In beginning this module, my main goal was to learn how to better produce gifs. I’ve enjoyed searching for them online as their own miniature art form, often in the context of fandom. Recently I’ve become (ever so slightly) obsessed with the show Xena: Warrior Princess. While I do not have a Twitter account, I often visit AUSXIP GIFing Xena, which publishes gifs from the show a few times a week. I’ve also used some generic google searches to find other Xena-related gifs. Often they’re funny and can help punctuate a point in online articles or forums. They can produce a reaction with words…
…and without.
I’ve had some previous experience with gifs before in the mini version of DS106 that was held at the UMW Summer Enrichment Program. Working with Jim Groom, we learned to produce gifs using mpeg streamclip and GIMP. While I was able to successfully create a gif, the process was rather tedious, and I was not familiar with the programs. In starting this module, I figured that the best place to start would be on Jim Groom’s BavaTuesday’s blog, as he often posts some of his latest work with gifs. I read his “A Fistful of Gifs article” (http://bavatuesdays.com/a-fistful-of-gifs/), which recommended Giphy as an easier way to make gifs. So I started experimenting with making gifs with the site. I originally tried uploading a file directly, but it was too large. I then attempted uploading an edited file, but the “browser was not supported”. I changed browsers, but the site still didn’t work. I then attempted uploading a file from a YouTube link, which was successful. The next step was to try creating a gif from the link. I tried publishing my first attempt, but was told that “something went wrong”. I tried again, and the second attempt succeeded.
Once I established a working method of creating gifs, I cranked out 10 more in the course of about an hour, focusing on looping gifs and isolating some funny moments. My next step will be to try to polish my work on looping gifs, and to perhaps enhance my “big picture” view of gifs by learning more about their history.
