Chinese News Photoshop Fail Turns Chinese Men Into Chinese Friendly Giants

from the BFGs dept

Wed, Oct 30th 2013 7:53pm — Timothy Geigner

The being-bad-at-Photoshop arms race continues! For some reason, there appears to be a culture of "fake it 'til you make it" going on with some of our international rivals. Previous iterations include Iran's using Photoshop to ensure that everyone knows one of their new jets can't actually fly, as well as North Korea (of course) transposing several national leaders into photos to pretend like they opened a school for children (like anyone would believe that).

And now we can add China to the list, given that they're piss-poor attempt at manipulating a photo to look like leaders visited a really old women somewhere resulted in the insinuation that Chinese men have been eating their Wheaties and have turned into big, smiling giant-folk.

According to China News (via HugChina), the above photo supposedly features the vice mayor of Ningguo county and other officials "visiting" a 100-year-old woman—a very small one hundred year old woman, surrounded by a halo and giants.

Quick, someone save that happy old lady from the uber-men surrounding her! And these aren't even your ordinary, run-of-the-mill Chinese mega-men, either. They're ghost giants, as evidenced by that last guy on the right how appears to be made of a non-corporeal substance the likes of which hasn't been seen since the Ghostbusters were still employed!

Now, the image and the report have reportedly been taken down to ensure the Chinese people don't fly into a panic about the ensuing gigantic dominance, but wouldn't it be easier for the Chinese government to have actually visited this sweet old lady rather than parry the ensuing laughter over this poor propaganda attempt?

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Filed Under: china, news, photoshop, propaganda

36 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 30 Oct 2013 @ 8:51pm

It's Attack On Titan in real life!
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Anonymous Coward, 30 Oct 2013 @ 9:04pm

Ok, I can understand messing up the sizes, but how the heck do you miss the one guy floating there like a ghost with no legs?
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Chronno S. Trigger (profile), 30 Oct 2013 @ 9:09pm

So, how many times and how many places do this without being caught?
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4h8vb0 (profile), 30 Oct 2013 @ 9:10pm

I'm as happy to rip on countries for faking photos as the next person, but this is absurd. Anyone with eyes can tell this isn't photoshopped to 'fake' it, it's photoshopped out of logistical necessity.

Two pictures were clearly taken on the same balcony (you can see the same balcony railing in both parts of the picture, with it's distinctive double-vertical posts), but one was taken looking to the left, and one looking to the right.

The picture of the old lady was poorly inserted as an 'inset' of sorts, presumably because the balcony is so small they couldn't fit all five in the same shot.

You can judge the size of the balcony by assuming that the men are looking down at the woman's face (edited out of the 'large' photo), which appears to be no more than a metre in front of them. Adjusting for the distance between her face and her knees while sitting, they must be practically standing on her toes.

It's a small balcony, and someone just merged two pictures because they couldn't fit everyone in one picture.

Not everything you see is sinister.
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Anonymous Coward, 30 Oct 2013 @ 9:15pm

Re:
Indeed. Probably the editor wants to have a photo that showing the woman's face, but the original can only show her back, so they do a photo merge to fulfill the need.
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Anonymous Coward, 30 Oct 2013 @ 9:22pm

I've never seen anyone like the guy on the right, able to stand with a post in him. Not before him, not behind him, but IN him.

I believe that is the first 1/2 ghost, 1/2 man I've ever seen.

The problem with it being or not sinister 4h8vb0, is that the photo is faked. It's an obvious fake to the most unknowledgeable of photo editing. It's how you throw doubt into propaganda. It's obvious that the whole photo is wrong which leads you to the point that the event very likely didn't happen as pictured. Haven't we heard enough about politicians claiming something that isn't yet?
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4h8vb0 (profile), 30 Oct 2013 @ 9:37pm

Re:
See the AC reply to my comment above.

"Probably the editor wants to have a photo that showing the woman's face, but the original can only show her back, so they do a photo merge to fulfill the need."

It's no more fake than there being a magic floating road in the sky in this image. It's just been done with a fade, not a border.
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4h8vb0 (profile), 30 Oct 2013 @ 9:43pm

Re: Re:
The only difference between this and the West, is that they didn't pair their images well, and they used a fade instead of a white border.

See eg:

http://cdn1.independent.ie/migration_catalog/article25420213.ece/ALTERNATES/h342/beaa8677-48de-4d 88-bacf-4a55a4ec85e4.jpg

http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/images/uploadedfiles/editorial/pictures/201 3/03/25/horti1.jpg

http://www.pgs.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/HalverGroupPic_Crop-600x400.jpg

ht tp://ll-media.tmz.com/2007/08/30/0830_hogan_crash_tmz_fm_01-1.jpg

inset, noun: a small picture or map inserted within the border of a larger one.
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Anonymous Coward, 30 Oct 2013 @ 10:20pm

why not tie NSA into this ???
this has NSA plot all over it!!!!!
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Anonymous Coward, 30 Oct 2013 @ 11:23pm

Re:
Its obviously a pirated version of Photoshop. If they'd simply used the GIMP this wouldn't have happened!
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Anonymous Coward, 30 Oct 2013 @ 11:28pm

Re: Re: Re:
You're quite defensive, did you do the shitty photoshopping?

Tim is just having a laugh (his posts are usually hilarious), grow a sense of humor!
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horse with no name, 30 Oct 2013 @ 11:40pm

not important but...
It's a nice break away from Mike's endless grinding at the NSA story, popping up every piece of information like it was the end of the world. Probably be faster for him just to text message the few hundred that showed up on the weekend...

Oh wait, this comment will be held for moderation because I am telling the truth.
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Anonymous Coward, 31 Oct 2013 @ 12:10am

O_O
http://i.imgur.com/aJoQmiP.jpg
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That One Guy (profile), 31 Oct 2013 @ 12:36am

Re:
However you want to spin it, the photo is still attempting to show something that did not happen.

You might say that it's not that big of a deal, it's just a simple photo after all, but when you start making excuses for the government to lie to it's citizens(and if they're willing to do so over something this minor, they'd obviously have no problem 'fudging' a few things for anything bigger), then you've admitted that such lying is acceptable, something most would probably disagree with.

Finally, assume for a minute that you're right, that there just wasn't enough room to show everyone at once, if both parties were in the same house at the same time, and space was really an issue, how hard would it have been to move to a larger area for the picture?
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spodula, 31 Oct 2013 @ 1:54am

... but shortly after she was met by the mayor
She died of the heart attack braught on by her house being apparently invaded by a bunch of 9 foot tall giant men...
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Anonymous Coward, 31 Oct 2013 @ 2:07am

Re: Re:
It is not fake unless you know it is fake!
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Ninja (profile), 31 Oct 2013 @ 2:51am

Epic lulz here. The jet can be pardoned but this error is so damn evident that it makes one wonder what kind of designer they hire. North Koreans for sure.
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Dare, 31 Oct 2013 @ 4:21am

I think the people who edited the picture where drunk when doing it, I can't laugh...
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Ninja (profile), 31 Oct 2013 @ 5:00am

Just noticed there's someone playing peek-a-boo behind the second guy left to right o.o
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Anonymous Coward, 31 Oct 2013 @ 6:07am

Re:
Ahhhh, yes - the apologist is here to save us from our self inflicted wounds created from our disdain of deception.
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Anonymous Coward, 31 Oct 2013 @ 6:11am

Re: Re: Re:
"The only difference between this and the West"

Dude ! ... it's not a us vs them thing - get over it already.
Deception is ubiquitous, and despised universally.
Making up excuses is a sad occupation.
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ltlw0lf (profile), 31 Oct 2013 @ 6:51am

The Scientologists need to up their game...they are being beaten badly by the communists in a game they should handily win (being that they are all in at the crazy game, where the communists actually have some logic and reason behind their crazy.)

I do agree that this looks more like a composite of two pictures at different angles than a picture where people were added who weren't there.
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Anonymous Coward, 31 Oct 2013 @ 6:57am

"given that they're piss-poor attempt"

their
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Anonymous Coward, 31 Oct 2013 @ 7:51am

Re:
I just assumed the Chinese screwed up and accidentally showed proof of their new partial cloaking device...
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Anonymous Coward, 31 Oct 2013 @ 7:53am

So I guess China outsources their Photoshopping to North Korea, seeing how they are highly skilled in that area...
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crade (profile), 31 Oct 2013 @ 8:47am

Holy crap that is a lazy job.
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crade (profile), 31 Oct 2013 @ 8:50am

Re:
"I do agree that this looks more like a composite of two pictures at different angles than a picture where people were added who weren't there."

Huh? That is two ways of saying the same thing.
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Deranged Poster (profile), 31 Oct 2013 @ 9:08am

Re:
All they had to do was put a Frame around her to show that it's an insert, and poof no article.
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Padre, 31 Oct 2013 @ 9:47am

No no no, they are not giants
Its the woman, they really do shrink that small when the get old... I thought everyone knew that. just look at any Asain anime' they draw em small, cause they all shrink to fairy size when they hit 100. In another 100 years she would be the size of a normal persons finger....
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Anonymous Coward, 31 Oct 2013 @ 10:03am

It's Slapstick, in reverse!
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John Fenderson (profile), 31 Oct 2013 @ 10:07am

Re:
Anyone with eyes can tell this isn't photoshopped to 'fake' it, it's photoshopped out of logistical necessity.

It doesn't matter why they faked the picture. It only matters that it was faked.
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ltlw0lf (profile), 31 Oct 2013 @ 12:06pm

Re: Re:
Huh? That is two ways of saying the same thing.

I meant as opposed to the Koreans who weren't at the school opening they were supposedly supposed to be at and were later 'shopped in. This appears to have really happened, just the picture was a composite of two pictures taken at different angles. Still cheap, but more "understandable".
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Ordinary Coward, 31 Oct 2013 @ 12:37pm

grammar police
"they're piss-poor attempt" should start with "their".
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Anonymous Coward, 31 Oct 2013 @ 4:01pm

Response to: Chronno S. Trigger on Oct 30th, 2013 @ 9:09pm
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Anonymous Coward, 31 Oct 2013 @ 4:01pm

Re: why not tie NSA into this ???
.
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Anonymous Coward, 3 Nov 2013 @ 6:32pm

Re: not important but...
Still lying away, I see, and doing a horrible job of it.

Have a DMCA vote!
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