What if you could combine film and photography and share it with your friends all in the palm of your hands? Would you jump for joy? Burst into tears?
Go ahead and do both because I’m introducing you to Cinemagr.ams, the latest app from Factyle Inc that creates and delivers Cinemagraphs, animated photographs from your own recordings.
I first became familiar of Cinemegraphs by following lovely photographer Jamie Beck’s blog, From Me To You. Showcasing the chic moments from Fashion Week and beyond, Jamie Beck and her fiancee Kevin Burg developed this photo-video tool that spread across the digital space like wild fire. According to Beck and Burg, the Cinemagraph came about as a way to marry “original content photography with the desire to communicate more to the viewer.” I saw her clips from Coco Rocha’s apartment and was hooked. Classic yet creative, her Cinemagraphs became one of my favorite features on her blogs. Did you see the ones from her NYFW visit? Simply gorgeous.
While Jame and Kevin spend hours working on their Cinemagraphs, a new app was just released offering the world of Cinemagr.ams (same thing, different name) to us “regular” folk. Do you get as high-quality products as Jamie’s? Sadly no. But you can still have a lot of fun playing around with them and creating your own mini clips.
I spent all weekend trying to perfect the art of Cinemagr.ams and while I’m still a newbie, I’ve almost figured it out. Above are a few of my attempts from IFB’s fancy french Friday lunch outing last week. The lighting was awful so it’s hard to see what’s going on. But they were so much fun to create. We could have spent hours messing around and recording…
Can’t wait to get started on your own works of art? I have basic tips for getting your Cinemagr.am on:
- Hold still. No, seriously. Don’t move. The more steady your hand is, the better your Cinemagr.am will be.
- Use the zoom feature when creating your masks. In order to isolate the moving subject, you have to use a mask and highlight the areas that you want to move. Sound complicated? It really isn’t. It just takes some getting used to. The best way to get the precise area selected is with the Zoom feature. Once up close and personal, you can see more clearly.
- Isolate people. Trying to focus on a single moving person can be tough. The layer masks aren’t the best and if not don’t correctly, you can see a little bubble around that same person. Your best bet is to isolate your subject before shooting. Or, get really good at using your masks.
- Find the best lighting. Unlike Instagram which has numerous filters that can fix bad lighting situations, Cinemagr.am has a small amount of colorization options. In fact, I pretty much hate all of those options. Your best bet is to stick with natural lighting.
I have been researching how to do this for so long now! Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing. I can’t wait get started. Another reason to be nose to screen on my Iphone….
☮ Lisa Ann
http://www.sugarcoatedstyle.com