Hi all. I have been following this thread for a while, but this is my first post - everyone is so thorough and quick that no sooner have I thought something, it has been posted. This GIF has really been eye opening for me, though, and I wanted to make a couple of observations that are JMO:
- From the beginning, one of the things that bothered me was how different the two pictures of BG (whose BG? - drink!) were so different from one another. They almost looked like two different people. From this GIF I think that I have some clarity on this issue. Because of the turn to the right, towards the girls, the second picture is perhaps a more direct picture - IMO it is more likely to match BG more closely because it is not as oblique at picture 1. And again, IMO, in the second pic he looks younger and possibly stockier.
- IMO BG makes a quick and quite sudden move to the right. We don't know how fast he is walking, but if you look at the markings on the bridge, it has become clear to me (IMO) that there could not have been more than one step in between the pictures. IMO this speaks to a confident stride with clear purpose and intention.
- He is not making eye-contact in either of the pictures, looking down instead. While this could be because he is hesitant as has been speculated, IMO it could have been one of the things that alerted the girls to the fact that this man was not friendly. A fast pace, confident stride, not making eye contact, heading towards you - if all of that is true, then the girls would have known something was wrong very quickly (There is interesting work that has been done looking at how we only become conscious of a fraction of the stimuli or cues in our environment, and how what we understand as intuition is often the brain picking up, at a very high speed, on dissonant things around us and warning us that something is amiss. I will have to dig into my psychology notes for references but would be happy to do for anyone who is interested).g
I know there is nothing particularly new about what I am saying, but this GIF has somehow cleared my thinking and has settled some niggly issues for me (IMO of course).
Thank you for amazing insights and stimulating discussion.