The background is a photograph of  a smashed car outside of an abandoned loading warehouse.

The background is a picture of an old shoe I found near an abandoned farm.

I’ll have the rest of the photos from the abandoned farm up soon!

The photo is from the lake across the street a few days ago.

I want to work with these a LOT more. Very very easy, and very fun to make. From the start of post to the exporting of the .gif this took maybe 15-20 minutes.

All Images from Jamie Beck and Kevin Burg

I just came cross the amazing work of Jamie Beck and Kevin Burg two artists based in NY, they invented a new format, “Cinemagraphs”  that is between the photograph and a movie, giving classic photographs movement in some way, giving them life. Really original and unique, yes I confess I want to learn to do this! but for the moment I just admire it, it really is extraordinaire, both are also authors of one of my favorite blogs From me to You , which shows a variety of their work not only Cinemagraphs , if you love photography and fashion like I do, I think you will fall in love. This is almost the last post of the year, getting ready to transform and invent new things, I hope you to in any aspect you desire.

Be in the Move,

Love,

Yavidan

Looking off their back porch there’s I nice view of the river. Also, you can see the rain falling in this.

Unfortunately, I later found out that I was tired enough that I was rather soft on the focus, but still managed a few things alright.

There was just about ten minutes that there was some lovely thunder cloud light.

And finally, the view from the room where I took a nap.

Hopefully everyone had a good holiday season!

#10  lovestru.ck

Dessert never looked or moved so good before we saw this innovative GIF.  It’s clean, crisp, and tells a story simply and to the point.  This GIF shows us why the multi-faceted medium is here to stay and why it has become a major player in digital marketing and advertising.

#9  Google+

We found this one while looking on Google+.  Its slight movement in just the right spots makes your mouth water and is a great demonstration of how slight movement elicits and expands emotion… and your taste buds.

#8  Craig Staggs

Artist and videographer Craig Staggs used a bar in Austin, TX as the backdrop for this colorful GIF.  It shows absinthe dripping ever so slowly into a glass.  This GIF was used in a variety of digital marketing including email campaigns and website design.

#7  Diesel

Diesel’s Autumn/Winter 2012 ad campaign will make you do a double take.  At first glance, the ads shot by famed fashion photographer Steve Meisel look like traditional, static outdoor ads.  But when you take a second look, you’ll notice they’re actually subtly moving.

#6  Burberry

Burberry’s “Thanks A Million” campaign tweeted out this personalized GIF to its Twitter followers after successfully reaching the one million mark on the popular social media site.

#5  Looper

The major motion picture Looper introduced us to the world’s first “official” GIF movie poster in October when the film premiered.

#4  Reed + Rader

Created for NYC fashion line Verrier, this delicate but powerful GIF was included as part of a series of “lookbook” animations that appeared on their website.

#3  Jack Spade

This GIF was included in an email sent out as part of their Fall Campaign.  One blogger commented, “When I saw Jack Spade’s email I was majorly impressed — it had one of the biggest animated GIFs in an email that I’ve ever seen! It immediately caught my attention and I watched the entire GIF play through, over and over again.”

#2  Amazon

This GIF was included as part of Amazon’s Black Friday email campaign used to kick off their ‘Deals of the Week’.

#1  Jamie Beck & Kevin Burg

True pioneers of the medium, Beck & Burg make every GIF shine with their masterful use of style and artistry.  This GIF was created for Lincoln Motor Company to celebrate the memory of romance alongside their timeless classic cars.

These GIFs are all great examples of the visual power of the medium and it’s just the beginning.  In 2012, not only did the GIF celebrate its 25th Birthday,  it was even honored as the Word of Year by Oxford Dictionary.  Yes, it’s been quite the year for the ‘new’ animated GIF and we’re looking forward to an even better 2013!  Happy New Year!

Check out these beautiful and life-like animated images from Jamie Beck and Kevin Burg, you will surely like these cinemagraphs.

The back ground is cars going by across an inlet of the lake

And, because it’s always threatening to rain or actually raining, all of the light is nice an consistent across the whole batch.

While pretty when they’re alive, their shapes become very interesting as they dry up.

This is one of my favorites, when I was doing post on this one, I noticed you cans see a small blue lady beetle about mid picture.

Even the lake plants across the street from where I live change hugely in the winter.

I think that one of the reasons that I find all these dead plants so interesting is because for the most part everything stays green here. Most of the trees are fir trees, and ferns, ivies, and a lost of other small bushes just stay green though winter. Also the wet weather breaks most of the dead plants down fairly quickly, so by this time of year you actually have to keep an eye out to notice them.

If i were to ever describe a plant as pissed, it would be this one.

To take this I was standing on a nubbin of old foundation that was peeking out of the water on the lake.

In the overgrown field near an abandoned farm.

Take a look at these animated GIFs being used at ThinkGeek’s ecommerce website.  They’re a great example of how high quality animated GIFs can be used to help sell products.  ThinkGeek quickly demonstrates the value and features of these particular products by showing them in use.  Instead of a boring still image, they opted to show motion and draw attention to what makes the product unique.  They simply sprinkle them in their online catalog to capture consumers’ attention and sell more items.  You can see their website in action by clicking the logo below.

Other websites are beginning to use animated GIFs to sell clothing and other fashion merchandise.  What use to take multiple clicks and various stale images now happens automatically.  Animated GIFs quickly demonstrate an item and show its different options and features.  Here are a few more examples from the web:

Land’s End

Bed Bath & Beyond / Sherwin Williams

One of the best GIF friendly DIY ecommerce sites is Shopify.com.  They handle GIFs with ease and you can easily set-up your product displays to animate at any viewing size.  We recommend that if you thinking about creating your own ecommerce site, look into using Shopify.  And of course use Cinegif to make all of your professional, high-quality animated GIFs.

life on the streets

Copyright – Jamie Beck & Kevin Burg

The process is very complex, time consuming, and requires an expert level of Photoshop knowledge just to get started.  Cinegif has automated this highly technical process thus allowing you to spend more time creating rather than trying to figure out what settings, buttons, and sliders to adjust for the desired result.  What takes hours and days in Photoshop takes only minutes with Cinegif.

A few weeks ago, I went on the web to look for a good tutorial video.  The first one I found had 109 steps to complete a Cinemagraph.  Another video was 53 minutes long.  The one shown below caught my attention but was so complicated that half way through I began to think that I was being recruited by Homeland Security to fight terrorists.

Through no fault of the presenter, it just confirms that the process is difficult.  It also highlights the fact most of us have better things to do than watch a complicated video, buy an expensive software package, and take the time to master the technical recipe.

Why go through all of that when for less than $2 you can create your own in less than 5 minutes from upload to finished product.

Here’s our video on how to make a Cinemagraph using Cinegif:

Save Time & Money with Cinegif.  Start your FREE Trial today at www.cinegif.com.

We love this fireplace scene!  It is a great example of how much more engaging animated GIF enabled creative is than a boring still image.  Just to prove my point, I saved the GIF as a JPG so you could see the difference.

Which one would you rather have in your next e-mail campaign?  We also discovered some exciting new data that Experian Marketing Services shared in a recent blog post.   They found that “…72% of clients who’ve utilized animated gif’s or cinemagraphs experience higher transaction-to-click rates.”  I think the examples from Amazon clearly demonstrate why that is.

Amazon continued the GIF trend by sending out another e-mail campaign promoting their Cyber Monday deals.  Although the creative was not as elegant as the Black Friday ad, it still accomplished its mission of grabbing my attention.

Learn how to get started using high quality animated GIFs in your next e-mail campaign.  Click here or visit http://www.cinegif.com.

Happy Holidays from the Cinegif Team!

It’s not everyday that what you do gets recognized by a higher power.  In this case it is the noble Oxford Dictionary USA that has bestowed the illustrious honor of “Word of the Year” on our beloved GIF.  This is a very prestigious award and the word ‘GIF’ now joins an elite circle of past winners that includes other game changers such as ‘podcast’, ‘tweet’, ‘blog’, and ‘google’.

I will also proudly point out that it is part of our company name “Cinegif”.  In our humble opinion, the GIF has proudly risen like a phoenix from the ashes of web page “under construction” symbols and whatever other annoying or cheesy graphic you could upload to MySpace.  Advances in technology have given the GIF (used as a noun) a new life and transformed it into a high quality, instant open & play, silent video clip that attracts attention.  Artists are creating mesmerizing Cinemagraphs that capture just enough of a specific moment to spark your curiosity and teens are sharing GIFs across Tumblr and other social networks.

This trend will continue to grow and is already becoming a part of mainstream marketing and advertising in email campaigns, website graphics, landing pages, e-commerce displays, and social media.  Solutions like Cinegif empower professionals to create new hybrid works of art that are as engaging as a video yet as simple to use as an image.

Check out our infographic on GIFs & Marketing to see where this wonderful format (in both noun and verb format) is headed.

Congratulations to GIF and to all of those who have supported your comeback!  Long live the GIF!

Cinemagraph: Terence Johnson

 
 
An example clip << with some possibilities >> another. Though they’re better known as cinemagraphs I prefer the cinegraph terminology, otherwise too long a name for the humble soul of a “gif”, ji ji
Video-tutorials on making cinegraphs

 
• photoshop cs5 extended
• photoshop s6   quick&dirty version / detailed, long laid back version

 
 
gashô

This one was created by Todd Wallis of Virtual Media Group and is currently in use in his e-mail signature.  His Cinegif links to a 2 minute video on his website that talks about the services his company provides.

Here’s how it looks in his e-mail.  Click to see for yourself.

We were so inspired by Todd and his team at Virtual Media Group that we began using it ourselves!  This is how mine turned out

Create your own unique signature:

1. Start by creating a Cinegif that is no more than 150 pixels wide.  It’ll be saved in your Gallery with its own access URL or you also have the option of downloading it onto your computer.

2. Then simply update your e-mail signature block managed by your browser by either uploading the Cinegif or pointing to the access URL.

Note: If you are using Gmail, you can access your signature block under Settings, General, Signature, Insert Graphic, and then enter the Cinegif’s access URL.  Add a link to your website, landing page, video or whatever works best for you along with your contact information and you’re all set!

I am in love with movement and energy cinemagraphs bring to fashion editorials. New medium opens up so many new possibilities…It’s very intriguing.

*Click on the photo if you cannot see the movement.*

 1.   Add Video to Your Next Email Campaign!

Use Stock Video and our patented motion tools to add some action to your email!

• Purchase and download a Video from any stock site such as Pond5 or iStockphoto
• Upload it to Cinegif and edit it to just the right clip
• Identify a motion element to isolate using our patented tools and Create
• Download and add that beautiful Cinegif into your next Email Campaign!

2.   Bring Your Next Blog Post to Life!

Use one of your own Videos to add a captivating Cinegif to your blog!

• Take a video from your YouTube channel, Vimeo account, or Website
• Upload it to Cinegif, edit it to just the right clip, and Create
• Download and add your attention grabbing Cinegif to your next post!

3.   Add a Unique Slideshow to Your Website!

Use your pictures to add an appealing Cinegif to your blog! 

• Pick a group or theme of your favorite photos and upload them to Cinegif
• Using our easy drag and drop editing tools, arrange them in the order you want and Create
• Download and add your fabulous custom slideshow to your website!

Cinegifs are special because they use the standard animated gif file format (.gif) and can be added just like you would a normal boring still image file (.jpg) on any digital platform.

Cinegifs also maximize quality while minimizing size, are instant open & play, are as simple to use as a regular image file, and still capture the movement and life of a video (no need for links, downloads, pressing play, or any other hassles that come with video files)!

Visually Improve

e-mail campaigns | website designs | landing pages

e-commerce displays | social media | and more

]]> http://blog.cinegif.com/2012/11/01/gifs-get-better-results/ Thu, 01 Nov 2012 18:36:20 +0000 gmcfarland http://blog.cinegif.com/2012/11/01/gifs-get-better-results/ Cinegifs are professional, high-quality animated GIFs made from your own video or photos.  Our patented technology creates one-of-a-kind content specifically tailored for your marketing and advertising projects.

Our customers use Cinegifs to visually improve:

• Email campaigns
• Website designs
• Landing pages
• Blog posts
• Ecommerce displays
• Video thumbnails
• Social media

This is not by accident, but because of proven results.  In October, Experian Marketing Services published a blog post with a first of its kind revelation:

We’ve seen 72% of clients who’ve utilized animated gif’s or cinemagraphs experience higher transaction-to-click rates.

They conclude by saying that “a well-placed gif animation can be the spark you need to attract subscribers’ attention to your email and keep them engaging with your future communications.”

Companies like Amazon, Coca-Cola, American Apparel, Puma, and Burberry all used animated GIFs this year.  Because of the significantly better results they achieved  they are incorporating them into their market strategy for 2013 as well.  We expect many more companies will make GIFs a staple in their digital marketing creative.

Here are a few of our favorites from 2012:

MTV – promo for the show awkward

Burberry – Thanks a Million Twitter campaign

♥ lovestru.ck – dessert campaign

How do you plan on using animated GIFs in your 2013 digital marketing strategy?  Save valuable time and money by using Cinegif to help you create the right creative content.  It is the only DIY service out there specifically designed for marketers and advertisers.  Do it yourself at Cinegif.

I recently realized that, despite being one of the largest projects I undertook this year, I have not yet posted about my dissertation!

Using a creative approach to animated GIF images I came up with a project that challenges the codes and conventions of portrait photography. I’ll start by giving you a brief summary of the dissertation itself (as the full written piece is over 10000 words!) and then show the pieces at the bottom.

Summary

We see portrait photographs around us every day. They line the walls of our homes and fill our magazines, yet we ignore the reality of how flawed this type of photograph is. From a personal portrait to a family album, these are supposed to be accurate documents that show the people within them for who they really are. This is not the case. These photographs show a single moment in time. A moment that is often posed for by the subject(s), or choreographed by the photographer. What we end up with is a false representation of who a person really is. It takes all of what makes us unique away and presents us in a way that we wouldn’t normally dress or hold ourselves naturally.

By creating a series of photographs that have aspects of movement within them I hoped to highlight the falseness that we just accept when we view these photographs. I used the contrast of movement and stillness within my images to draw the viewer to the heart of the problem.

In the pieces you can see clearly how the subject’s mood can be misrepresented at the moment a photograph is taken; how we assume things when we look at photographs depending on what is in them, often when there is very little to go on; and also how the way a photograph is shot and edited can change how we view and read it.

Hopefully through this explanation and viewing the pieces themselves I can open your eyes to some of the ways in which most portraiture photography is fundamentally flawed and misrepresents us.

Final Pieces

The 6 final pieces were exhibited on 22″ screens with frames on them to create the illusion that they are actual photographs at first glance. Each GIF image was created as a video to avoid quality loss on such big screens. Each of the pieces loop perfectly which does a good job of confusing people and capturing their attention! The size of these pieces along with the unexpected movement meant they went down very well on the night of the exhibition.
Here is a video of the pieces on display:

Here is a gallery of some of the images and the process of taking them.

If you have any questions about any of these or would like to see better versions of the finished pieces please feel free to leave a comment or email me – samf90@gmail.com