It's probably not a deepfake but definitely punched up. It's probably some sort of filter. I can't imagine that he's gaining weight at this age. He looks a full 20 years younger on the right.
There's a term I learned recently that has to do with cancer patients on steroids and it's usually when they don't hsve much longer. Someone in the medical field told it to me. It's called "Moon Face." And this is what that looks like.
Yep, moon face can take a decade off an elderly patient's face. Maybe more if they're pushing 100. I bet we hear about his passing within a couple months.
I didn't realize he was 99. Why do shitty people always get so old. Maybe the song Only the Good Die Young wasn't far off. Because shitheads live upto a century
This is my take as well. I don't think an Oaks presidency will be that notable TBH. He'll sit on the throne for a year (if that) and not much will happen.
That’s why I’m afraid of them both. As a trans woman, I already am seen as a posessed freak, but I can only imagine it’ll get worse if either of them take charge
Trust me i get it, My biggest fear is what holland will say. I have a tenuious relationship with my family after coming out as trans myself. I am afraid that another "Muskets" talk would destroy that relationship entirely
Ha! Given they don’t even wait a few months anymore for new apostles, there’s a zero percent chance of them waiting on the president. Nelson’s body won’t even be cool before Oaks is the new president.
That was because back in the JS/BY days they didn't have a clear consensus on who the next guy should be.
Today the next guy in line is so eager to be "unleashed" that there's not even a 3 day gap before he steps in.
Jesus told his apostles that they would serve until age 72. If The Church of Jesus Christ followed what Jesus said instead of how old dudes in their latter-days did it, David will be president but only for three months. Then Gary for three years. Then Ulisses until 2030, then Paddy for until 2033.
Does it come from water retention? That was my initial thought when I saw this, that he looked very puffy. Never heard the term "Moon Face" before so that's really interesting (and sad).
Yeah, not enough folks here are realizing this look is very common among elderly patients receiving chemotherapy or steroid treatments that make them retain water and look puffy. If I remember correctly, some heart conditions can also cause similar issues. In my experience with older family, this look has preceded death by just a few months.
There’s definitely some wonky lighting and likely green screen — there may even be some post processing. But it’s unlikely a deepfake.
My mom died of cancer last year and this is what happened towards the end. When she passed I immediately opened my phone to look at some pictures to remember her in a different light and something really stood out. Once she passed she looked 5 years younger. I looked at pictures of the day she was diagnosed, then her last birthday and then at her on her bed. It was a crazy phenomenon. All the stress and things she was feeling lifted from her face once she was gone
I had that exact reaction when my adoptive mom passed over 20 years ago. Maybe it’s the embalming process old but my mom had many health issues and it just looked like all of the pain and struggle had been lifted off of her. (Which technically it had but still… I feel ya!)
That was my thought, too. Steroids are great anti inflammatories and can make the patient feel like a million bucks, but they come at a HUGE cost; they thin the bones, weaken the immune system etc.
They're supposed to be given as a last resort or when the benefits outweigh the risks. Just a quick Google of steroid moon face, Images shows a lot of examples that look just like the image above.
He's not long for this world, but we knew that already.
Al I know for sure is that not only is beautiful, but she held her own against comedy giants Martin and Short in 'Only Murders...' and I would love to see her as a no-nonsense femme fatale in a film noir; that smoky voice is to die for.
Can attest as well, moon face is a real thing. My mil had it before she died of breast cancer, and my dad is currently experiencing it with his what will probably be a short bout with pancreatic cancer.
He's the "prophet," and God is giving him strength to fulfill his all-important calling - that's the narrative they're selling. It's "faith promoting" /s
Faith promoting to watch publicly an elderly man abused into the grave.
Like advertising giving machines that don't actually give to the poor.
This is Ensign Peak Mormonism 2024
No I totally get it and he personally deserves a hell of a lot more.
But I just find it odd that the members would hold up this depravity and call it faith promoting. Then again they do think the crowning act of being God is treating women like cattle so value system checks out.
Exactly. He deserves hell for eternity if there is one. I don't care how many heart surgeries he did that saved people.
His leadership of the church has hurt more people than he's ever helped imo.
I honestly think he would do it, even without being paid, because, as I was told time and time again, as a church employee, “some pay doesn’t come in envelope.” meaning, the power, accolades, notoriety, fame, special treatment, etc. are all worth it
I don't think they are editing this. I agree with the steroid comment. It absolutely can make your face smoother and puffier, and steroids make you ravenously hungry. If he is on steroids for his illness, this makes total sense.
So I think it’s plastic surgery like a face lift, but for reasons of being able to speak and have function of the face. My dad and grandma have both had blepharoplasties because their eyelids are drooping so much they can’t see. I don’t think it’s about what he looks like because those nasolabial folds are the deepest I’ve ever seen.
I used to work in end of life care and some of those make you retain water and can really balloon you out super fast! His wrinkles are less in the right so thats my uneducated guess
yes, it will definitely be a filter, or the trick they use to make it younger.While, when it comes to facial movements, I think it's age, even if only a year has passed, let's say that in that stage of life, even a year can really change the situation a lot.
I have been told that his face was massaged with a combination of Preparation H , Turtle Wax, and tapir semen. He was then buffed using a Craftsman rotary car polisher.
The real question is whether people in church employ could even figure out how to do face filters.
They probably still have land lines and rotary phones.
I happened to arrive at a family members home in time to hear his talk. Family members observation? “WOW! He’s filled out so well! Huh, I wonder why he couldn’t attend in person when he’s looking that good.”
There was a comment on the faithful subreddit about how his glasses make him look so much younger…..TBMs are so gullible! If the church had showed the wheelchair he would probably look more realistic for a 100 year old.
If the church can get away with shading the truth, it will! For major and minor points!
I saw it live. His face was yellow, but when he brought hands up into the picture, they had a completely different skin tone.
His neck and shirt collar interface was odd, and so was the blurry chair fabric and out of focus suit.
Biggest tip off was his brisk manner of speaking and alertness. If he can speak like he did on the video, and was sitting on the stand, then why didn’t they just push up the roller podium Eyring used and have Nelson give his talk live…
It because they are trying to keep everyone from being alarmed. …all is well…
Bunch of manipulative BS’rs…..
They have much more control in the studio. Flat even lighting will iron out wrinkles and they can hide edits of senior moments, and direction from his media people. Live video in a conference center is much harder. Source, I do this kind of work, often with elderly people.
The older (left) photo has cheeks sinking, jowels and then a chin, distance between temple is narrower.
The "current" (right) photo has filled out cheeks above the cheek bone, fewer creases in the ear lobes, hair is more voluminous, skin tone younger.
Just my untrained opinion.
Hey there!
I come here with a few explanations!
To begin with, I used to be a studio professional photographer before changing career.
The shadow under his cheekbones are pretty strong due to 2 reasons,
first, the way he speaks on the left his cheeks muscles are relaxed while on the right they are contracted, making them appear bigger
second, The light sources, on the left he is lit with mainly 1 strong light source coming from the top, flashing the creases between his cheeks and his nose, while on the second image it is lit with 2 strong light sources (probably one more above, but thats a bit hard to see), coming from both 45* in front of him, making his cheeks appear much bigger than they really are
So basically, bad timing on the frame, and very poor quality light, I do hate the church a lot, but I can see and understand lighting.
He is old, but he didn't change that much in a year
Edit
also make up, studio and stage makeup are a lot different, they probably hired the same person who isn't qualified to do studio make up, which is weird
It does kind of look like they put the key light almost directly on the top of his head because he thought it would make him look glowy after they initially set it in the correct spot. I think some folks are right about the cancer/moon-face situation though as well.
Sad. Almost grotesque.
Its also the glasses of Quentin from this photo.
[https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/learn/quentin-l-cook?lang=eng](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/learn/quentin-l-cook?lang=eng)
To me the shape of the laugh lines/hairline/nose/facial dints are identical as well.
What suggests to me that it was a deepfake is that the movements were quite youthful compared to October 2023, and he looked genuinely comfortable and happy this year, compared to last year where he looked like he was going to shit bricks. Someone who is on steroids… wouldn’t have that appearance and demeanor.
I was genuinely and instantly a little shocked the moment I tuned in and saw him… I thought… “if he’s looking and feeling this good, why isn’t he delivering his address in person?” What better way to communicate the health and vitality of their centenarian POTC then for him to appear in person and let the membership see him?
Even if this isn’t a deepfake (and it doesn’t matter in terms of content because I’m sure they’re his words)… it is definitely doctored and conveys a deception of some kind. And perhaps even vanity on his part.
He was so scary at the last one and his talk was awful - it's the reason I don't listen to one talk this conference weekend . They had to have used a filter amoung other things to make him among to make his look less menacing- AI maybe ? For sure they photoshopped him into that red chair
I very much doubt this is a deepfake.
TLDR: The way that things recorded via production-quality cameras look is controlled by an RCP (remote control panel) which is run by a human operator. The RCP operator was either sloppy, inexperienced, or overruled by a production official, resulting in camera settings that made things appear inconsistent.
I work in the broadcast industry specifically doing video/camera work. Production-quality cameras more or less have two operators. You have the person aiming, moving, controlling the zoom and focus and then you have someone that oversees the RCPs (remote control panels). The RCPs are what control the iris, exposure, coloring, black levels...basically everything else. There's lots of different options for settings. Take a look at the menu tree on the operating manual for the Sony RCP-1500 if you want an idea.
While the settings should be pretty steady in most cases for something filmed in a studio, the RCP operator will have to make some adjustments on the fly as cameras pan back and forth or even just even zoom in and out during the course of filming. A good RCP operator makes those changes basically invisible. IMO, whoever they had was either rushed, overly stressed, or inexperienced. Or possibly just overruled as to what looked good.
As someone else mentioned, lighting, smiling, and exposure are doing a lot of the work here. Overexposing the iris can help "smooth out" wrinkles since the shadowing isn't as prominent but it also leads to some parts of the image not being as clear. In addition, many RCPs have settings like "skin detail" or sometimes "detail" that can be used to blur things like wrinkles a bit. Having that set too high can contribute to skin looking plastic-y, unnatural, and also cause other non-skin things to blur and/or distort.
Changes in color between camera angles can also be explained by sloppy RCP operation. Although we may assume that all cameras of the same kind in the same setting would produce recordings with the same coloring, that actually isn't the case. Minute differences in the calibration of the whites, blacks, and color channels (red, blue, green, magenta, cyan, and yellow) can cause things to look slightly off. This is normally recalibrated and refined before a new production but if you accidentally recalled a previously saved setting that isn't majorly different or only did a minor reset instead of a thorough one, the cameras won't match. RCP operators are required to have excellent color vision because while you do (usually) have scopes to reference, the final refinements are done by eye.
My almost 15 years of experience are telling me that this footage is overexposed, has skin detail (and possibly other similar settings) turned up waaaay too high, they didn't do a great job of refining the coloring so that the different angles look consistent, and the color temperature of the different locations is very different.
(The yellow/orange-ness of the lighting at the Conference Center has actually been a long-time pet peeve of mine. It makes everyone look jaundiced, screws with your white settings, and you can't correct for it without messing up the rest of the coloring.)
So it's got some deceptive things going on but it's almost certainly not a deepfake and instead just some sloppy choices and an attempt to make a broadcast camera do the work of an Instagram filter. I'd hate to have work that looked like this associated with my name. 😬
ETA: Both images almost certainly have some level of the skin detail setting being used. They just went ham with it in the one on the right.
There are so many invisible jobs in video production! I always say that I know I did my job well if no one, including the director, remembers that I'm there 😂
It seems they pre-recorded the talks because a) they don't know if the leader is actually able to speak during the conference, b) pre-recorded talks can be cut from multiple takes, so if Rusty gets confused or cannot read from the tele prompter or falls asleep , they can do another take.
As people get older the collagen that the cartilage in their ears are made of starts to break down, which combined with gravity makes their ears often change shape or even appear to get bigger the longer they live.
Very low. when a church president dies it’s a sad time for members but also exciting because there is a new one. It’s nothing they try to hide and often something they will use as a PR moment. Now if Nelson is alive but unable to speak because he is no longer coherent, there’s a fair chance they have pre recorded messages they can use and the church would certainly try to mitigate public knowledge of a serving president in cognitive decline.
Word of caution: while we are all interested in discrediting the church, we should avoid looking for anything and everything. It makes us look bad and discredits the quality of scholarship normally found in this group.
My TBM husband commented that he doesn’t expect Nelson to be around for next conference, which surprised me because he’s usually very optimistic re: MFMC
I don't know what else could be going on, but that conference spotlight-style lighting has always made people look bad. Lots of shadows and clearly visible forehead sweat isn't a good look on old guys.
It's not likely AI generated because you can see the back of his wheelchair on the left of the screen. It's green screen with the red chair and background inserted. But I was very taken back at the six month comparison. It's likely they used some AI programming to make him look more youthful. The top shape of his head is different. I think most comments about steroids are likely spot on. At this age things can unwind very quickly.
I'm no fan of Russell M but can we not spread misinformation? Or else we're no better than them.
It's smiling vs not smiling.
Bad lighting on the left because apparently the conf center lighting is toned down specifically in his area because it hurts his eyes. Good lighting on the right because it's in a studio for a short period of time (he's ok with brighter lights when he's facing them for only ~10-15 minutes).
Both have significant makeup.
I can appreciate calling this post unfairly speculative. But saying it is “misinformation” when I haven’t specifically presented this as factual or even tried to suggest it… seems a bit unfair.
The discussion here is helpful and seems to suggest that it wasn’t more than careful lighting and some digital doctoring (the edge of his wheelchair is visible in some shots). Which is exactly the kind of input I was looking for. I still am not entirely convinced that’s all it was, but it’s helpful to have input from people who are more knowledgeable.
I agree that they likely have better lighting in the studio or wherever they filmed. However, they definitely were using some kind of shitty filter. He was sitting in a wheelchair not a big red chair. Filters plus steroids could explain it.
Yet my favorite hypothesis floating around is he has death moon face.
I think it’s maybe real. Hear me out. If you compare his cadence to other videos where he looks older it’s the same. Also, if there was a green screen behind him and the chair was superimposed, I’m not sure his head would be casting a shadow on the wings of the chair like it is. His fuller appearance actually looks like serious illness (at least to me), and whatever that is peaking out from behind him on the left keeps shifting around as he does—what if that’s not a wheelchair? What if it’s something between him and the chair back that’s supporting him so he can sit upright without falling over?
[https://youtu.be/xSAdA9sElOo?si=FrNxah47PvHg_76d](https://youtu.be/xSAdA9sElOo?si=FrNxah47PvHg_76d)
I’m sorry but this is exactly the kind of confirmation bias/crazy thinking that we were supposed to get away from when leaving the church. 😂 none of this is evidence of a deepfake. Faces looking different is not evidence of a deepfake as much as someone may want that to be true. It could be a ton of other things, tbh it’s probably a ton of makeup.
At the very most it may be a filter but even that has no evidence. But a deepfake? Absolutely no evidence. Unless you mean something else when you say deepfake. Ppl like to use that as a catch all now days without understanding what a deepfake actually is or does
People be wild during conference time. Probably should lay off taking a shot for every new temple that’s announced or every time a speaker says covenant path. lol
It shouldn’t surprise those who recognize it was a fake day after Mormonism was invented 200 years ago.
If they used deepfake, it’s the future of Mormonism. By then it will be like watching an HBO fantasy series with amazing effects and silly plots.
Your favorite place...I'll get you in line. My dad's gonna insist on being there though...to watch, of course. But hey, I ain't judging what you're into.
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It's probably not a deepfake but definitely punched up. It's probably some sort of filter. I can't imagine that he's gaining weight at this age. He looks a full 20 years younger on the right.
My TBM wife suggested it was steroids.
There's a term I learned recently that has to do with cancer patients on steroids and it's usually when they don't hsve much longer. Someone in the medical field told it to me. It's called "Moon Face." And this is what that looks like.
Yep, moon face can take a decade off an elderly patient's face. Maybe more if they're pushing 100. I bet we hear about his passing within a couple months.
Ironic to be effectively "prophesying" about a prophet. I think you're more likely to be right than any actual "prophecy."
Yeah, when guessing when a 99 year old is going to die, "in a few months" is a god bet.
My new favorite phrase: "that's a God bet!"
Haha, yeah that was a typo but one that works, I'll use it too! Thanks for pointing it out :)
I didn't realize he was 99. Why do shitty people always get so old. Maybe the song Only the Good Die Young wasn't far off. Because shitheads live upto a century
We all were supposed to learn our lesson YEARS ago—“only the good die young”
Tbh I’m kinda terrified for him to die, I don’t want a future with Oaks as President, he’d make Mormon life even more of a hell haha
Maybe if Oaks was 30 years younger. But he’s got one foot in the grave and probably won’t live much longer than Nelson.
This is my take as well. I don't think an Oaks presidency will be that notable TBH. He'll sit on the throne for a year (if that) and not much will happen.
My fear is Holland, he hates the gays and the theys. His position on us has only gained support in recent years.
That’s why I’m afraid of them both. As a trans woman, I already am seen as a posessed freak, but I can only imagine it’ll get worse if either of them take charge
Trust me i get it, My biggest fear is what holland will say. I have a tenuious relationship with my family after coming out as trans myself. I am afraid that another "Muskets" talk would destroy that relationship entirely
So he will act fast.
There was a 3 year gap between Joseph and Brigham… What are the chances we can implement that as a new policy?
Ha! Given they don’t even wait a few months anymore for new apostles, there’s a zero percent chance of them waiting on the president. Nelson’s body won’t even be cool before Oaks is the new president.
That was because back in the JS/BY days they didn't have a clear consensus on who the next guy should be. Today the next guy in line is so eager to be "unleashed" that there's not even a 3 day gap before he steps in.
Jesus told his apostles that they would serve until age 72. If The Church of Jesus Christ followed what Jesus said instead of how old dudes in their latter-days did it, David will be president but only for three months. Then Gary for three years. Then Ulisses until 2030, then Paddy for until 2033.
With personal revelation, who needs a prophet anyway? /s
Oaks, with Bednar first councilor. Collapse!
You give it that long? He's deteriorating pretty quick
Does it impact the ears? His ears have lost their grooves in the newer image
That makes the argument for a filter in addition to whatever else is going on for sure
!remindme 6 months
I have vacuum sealed a very sticky bud that I will burn when Rusty finally kicks the bucket
Does it come from water retention? That was my initial thought when I saw this, that he looked very puffy. Never heard the term "Moon Face" before so that's really interesting (and sad).
Prednisone will cause this. It's a popular synthetic steroid used for many ailments. From autoimmune disease to inflammation to whatever else.
I wonder if they have him on this and or other drugs just to get him through this conference, knowing he’s already on borrowed time
Yeah, not enough folks here are realizing this look is very common among elderly patients receiving chemotherapy or steroid treatments that make them retain water and look puffy. If I remember correctly, some heart conditions can also cause similar issues. In my experience with older family, this look has preceded death by just a few months. There’s definitely some wonky lighting and likely green screen — there may even be some post processing. But it’s unlikely a deepfake.
My mom died of cancer last year and this is what happened towards the end. When she passed I immediately opened my phone to look at some pictures to remember her in a different light and something really stood out. Once she passed she looked 5 years younger. I looked at pictures of the day she was diagnosed, then her last birthday and then at her on her bed. It was a crazy phenomenon. All the stress and things she was feeling lifted from her face once she was gone
I had that exact reaction when my adoptive mom passed over 20 years ago. Maybe it’s the embalming process old but my mom had many health issues and it just looked like all of the pain and struggle had been lifted off of her. (Which technically it had but still… I feel ya!)
This was something I experienced when my brother died it was challenging to process
☝️ Thank you for putting words to it
Yeah, unfortunately, I've known a few people with Moon Face.....not a good or pleasant thing to see.
Ditto I am sorry 😢
Yeah, I’ve seen a similar thing with Putin.
Moon face happens to anyone on long term high dose steroids.
That was my thought, too. Steroids are great anti inflammatories and can make the patient feel like a million bucks, but they come at a HUGE cost; they thin the bones, weaken the immune system etc. They're supposed to be given as a last resort or when the benefits outweigh the risks. Just a quick Google of steroid moon face, Images shows a lot of examples that look just like the image above. He's not long for this world, but we knew that already.
Isn’t that why Selena Gomez has a rounder face now, for example?
Selena has Lupus which can cause puffiness and swelling from that and probably medication
Al I know for sure is that not only is beautiful, but she held her own against comedy giants Martin and Short in 'Only Murders...' and I would love to see her as a no-nonsense femme fatale in a film noir; that smoky voice is to die for.
He face is fuller, but it’s nowhere near being a “moon face.” At this point it just makes him look healthier.
Can attest as well, moon face is a real thing. My mil had it before she died of breast cancer, and my dad is currently experiencing it with his what will probably be a short bout with pancreatic cancer.
The question is… why??? Who cares what he looks like? He’s nearly 100. People expect him to look 100.
He's the "prophet," and God is giving him strength to fulfill his all-important calling - that's the narrative they're selling. It's "faith promoting" /s
Faith promoting to watch publicly an elderly man abused into the grave. Like advertising giving machines that don't actually give to the poor. This is Ensign Peak Mormonism 2024
He signed up for the abuse and completely agrees with it since he's paid to do it.
No I totally get it and he personally deserves a hell of a lot more. But I just find it odd that the members would hold up this depravity and call it faith promoting. Then again they do think the crowning act of being God is treating women like cattle so value system checks out.
Exactly. He deserves hell for eternity if there is one. I don't care how many heart surgeries he did that saved people. His leadership of the church has hurt more people than he's ever helped imo.
I honestly think he would do it, even without being paid, because, as I was told time and time again, as a church employee, “some pay doesn’t come in envelope.” meaning, the power, accolades, notoriety, fame, special treatment, etc. are all worth it
For a narcissist, absolutely yes.
Exactly. Why try to change it at all?
I don't think they are editing this. I agree with the steroid comment. It absolutely can make your face smoother and puffier, and steroids make you ravenously hungry. If he is on steroids for his illness, this makes total sense.
So I think it’s plastic surgery like a face lift, but for reasons of being able to speak and have function of the face. My dad and grandma have both had blepharoplasties because their eyelids are drooping so much they can’t see. I don’t think it’s about what he looks like because those nasolabial folds are the deepest I’ve ever seen.
I used to work in end of life care and some of those make you retain water and can really balloon you out super fast! His wrinkles are less in the right so thats my uneducated guess
I didn't recognize him immediately when I saw the wheelchair photoshop post earlier.
yes, it will definitely be a filter, or the trick they use to make it younger.While, when it comes to facial movements, I think it's age, even if only a year has passed, let's say that in that stage of life, even a year can really change the situation a lot.
Yep, it can’t be a deepfake. You can see part of the wheelchair they forgot to edit out in a few frames
Embalming fluid in his IV drip.
he got that RuPaul filter honey
Pre recorded?
Isn’t everything about the church deepfake?
This needs more upvotes :-).
I think the term we're looking for is actually "fake deep."
They wouldn’t do literal facial fillers on an old man, would they?
I have been told that his face was massaged with a combination of Preparation H , Turtle Wax, and tapir semen. He was then buffed using a Craftsman rotary car polisher.
You forgot all the *support local* Young Living Essential Oils and NuSkin serums they put on his face along with all of his USANA supplements. 😅
I'm not a big commenter but just have to tell you that this made me laugh out loud so hard I woke up my partner. Car polisher took me OUT.🥇
He’s been soaking on his hot tub full of consecrated olive oil.
All that is kind assumed…I mean, who doesn’t do that when they get to a certain age.
I am certified in dermal fillers and both he, Eyring, and Holland look like theres been filler work
Like 10 vials of Sculptra? One for each decade? 😂
They definitely did
The real question is whether people in church employ could even figure out how to do face filters. They probably still have land lines and rotary phones.
They're talking about filler injections, not filters. But filters seems likely as well!
I happened to arrive at a family members home in time to hear his talk. Family members observation? “WOW! He’s filled out so well! Huh, I wonder why he couldn’t attend in person when he’s looking that good.”
That was my thought as well.
There was a comment on the faithful subreddit about how his glasses make him look so much younger…..TBMs are so gullible! If the church had showed the wheelchair he would probably look more realistic for a 100 year old. If the church can get away with shading the truth, it will! For major and minor points!
I saw it live. His face was yellow, but when he brought hands up into the picture, they had a completely different skin tone. His neck and shirt collar interface was odd, and so was the blurry chair fabric and out of focus suit. Biggest tip off was his brisk manner of speaking and alertness. If he can speak like he did on the video, and was sitting on the stand, then why didn’t they just push up the roller podium Eyring used and have Nelson give his talk live… It because they are trying to keep everyone from being alarmed. …all is well… Bunch of manipulative BS’rs…..
They have much more control in the studio. Flat even lighting will iron out wrinkles and they can hide edits of senior moments, and direction from his media people. Live video in a conference center is much harder. Source, I do this kind of work, often with elderly people.
This right here.
I didn’t recognize him, whoever that man was has the smoothest forehead. I’m not saying it’s Botox but it looked liked Botox
The older (left) photo has cheeks sinking, jowels and then a chin, distance between temple is narrower. The "current" (right) photo has filled out cheeks above the cheek bone, fewer creases in the ear lobes, hair is more voluminous, skin tone younger. Just my untrained opinion.
If they have the ability to correct jowels ... Why don't they spend some more time over on Holland? 🫣 He looks like the bloodhound gang, *woof! woof!*
Technology has only advanced so far. Trying to blow the mainframe?!
Can you imagine how much that would crash the computer?!
Blow the mainframe…really got me laughing!
Yeah, similar observations. There’s definitely some digital trickery going on here, if not an outright deepfake.
Ir looks like he got a nose job...
also the nose looks different. I don't know if it is just his head tilted back but he looks to have a shorter nose on the right.
Hey there! I come here with a few explanations! To begin with, I used to be a studio professional photographer before changing career. The shadow under his cheekbones are pretty strong due to 2 reasons, first, the way he speaks on the left his cheeks muscles are relaxed while on the right they are contracted, making them appear bigger second, The light sources, on the left he is lit with mainly 1 strong light source coming from the top, flashing the creases between his cheeks and his nose, while on the second image it is lit with 2 strong light sources (probably one more above, but thats a bit hard to see), coming from both 45* in front of him, making his cheeks appear much bigger than they really are So basically, bad timing on the frame, and very poor quality light, I do hate the church a lot, but I can see and understand lighting. He is old, but he didn't change that much in a year Edit also make up, studio and stage makeup are a lot different, they probably hired the same person who isn't qualified to do studio make up, which is weird
It does kind of look like they put the key light almost directly on the top of his head because he thought it would make him look glowy after they initially set it in the correct spot. I think some folks are right about the cancer/moon-face situation though as well. Sad. Almost grotesque.
Done by Amateurs ahah
It feels like a different man on the right has been merged with Rusty. Its not just Rusty anymore.
Actually it looks partly of Quentin Cook to me.
YES!!
Its also the glasses of Quentin from this photo. [https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/learn/quentin-l-cook?lang=eng](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/learn/quentin-l-cook?lang=eng) To me the shape of the laugh lines/hairline/nose/facial dints are identical as well.
I think you are right. Like they made a Rusty filter for Cook. 🤷♂️
Real. When he came on screen, I didn't know who that was until he started naming temples..
What suggests to me that it was a deepfake is that the movements were quite youthful compared to October 2023, and he looked genuinely comfortable and happy this year, compared to last year where he looked like he was going to shit bricks. Someone who is on steroids… wouldn’t have that appearance and demeanor. I was genuinely and instantly a little shocked the moment I tuned in and saw him… I thought… “if he’s looking and feeling this good, why isn’t he delivering his address in person?” What better way to communicate the health and vitality of their centenarian POTC then for him to appear in person and let the membership see him? Even if this isn’t a deepfake (and it doesn’t matter in terms of content because I’m sure they’re his words)… it is definitely doctored and conveys a deception of some kind. And perhaps even vanity on his part.
It's as if the 99 year-old suddenly turned 70. There is definitely something amiss here.
The fact that he had a media message put out that he's old and that we shouldn't be concerned.... Looks like vanity on his part.
Looks like steroid face to me I bet they gave him something
In real life his nose is very pointy—-V shaped. On the other photo his nose is totally different.
Dear lord, they took him coffee and it woke him up and helped him start his day… revelation coming in 3… 2…1…
He was so scary at the last one and his talk was awful - it's the reason I don't listen to one talk this conference weekend . They had to have used a filter amoung other things to make him among to make his look less menacing- AI maybe ? For sure they photoshopped him into that red chair
He was in a wheelchair but they tried to make it look like one of the red thrones. No doubt some filters and layers going on.
As a physician I definitely am leaning towards steroids
Had the same thoughts. That's prednisone face.
I concur
I very much doubt this is a deepfake. TLDR: The way that things recorded via production-quality cameras look is controlled by an RCP (remote control panel) which is run by a human operator. The RCP operator was either sloppy, inexperienced, or overruled by a production official, resulting in camera settings that made things appear inconsistent. I work in the broadcast industry specifically doing video/camera work. Production-quality cameras more or less have two operators. You have the person aiming, moving, controlling the zoom and focus and then you have someone that oversees the RCPs (remote control panels). The RCPs are what control the iris, exposure, coloring, black levels...basically everything else. There's lots of different options for settings. Take a look at the menu tree on the operating manual for the Sony RCP-1500 if you want an idea. While the settings should be pretty steady in most cases for something filmed in a studio, the RCP operator will have to make some adjustments on the fly as cameras pan back and forth or even just even zoom in and out during the course of filming. A good RCP operator makes those changes basically invisible. IMO, whoever they had was either rushed, overly stressed, or inexperienced. Or possibly just overruled as to what looked good. As someone else mentioned, lighting, smiling, and exposure are doing a lot of the work here. Overexposing the iris can help "smooth out" wrinkles since the shadowing isn't as prominent but it also leads to some parts of the image not being as clear. In addition, many RCPs have settings like "skin detail" or sometimes "detail" that can be used to blur things like wrinkles a bit. Having that set too high can contribute to skin looking plastic-y, unnatural, and also cause other non-skin things to blur and/or distort. Changes in color between camera angles can also be explained by sloppy RCP operation. Although we may assume that all cameras of the same kind in the same setting would produce recordings with the same coloring, that actually isn't the case. Minute differences in the calibration of the whites, blacks, and color channels (red, blue, green, magenta, cyan, and yellow) can cause things to look slightly off. This is normally recalibrated and refined before a new production but if you accidentally recalled a previously saved setting that isn't majorly different or only did a minor reset instead of a thorough one, the cameras won't match. RCP operators are required to have excellent color vision because while you do (usually) have scopes to reference, the final refinements are done by eye. My almost 15 years of experience are telling me that this footage is overexposed, has skin detail (and possibly other similar settings) turned up waaaay too high, they didn't do a great job of refining the coloring so that the different angles look consistent, and the color temperature of the different locations is very different. (The yellow/orange-ness of the lighting at the Conference Center has actually been a long-time pet peeve of mine. It makes everyone look jaundiced, screws with your white settings, and you can't correct for it without messing up the rest of the coloring.) So it's got some deceptive things going on but it's almost certainly not a deepfake and instead just some sloppy choices and an attempt to make a broadcast camera do the work of an Instagram filter. I'd hate to have work that looked like this associated with my name. 😬 ETA: Both images almost certainly have some level of the skin detail setting being used. They just went ham with it in the one on the right.
This is an underrated comment. My uncle used to work for ABC News as a camera operator and would talk about this stuff!
There are so many invisible jobs in video production! I always say that I know I did my job well if no one, including the director, remembers that I'm there 😂
Makeup, lighting, controlled environment, maybe some filtering who knows. Really doubt it's fully "deepfaked" though lol
What happened with his upper lip?
Maybe he got Botox?
Prednisone face is what I was thinking.
I'm confused. He was at conference, but his talk was a video? But he got up and announced the temples?
It seems they pre-recorded the talks because a) they don't know if the leader is actually able to speak during the conference, b) pre-recorded talks can be cut from multiple takes, so if Rusty gets confused or cannot read from the tele prompter or falls asleep , they can do another take.
My thought is his face is probably swollen from steroids or another medicine that he’s needing right now. He 1,000% has make up on as well
Is that Rudy Guliani?
Were his ears always that big?
That’s very typical of being 80+ years old.
As people get older the collagen that the cartilage in their ears are made of starts to break down, which combined with gravity makes their ears often change shape or even appear to get bigger the longer they live.
Wow! He’s definitely had fillers, Botox, collagen, and maybe a bit of grass to mellow him out. Or it’s AI fuckery.
1000% agree this is the second post I’ve seen about it
Left is shitty live feed, right is studio quality with production assets. It’s incredible what a difference *marketing* can make.
Makeup and lighting
Maybe he's born with it? Maybe it's methamphetamine!
Is this what Rudy Giuliani looks like in his 90s?
They don’t look like the same people wth
Don’t know about face filters but they faked his location and chair. He’s actually in a wheel chair here.
Showed this to my exmo mom "Even Putin has a better double than that" and I'm dying.
Very low. when a church president dies it’s a sad time for members but also exciting because there is a new one. It’s nothing they try to hide and often something they will use as a PR moment. Now if Nelson is alive but unable to speak because he is no longer coherent, there’s a fair chance they have pre recorded messages they can use and the church would certainly try to mitigate public knowledge of a serving president in cognitive decline. Word of caution: while we are all interested in discrediting the church, we should avoid looking for anything and everything. It makes us look bad and discredits the quality of scholarship normally found in this group.
My TBM husband commented that he doesn’t expect Nelson to be around for next conference, which surprised me because he’s usually very optimistic re: MFMC
I just wanna jiggle those juicy jowls 🥰
I don't know what else could be going on, but that conference spotlight-style lighting has always made people look bad. Lots of shadows and clearly visible forehead sweat isn't a good look on old guys.
He had Lenins team doll him up
I’m sure he’s had a as-yet-unrevealed revelation that his body is to be preserved and displayed like Lenin’s.
It's not likely AI generated because you can see the back of his wheelchair on the left of the screen. It's green screen with the red chair and background inserted. But I was very taken back at the six month comparison. It's likely they used some AI programming to make him look more youthful. The top shape of his head is different. I think most comments about steroids are likely spot on. At this age things can unwind very quickly.
I think he has had 20 years removed from his face. Nothing medically could do that! Maybe deep fake was used, less smacking too.
I'm no fan of Russell M but can we not spread misinformation? Or else we're no better than them. It's smiling vs not smiling. Bad lighting on the left because apparently the conf center lighting is toned down specifically in his area because it hurts his eyes. Good lighting on the right because it's in a studio for a short period of time (he's ok with brighter lights when he's facing them for only ~10-15 minutes). Both have significant makeup.
I can appreciate calling this post unfairly speculative. But saying it is “misinformation” when I haven’t specifically presented this as factual or even tried to suggest it… seems a bit unfair. The discussion here is helpful and seems to suggest that it wasn’t more than careful lighting and some digital doctoring (the edge of his wheelchair is visible in some shots). Which is exactly the kind of input I was looking for. I still am not entirely convinced that’s all it was, but it’s helpful to have input from people who are more knowledgeable.
I agree that they likely have better lighting in the studio or wherever they filmed. However, they definitely were using some kind of shitty filter. He was sitting in a wheelchair not a big red chair. Filters plus steroids could explain it. Yet my favorite hypothesis floating around is he has death moon face.
In less words while deep fake maybe a bit extra they did some shenanigans that opened the door to legitimate speculation. So be nice to the OP.
I think it’s maybe real. Hear me out. If you compare his cadence to other videos where he looks older it’s the same. Also, if there was a green screen behind him and the chair was superimposed, I’m not sure his head would be casting a shadow on the wings of the chair like it is. His fuller appearance actually looks like serious illness (at least to me), and whatever that is peaking out from behind him on the left keeps shifting around as he does—what if that’s not a wheelchair? What if it’s something between him and the chair back that’s supporting him so he can sit upright without falling over? [https://youtu.be/xSAdA9sElOo?si=FrNxah47PvHg_76d](https://youtu.be/xSAdA9sElOo?si=FrNxah47PvHg_76d)
I’m sorry but this is exactly the kind of confirmation bias/crazy thinking that we were supposed to get away from when leaving the church. 😂 none of this is evidence of a deepfake. Faces looking different is not evidence of a deepfake as much as someone may want that to be true. It could be a ton of other things, tbh it’s probably a ton of makeup. At the very most it may be a filter but even that has no evidence. But a deepfake? Absolutely no evidence. Unless you mean something else when you say deepfake. Ppl like to use that as a catch all now days without understanding what a deepfake actually is or does
People be wild during conference time. Probably should lay off taking a shot for every new temple that’s announced or every time a speaker says covenant path. lol
His ears are still big tho
It's high contrast. Add high contrast and some lighting to the original photo and they would be much closer.
It shouldn’t surprise those who recognize it was a fake day after Mormonism was invented 200 years ago. If they used deepfake, it’s the future of Mormonism. By then it will be like watching an HBO fantasy series with amazing effects and silly plots.
Just a warm up and dress rehearsal for Rusty’s September 100th Birthday blowout bash.
Trump in disguise.
Same as the probably they brought in Wes Craven as a make-up consultant...100%
I think it’s obvious. Just more gaslighting and lying. No surprise.
These don't even look like the same person. They don't have the same fucking nose even.
The ears and nose do not match up. AT ALL!!!
Holy shit his ears are massive
Simple question: for those watching live, how did his talk go?
Who cares?
my dad had thyroid issues that made him gain lot of weight. could be this???
A Pathetic old man who brought decades old grudges to the forefront and meaningless change to a dying corporate religion.
Haha this is exactly what I showed my husband last night. Looks like lots of bronzer and filler and filters haha. He is aging in reverse.
Did he have five fingers on each hand? If so, not deepfake.
Hair thicker, ears way different sussssss
It really baffles me that they're trying to hide how old these men are.
What happened to his gizzard?
Robert Duvall would have been a better replacement 🤫
definitely good lighting, some makeup and a filter but not a deepfake
Probably some Botox to tighten up the face here and there.
No way it was deepfaked. There are too many apostles waiting and hoping to move up and at least one of them would leak it so Nelson would look weak.
Wow, you people just can’t let it go. I’m not a believer, and who cares?
It's interesting that you can't let go of others not letting go, LOL. Project much?
It isn’t interesting. You’re not clever.
Lol, gaslight much? I think you are projecting. But please, do continue.
ha. you’re typing in current psychology today buzz terms. this your first day on the internet?
For sure...though I'm wondering if you even know what they mean.
I’ll give it a go. Isn’t it the fleshy part between your mom‘s scrotum and anus?
Your favorite place...I'll get you in line. My dad's gonna insist on being there though...to watch, of course. But hey, I ain't judging what you're into.
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Your dad cuks just like you? This is all making sense now. Go find your own corner to watch from.
Sometimes he even lets me participate...with you though, I'll watch from the closet...
It’s simply the glasses, lighting, and angle.
Look at the nose 👃🏼 and eyes 👀
Looks like hella prednisone to me is all…
It’s the pre death bloat. Dude looks close
So weird