Animated GIFs

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Sports GIF

Example

via GIPHY

Counter-Example

Analysis

The first example shows how sports GIFs depict something amazing happening, whether it is a great play or a funny touchdown dance. People do not use sports GIFs of the teams letting the clock run out with no action. People pick sports GIFs to show the most interesting parts of a game, not the boring parts people don’t even want to watch during the game. The first example shows a Carolina Panthers and Tennessee Titans game, with three good plays from the game. The second is of an Oregon vs. Kansas State game, towards the end of the game in the 4th quarter with less than 50 seconds on the clock. Oregon is trying to run out the rest of the time so that they have a greater chance of winning. This GIF is boring.

Fandom GIF

Example

via GIPHY

Counter-Example

Analysis

Fandom GIFs are characterized by their tie to an index of pop culture, such as TV shows. The example of Homer Simpson is very clearly Homer Simpson and is tied to a specific episode (although I could not find which episode). But fans of The Simpsons might recognize the context of the GIF. The counter-example starts with a computer drawn Homer Simpson, then shows a Picasso parody of Homer Simpson, which morphs into Winnie the Pooh because they share the same yellow. It shows how cartoons share similarities and the ease with which they morph. But Winnie the Pooh and Homer Simpson are really not otherwise connected, and a person would probably never select this GIF.

Wobble GIF

Example

via GIPHY

Counter-Example

Analysis

Wobble GIFs are typically two images that give the illusion that something is wobbling back and forth, such as the cat example. So the anti-wobble GIF is a GIF where the images that make it up are all the same. The counter-example is a scene from Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox, and the scene itself sets up the perfect content for a wobble GIF, with a strobe light effect that makes it easy to divide images. Even though the original context emulates a wobble GIF, this new GIF goes against the traditional back-and-forth characteristic of the wobble GIF.

Posted from Intro to Digital Studies by Lauren C.