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Reaction GIF
Reaction gif’s are a way for individuals to react to statements, opinions, events, etc. They allow users to convey emotions through an animated image. Conventionally, as seen in the first image, reaction gifs contain an individual’s entire face. This provides more context and makes the emotion the gif is conveying clear. Taking this convention into mind, I decided to focus on one small part of the face in my counterexample. By zooming in and focusing on a small part of the face, viewers lose some of the context. This allows for a broader range of potential interpretations. Shock is the obvious emotion being conveyed in the first gif. However, when we take the same action (a blink) and zoom in, suddenly the gif could be attempting to convey various emotions. The second gif illustrates that a blink could mean any variety of things including shock, boredom, tiredness, etc. The unspoken convention of including the entire face acts to provide context and streamline interpretation.
Cinemagraph
Cinemagraphs are a version of gifs where only one aspect of the image moves. It is commonly associated with being artistic, grand, or classy. In recent years it has become a popular technique for advertisers as illustrated by the first photo. This image utilizes cinemagraphs to advertise hairspray by having a model’s hair blow in the wind. The image appears very high class and artistic. The counterexample we created only as one part of the image, the drool, moving which classifies it as a cinemagraph. However, the photo has a comedic or even crude effect causing it to deviate from the normal use of a cinemagraph. By changing the purpose of the image we are critiquing the purpose and challenging the artistic or even pretentious connotation surrounding cinemagraphs.
Sports GIF
Sports gifs are known for displaying the most intense plays, epic fails, or entertaining reactions. The first image shows an intense catch resulting in a touchdown and embodies this category of gifs typical use. In our counterexample, we decided to create a parody of this category by making a sports gif in which nothing happens. In the second image, you can see the players from Oregon and Kansas prepare for play to start and then we can assume a whistle is blown, despite not having audio, all of the players stand up and start wandering around. The anticlimactic nature of this gif acts as a critique to sports gifs.
Posted from Intro to Digital Studies by Kat