had some interest in showing my giffing process so here we go! this is going to be about how I gif supernatural, but honestly the process is basically identical to how I gif in general so it is definitely not an exclusively supernatural coloring tutorial.
this tutorial also assumes you already have access to something to gif and photoshop. luckily supernatural has a huge fandom which means it's a bit easier to find full episodes and scenepacks just by searching the web or youtube. I personally use photoshop with video timeline on a macbook to gif. there are other ways to make gifs, but I'm not going to get in to them today, there are plenty of resources on tumblr for photoshop alternatives if you're interested.
I also am going to use a clip from season 2 as an example, so a lot of the coloring is based around that kind of lighting and saturation early supernatural had. I might do a second part with a later seasons clip, they're somehow both easier to color because the lighting is brighter and harder because they're often oversaturated and have orange filters.
general resources
this is my main sharpening action I use (specifically the second option, that is what I am using in this tutorial). it's a great general sharpening that works well on basically all footage. I also have been using this sharpening set (specifically the depth or texture option) more often on some spn scenes that are already brighter/less grainy.
inactive blog, but they have a whole tag of PSD colorings specifically for supernatural, along with a ton of other resources and tutorials for photoshop.
great guide to subtitles and how to add subtitles to gifs. I was going to add my own tutorial on adding subtitles but this was getting long and these are two very comprehensive guides. personally, I use the font arial rounded MT, bold, italic, size 16 (or size 12 if I'm doing a 268p gif not a 540p gif) with a drop shadow (distance: 2 spread: 34 size: 10, normal blend mode, 100% opacity) and stroke (size: 1, position outside) both in black. example here.
usergif is a great blog for both inspiration and tutorials if you already know the basics of gif making, but want to learn more advanced stuff.
post I made with some more general resources, including some info about photoshop alternatives.
supernatural episode transcripts - a life saver when you're making gifs with subtitles and can just copy and paste text rather than typing it all by hand.
making the gif
(lot of this is copied from my old gif tutorial I made on my main blog because this part hasn't really changed lol. click on photos for better quality!)
step 1: uploading frames to layers
once you have your video ready, you’re going to import it on photoshop through the file > import > video frames to layers.
after you select which video you want to use, this screen will pop up.
you want to make sure "selected range only" and "make frame animation" are clicked on. don't use the "limit to every [x] frames" because it will make the animation look really clunky and don't use "from beginning to end" because it will make your file so huge photoshop probably won't be able to open it since there's a 500 (?) frame limit.
use the little tick marks to shorten the video to the frames you want. to make sure you have the right part selected, click on the play button/sideways triangle. it's okay if you have some extra frames before or after the part you want, they're really easy to delete later.
the shorter the video, the easier it is to find the frames you want, so if the video I’m using is longer than about 5 minutes, I shorten it. my laptop allows me to cut videos using quicktime player, but there are programs like bandicam you can use if you have a different kind of computer.
now click "OK" and photoshop will open your video as layers and frames.
Step 2: Cropping, sizing, sharpening, and making the gif
first thing I do is crop my gif. click on the overlapping square icon on the panel on the left side of your screen (highlighted below). you can either enter the dimensions you want the gif to be, or click on a premade option. i'm just going to use the "square" option for this one.
move the cropping square to wherever on the video you want to crop the video.
next, I go to image > image size and this box will pop up. make sure the width is always 540p because that’s the dimensions for tumblr. the height will automatically adjust. the other options are the settings I personally use but you can play around with them.
next, you want to select all your frames. do this by clicking on the first one, then clicking on the last one while holding the “shift” button.
click on the little part at the bottom of any of the frames that says the time in between frames (in this case, 0.04 is the default) and select the "other" option. a box will pop up. I usually go for 0.06, but if it's a shorter gif, like 22 frames or less, I'll go up to 0.07 or 0.08.
next, you want to go to the right side of your screen and select the layers. do the same thing you did with the frames; click the first layer, then click the last layer while holding “shift.”
after all your frames and layers are selected, click on the little button that has four lines, on the top right of your frames section. click on “convert to video timeline.” this will change your individual frames into an animation.
next, go to filter > convert for smart filters. this will convert all your layers into one layer that is easier to edit.
your screen show now look like this-
now it is time to sharpen your gif! I use sharpening actions (like the ones listed above) because it’s quicker, but this tutorial will show you how to do it manually.
here is the gif so far (cropped, resized, and sharpened).
coloring the gif
this is where it gets a bit more specific to my process for supernatural, but I still use most of these tools (especially the first curves layers) for all my gifs in general. all of the tools you need for coloring are in the “adjustments” tab, next to the layers.
step 1: curves
this tool is my fave because it does so much of the work for you. I start by using the white eye drop tool (selected in the photo below) and clicking on the whitest part of the gif. in this case, I used sam's shirt.
next, I use the black eye drop tool to select the darkest part of the image. I used the doorway behind sam.
step 2: photo filter
next adjustment I use is usually "photo filter." this one does a lot of work quickly and is great for scenes that are either too blue/cold (in which case I use a warm filter) or too orange/warm (in which case I use a cold filter). for this gif, I selected the third cooling filter option and set it to a density of 12.
step 3: vibrance
vibrance/saturation is a tricky tool, I go back and forth on using it. for a lot of earlier spn I increase the vibrance and for a lot of later spn I decrease the saturation. for this scene, I increased the vibrance to +54.
step 4: selective color
selective color is another one I go back and forth on and when I do use it, I try to do it sparingly because it can make your gif look grainy fast. going to red and decreasing cyan (here by -34) makes the gif a bit more vibrant. then I go to black and increase it by +6 to add some depth to the background and make sam stand out more.
step 5: brightness/contrast
I find curves takes care of most of the brighting I need but I will occasionally also add a brightness/contrast layer as well. here, I increased brightness by +10 and left contrast alone.
step 6: exposure
finally, I add an exposure layer. this tool is great for lower quality footage because increasing the shadows makes it look less grainy. it also adds some more depth. here I decreased exposure by -0.36 and put gamma correction at 0.92.
bonus: I didn't use it for this gif, but color balance is my other frequently used layer. I will add it when the photo filter doesn't do enough and there's a more dominant color (like the dreaded season 8 orange) that I'm trying to tone down.
saving the gif
final step yayyy. go to file > export > save for web (legacy).
these are my save settings. then you just click “save” and you’re done! you can also play back your gif here to see how it looks.
make sure your gif is under 10mb (you can see how big it is in the bottom left hand corner under your gif) otherwise tumblr won't let you upload it. if your gif is too big, either go back and delete some frames to shorten it, remove some coloring layers, or increase the lossy setting. I never go over 20 with that because your gif will get grainy, but if you're only like a couple mb over, increase it a bit and that should take care of it with minimal quality difference.
and here is the final gif!
hope this was helpful and thanks for reading. please feel to reach out here or on discord (@ wewriteletters) if you have any questions :) appreciate reblogs and if you found this useful/like my gifs and would like to support me I also have a ko fi!
Mostly it's about how well Jared has his mental health under control and how openly and honestly he deals with the subject. But there's this thing that somehow impresses me almost as much.
Because what do you really need iron mental strength for?
Maybe for situations in which you're laughed at by hundreds (!) of people?
I don't know the man personally, but from everything people say about him and how he appears on stage, he seems to have an extremely fast-processing brain with a great memory. He talks fast, uses an extensive vocabulary; he links different levels of meaning at lightning speed and, as we all know, takes immense pleasure in wordplay. His storytelling at conventions is rich in detail, always personal and very unaffected, but often lengthy as a result.
Contrast this with Jensen, who has a talent for comedic storytelling. Jensen also gets huge cheers from the audience for short, cheeky comments; Jared usually doesn't, or at least not as much as Jensen. Jensen gets the rim shots, not Jared.I t's also because Jensen is still a fan favourite, but actually Jensen is just really good at telling stories that are incredibly funny.
For a more mentally unstable man than Jared, that would be reason enough to simply shut up and say nothing more when paired up with a guy who clearly outshines him. But what does Jared do? Comments self-deprecatingly on his narrative style and just does his thing anyway.
Wow. Huge respect for that.
And then there's this extreme case at NashCon 2019: Jared fabulates a hopelessly complicated monologue, Jensen smugly takes on the role of the bewildered irritated person and the whole audience roars with laughter - especially because of Jensen's facial expressions and comments:
Jared keeps trying to explain his monologue; he grins and shakes his head and starts again and again.
And I get the impression that Jared is actually a bit pissed off that he doesn't get round to explaining; that his frustration isn't just an act.
I know from my own experience: it's so incredibly annoying when you have a lot in your head, try to include ALL the information in a formulated way and a listener gets hung up on some details and intervenes and YOU DON'T GET TO EXPLAIN IT. And then it all slides into the direction that you just can't get it right.
That can be very, very frustrating.
It can even be really unpleasant, to the point where you get really angry with your friends or family.
But how disgusting must it be to be laughed at by HUNDREDS of people? Lovingly, good-naturedly laughed at, sure, they're fans and all.
But laughed at.
Jared seems to be an incredibly sensitive and empathetic guy. He sure as hell always knows exactly how the people around him are feeling, how he affects them and how they react to him. Being the goofy or awkward contrast to Jensen's cool sarcasm is certainly not always funny, I just can't imagine that.
And what Jared then does is so incredibly casual, so brilliant: he simply regains the power of interpretation over himself by playing along. In the course of the panel, he uses the track again and again. But he doesn't just play along: he decides when and how it happens. Jensen can continue to play his role of the cool irritant and the audience gets a show.
And that's only because Jared is able to laugh at himself.
That's a skill that doesn't come naturally at all.
It's so great. And nobody can laugh at themselves as well as Jared Padalecki. I really don't know anyone. And in front of hundreds of people.
Please don't misunderstand: I'm not trying to overanalyse anything (especially since it's really only video footage, my goodness). Jared and Jensen love each other and would never deliberately hurt each other, I realise that too.
It's just nuances that I think I can somewhat understand. Another reason why I've developed such a deep respect for Jared Padalecki. Really, really great guy.
this is dean locking sam in the panic room to forcibly 'detox' him, and stalking him when sam escaped / this is sam letting dean out of the panic room because he has faith in him.
this is dean not wanting to become some kind of frankenstein monster so he could be immortal, and sam respecting his decision / this is soulless sam not wanting to get his soul back with his memories about hell, and dean forcing his soul back into his body without his consent.
A pregnant!Sam wincest fic rec. Hover over the titles for their summaries.
Note 1: Some fics may include graphic birth, miscarriage, a/b/o, underage, abortion or discussions of abortion so please heed any warnings the writers provide.
Note 2: All fics are Sam/Dean (Wincest). If you know of any pregnant!Sam Sastiel or Sambenny fics please feel free to submit them here.
And Miles to Go Before I Sleep - Bedtime Stories - Boy, One Day You’ll Be A Man - Breeding Sam (+timestamp) - Chalk Outline - Date Night - Don’t Make Me Say It - Dragon!Dean ‘verse - Fireworks - Games We Don’t Want To Play - Graveyard Shift - Happy Birthday, Sammy - I Don’t Do that Love Stuff - Informed Consent - Isn’t It Ironic? - Just a Brass Diamond Ring - Keeping It In The Family - Making Love - Misunderstandings - Nesting For Dummies - Passing the Time - Riot ‘Verse - Running Scared - Stanford A/B/O ‘verse - Starting Over - Surprises in Small Packages - The Father, the Son, and the Zombie Spirit - The Time Sam Winchester Mistakenly Thought he was Harboring the Antichrist - Whatever it is you need, I pray I am - When Sam Was… - Worth A Thousand Words
Bonus, Art Rec: by diminuel, by koizumi347, by wendigo
What are THE wincest fics? Like I know wolfstar has All The Young Dudes and bakudeku has The Way You Used to Do or From the Sidelines so what’s it for wincest?
Okay. Rant time. Maybe this sits in my drafts for a while, idk, but I'm waiting for my hair to dry from my shower and I had shower thoughts.
Specifically: I had thoughts about how the Supernatural fandom is so split over these fictional dumbasses that it's actually absurd. The show literally follows two brothers doing things together that brothers wouldn't do without absolute codependece. Like, I don't have siblings, but the ENTIRE rest of my extended family is part of sets of siblings (I am the only only child. Seriously.) and while I know they would stand up for each other, diving into literal Hell? Asking a potentially (actually likely) dangerous species of beings for help because nothing else will fix the brother lying in the hospital bed, bringing just as many who want to kill both of you down on your head for the slimmest chance to keep your brother from passing on without you? These are not things siblings do.
Then there's Cas. Cas who started as a stand in for John Constantine ehen WB wouldn't let them use the actyal character. Cas who was supposed to stick around for like 4 episodes and then die defying his species for two very fucked up brothers. Cas who almost loved (and was loved by) demon Meg. Cas who the writers and then the network tried to kill off multiple times because he took the focus off the brothers and then somehow became a gay icon despite being muck closer to pansexual if anything because he's a fucking angel and doesn't actually gender. Cas who I definitely believe loved Dean, but saw every time how much Sam and Dean love and need each other and would verbally slap them silly when they denied it. Cas who grew from cardboard cutout to comic relief to genuine fully fleshed out character in eleven seasons but gets relegated to the flat role of "Dean's boyfriend" because the brothers are doing the same thing they always do and stand way too close to each other but people are Offended that they stick to their very weird dynamic.
Cas deserves better, but I've seen so many writers get put off by the Destiel shippers insisting on attaching him to Dean that we don't even get character studies without Dean involved.
And then, of course, there's all the moments where Sam and Dean settle into living together like husbands. There's the fact that Sam's wife is kept vague and off screen but his son bears the name of his dead soulmate brother. There's Dean settling with Lisa but in every version (including the original idea where the show ended at Swan Song) it just didn't work out, but the SECOND that Sam shows up, Lisa knows Dean is leaving. Like he'd been a husk of himself and his soul was alight again.
And is there plenty of romantic opportunity with Cas? Sure! If you want Sam and Dean to just be codependent brothers and Dean falls for his best friend, all the power to you. But why does it have to mean that you don't tolerate that others see that codependece as a form of romance? Why does seeing chemistry between characters have to mean you judge them for the morality of fiction?
Why does someone reading, writing, drawing, or whatever else something that you don't enjoy, in a fictional world where no real person gets hurt by their creation, mean that you have to morally berate them?
You are not their parent. You don't know them. Your censorship goes against everything creative, and you will find yourself cutting off the world, piece by piece.
Fuck Warner Brothers for their attempt at queer erasure.
Fuck censorship.
And if you want an example of exactly how much gets buried and censored when media gets changed by corporations and how it influences what you see and know, go watch Encanto. And then read either the summary or, if you are feeling like you can stomach the gore, the actual book: 100 Years of Solitude.
Supernatural is rated for older teens and up. Kids are not supposed to be here, and so the show has no reason to cater to them. Stop acting like you're saving them from the creativity of adults in an adult space. It's ugly, and there's no reason to shove that ugliness at others.
turnnoffyourmind
snowghoul
titsay
izzy806
kianamaiart
