).  Anybody?

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Mylenium

    If I simply filmed the video with a regular camera, would the resultant film pass intense authentication?

    It wouldn't even pass superficial inspection. One could go on in endless detail about this from the actual physical resolution, to exposure, noise, color dynamic range up to actual technical inconsistencies in the edited video to begin with, but suffice it to say that a reasonable experienced graphics/ effects/ 3d person like I happen to be doesn't even need the actual film in hand to tell whether something is fake. any criminal who attempted to do this would have to run his own visual FX facility with all the trimmings, he would have to be a top-tier expert at this and clearly would need much different tools than just Photoshop. So if you want some sane advice: Ditch the whole idea. In this day and age nobody is going to buy into it. People see such fake stuff on CSI and movies all the time and everyone is aware of it just like most "found footage" mysteries and conspiracies can easily be busted with an objective analysis.

    Mylenium

    2 replies

    Mylenium
    MyleniumCorrect answer
    Legend
    December 27, 2017

    If I simply filmed the video with a regular camera, would the resultant film pass intense authentication?

    It wouldn't even pass superficial inspection. One could go on in endless detail about this from the actual physical resolution, to exposure, noise, color dynamic range up to actual technical inconsistencies in the edited video to begin with, but suffice it to say that a reasonable experienced graphics/ effects/ 3d person like I happen to be doesn't even need the actual film in hand to tell whether something is fake. any criminal who attempted to do this would have to run his own visual FX facility with all the trimmings, he would have to be a top-tier expert at this and clearly would need much different tools than just Photoshop. So if you want some sane advice: Ditch the whole idea. In this day and age nobody is going to buy into it. People see such fake stuff on CSI and movies all the time and everyone is aware of it just like most "found footage" mysteries and conspiracies can easily be busted with an objective analysis.

    Mylenium

    A
    Anonymous
    December 27, 2017

    This is great info! Thank you so much. It means the character in my story would need to use his paranormal powers (not kidding) to achieve something like this. Many thanks to you. You solved a major plot point in my novel.

    I wonder how many crooks in real life have gotten nailed on something like this. Actually, probably none, if the fakery is so easily detected.

    This was a most excellent reply! A thousand thank yous!

    Chuck Uebele
    Community Expert
    Chuck UebeleCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    December 27, 2017

    It could very well be detected by a good forensic analysis. While, I'm not expert on the matter, I would guess that base on the film used, one could detect if that type of file had the proper gamma to record whatever scene that you're transferring. While film isn't as sharp as digital, just the transfer process could degrade the image more and make the fake noticeable - especially depends on how you copy it. Even with a high quality film recorded, the copied image has a certain look that doesn't look like an original image. I used to use a film recorder in our transition from film to digital, ans it's hard making a good rendering. If you just attempt to copy a screen, that will be noticeable due to the screen makeup.  Also highlights and shadows might be clipped with the digital version that wouldn't be with an original film. Digital images have noise in the shadows, which might show in the transfer process, where as film will not have noise. These are just a few things I could think of that might cause issues.

    A
    Anonymous
    December 27, 2017

    Thank you!  This is great! This means the character in my story is in some big trouble!

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