GIF-анимирование в контексте современной иллюстрации: зачем «оживлять» картинку?

Вестник Томского государственного университета. Культурология и искусствоведение. 2023. № 50. С. 139–152.

Fadeeva T., Staruseva-Persheeva A., Skovorodnikov P. Y., Blucher Y.

The current issue focuses on the specifics traits of animated images in GIF format, which allow spectator to get a unique user experience of interacting with moving pictures.

In some cases "animation" does not produce a significant aesthetic effect and is mainly used to attract viewer’s attention to some information, for example, to news or an advertised product (the strategy of "attention-grabbing"); in other cases by means of animation the illustrator fully conveys a specific message, “expands” the image to add meaning.

In this article we analyze the concept of GIF-illustrations, its history, its features in comparison with other technologies for video and animation transmission, for example: Macromedia Shockwave, Macromedia Flash, Microsoft Silverlight, Java etc., and the trajectory of its further development. Since the 2010, with increasing popularity of “GIFs”, a big number of GIF artists has appeared. Both artists and illustrators who turn to GIF in order to create an art project or a commercial project, to make a statement. Therefore, today an illustrator faces a “double” task: to create an image that will “work” both in a digital environment and as a “static” (for example, on paper).

Attempting to classify various scenarios of artist’s work with an animated image we argue that such images could be divided into three categories: 1) “technical” (it has an applied function, existing as an animated version of a technical illustration and making it easier for the user to understand the operation of a particular mechanism or some mechanics); 2) GIFs, which actualize the rhythm category (the effect of their “impact” on the viewer is built up by rhythmic repetition of individual elements in the frame or the whole frame); 3) “narrative” GIFs telling a certain story (the user must complete a significant part of this story on his own). These three scenarios can complement each other and have certain extensions.

Special attention deserve the GIFs that require “slow reading” to create an unusual communication situation, and to prompt the viewer to engage in processing of a visual narrative. Here one can observe an liaison to videoart, as well as compare GIF with other contemporary “shorts”, simple, easy-to-read visual formats, for example, looped Coub microfilms.

Keywords: illustration, иллюстрация, видеоарт, визуальная коммуникация, visual communication, video art, медиаарт, media art, internet art, сетевое искусство