Profoto: The Light Shaping Retina Searing Company
Remember the guy who zapped words into German tourists' photos with his DIY flash projector gun?
Suffice to say when you swap out the speedlight for 4800 watt-seconds worth of Profoto Pro-7B, things can get a little more interesting.
(Tip via Joel)
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Posted at 12:00 AM.
34 Comments:
That's awesome!
This reminds me of the time I accidentally shot myself in the face with a full power ring flash in the dark.
Is it what they call subliminal message ? Really good idea !
@David.Capino - At least I'm not the only one who's done some variant of the high-powered ring shot at close range. . . I wanted a larger ring catch for a self portrait and didn't have anything like a moonunit. . . 1/2 power on an ABR800 in a dark room at 2' isn't a good idea in retrospect;-> I could see the tube pattern very clearly for a little bit.
Those aren't Profoto 7B's. They look like 7A's to me...
BMW did the same sort of immersive thing for the (then) new Bi Xenon headlights where they raised the audience lighting and switched it off when the headlights turned off on the video. Very clever and memorable (which is what an ad should be, shouldn't it?). http://www.welovead.com/en/works/details/a43zgqqE
Fortunately that's well known and illegal in Britain. Look up subliminal advertising
It's "interesting" from a photography point of view.
Doesn't anyone think it's scary at all?
Think of how this could be abused to plant seeds in a person's brain against their consent and knowledge that it's happened.
Just sayin'.
awesome!!!!
Photographically very interesting technique.
The uses of this without viewers permission or consent is more than a bit scary!
It's interesting that it can be done
but I'm not sure it should be.
BMW S 1000 RR. I have GOT to get me some of THAT!
Isn't this akin to the old movie theater tactic to sell more popcorn, a single frame of a mouthwatering item would play during the movie hopefully sending everyone to snack counter. Supposedly didn't really work and I think may have been banned. Nice trick though on BMW's part.
That's so cool. I mean more power to the commercials and less to the free will - who needs that cheap stuff anyway ;-)
Isn't that kind of subliminal advertising legislated against?
That is a neat twist. Anytime BMW wants to install a 7B in the back of my television they are more than welcome!
As for it being subliminal messaging... not too sure about that. Subliminal messages purposely do not trigger conscious perception whereas the goal of this is very much for the viewer to be conscious of the "BMW" burned into their head.
There was a great podcast on how repeating patterns can carry over from your active consciousness to your subconscious a while back on Radio Lab (WNYC). The example given was music where if you practice something over and over and over, the next day you'll remember it because of the repetition. I am sure the same holds true for images as well.
When I was doing a school system deployment several years ago, the Windows logo and startup sound carried over into my dreams in an unusual way. Just goes to show the power that images can have on us, whether we are aware of their presence or not!
What's next? A chip that gets inserted like a mosquito bite to send out the advertising images? Not as much Big Brother as Clockwork Orange.
It is considered a deceptive advertising practice in the US and is banned here, I believe.
I don't think it is technically subliminal if you can actually see what they are selling you. Subliminal is at or below your level of consciousness. Actually seeing the BMW in your closed eyes is pretty conscious and noticeable.
Very, very cool. I would like to have experienced it.
It reminds me of Tyler Druden in fight club.
In the middle of a kid's movie he would put a single frame of a giant c*ck.
Funny, yet so moraly wrong.
Props for the technology, but this is scary as heck. (Not my first word of choice).
Imagine what I could do as a trial lawyer when presenting a video to the jury. Float the word "guilty" or "not guilty" just before asking them to close their eyes and evaluate the "evidence"
As it is in Britain it is in the US, Illegal. Andrewoa5 is right.
Also to Greenphoto, it actually did work which is why they made it illegal in the US. But they did sell a lot of popcorn! For a little while.
For all the people scared of the "subliminal" nature of the advertising, keep in mind that subliminal advertising has been proven time and again to have no more effect than normal advertising. It doesn't make you want the product any more or any less than a normal ad does because contrary to popular opinion your brain just isn't THAT susceptible to believing things that it doesn't want to believe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subliminal_stimuli#Effectiveness
I think it's really cool, but I'm a little concerned from an optical health perspective.
Subliminal is at or below your level of consciousness. Actually seeing the BMW in your closed eyes is pretty conscious and noticeable.
At the risk of being "that guy", God thank you for grasping this.
This IS NOT subliminal advertising. They're not hiding the advertisement, or being deceptive. This is pretty standard advertising using a cool persistence of vision trick, which means it works on the same principle as the oh so sinister flipbook. Scary.
If advertising wasn't effective we wouldn't be subjected to it on TV, or all over the internet. What company is going to spend big bucks on something they know doesn't work?
This method bothers me less than the subliminal messages put into movies because it is meant to be noticed. The law against subliminal messages is very specific and has been worked around numerous times.
Subliminal? Well technically yes since you don't perceive the message in the flash. But they turn it into a bad girl gone good (with apologies to Rihanna) by telling you it's there and to look for it! Hardly maliciously subliminal if you ask me. Scary, threatening, immoral, risk to free will? Potentially maybe, but I don't think so here unless you are predisposed to see things in that way. Cool and creative technique? Very! Do something similar yourself... in color. Get out your color wheel and Photoshop the US flag using the compliments of its colors. Stare at it for 30 seconds without moving your eyes. Close your eyes and see the flag in all of its red white and blue glory! But don't blame me for any subliminal patriotism you feel afterwards :)
Fortunately that's well known and illegal in Britain. Look up subliminal advertising
Perhaps taking some of your own advice might be in order here, BEFORE making comments like this.
The amount of incorrect commenting and conclusion-jumping in this comment stream is unreal.
Cool idea. Great implementation! But I know a lot of people will be concerned about their eyes :)
As for me I don't like when somebody plays tricks on me :o) so I'd ban such type of ads ;)
Without a doubt, subliminal. Probably not legal in the US. Very cool though.
This is absolutely not a new concept or new brilliant idea. It's been done for decades (until prohibited) by Marlboro, Mars, Camel etcetc. WTF they invented the wheel again!
Subliminal advertising is not illegal in the US, precisely because it *doesn't* work.
awesome technique!
This is sick. Would be nice if the technique would be used for something useful instead of advertising!
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