what are cinemagraphs and how are they created?

Bread, bread, and video, video. We bet you anything that the audiovisual format will continue to be at the top of the digital trends in 2020. It has already done so in the last year with a love affair with content that goes on for a long time. This relationship is so popular among internet users that video is already shared by 92% of those who use mobile devices.

While long and boring content is dying, brands are fighting for the user's attention. Are you surprised that more and more companies are joining this audiovisual party? The numbers don't lie. The trend now is to fight for the user's attention with small 10-second pills: Bumper Ads, Snack Ads, and even cinemagraphs.

Cinemagraphs, what are they?

You see them more often than you think, because they have become a very useful and popular resource on social networks, especially in Instagram and WhatsApp statuses.

They are static images, but with an animated touch. Don't think they are the typical GIFs where the whole image is in movement. Unlike these, you choose an area of the photo to bring it to life.

the trick is to animate the part of the image that we want to highlight. Think of a photograph of a woman walking in the middle of a sandstorm. The ideal area to highlight could be her hair moving due to the effect of the air. Or the steam coming out of a hot cup of coffee.

The main objective of this visual element is to make an impact on the user with a new and interesting format. It surprises, captivates and even captivates.

if you are going to create cinemagraphs, here is a list of tools to use

Nowadays, the communication strategies that brands carry out on social networks are full of audiovisual content, and cinemagraphs are brutal for combining the world of image and video. We leave you with an inspiring list of tools where you can create your own:

• Flapix: professional tool to give your photos another touch and captivate your audience.
• Pixel Motion: this application brings your photos to life and applies a wide variety of cinematic effects. It allows you to set fixed and animated points through arrows that direct the movement. Its 'sequence' option allows you to create a looping series that you can then download.
• LoopWall: although it is not an application for creating cinemagraphs as such, its bank of moving wallpapers follows in the footsteps of this technique and has several categories (space, architecture, nature...). You choose.
• Zeotropic: bring your photos to life and apply moving image effects. All you need is a smartphone with a camera and a bit of creativity. It's intuitive and one of the top-rated apps for creating animations.

We love well-crafted corporate videos - we think they're even more memorable than any words, gestures or relationships, but quick and easy productions can make a big impact. Check out this quick guide to making a cinemagraph in Photoshop:

1. Get a video with an identical start and end.
2. Import the video and select precisely the block where the effect occurs (identical start and end).
3. Create an image layer on which to interpolate the image with the video (layer option - merge visible). Now apply a layer mask so that the video plays only on this layer and the rest is a static image.
4. Clickon Save for web and select the GIF image type from the drop-down menu. The result will be your cinemagraph.

come on, you've got the idea? a camera? a computer? a video editor? get started!

How to use them in your visual campaigns

With user attention spans decreasing, brands are struggling to get consumers' interest and this type of creative is increasing brand awareness with short, memorable messages. Cinemagraphs are a great way to support your communication strategies and impress your users on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and even your website.

Fashion and food brands have used them with style. Even BBVA has used them in their video marketing campaigns. And no, they are not gifs. They have more substance than these and their results are spectacular. You can use them in your visual campaigns to support your content, giving it more flexibility and context. It increases perception, understanding and learning .

Use them to:

• Highlight data you want to display in graphs or charts.
• Show products you want to sell- fashion and design brands are doing this with their clothing - and it works!
• Make movements on web pages and interactive claims. Adidas has used them to focus the eye on the homepage of its microsite dedicated to football.
• Launch a product or present corporate actions.

You have infinite possibilities to create your animations. And the best of all:

• They are compatible with all browsers and devices.
• They adapt automatically to responsive pages without losing quality.
• They load and play sequentially.
• They replace effective visuals that used to be made with complex tools, such as Flash.

And even better, they are very viral because they are easily shared on social networks, can be sent by email or even by messaging channels such as WhatsApp. They move very easily from the screen to the pocket of your users.

Key takeaways from using cinemagraphs

do you want to connect with your users? Cinemagraphs are ideal to support your image-based strategies. They are a digital trend and have become an interesting alternative to content, as they are quickly consumed and inexpensive to produce. Before launching with an image strategy you must be very clear about the idea, the framing, the movement and the motif. Do you have them?

Remember that you are looking for attraction or engagement and that awakening the interest of the audience is an increasingly complicated task: "Studies confirm that social media posts accompanied by cinemagraphs get 71% more organic reach than other content", WebsDirect.

In short, they are the perfect hybrid between video and photography and were coined by photographer Jamie Beck and designer Kevin Burg. They started using this format in 2011 to animate fashion photographs, and brands such as Armani, Chanel and Coca-Cola are already using them.

HubSpot says... "Views, especially 3-second views, seem like a vanity metric, but Facebook monitors them for good reason. In 2016, the Facebook team [...] found that 45% of users who watch the first 3 seconds of a video will continue watching for at least 30 seconds.

do you want to generate easy-to-consume content and build a positive image of your brand? Try to spread content that is recognisable and associated with your brand.