Animated GIFs: The Birth of a Medium | Off Book | PBS Digital Studios

GIFs are one of the oldest image formats used on the web. Throughout
their history, they have served a huge variety of purposes, from
functional to entertainment. Now, 25 years after the first GIF was
created, they are experiencing an explosion of interest and innovation
that is pushing them into the terrain of art. In this episode of Off
Book, we chart their history, explore the hotbed of GIF creativity on
Tumblr, and talk to two teams of GIF artists who are evolving the form
into powerful new visual experiences.

Featuring:

Patrick Davison, MemeFactory
TopherChris, Tumblr
Pamela Reed and Matthew Rader, Reed+Rader
Jamie Beck and Kevin Burg, Cinemagraphs

Story Development: Mike Rugnetta, Internet Culture Researcher, MemeFactory

GIFs by:

The Internet. We wish we could attribute all the GIFs we used, but we
aren't even sure if that would be possible!

But...a special thanks to:
http://www.mr-gif.com
@textfiles
http://dvdp.tumblr.com
http://xcopy.tumblr.com
http:///iwdrm.tumblr.com

Please let us know if you see your work and want attribution!

Music by:

Mindthings: http://www.jamendo.com/en/artist/mind...
Space Frequencies: http://www.jamendo.com/en/artist/Spac...
Casanelli: http://www.jamendo.com/en/artist/Casa...
Shamil Elvenheim: http://www.jamendo.com/en/artist/shamil/
Kevin Macleod: http://www.incompetech.com

Follow Off Book:

Twitter: @pbsoffbook
Tumblr: http://pbsarts.tumblr.com/

Produced by Kornhaber Brown: http://www.kornhaberbrown.com

• Category

  Film & Animation