Date of Submission

Spring 2012

Academic Program

Photography; Computer Science

Project Advisor 1

Keith O’Hara

Project Advisor 2

Stephen Shore

Abstract/Artist's Statement

This project was inspired by cinemagraphs, a style of animated GIFs made out of a compilation of photographs, and brings my study of computer science and photography together. The aim of the computer science component of the project was to animate specific objects within a set of photographs, while leaving the rest of the frame static. I employed various image processing techniques from computer vision and graphics. This eased and automated some of the repetitive and time consuming portions of the process of generating cinemagraphs. The challenge was to create an algorithm capable of balancing the accuracy of detecting the objects with the speed of processing each frame. The project also explored the limitations and advantages of using Microsoft's Kinect in artistic pursuits. From a photographic standpoint, my aim was to make these cinemagraphs presentable for a photography exhibition, hence the cinemagraphs had to go beyond being eye-catching because of technical trickery. The cinemagraphs had to hold the attention of the onlooker in spite of the novelty of the animated motion within the frame. The exhibition was a platform to explore the boundaries of cinemagraphs as an artistic medium.

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