A while back (well actually more than a while) I became captivated by the cyberpunk genre. What is Cyberpunk I hear you ask. Well think of the Blade Runner films. The original was a better reflection of this genre if you ask me. When I was a teenager I became obsessed with the original blade runner film. I must have watched it 100 times or more by now. I had the posters on my wall and I thought Harrison Ford was awesome in this role.

I could write a detailed blog on what is Cyberpunk but for the purpose of this blog we will just touch on it so as to prep you for what is animated photography.

This film along with other cult classics like the animated classic Akira and later Jonny Mnemonic helped to shape a sub culture style based on a depressing ditopian future.

Over the years artists started creating works that followed the principles of this genre. The principles tend to lean towards the following;

  • Urban compositions.
  • A color palette relying heavily on pinks and blues.
  • Lots of neon lights.
  • A dark and moody feel.

A couple of the more well known artists in this space are Noe Alonzo and TokyoLuv, see below.

Originally cyberpunk artists were mostly creating simple still .jpeg photographs that were edited in the genre. The compositions were widely available in asian cities like Tokyo and Seoul.

But as personal computers became more and more powerful and affordable creators started to incorporate motion graphics into photos.

You can see my examples below. With some graphics layers overlayed on top of the .jpeg files and then exported as a movie file we have a hybrid that is an animated photograph.

jpeg file
Video edits
Movie file
Jpeg file
Video edits
Movie file

This style of content is becoming more and more popular in the NFT market place scene. Creators are making a lot of money in the space. Most notably is the artist who goes by the name of Beeple.

Summary:

So with a laptop of any decent power (I am using a 2013 Mac Book Pro still) and a couple of editing programs like Photoshop, Apple Motion or Adobe after effects you too can create and maybe sell animated photographs.