THE BEAUTY OF THE CINEMAGRAPH
We all know too well that the world of advertising can be a bit congested. Standing out from the crowd, or the now more common term for such a phrase, 'cutting through the noise' is becoming more difficult by the day. This isn't necessarily because being creative with our campaigns is more of a challenge, but because advancements in technology mean there is a lot more for us to do (and compete with) in the already limited space available to us.
The objective isn't to be different for the sake of it. There's nothing wrong with being the same, as long as you're better than everyone else. Sometimes traditional methods can be the most effective in achieving objectives and failing that, finding a balance between traditional methods, or presenting them in a different way, can really grab your audiences attentions. The theory behind this is that if our mind sees something and formulates an expectation attributed to it, only to find out it's something completely different, it will make us figure out why. And of course, in order to figure out why, we need to look at it for longer and digest more information connected to it.
Still imagery and video have long since been a central component of advertising campaigns. The likes of VR may mean the way we use these traditional forms of media could change forever, cinemagraphs, however, are a slightly more subtle introduction into the world of advertising that have been gaining notoriety for all the right reasons. Okay, they are pretty much a GIF, but using a still image with minor movements on a continuous loop captivates the eye of the reader and entices further investigation into what they are about (or what product they're selling). Remember what I said about finding a balance between traditional forms of media (in this case, it's still imagery and video - in case you hadn't noticed already).
These cost effective media tools are simple enough to create and incredibly cheap to produce (especially when compared to other new forms of media). These 'living images' were first used by graphics artist Kevin Burg and photographer Jamie Beck at New York fashion week and have become more and more popular in recent times. It's certainly something to keep and eye out for and possibly try for yourself!
You can read more about the rise of cinemagraphs in the advertising industry here: www.thumped.co.uk/cinemagraphs-the-new-advertising-trend-thats-more-than-a-photo-but-not-quite-a-video/