Each of these astonishing "cinematoGIFs" (animated .GIF files) by Gusaf Mantel distills the essence of a cinematic moment into a living, breathing "movie still" -- an indelible moment preserved in time. Once you start gazing into them, you'll find it hard to stop...
Above: The apes and the monolith: "2001: A Space Odyssey" (Stanley Kubrick, 1968).
Below: The tension of Travis Bickle, keeping his television perpetually balanced on the edge of smashing to the floor: "Taxi Driver" (Martin Scorsese, 1976).
Above: Chewing up the scenery in the War Room: "Dr. Strangelove" (Stanley Kubrick, 1964).
Below: Cigarette burns: "Fight Club" (David Fincher, 1999).
Above: Waiting for the elevator. Forever: "Eraserhead" (David Lynch, 1977).
Below: Light of my life, fire of my loins... The image that will never age: "Lolita" (Stanley Kubrick, 1962).
Above: House of rain: "Solaris" (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1972).
Below: On the verge of rebirth: "2001: A Space Odyssey" (Stanley Kubrick, 1968).
Above: Stasis: "L'eclisse" (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1962).
Below: "All those moments will be lost in time like tears in the rain.... Time to die.": "Blade Runner" (Ridley Scott, 1982).
Above: "Audition" (Takashi Miike, 2000).
Explore the full gallery here.
Above: It's only a movie: "Peeping Tom" (Michael Powell, 1960).
(tip: @bournecinema)
28 Comments
These are fantastic, but I have to correct you on one detail. The "Late for the Sky" scene in Taxi Driver takes place earlier in the movie. During the scene captured above, Travis is watching a soap opera.
Thanks. I wondered if my memory was correct about that, and then I forgot to check before I published. I'll fix it.
These are so incredible!!!!!!
I know it isn't the one pictured, but the "Late for the Sky" scene is one of my favorite scenes in any film. The way the camera slowly dollies across his face when the guitar solo hits... It's one of those incredibly subtle yet perfect moments that always resonates for me.
I guess I'll have to netflix "Audition" only one I haven't seen.
Thank you so much for sharing these, Jim. This really highlights what I love about movies: those off-kilter moments that are just crackling with cinematic energy. Just fantastic.
Thank you Jim, I love these. George C. Scott as General Buck Turgidson is my favorite.
Sam Longoria
Hollywood CA USA
These are amazing. Are there larger versions of these that I can get for my computer?
The stop-stutter effect is something Harmony Korine's tried in a couple of recent commercials, like "Mahindra: Rise." I kind of like these no-fi's more.
ubercool funny and creative idea! Dr. Strangelove is the best one.
These are great but for a full appreciation of how beautiful cinemagraphs really can be when using high quality photography, check out Jamie Beck's site http://cinemagraphs.com/
Disney animators (maybe even Walt himself) coined the term "moving hold" for not stopping on, but moving through a pose (because classic animation flattens out if it actually stops moving). It gives a sense of depth and conveys emotion. This is a similar idea with a similar effect.
The site has many good ones. My favorites are John Goodman from "Barton Fink," Norman Bates, and Jack Nicholson in "The Shining" ("Hello Lloyd").
These are infinitely better, but the style of these totally remind me of the moving newspaper pictures in the Harry Potter films. Very cool to see them done on screen. Give us ultra thin electronic paper and we may see exactly this in our newspapers in the near future (assuming newspapers are still around).
Incredible. I think I like the Solaris, L'eclisse and Blade Runner ones best. Something about the image of a perfect stillness in a world that continues to function independently around it. A moment captured in time, even as the rain continues to fall.
Oh, and I appreciate the Peeping Tom one for pointing out another fabulous little visual detail about one of my favourite movies that I've somehow managed to miss.
I'd be careful calling them "cinematographs." Gusaf bristles at the term, and even took a break when he felt the attention was getting out of hand. Gifs are gifs.
That was the term used on the site that led me to his. "CinematoGIFs," perhaps?
I think these are awesome!!!
These really made my night. Movies today so rarely have strong, resonant images and seeing so many beautiful frames that capture these cinematic moments so much better than stills is just... inspiring. Movies could one day again be made of images like these.
Love the Blade Runner "CinematoGIF"!
Can't believe no one's commented on 2001 "Rebirth" yet. It's a still photo... no big deal, right? But then out of nowhere, it blinks at you. Quite a jolt the first time you see it.
Look closer. Look at his irises. They're moving. Searching. Roaming. Eeeeever so subtly.
It's not contrarian week, I know, but I have to say that these things, even if they are sorta neat, are a little too creepy for me.
That's not inappropriate, though. Every one of these movies has its creepy/uncanny aspects.
Thanks for sharing this. I find the images fascinating. Blade Runner scene is beautiful. (Just heard they're doing a sequel. I feel contempt for everyone involved.) Excellent idea that guy had and he clearly knows what cinematic moments to capture.
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You tweeted Gus is your favorite TV character of all time?
I'd love to hear why. I'll stay tuned for anything you have to say on that and this TV show I find truly disturbing but can't bring myself to quit watching -it is addictive. I will say after the last episode when some background was revealed as well as his performance in dealing with the heat, I find Gus more interesting. Before I just considered him a sociopathic murderous creep and hoped to see him killed off.
I re-tweeted someone else's claim that Gus was their favorite TV character of all time -- and added the comment that I think that "Breaking Bad" made a big mistake by keeping him mostly out of the first half of this season. I think Season 4 has been the weakest yet -- too many cutesy camera tricks (like the Roomba-cam) and not enough meaty character stuff -- though I've been enjoying Skyler quite a bit. I'm only watching two shows this summer (besides "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report," of course): "Breaking Bad" and Louis CK's "Louie," which is masterful. (P.S. One of my very favorite characters in TV history is Omar.)
Jim, have you seen "Wilfred"? Not on the level of "Louie", but definitely worth watching I think.
Chris Rock told Louis that he's "the blackest white guy I know". What a compliment.
Omar I had to look up -from "The Wire"? Unfortunately not seen it. What a character. Lives by a moral code, doesn't use bad words or mess w/ folks that aren't in "the game".
Ya know, I get disgusted too often when I watch the Daily Show. Better to laugh than to cry but I hate the media so much (and the politicians needless to say) I find myself not laughing. Those parasites enjoy being made fun of. They're in the club. At the office: "Hey, you see so-and-so on the Daily Show?!" Haa haa haa. Derp. And they just continue sucking as the American Empire continues its decline and sinks further into delusion.
Hi there,
Hey wow the movie stills are really awesome. I really loved looking at each still picture. Thanks for sharing
Thanks,
Adam
I would love to see this done with some of my favorite erotic scenes. A never-ending, intense sex scene.
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