Meet the winners of GIF IT UP 2015
There was strong competition in GIF IT UP this year. Lots of fantastic animated gifs were created by talented people from around the world. Our esteemed judges, Sarah Schaaf from Imgur, Rebecca Onion from Slate Vault, Alessandro Scali and Marco Calabrese from Okkult Motion Pictures, and Toby Morris from the Wireless have pored over the entries, and we’re really pleased to announce our winners!
Supreme winner
“Dissension,” from Tobias Rothe in Amstelveen, the Netherlands. Source material courtesy Fondazione Federico Zeri—Università di Bologna via Europeana.
Sarah Schaaf wrote: “I love how this GIF brings a modern twist to the Creation of Adam.”
This gif is made available under a CC-BY 3.0 license.
Runners up
GIF IT UP 2015 entry from Juan Ibanez in Sevilla, Spain. Source material courtesy the National Library of France via Europeana.
Rebecca Onion wrote: “I like how the GIF-ification of this document really speaks to the artist’s fascination with this scene. The item is evocative, and the attention paid to it really adds another layer of interest.”
This gif is made available under a CC-BY 3.0 license.
GIF IT UP 2015 entry by Michael Smith from Brooklyn, New York. Source material courtesy photography collection, The New York Public Library via DPLA.
Rebecca Onion wrote: “This is a remarkable document in the first place, and I like how the artist sort of messed with the story of the document, imagining an alternate ending.”
This gif is made available under a CC-BY 3.0 license.
GIF IT UP 2015 entry by Robin Sloan from Berkeley, California. Source material courtesy the National Archives and Records Administration via DPLA.
Sarah Schaaf wrote: “The hilarious variety of facial expressions makes this one awesome.” And Rebecca Onion wrote: “This was a subtle one that rewards a long look.”
This gif is made available under a CC-BY 3.0 license.
People’s choice award
Tobias Rothe in Amstelveen, the Netherlands also took out the People’s Choice award with a whopping total of 1,539 Tumblr notes. Source material courtesy Fondazione Federico Zeri—Università di Bologna via Europeana. This gif is made available under a CC-BY 3.0 license.
People’s choice award runner up
François Dejardin’s gif of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake was hot on the heels of the Tobias Rothe, with an impressive total of 1,192 Tumblr notes. Source material courtesy the National Archives and Records Administration via DPLA.
This gif is made available under a CC-BY 3.0 license.
National Archives and Records Administration challenge award
The National Archives Foundation generously sponsored an award for the best gif reusing material from the National Archives and Records Administration holdings. This prize was taken away by Robin Sloane from Berkley, California, for the ‘Bumpy car’:
Source material courtesy the National Archives and Records Administration via DPLA.
This gif is made available under a CC-BY 3.0 license.
New Zealand student winners
In 2015 school students from New Zealand got creative for GIF IT UP and came up with some fantastic entries. We were lucky to have sponsorship from Creative Commons Aotearoa New Zealand for ten student prizes, which were judged by illustrator and comic artist Toby Morris. To view all of the New Zealand student winners, check out the DigitalNZ announcement.
Evan Manning from Auckland. Toby Morris commented: “Arrgh look out! Love this, very clever. I like that it takes something we know well and twists it, really made me laugh. Good use of light and colour and I like the way it builds up to the joke/twist. Well done!”
Source material courtesy the Ministry of Culture and Heritage.
Travis Manning from Auckland. Toby Morris commented: “Very cool. I love the way it takes the photo and builds on the story. she does look she loves her TV, and bringing the colour in is a really clever way to do something visually interesting that stands out, and get the little story across. Awesome!”
Source material (1, 2) courtesy Upper Hutt City Library and Christchurch Libraries.
Thanks to everyone who entered GIF IT UP, we were blown away by your talent and ingenuity! Thanks as well to our judges for all of their help, and to our content partners for providing access to these wonderful pieces of open culture. Special thanks also goes to Europeana and Trove for helping expand the reach of this year’s competition. Lastly, don’t forget to check out all of the other amazing GIF IT UP entries!
View all of the GIF IT UP entries