{"id":2227,"date":"2017-01-14T12:45:38","date_gmt":"2017-01-14T17:45:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.digitalforensicscorp.com\/blog\/?p=2227"},"modified":"2025-03-12T18:52:51","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T18:52:51","slug":"when-the-mask-comes-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/software\/when-the-mask-comes-off\/","title":{"rendered":"When the Mask Comes Off"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Video recording and photos are technologies that have been widely used for a long time. Many programs help users to make a real movie out of their own video recordings. Most users just delete unwanted frames, combine several video clips in one and add titles, but modern programs have a wide range of functions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nowadays, a compositing is a technology that is used not only by movie production companies, but also by average users and even without the compositing one can change a video in a way that it will be impossible to see what has been recorded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00a0It is not difficult to make changes if a video was recorded by a stationary camera and as practice shows, it is as easy to remove unwanted objects from video as from pictures (we discussed it in the previous articles). When there is an unwanted object in the frame, one can just replace it with a background that can be found in another frame. A brief video clip that has been done via free graphics editor \u2013 <strong>ffmpeg <\/strong>demonstrates that it is very easy:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"001161107130834\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kQWBtdrNml8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is obvious that an investigator needs to know not only how one can make it, but also how to find out that a video is a forgery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here is a separate frame of the video:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery aligncenter has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-6 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"557\" height=\"289\" data-id=\"2220\" src=\"https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/002-The-Mask-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2220\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/002-The-Mask-1.jpg 557w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/002-The-Mask-1-300x156.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/002-The-Mask-1-512x266.jpg 512w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/002-The-Mask-1-16x8.jpg 16w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/002-The-Mask-1-32x17.jpg 32w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/002-The-Mask-1-28x15.jpg 28w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/002-The-Mask-1-56x29.jpg 56w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/002-The-Mask-1-64x33.jpg 64w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 557px) 100vw, 557px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Error Level Analysis does not disclose anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery aligncenter has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-7 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"534\" height=\"356\" data-id=\"2221\" src=\"https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/003-The-Mask.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2221\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/003-The-Mask.jpg 534w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/003-The-Mask-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/003-The-Mask-512x341.jpg 512w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/003-The-Mask-16x11.jpg 16w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/003-The-Mask-32x21.jpg 32w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/003-The-Mask-28x19.jpg 28w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/003-The-Mask-56x37.jpg 56w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/003-The-Mask-64x43.jpg 64w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 534px) 100vw, 534px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We can check what kind of results we will get by Luminance Gradient and Principal Component Analysis, but they will not provide us with any significant results. It is unsurprisingly as a fragment of the frame has been put from one frame to another, the next one. If you choose the fragment correctly, the difference will not be seen in other frames.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It should be mentioned that we are studying not only one separate frame, but a full video recording.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\u2019s take another frame:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"553\" height=\"369\" src=\"https:\/\/www.digitalforensicscorp.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/004-The-Mask.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2222\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/004-The-Mask.jpg 553w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/004-The-Mask-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/004-The-Mask-512x342.jpg 512w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/004-The-Mask-16x11.jpg 16w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/004-The-Mask-32x21.jpg 32w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/004-The-Mask-28x19.jpg 28w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/004-The-Mask-56x37.jpg 56w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/004-The-Mask-64x43.jpg 64w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 553px) 100vw, 553px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We separate one frame from another:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"576\" height=\"384\" src=\"https:\/\/www.digitalforensicscorp.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/005-The-Mask.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2223\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/005-The-Mask.jpg 576w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/005-The-Mask-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/005-The-Mask-512x341.jpg 512w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/005-The-Mask-16x11.jpg 16w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/005-The-Mask-32x21.jpg 32w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/005-The-Mask-28x19.jpg 28w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/005-The-Mask-56x37.jpg 56w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/005-The-Mask-64x43.jpg 64w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dark image regions show the area where the frames are not different from each other. On the black background, we can see only movement of the cars for the period of time that passed between the recording of one frame and another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is possible that we do not see everything and that is why we are going to normalize a histogram of the picture:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"585\" height=\"390\" src=\"https:\/\/www.digitalforensicscorp.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/006-The-Mask.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2224\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/006-The-Mask.jpg 585w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/006-The-Mask-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/006-The-Mask-512x341.jpg 512w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/006-The-Mask-16x11.jpg 16w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/006-The-Mask-32x21.jpg 32w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/006-The-Mask-28x19.jpg 28w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/006-The-Mask-56x37.jpg 56w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/006-The-Mask-64x43.jpg 64w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 585px) 100vw, 585px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now we can see all the changes in colors and brightness of pixels. Even if there is no action in the frame, you will be able to see artefacts. Charge fluctuations on the camera\u2019s matrix always change picture from frame to frame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We should take a closer look at the picture. There are no artefacts on the area from the middle of the frame to the left upper corner, but we can see them on the rest of the frame. It means that there was no changes from frame to frame in this area, but charge fluctuations on the camera\u2019s matrix can not be stopped. It gives us an indication that in this area there is a fragment from another frame. A mask under which something is covered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As we are studying the video sample, we can show you what was covered under the mask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"582\" height=\"388\" src=\"https:\/\/www.digitalforensicscorp.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/007-The-Mask.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/007-The-Mask.jpg 582w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/007-The-Mask-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/007-The-Mask-512x341.jpg 512w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/007-The-Mask-16x11.jpg 16w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/007-The-Mask-32x21.jpg 32w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/007-The-Mask-28x19.jpg 28w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/007-The-Mask-56x37.jpg 56w, https:\/\/www.digitalforensics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/007-The-Mask-64x43.jpg 64w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 582px) 100vw, 582px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-about-the-authors\">About the authors:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Serge Petrov<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Interests: Digital Video Forensics, Forgery Detection, Audio Forensics<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/linkedin.com\/in\/igormikhaylovcf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Igor Mikhaylov<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Interests: Computer, Cell Phone &amp; Chip-Off Forensics<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/oleg-skulkin-96652a87\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Oleg Skulkin<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Interests: iOS forensics, Android forensics, Mac OS X forensics, Windows forensics, Linux forensics<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Video recording and photos are technologies that have been widely used for a long time. Many programs help&hellip;","protected":false},"author":126,"featured_media":2226,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"csco_display_header_overlay":false,"csco_singular_sidebar":"","csco_page_header_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2227","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-software","8":"cs-entry"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v27.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>When the Mask Comes Off: Insights<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn about the revelations &quot;When the Mask Comes Off.&quot; Discover techniques for uncovering hidden information in digital forensics investigations.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta 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Victims\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.digitalforensics.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.digitalforensics.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.digitalforensics.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/df-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.digitalforensics.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/df-logo.png\",\"width\":393,\"height\":343,\"caption\":\"Digital Defense Hub: Resources for Sextortion and Online Blackmail Victims\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.digitalforensics.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/DigitalForensicsCorp\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/ForensicsCorp\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.digitalforensics.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/db7b63895c111dc8ed48df38d20b84ce\",\"name\":\"Viktor Sobiecki\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.digitalforensics.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/viktor-sobiecki_avatar-96x96.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.digitalforensics.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/viktor-sobiecki_avatar-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.digitalforensics.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/viktor-sobiecki_avatar-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Viktor Sobiecki\"},\"description\":\"Dr. Viktor Sobiecki currently serves as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Digital Forensics Corporation, where responsibilities span the leadership of advanced cybersecurity initiatives, data breach incident responses, and corporate strategic planning. 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