Advertising

Cinemagraphs Change Online Advertising

Advertising is the art of convincing people to spend money they don't have for something they don't need.  ~ Will Rogers

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Online advertisers have begun to explore the use of cinemagraphs—a type of animated gif—to shake up their banner and display campaigns.

In the year since the term "cinemagraph" was first coined by graphic designer Kevin Burg and photographer Jamie Beck, the images have become a class of digital photography all their own.
 

Technically, a cinemagraph is just a gif—one of those animated web files that repeatedly replays as a short piece of video created from dozens of still shots layered on top of each other.
 

Here's a selection of some of the most effective use of Cinemagraphs in recent ads.

Coca-Cola

In just over two weeks this Cinemagraph created for Coca Cola, receiveing more than 100,000 notes on the brand's Tumblr page.

 

Christian Louboutin

Known for their fashion photography, here Beck and Burg use the Cinemagraph technique in a campaign for Christian Louboutin.

 

Rosie Tupper for Katie Ermilio

The subtle flick of the model's eye lashes and lift of her hand is another example of a fashion editorial by Beck and Burg that was created for Katie Ermilio.

 

Tiffany & Co

Another creation by Beck and Burg made this Cinemagraph part of a campaign promoting Tiffany & Co's 1837 Collection in RUBEDO metal, and was on display at Tiffany's Fifth Avenue location.

 

Rachel Zoe's Spring Collection for Bloomingdales.com

Beck and Burg shot Rachel Zoe's interactive Lookbook for the designer's Bloomingdales.com collection.

 

Volvo Ocean Race

The creative team captured the entire race, following the Puma Mar Mastro sail boat, one of the fastest boats in the world, chronicling each turn of the adventure.

 

Dogfish Headcraft Brewery

Beck and Burg imagined this Cinemagraph as part of a series for a Dogfish Headcraft Brewery Adertising campaign outlining the brewery process.

 

Gilt Taste

This image below was designed for a Gilt Taste series of cinemagraphs, also by the Beck and Burg, and demonstrates the level of research and thought the pair put into each photoshoot — always looking for the tiny bits that are "alive" in a photo, such as the small drops of dew falling from the tomatoes.

 

Diesel

This cinemagraph was shot by photographer Steven Meisel for Diesel, and was produced by the creative agency Mad London.

Coco Rocha for Senhoa

The editorial image below features model Coco Rocha as part of a campaign promoting her jewelery collection for Senhoa. Notice the synchronization with the mirror.

 

The truth of the matter is that good advertising, regardless of the market, always brings success in terms of awareness. Embracing this trend, using cinemagraphs in online ads, at least on some markets, could prove to be a really inspired move for some companies and brands. Also, any brands wanting to be known as always being connected with everything new should consider using this type of ads in their campaigns.

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Interview with Jamie Beck and Kevin Burg

When Photos Come to Life: The Art of the Cinemagraph

Jamie Beck and Kevin Burg

 

These aren’t your ordinary GIFs. The cinemagraph is a medium pioneered (and named) by husband and wife team Jamie Beck and Kevin Burg in which individual instants of motion are isolated against a static image. This dichotomy creates moments that are quiet and contemplative, elevating the humble GIF into something much more refined.

Jamie Beck and Kevin Burg spoke to Joseph Lin about the medium.

 

Joseph Lin: What is a cinemagraph? 

Kevin Burg: I think of it as a living photograph. It’s a photograph that has a living moment inside of it.

JL: How did you come up with the name?

KB: We were just playing with Greek roots. We were researching how they came up with the term photography. [Editor's note: the word photograph is generally accepted to have derived from the Greek terms photos, meaning of light and graphō, meaning I write.]

Jamie Beck: We had to give it a name because we’d go to a photo shoot and people kept saying, Make one of those moving things. I was so tired of people saying “that moving thing,” so we came up with a name for it.

KB: And calling it a GIF didn’t seem to work either, because a GIF can mean so many things. This is a specific thing with its own criteria. Its own medium.

JB: The name cinemagraph went generic overnight. I tweeted what we named it and it went crazy from there.

KB: By the time we talked to the trademark office, they were like, this is a descriptive, generic term.

Jamie Beck and Kevin Burg

JL: Can you explain the process?

JB: When we first started doing it, the question was can you make a living moment that exists within the GIF format? I was going out with a 5D Mark II, with a built-in video capability, shooting stills and a little bit of video, and then Kevin would hand-stitch the living moment. Now we shoot with a cinema camera, so any still that comes out of it is equivalent to a 5D Mark II, so it makes it a little easier to shoot living moments.

KB: It’s really about combining the stills world and the motion world. Cameras now are a blurry world between the two. It’s not a still camera or a video camera. For instance, an iPhone does both off the same sensor.

Every frame is like a 35mm photo. So what is a still photo and what is motion, anymore? It’s hard to differentiate between the two. We are responding to that, sort of coming together of those two technologies.

Jamie Beck and Kevin Burg

JL: How long does it take to actually create one?

KB: On average it takes two days to finish one.

JB: It depends. Human movement is a lot trickier and it takes longer and it can take up to a week just working on that.

Jamie Beck and Kevin Burg

JL: How do you choose these moments and what do you look for?

JB: It took a while for us to rethink the way we looked at the world to see cinemagraphs. And then once you can train your eye to do that, things open up. You just see something different. Seeing these little live moments that exist around you and being really aware of them. You stop everything else around it and focus on this one really beautiful, living thing.

You have to be really mindful about where you want the attention to go. A lot of that happens in the post-production, deciding what is alive and how long it will be alive.

KB: And there should be a reason for it to be alive. Not just something moving for the heck of it. We want to be economical with how we use this motion.

JB: It’s also fun because it allows people to see through your eyes. I have one of Grace Coddington sketching at the Ralph Lauren show at New York Fashion Week. It was fascinating because I was watching her sketch and everything else kind of went away. Disappeared. I didn’t see anyone or anything else. Then you get to recreate that in a cinemagraph. It’s like everyone is watching her sketch the way I was watching her sketch.

Jamie Beck and Kevin Burg

JL: Why do you like this medium?

JB: It’s about being a storyteller. Sometimes people ask me is film better than digital? You choose the right tool for the job. Sometimes making a video is the right tool for the job. Sometimes a cinemagraph will be the best outcome to share a moment. Sometimes a photograph. You apply the correct medium to what you want to do, what you want to say.

Jamie Beck and Kevin Burg

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Jamie Beck is a photographer and Kevin Burg is a digital artist. The husband and wife duo have collaborated as artists since 2009.
Joseph C. Lin is an Associate Photo Editor for TIME.com