We previously examined photos of the North Korean President. Today, we're examining a composite image in Vogue. (Note: The image linked-to here is similar, but not exactly the same as the one in Vogue.)

This analysis of the Vogue-published composite may help advance the discussion on the North Korean images.  If the images of the North Korean President were altered, we should see some of the same inconsistencies as we see with the Vogue-published composite. This was not apparent.  Unlike the images of the North Korean President, there are many discrepancies in the Marley & Me photograph in Vogue.

Based on this analysis of the Vogue image, we remain convinced the images of the North Korean President are more likely real, and were not significantly altered. The question is what the North Koreans were not showing.

Part I. The Image

The image "Running Mates" on page 312 of December 2008 Vogue depicts three characters, forming a triangle: Owen Wilson is on the left, Jennifer Aniston is on the right, and the actor-dog "Marley" is at the bottom.

Note: The online version of the Vogue article does not include the image on page 312. However there is a similar image here, but it does not appear to show as much of the glare on Aniston's forehead as appears in Vogue. 

Part II. Summary Problems

The three actors do not appear to have been running at the same time. The eyelines, shadows, weather, terrain, and lighting are not consistent. 

• The actors appear to be running on an unreal beach. The apparent dry-sand under Owen's foot is impossible on a shoreline with recent wave action.
• We have no confidence the structures on the beach are from Florida; nor are we sure they are from California near Santa Monica.

Based only on the photographs using GeoMaps, we cannot pinpoint the location of the photograph in Vogue. The movie trailer shows a Ferris Wheel, but the shoreline relative to the sun in the still image in Vogue does not appear match Bicentennial Park, near Miami Beach, FL.

An illustration helps. 40 seconds into the trailer (still image here, closeup here; another; another), Owen is wearing a different shirt than that in the still image; but Aniston's red-top is the same in the trailer and the still image. It appears as though Owen's image has been added to the still-image

From the trailer, it appears the shadow is of Owen, but not this Owen. It appears this is the shirt Owen was wearing. Notice the shoes in this image match those in the image appearing Vogue.  By comparison, this image shows Owen wears his watch on his left wrist, as similarly depicted in the Vogue image suggesting the images have not been flipped or reversed in the composite.

There is a important reflection in the sand in front of Owen (damp sand, lower left of composite). The reflection does not appear to match Owen. We believe the reflection in the water suggests there is someone else, not Owen in the original image on the beach; and that the three actors were added to a background image.

Part III. Possible Explanation

It appears there are three distinct images taken from different photography sessions. We believe the background is from southern California, possibly near Santa Monica (street view).; and that the images of Aniston and Marley were added to an original image of Owen taken along the Florida coast.

There appear to be multiple photo-enhancements by different production personnel.  It's unclear whether Vogue or the Marley & Me production company made the adjustments.

Most likely, Vogue is unaware the image is a composite. It appears the production company may have released to Vogue a composite image of the three actors, and Vogue may not be aware of the possible shadow-discrepancies.

Possible Vogue Photoshopping of Composite: 

However, Vogue appears to have altered the composite, enhancing the production-company-supplied photoshopped-composite picture of the three actors. 

There's more. It appears there were other alterations between the time the production company made the original composition, and when the still image appeared in Vogue. It appears the original California blue lifeguard towers in the background were painted brown and pink to appear to be from Florida; but enlarged in the image appearing in Vogue.

Part IV. Detailed Analysis and Conclusions

The analysis shows this is a composite of at least four different images: Owen, Aniston, Marley, and the background. 

The analysis shows the production company did not likely adjust any of the three (3) actor's images, only created a composite from four (4).  The images consistently show that Aniston's image was taken in the afternoon; Owen's earlier in the day; and Marley's from likely the same location as Owen, but at a different time.

The analysis shows the actors are running south. It is unlikely (1) Owen is running north in South Carolina or southern California; or (2) the image was flipped  Owen's watch-on-the-same-wrist suggests the image has not been flipped/reversed before putting it in the still image appearing in Vogue.

Here are the detailed points of comparison supporting the above conclusions:

Forehead Glare: Notice in this image, the bright-glare spots on Aniston and Owen: The relative positions of the reflected sun, "glare" or "glowing orb" on their foreheads are not consistent. Aniston's glare is on her right (our left), suggesting a later-afternoon image; while Owen's glare is more to the center, suggesting an image taken earlier in the day than Aniston's. The difference in "orb" position supports the conclusion the images were not taken at the same time.

Profile Shadow: Note the differences in the facial shadow angles. Aniston's face suggests her image was taken after 12:00, possibly around 3:00PM; while Marley's facial shadow suggests an earlier time, about 1:00PM. Owen's profile-shading suggests his image was taken in the morning. The difference supports the conclusion that the three (3) images of the actors were not taken at the same time of day.

Hair Angle: Notice the difference in the way the actors hair is flowing.  The wind blowing Aniston's hair is weaker than that moving Owen's hair; and the angles suggest the on-shore winds were from different coastlines. The wind should consistently move the hair of actors in the same image. The hair-difference supports the conclusion the two images were not taken under the same weather conditions.

Torso Shadow: The glaring inconsistency is the shadow on Owen's watch-arm: His left, our right: The shadow is on the left, indicating an before-noon image; while this contrasts the shadow on Aniston, indicating an afternoon image. The differences support the conclusion the two images are not from the same time of day.

Leg Shadow: Notice the angle of the shadow on Owen's left leg (our right); and compare that with Aniston's back right leg (on our left): The different relative shadows suggest the actor's images were taken at different times of day.

Shoe Shadow: Owen's shadow under his left shoe (to our right) does not match the angle of the shadow under Aniston's left foot (our right). The shadow under Owen's shoe suggests the sun is from the his left (our right); while the shadow under her foot suggests the sun is shining from Aniston's right (our left) The differences suggest either (a) the actors were not in the same location; or (b) the images were not taken at the same time of day.

Dog Shadow: Note the shadows on the ground. Marley's shadow does not capture all the dog's features. It's merely a small spike, but does not (as expected) show the paws.  This image of Marley appears to have been added; and the shadow-angle adjusted to match Aniston's. The problem is the shadow is incomplete, and does not match Marley's body. The footprints on the ground suggest the dog's footprints were not cleared or wiped away; and the Marley-image is from a different location that Aniston and/or Owen.

Shoreline Angle: Notice the angle of the wet-shoreline in the still image is steeper than the shoreline in the trailer, suggesting the still image is from Southern California. The problem with this conclusion is we have photos showing Owen with the same wrist watch, shirt, and pantsblue; the shoe color is indistinguishable in the Vogue image.  The difference in shoreline angles suggests the composite in Vogue depicts a different shoreline than Florida.

Part V. Analysis Questions

Principal photography was in Florida, however we're assuming -- for the sake of discussion and analysis here at TPM -- this is an image of the three running from north to south along the California coast.

 1. Notice the sand disturbance under Owen's left shoe (to our right). The sand does not appear consistent with a shoreline, but appears to be dry sand -- unusual given they are running along sand adjacent to the ocean, and there is a reflection in a puddle. What would explain the sand disturbance; and why does it appear to be dry sand?

2. Notice the shadows in the background structures. Discuss how these shadows compare with the three actors. Is it possible the three actors were placed within a fourth image?

3. Notice the shadow on Aniston's right leg (to our right). This suggests there was an actor or object between her and the ocean. Is it possible this is a shadow of someone else, not Owen?

4. Notice the reflection in the water in the lower left of the image. Now turn the image upside down. Look for a comparable color scheme in Owen's clothing. Does the image reflected in the water-sand match Owne's clothing; or is the reflection of someone else?

5. What might explain why Marley's shadow does not include the entire shadow of the dog, as appears in this image: Was there a cable or production-related object on the sand that was removed from the image?

6. Based on the shadows, how might your responses and discussion points change if you were told the image was not from California, but composites from New York, Canada, and Los Angeles?

7. Notice the eye-line of Owen: It is not looking at Marley. Contrast that with Aniston's eye-line. Discuss where Marley was (on the beach) in the images taken of Aniston and Owen. What signifigance can we assign (if any) to Aniston and Owen not similarly looking at Marley?

8. Notice the difference in the hair-flows. Owens is more straight, from the left to the right; while Aniston's is more straight-on, possibly slightly from the right to the left. What could explain the difference in the wind angles; and discuss how the difference in time, and possible east-vs-west coast shooting might account for the different weather conditions.

Part VI--Marley & Me Shooting Calendar

This section will attempt to pinpoint the time and locations where Aniston and Owen were independently photographed.

Let's try to pinpoint the location of the sun while they filmed the original scene in Florida:

• Mar 7, 2008: Aniston reported to be staying at Gloria Estefan's residence on Star Island
• ~ May 26, 2008: John Mayer flies to Florida to visit Aniston

Part VII -- Geophysics

Most likely, the sun is Florida-spring, and early summer. Miami's Latitude is 25 degrees north, above (not below) the Tropic of Cancer. This means that the sun would never be north of the actors. This means that the way the sun is shining on the actors, they were not running north along the Florida coast. If they were, the sun would always be behind them.

The still image shows the opposite: The sun is in front of them, whether to their left or right. This supports the conclusion that they were running from north to south, not from south to north.

The coastline in Florida is to their right (camera left), indicating that if they are running along a Florida beach, the ocean is not on the Atlantic side, but an interior gulf or perhaps on the Gulf side of the coast. This important discrepancy helps narrow our options to where they were likely filming.

However, these conclusions are invalid once we consider the strong possibility the image is a composite: No strong conclusion can be made about the filiming location in Florida when we have no confidence that the background is from Florida.

Part VIII -- Ferris Wheel Does Not Reconcile With Shoreline Angle

Using geophysics, we can discuss the onshore breezes.  Let's assume Florida's onshore breeze from the Gulf coast.

Putting aside the images in the trailer, let's try to determine the location of the filming in Florida using Google Maps

• Assuming: Aniston drove at most 25 miles each day
  

Going only off the images, to pinpoint the ferris wheel, we're looking for a body of water along the Florida east coast, that creates an inlet where the water is on the west. this means that in the Miami-Florida area, we're looking for a land-mass that extends to the south, has water on the west side, and protrudes from the east coast of Florida.

That description matches the Island of Miami Beach here, 4 miles from Estephan's house This meets the "within 25 miles"-criteria we established from Star Island to the location.

Yes, there is a ferris wheel near Miami Beach.

To confirm the general-area, there was also photography at Dolphin Stadium, just to the North-west of Miami Beach.

Part IX -- Inconsistent Weather Conditions

Reviewing the Florida images, we can make some guesses about the weather conditions at that location to confirm our estimate the day and time of the images

A. Where they were located
B. What time of day the images were taken
C. The most likely story behind the photographs

There were high winds in May 2008 in the Miami area, possibly explaining Owen's hair-angle in the wind.

Part X: Location of Structures in Still Image Do Not Reconcile

The lifeguard towers on Miami Beach appear to be different in shape and color than those in the still image. These images show a round platform, while the towers in the still image are smaller and square. The color scheme is also different. It appears as though someone in California may have painted the Santa Monica Towers "as if" they were from Florida.

Most likely, the background image is from southern California. What gives it away is the apparent similar-supporting bracing beams below the main platform. The framing in the still image appears more similar to the Santa Monica towers than the Miami Beach towers.

Part XI. Available Filming Calendar Does Not Reconcile

Notice the mentions of Marley and Me peaked in March 2008, then again in May suggesting the filming times from Mar-May 2008. The May-2008 date matches this listing:

Here's what the production crew said:

FOX 2000 PICTURES. Marley & Me. Citywide, citywide driving shots, Dinner Key Marina, Wynwood/Edgewater District streets, Baywalk Area, Coconut Grove, downtown Miami streets, Jose Marti Park, Margaret Pace Park.

The problem is that the nearest ferris wheel to Miami Beach is at Bicentenniel Park, where they were filiming a Lexus commercial with golf pro Charles Howell. Fox2000 doesn't include Bicentennial. Curiously, they have "citywide driving shots" as well:

PLANET PRO. Lexus USGA-Charles Howell III. Bicentennial Park, citywide driving shots.