What is a cinemagraph?
A cinemagraph is a type of animated gif format that's an eye-catching alternative to using still photographs. It's not quite a video, but it does have some video animation loop that helps bring life to an otherwise still picture. In a cinemagraph, the image is mostly a still photo, but it does have some elements which are in motion in a seamless loop to bring in some life. Beautiful cinemagraphs are simple, but have a couple motion elements to really draw in the eye. The motion created in the cinemagraph is what sets it apart from a static image.
Check out that endless steam and flicker of the candle in the background (and that hint of the flicker reflection on the left)
How to create cinemagraphs
Look how the flame is the only thing in motion giving more attention to the flame
To create cinemagraphs, you would take a short video of the scene, preferably using a tripod to mount your camera so the set stays still. The tripod will help ensure your scene doesn't move and your camera won't shake. If you have shaky footage, it would be more difficult to create a cinemagraph. When creating cinemagraphs, you want to have only certain areas with movement. So use a sturdy tripod for your camera, whether that be on your phone or with a dedicated video camera.
With a cinemagraph, it's best to highlight one or two moving elements with the perfect loop. For example, if you had a scene with a coffee cup where you wanted to showcase the hot steam coming from a fresh pour of coffee, you would take some video footage of the scene trying to capture a good looping option. For stunning cinemagraphs, try to make the scene visually appealing to where it looks amazing even as a still photograph. Choose an element where you would like to have movement, and focus on that.
After filming, you would then take it into a photo editing software, like Adobe Photoshop, and find that short section where you can create a seamless loop. With Adobe Photoshop, you would mask out all the areas you want to have the image to be still on a new layer, and blend in the area you want looped. After you make a cinemagraph, you would export the video file as a gif. Viola! You now have created your first cinemagraph creation.
How it will benefit you
Notice the water pouring endlessly into the mug
Having a cinemagraph would serve as great marketing content and sharing online! By having a still image that has movement, you would be able to "stop the scroll" and capture the viewer's attention. Since they would be short animated gifs, they would watch the video loop several times without knowing, increasing your view count, and it would stand out amongst the sea of still photos. Even when comparing them to videos, this technique can attract the viewer since a cinemagraph would look different with only a small portion of the image would have movement, with the rest of the photo being still.
These cinemagraph images would go great on your website when showing different sections or highlighting new products without the need for a full video. If you have too many videos on your website, it can slow down the loading and make the user experience undesirable. If you want to create a cinemagraph, it can be a fun experience! But if you need help making cinemagraphs for your content, hiring a cinemagraph pro, like us, can make it easier for you. We'll work together with you to create the concept for your cinemagraph, taking photos to make sure the set is what you imagine, and leaving the rest to us.
Let's chat and talk about how we can create the perfect cinemagraph image for you. 👇
