r/Cinemagraphs

31K archived posts · May 2011 – Sep 2026

Cinemagraphs: Elegant gifs for a more civilized age.

r/Cinemagraphs

Cinemagraphs are living photographs, seamlessly put together usually in gif or webm format.

Created May 4, 2011

1.8MMembers (last snapshot)

31KArchived posts

Welcome

No posting of regular gifs!

This is a place for people to post Cinemagraphs. It can be Cinemagraphs that you've found, Cinemagraphs that you've made from movies, or Cinemagraphs that you've made from videos you shot yourself!

What is a cinemagraph?

Any single frame of a Cinemagraph should make for a good photograph. Is movement the subject of the image? If so, it's probably not a cinemagraph. In a cinemagraph, movement should enhance an image that is already great without it.

A cinemagraph is a high quality gif or video that is very smoothly looped. It's more than a well looped gif, though; it should be beautiful as a great photograph, evocative like a movie, and more alive than either. A great cinemagraph is wonderful art! Read our in-depth definition of cinemagraphs, but here's the tl;dr:

Non-moving frame of reference, like a photograph (the camera doesn't move)

Smoothly looped, and good resolution

Should have some movement which either captures the entire essence of a scene, or isolates a movement within a larger scene

##How do I do this?

Try out this tutorial which is pretty easy to get into as long as you have Adobe CS6 or CC.

Desktop background?

Check out these subs:

r/dreamscene

r/LivingBackgrounds

Guidelines

Cite what you submit

We would like you to do your best to name the person that created the cinemagraph. Naming the movie source is nice to do, but is not required. When you do not know the creator, give it the flair that states you don't know the source. Failure to cite or to acknowledge that you can't cite your posts will likely end in the removal of your submission. You should definitely check to see if it's on this page; submissions from the top will be removed if they are not cited properly. Also, please don't post the freaking owl.

Don't whine about reposts

Please don't complain about reposts. Just because you have seen it before doesn't mean everyone has. Votes indicate the popularity of a post, so just vote. (from the reddiquette.

"This isn't a Cinemagraph" <-- no

These kinds of comments are subject to immediate removal if you cannot provide a valid criticism of the post. Write us a paragraph explaining your opinion. See below about providing generous criticism; if you explain why something might not fit your definition of a Cinemagraph, you might give the artist (or person who found it) some ideas for improvement.

Tag your posts and yourself

You're encouraged to add link flair to your post. There are a few to choose from (see the link flair section below). You're also encouraged to add an [OC] tag to things that you make. If you fail to add link flair or an [OC] tag, your submission may get removed! Send u/aphoenix a PM to get userflair. More info about flair

Be generous with praise and criticism

Above all, be honest and forthcoming

Be specific, don't just say "I like it!" say, "I like the way you...." and likewise for negative comments

Be helpful, link to books, tutorials, or offer exercises for the artist

Don't refer to things as "good" or "bad," try to talk in terms of skill sets that can be worked on

When receiving a critique, don't be too defensive; you can't explain away other peoples opinions of your art so try to listen to what they are saying

Read this great post by Huisme on asking for critique

##Remember wheaton's law

Don't be a dick.

Fflair

##User flair

OC Creator - from scratch: For people who shoot film and make cinemagraphs that way

OC Creator - from video: For people who take scenes from film and cinemagraphize them

Sub Curator: For people who take the time to find great cinemagraphs and share them with us

##Link flair

OC - Shot The Video: For cinemagraphs that you made from scratch, starting with a video recording device.

OC - From A Video: For cinemagraphs that you made from a film, tv show, youtube video or other source that you didn't create.

Found - Cited: For cinemagraphs that you found and have the source (and have posted the source).

Help / Work in Progress: For cinemagraphs that you are working on or need help with.

First Time: For your first "Shot The Video" or "From A Video" post here.

Request: For posting video you want turned into a cinemagraph.

OC - Shot The Video - Repost: For reposting your own cinemagraphs.

OC - From A Video - Repost: For reposting your own cinemagraphs.

#Links

##Related subreddits

/r/LivingBackgrounds

/r/Paintedloops

/r/Naturegifs

/r/PerfectLoops

/r/Gamingraphs

/r/Wigglegrams

/r/3FrameMovies

/r/EarthPornGifs

NSFW r/Skinemagraphs - the porn version of our subreddit

r/Plotagraph - Like cinemagraphs but they're stills with artificial movement added in.

##Related sites

Ann Street Studio

IWDRM

Technoir

Other communities

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