It’s been awhile since we’ve had an image that fully breaks the internet , hasn’t it? Optical illusions are great and all, but how many really make your brain hurt?
Well, a new contender has emerged: a video that shows multiple versions of a man dancing, each one in a brightly-colored hoodie.
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The crazy part? The hoodies mysteriously change color midway through the video.
Remember The Dress?
In a simpler time, all it took to blow minds across the internet was a simple image of a dress (it’s gold and white, don’t @ me).
I’m not sure if this next video has broken the internet yet, but for my money, it’s far more compelling than The Dress.
Here’s the video.
We’ll delve into this whole thing in further detail soon. But for now, sit back, press play, and let this video wash over you. Watch it a couple of times. Come back when you’re ready to unpack the weirdness of what you just saw.
It starts out normally enough.
The guy in the video, Christian Kesniel , would have had to do some editing work as well as invest in a few hoodies. But aside from that, it’s just a video of a guy dancing — pretty commonplace on social media.
Here’s the weird part.
It’s most apparent in the version of the dude that’s second from the left. What was a mustard yellow hoodie gradually morphs into a kelly green hoodie — the same color as the one worn by the version in the middle, at the start of the video.
We need a side-by-side.
The change happens so gradually it’s almost unnoticeable, but these pics should show you the story. From left to right, the hoodies were red, yellow, green, light blue and purple. Then, they became orange, green, teal, royal blue and magenta.
Yeah, I don’t know.
If you carefully watch the video, you can see each hoodie change color, clear as day. What isn’t clear is what’s going on. Is it simply a video effect or a true optical illusion?
Commenters were flummoxed.
Most commenters chimed in with the equivalent of a slow clap. While they might not understand what’s going on, it’s impossible not to appreciate the video. Having something blow your mind to this extent is like a workout for the brain.
No one could figure it out.
I’m not going to pretend I had any idea what was going on in the video. But fear not, because the guy in the video has revealed his secrets. The visual trickery was actually quite simple.
Here’s the explanation.
In an explainer video posted to YouTube, the guy explains a few of his illusions. But in case you don’t want to watch an 11-minute video, here’s the quick and dirty: he color keyed the video, isolating the actual color of the (one) hoodie he was wearing: green. From there, it was easy enough to manipulate the colors any way he wanted.
I’m still weirded out.
The explanation is actually pretty straightforward, and should make sense to anyone who’s played around with editing software. Still though, the effect is incredible.
Let us know what you think of this video in the comments section!
