Experimental visual storytelling Maya Sugarman Photo/Video Journalist, KPCC @mayasugarman msugarman@scpr.org

Gifs and cinemagraphs Great for emphasizing repetition and endlessness, like a factory What could be a boring still or video can make for an interesting GIF Remember: always start with the story, then pick the best medium Getting technical: Twitter supports GIF uploads up to 5MB from mobile Facebook supports GIF links, no uploads.

Twitter gif specifications Adhere to these constraints to improve GIF upload success rate. Resolution ≤ 1280 x 1080 pixels Number of frames ≤ 350 Number of pixels (width * height * num_frames) ≤ 300 million

Gif inspiration

sriracha factory

Life in a North dakota oil town

Recipe cinemagraphs

Free (iPhone and Android) Apps to download GIFBrewery 3 $4.99 (Mac App Store) 5SecondsApp Free (iPhone and Android) GIFBrewery: Desktop app Higher resolution More customizable

Time-lapses Compresses time Shows changes that in real-time are slow, subtle 3 minutes at 12X playback = 15-second Instagram video Native iOS time-lapse vs. Instagram’s Hyperlapse Native iOS: no recording length limit. No choice in playback speed, (about 10-12X). Hyperlapse: 45-minute limit. Choose 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 or 12X playback. No sound

What makes a good time-lapsE? Ask yourself, does this call for faster playback? Lots of action Plan ahead Steady your camera Let’s look at examples!

Slow motion Opposite of time-lapse: “expands” time Shows changes that are too fast to notice in real-time About 3 seconds in real-time = 15-second Instagram video (120 FPS) iPhone 6: HD video at either 120 FPS or 240 FPS in 720p Twitter and Instagram now support slow-motion video upload

What makes good slow-mo’s? Ask yourself, will this be compelling in slow-motion? Plan ahead Don’t end up with too much footage! Predict action, let action come into your frame Frame rate: 240 fps or 120 fps? Let’s look at examples!

360 Panorama $2.99 (iphone only) Shoot embeddable 360 images using your iPhone. Low-cost alternative to getting a 360 camera. Both of these are iPhone only, but there are similar apps available for Android.

Image blender ($3.99, Iphone only) Create double exposures – layering two images on top of each other. Use masks and select different blend modes. Both of these are iPhone only, but there are similar apps available for Android.

Place images side-by-side Instagram’s layout Place images side-by-side But also use in experimental ways: play with mirroring, flipping and repitition.

Photo/Video Journalist, KPCC Questions? Maya Sugarman Photo/Video Journalist, KPCC @mayasugarman msugarman@scpr.org