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  • 2019-05-14 (xsd:date)
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  • Scars and bruises from a lightning strike? No, it's special effects make-up (en)
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  • Multiple online posts shared thousands of times contain a photo that they claim shows what a person would look like after being struck by lightning. The claim is false; the image actually shows special effects make-up. The picture and claim were posted on Facebook here on April 27, 2018, by Historical Pictures, an account with more than four million followers. The photo, which has been shared more than 13,000 times, shows a person’s back layered with thin jagged streaks and what appear to be purple and yellow bruises. The caption alongside the photo reads: If you are lucky enough to survive a lightning strike, this is what your body will look like. Below is a screenshot of the misleading post: Screenshot of the misleading Facebook post The picture has been posted repeatedly across multiple social media networks alongside similar captions that claim a lightning strike would leave such marks. One post put up on March 8, 2019, can be found here on Facebook. Another can be found here on Twitter. The photo and claim have also appeared in two Youtube videos – one published here on March 2017 with around 600,000 views and another here with nearly 10,000,000 views. A Google reverse image search traced the photo back to this original image posted on DeviantArt in 2004 by an artist named gorkafx or Gorka from Spain. The photo is titled Prothesic makeup 7. Below is a screenshot of gorkafx’s 2004 post on DeviantArt, with the caption Back bodypainting of a zombi: Screenshot of gorkafx’s 2004 post on DeviantArt Recent comments below the photo on this page show that some people have already seen it used in relation to lightning strikes. Screenshot of the recent comments The artwork was created by a Spanish special-effects studio called Gorka Aguirre Studio. Some of the same artworks can be seen on both gorkafx’s DeviantArt page and the studio's website here . Below are two sets of comparisons between screenshots of creations taken from gorkafx’s DeviantArt page (L) and Gorka Aguirre Studio’s website (R): Comparison between screenshots of creations taken from gorkafx’s DeviantArt page (L) and Gorka Aguirre Studio’s website page (R) Gorka Aguirre Studio told AFP by email in Spanish that the photo in the misleading post shows one of their artworks and often goes viral. The email dated May 4, 2019, said: Hi, we are a studio that does make-up effects for cinema... ... Someone stole (the photo) without permission and it is constantly going viral. I have warned a number of times that this is my work and asked them to stop, but it is out of my control. The made-up actor is Ander Pardo, who has (also) demanded that they stop, but with no results and it is almost certain that it will appear again. I can’t do anything about it. Sorry, thank you for informing us, a number of you have already done so. Burns to the human body from lightning strikes do not clearly resemble the special effects make-up in the misleading image. According to this article in the Indian Journal of Dermatology, so-called Lichtenburg figures are characteristic of lightning strike burns. Below are two screenshots of burns depicted in the article, attributed to lightning. The burn on the left shows Lichtenburg figures that resemble fern leaves. Screenshots of burns in the article (en)
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