Illusory Progression

My initial reaction was that it looks and plays really nice and smoothly, but I didn't understand the point of it because I couldn't figure out what illusion I was supposed to be seeing so I was very confused. But it definitely is "beautiful and interesting".
After actually reading the documentation I realize that your project is much more than aesthetically pleasing! I really see how it tells the story of typical Metroid games. If I had played them before I'm sure I would've noticed what you were going for without reading the documentation. And it was also very impressive how you used the illusory contours illusion to enhance what was behind your project. I notice what's going on now of course though, but the fact that I didn't notice what was happening originally just proves your project's illusion worked the way you wanted it to.
If I were making a revision to this work, the first thing I'd do would be to change the first map from 'fade to black' to 'fade from black' or keep it black completely except for the mask. And then I'd try and find a different platform other than vine to loop it because (in our group's experience as well), vine very slightly distorts what you have. These revisions would be to help it loop seamlessly while keeping the ordering of the maps.
If I knew Vine didn't do exactly what I wanted, I would've used a tool from here: http://en.softonic.com/s/video-loops

This is a really good project! I don't think you should worry about the sound, I didn't even realize it when I watched it. Your illusion works really well; after I watched the illusion and was reading the write up, I noticed that I didn't realize that it was completely dark at a point and there was no sight of Samus. I had thought that I saw her running. This means you're very successful, so congratulations! The only thing I was confused about was that I'm not sure how much this project connects to Kaniza's Triangle since I don't think there is enough information in a screenshot of Samus "running" in the dark.

As others, at first I didnt see the illusion as well. I was confused. Then, after reading the documentation, I realized that i didnt see the illusion because you guys did so well! The best illusion is supposed to be defective to everyone. Good job! I tried to find the dark point and paused a lot on the video. Finally I did it lol. The whole process looks very complicated and I think you put lots of work in it. And the result pretty much matches up your intention. The animation is very impressive and beautiful! I really like the short video you guys present at the beginning. It explains a lot to me. Very nice job!

That's a really nice way of animating that illusion! I loved how the scenes changed as more was added to the figure. The sound definitely goes with the animation well. There are many ways of making a looping video, and though we had trouble with Vine in particular, it turned out well in your case; the fade from end to beginning is very nice. As with the original standing image, I have a harder time seeing what the "illusion" is with illusory contours, but nice job!

Very neat project! I didn't think that you could incorporate movement into the illusory contour effect, but you guys did it very well! Having worked with sprite animation myself before, I imagine a lot of effort must have gone into this project and it clearly shows. Also, using Vine to present your work was a very good idea, since it allows for clear playback and seamless looping, which I think is important in order for your illusion to work. Good job!