Cow, Monkey and Thinker Shadows

Have to say I was a bit disappointed when I saw you recent comments regarding my previous post shameless plugin. I have to admit I should’ve been more careful in which way I was going to share the #news I was so proud of. Perhaps you’re right – even if this is my blog about illusions, the only reason it became so successful and popular is because of you guys. I should’ve respected this a bit more, I guess. On the other hand, later some of you recognized that the topic of the app (religion) wasn’t as important as the technical achievement me and my friend were so proud of. I thank you for recognizing that and defending my announcement. Anyway, for those who are interested if it worked, I’m proud to say our first iPhone application took of with a success! It was even number one app in some stores around the world for a moment or two. I feel we can safely move on now, and continue with optical illusions without annoying you with offtopic chit-chat. Let me show you three #shadow illusions we’ve received via our Facebook channel recently:



90 Replies to “Cow, Monkey and Thinker Shadows”

  1. none of those even come close to making any sense
    the shadows are really badly photoshoped (check the ground)

  2. Nice concept, but these are so obviously faked. The tail and too-skinny legs in the first photo? The perfectly smooth toilet bowl structure? the monkey’s hand and head shape? Photoshop.

  3. I do not believe the shadows are being cast by the people. They are photographic trickery, not real photos.

    Look at the shadows on the floor, not the wall. They don’t match up with any reasonable light source (in particular, the box for the thinker looks wrong.)

  4. What people do with their own blog is their own business. Just because I personally hate religion and all it’s evil, I can easily skip the app-post and continue enjoying the rest of the site.

    Besides, from a design POW the app looks very nicely done. Content wise it might have been just blank pages tho.

    1. wat u talkin bout?? man u cray cray bro lolzpop u should stick to the subject matter lolzpoplolzpoplolzpop hahahahahahahaalololollololololo l k byeeeeeeee!!!

  5. How are these illusions? They’re not even mildly convincing photoshops?

    In the first one, where’s the shadow of the dude who’s allegedly making the udders?

    In the second, the guy making the toilet tank is further back than the guy being the thinker, which would throw off the heights.

    In the last one.. well, they’re not even trying.

  6. there all fake they just cut out a cardboard pic that looks like what they are trying to shape like, and also the wall is not a wall but it is a very very thin wall, so they put the cardbroard cut outs behind the wall

  7. FAIL. IMHO
    Shadows just don’t match with people. especially in the last 2.

    some parts of the shadows seem to correspond while other don’t.
    I could be wrong… let’s see the consensus…

  8. You have every right to do your “shameless plug” – that is what social media is about. Don’t let it get you down.

    Good luck!!

  9. This is phoney. Things don’t match up. For example the tail is curved differently, and where is her hair in the man on toilet. The cow arms are all wrong. It just isn’t right.

  10. Awesome illusions! I loved these. As to all the negative comments the last couple of days, I say they need to lighten up. You have put countless hours into this site and yet people complain when you advertise something you are proud of for the first time. Even though it is religious and some people are not you are clearly NOT trying to convince them there is a god they should believe in. Please people, show some respect!

  11. I just want to comment on your app posting. Good job. Don’t let all those narrow minded intolerant folks get you down.

  12. I can’t decide whether or not I believe this one. I’m gonna err on the side of “fake”….

    Sorry you guy’s didn’t receive the desired accolades with your new app. It is a huge deal to accomplish an app creation period so congrats to you.

  13. If you line up the people by their shadows on the floor it seems to not work out at all. Certain body parts are not shadowed on the wall, while some of the shadows have absolutely no source. I call a fake on all three pictures.

  14. This seems fake to me… to many odd shapes that don’t seem like they’d be made by those poses (like the monkey head?)

  15. They are not actually making those shadows…………………………………………………………..

  16. Nice illlusion.

    The shadows are not causing the background. I think the wall (and the floor) have been painted to give the illusion of shadowing.

  17. Nice try, but definitely no illusion here just a simple photoshop “cut & paste”! The people aren’t posed anywhere near correctly enough to cast those shadows, especially the last one. Where do the cows legs and tail come from in the first pic, and what casts the shadow of the monkey’s head in the last pic?

  18. I don’t know. I’m not convinced these are real. Actually, I’m having fun trying to disprove the validity of these. In the one with the girl and the monkey, look how the shadow of the girl’s legs looks like it splits into two legs at the wall, but the shadow of the man’s legs on the far right is split only up until the wall. Why the difference? Especially since she’s farther from the wall?

    Anyway, very cool.

  19. I’m gonna call this one a fake. For me i just can’t get the shadows to work.
    The cow photo – the guy is holding out several fingers for the udder, but yet only 4 are shown. The other guy is holding up bunny ears for the horns but where do the ears come from? Where’s the tail from? Look at the feet, everything else is casting a shadow, but their shoes don’t?

    The thinker photo – the angles look wrong and the poses are confusing. Why is there a gap in the shadow behind the box, they look solid to me.

    Monkey photo – the shadow is too cartoonish and compared to the other 2 photos it’s blurred as much, it’s too sharp to be a shadow. Where do the fingers of the monkey come from? The poses again look wrong (except the girl).

  20. These three shadows are clearly BS. There is no way the people match up with the shadows A photoshop job for sure.

  21. Fake. look at the bend on the rope on the monkey one. not even close to the same radius as the monkeys tail!

  22. Hey man, good on you for doing something you believe in and are proud of. Just tune out the haters.

    And I’m not hating about this, but I think these shadows are fake. Anyone else having doubts here?

  23. I don’t mind the odd plug at all, and this seemed a very nice one for those with iphones (I haven’t one), but it did seem to be there for ages. Maybe another time you could have it more often but for one day at a time.

  24. These are great! Amazing even:) P.S. Congrats on your news. I am Catholic but don’t have an iphone. Does it work for an ipod?

  25. At first I was really impressed at how well this was done, but then I looked closely and realized that this has been photo-shopped. You can see the whit outline on edge of shadow…

  26. Of course these are photo shopped but they are really funny. I don’t think they are meant to be believed. The mans head and fingers pretending to be the cow’s udder is ridiculous. Hysterical.

  27. While I like the concept of this one, it seems that there are elements that don’t quite make it from this portrayed as projecting the image.

    For me, in the first one there seems to be nothing that would make the tail.

    In the second, the height of the actors and the shape of the bowl and tank don’t really seem to jive with the light angle.

    In the third, the monkey shape seems a little out of wack and who’s making his fingers on the ground? (also, her hair doesn’t seem to fit the bill)

    Again, I like the concept of this one but I’m not figuring it out without the concept of a little photo-shopping.

  28. Last straw; that wasn’t a redeeming illusion. Probably one of the weakest ‘illusions’ *cough*PHOTOSHOPS*cough* on the site.
    I’m deleting all MOI RSS Feeds. You’ve sold out, man. Too many bad, disrespectful and selfish choices.

    That said, thanks for so many awesome illusions over the years. It was brilliant in the good old days, but it seems it has run its course… for me anyhow.

    Goodbye Vurdlak, and I sincerely wish you the best of luck for the future of this website. I also hope you’ll choose a more suitable subject for your next iPhone and/or Android application.

    -Josh

  29. totally fake! but i dont think they are shopped, i think the shadows are projected from behind the white screen, it all looks to wrong.

  30. When i look i see an interesting attempt at the shadows shown and if you think about it as a projection and the way the lighting is its a fascinating idea.

  31. Wow, you guys are all so sharp to be able to spot the not-so-subtle faked-ness of these shadows!

    Come one people, these are so obviously fake shadows that it was meant to look that way. It was done intentionally, as a joke. Lighten up and have a laugh! Total lack of seriousness on the part of the people posing + girl looking at monkey’s butt? Comedic genius!

  32. The images on the wall obviously are not shadows from the people in front. Not sure if it is photoshop or some other sort of trickery. Perhaps the lighting is actually diffuse and the floor and wall are painted? That would actually be interesting. I think there was a previous post here that did something like that.

  33. Albert Einstein would of loved to see how they were able to break the laws of physics and bend light beams.
    Very obvious on all but on the first it is seen easily. From her hands, down to the mic stand (handlebars) then up again to the shadow. Terrible Photoshop mess and not even close to fooling anybody. Everyone says “Photoshop”.

  34. Wow a lotta haters posting on this. the whole point of this website is illusion – of course its fake…. its an illusion. Its obviously a joke and done quite well since it got everyone discussing it.

  35. That second one is hilarious. And how is it fake? The idea of the illusion is that people are positioning themselves to make shapes on the wall. Nothing fake about it.

    1. stardragon, are you serious ?
      These photos are so obviously fake that they were probably not meant to deceive people into thinking they were real.
      The shapes on the wall DO NOT FIT with the poses the people are in.

  36. The pictures look genuine at first glance, but when you bother to take a closer look a number of problems start cropping up…

    Take the first picture: The guy kneeling is obviously supposed to be creating the cow’s udder with his hands, but where the heck does the rest of his body end up in the shadow?
    And wherever are the tail and the snout supposed to come from?

    Second picture: Guy with his arms up seems to be creating the shadow for the back of the toilet, but why is his shadow lower on the wall than that of the two people in front of him? Physics don’t work like that…

    Third picture: How can the leg and the forearm of the monkey be that thin? Where does the shadow for the monkey’s hand come from? Where do the standing guy’s b*tt and hip end up in the shadow? Mind you, how does his whole body fit in there?

    There are enough structures in the people’s poses that match with the shadows to fool someone on first glance… but really only on first glance.

    Sadly, not an illusion.

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