Make a GIF
Recapping Our Introduction
Narrative photography is a powerful form of visual storytelling that uses photographs to convey stories, emotions, and ideas. It goes beyond capturing a single moment in time and instead aims to construct or document a sequence of images that collectively tell a compelling narrative (story). Through careful composition, lighting, subject selection, and context, photographers can evoke powerful emotions, spark imagination, and shed light on diverse perspectives.
Pro Edu (2023) "Ultimate Guide on How to Shoot Narrative Photography" URL
What does this have to do with GIFS?
What this means for us is that a sequence of images that tell a story is what narrative photography is all about. Later in the term we will extend our understanding of story but for now, we can consider it a key action or series of key actions which create an emotional response.
This means, a GIF (animated image) is essentially a very small photo narrative. They show a key action to create an emotional response in their viewer.
What is the key action in the following GIFs? What emotional response do they evoke?
Class Project
What You Will Do
You will be creating a GIF.
You may create the GIF in a pair or group of three but must upload in to each of your portfolios.
You can choose to recreate one of the GIFS above or choose your own (but it must be school appropriate and take less than 10 minutes to find).
GIF Plan Sketch
Step by Step Instructions
Create a folder within your Year & Subject folder called 'GIF.'
Save copy of the GIF that you are recreating. Insert this in to your process journal. It will only work if it is actually saved as a GIF file.
Quickly map out on paper the required photos to recreate the GIF. This should be a minimum of three and maximum of seven images. The more photos you take, the more fluid the movement of your GIF will be. You can hand draw this or go to kleki.com and draw there.
Take a photo of your plan or download kleki to upload to your portfolio.
Take the photos required.
Using the SD card reader, save the photos you have taken in to the GIF folder you have created. Label each photo as a number, in the order you would like to display them in your GIF.
Using Photoshop, turn the photos in to a GIF (the instructions for that are below.
Export Your GIF in to your GIF folder. Create a page on your portfolio under the class project tab called GIF.
Click and drag your GIF on to the page you have created to insert it.
Answer the reflection questions about your GIF listed in the 'For your Portfolio' section at the bottom of this page.
Turn your images in to a GIF on Photoshop
Adobe (2022) Create an animated GIF from a series of photos. URL
1 Import a series of photos
Open Photoshop and go to File > Scripts > Load Files into Stack.
Click Browse and locate the photos you want to use. While holding down the Shift key, select all the files and click Open.
Click OK to import the photos into a single layered file.
Note that a number of new layers have been created in the Layers panel on the right side of your workspace.
These individual layers will become the frames of the animated GIF.
2 Open the Timeline
Go to Window > Timeline to open the Timeline panel.
Click the arrow on the button in the middle of the panel and select Create Frame Animation.
Important: Click on the 'Create Frame Animation' button that you just selected to create a new frame animation.
3 Convert layers into animation frames
Click the menu icon from the upper right corner of the Timeline panel. Click Make Frames From Layers.
This will convert all the layers in the Layers panel into individual frames in your animation.
Click the Play button from the bottom of the Timeline panel (or press the Spacebar on your keyboard) to preview the animation.
3B Reverse Frames (if required)
If your animation is playing in reverse, click the Timeline menu icon again and select Reverse Frames.
4 Set the animation to loop
Click the repeat menu from the bottom of the Timeline panel and select Forever. This will create a looping animation.
Click the Play button from the bottom of the Timeline panel (or press the Spacebar on your keyboard) to preview the animation.
5 Export the animation as a GIF
Go to File > Export > Save for Web (Legacy)...
Select Forever from the Looping Options menu.
Click the Preview... button in the lower left corner of the Export window to preview your GIF in a web browser.
Click Save... and select a destination for your animated GIF file.
Congratulations! You have just created your animated GIF. Post it online to show it to the world.
Note: Once your GIF is exported and you have checked that it works, you can close Photoshop without saving.
Video Instructions
Make a GIF.webm
Original GIF
My GIF
For Your Portfolio
Complete the following:
Create a subpage under 'Class Projects' in your Process Journal and call it 'GIFs'
Insert the following:
The GIF you chose to recreate
Your sketched plan for your GIF
Your final GIF.
Response Structure
C level(ish)
Explain the key action in your GIF (1 sentence)
Explain the key emotion the action coveys (1 sentence)
Explain why it is clear that the key action portrays that key emotion (1 sentence)
B level(ish)
Complete previous steps
Explain why a GIF is an example of narrative photography (1-3 sentences)
Explain what steps you took to create your GIF (1-3 sentences)
A level(ish)
Complete previous steps
Evaluate your work. What went well? What would you improve next time? (1-3 sentences)
Find two additional GIFs and insert them in your portfolio. State what the key emotion and key action is for each GIF. Explain which one you consider to be a better photo narrative and why (1-3 sentences)