B-Empire Academy

Courses · Intermediate · 4 h

Verifying Images and Videos

Professional training in visual verification, as practised on newsroom verification desks: a typology of manipulations, advanced reverse image search, EXIF metadata with ExifTool, forensic analysis and its limits, geolocation, chronolocation, satellite imagery, video verification and a complete end-to-end investigation, through to the verification report.

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What you will learn

  • Classify a suspicious image or video in the right category of manipulation and choose the appropriate verification method
  • Find the earliest known publication of a visual by combining Google Lens, Bing, TinEye, Yandex and the InVID-WeVerify extension
  • Extract and interpret a file’s metadata with ExifTool, including time zones and GPS fields, and spot their inconsistencies
  • Use forensic analysis (ELA, clone detection, consistency of shadows and perspective) without over-interpreting the results
  • Geolocate an image from at least three independent clues and state a justified level of confidence
  • Date a scene using shadows (SunCalc), weather archives, satellite imagery and aircraft and ship trackers
  • Find the first uploader of a video, detect edits and speed changes, and obtain permission to use it
  • Write a reproducible verification report, with the level of confidence and the limits clearly set out

Syllabus

  1. 1
    A typology of visual manipulation and the five questions 28 min · 5-question quiz
  2. 2
    Reverse image search like a professional 30 min · 5-question quiz
  3. 3
    EXIF metadata: read, cross-check, protect 30 min · 5-question quiz
  4. 4
    Forensic analysis and its limits 32 min · 5-question quiz
  5. 5
    Geolocating an image: method and tools 32 min · 5-question quiz
  6. 6
    Chronolocation, satellite imagery and trackers 30 min · 5-question quiz
  7. 7
    Verifying a viral video 30 min · 5-question quiz
  8. 8
    Practical case: a complete investigation of a viral video 35 min · 5-question quiz
  9. ★
    Final exam and certificate30 questions · 80% required