CREATOR SPOTLIGHT: Colleen (@summercohen)
Support your local gif makers! In celebration of my one year gif-iversary, I am posting shoutouts to gif makers who have motivated and inspired me with their creativity in the past year. This post is for Colleen, whose gifs can be found here.
I first found Colleen’s blog through the notes on a Barry gifset that I had posted, and something about her reblog set her apart immediately. Colleen is overwhelmingly supportive and kind towards others about their art. We weren’t following each other at the time and had never exchanged words, yet she poured out a passionate set of tags that had me smiling for the rest of the week. It is this exact type of care and encouragement that we need more of on this website to keep content creators going. Not only is Colleen a skilled editor, but she is a driving force in this online community of creators who are seldom appreciated for their work. When looking at Colleen’s gifs, the sharpness of the images and the creativity she puts into them make her stand out as a gif maker. Colleen is both a seasoned creator and a role model for kindness, passion, and individuality.
MUST-SEE EDITS
A Star is Born Script Excerpts - This set showcases the creative ways that Colleen memorializes some of her favorite media. Going through her tag you will see multiple gifsets from A Star is Born, and this is generally Colleen’s style; she has central interests that she pays close attention to, giffing those subjects to perfection in many different ways. Her consistency and dedication are admirable. In this gifset, she used text as a creative asset to the images, pulling script excerpts from the film and overlaying them on top of the visuals of the scenes. This is such an inventive concept, and she executed it beautifully, from the sharpness of the scenes to the skillful blurring of certain pieces of text.
Cool - This gifset gives us a sense of Colleen’s eye for color (along with her love of the Jonas Brothers). The bold, stunning blues and cyans are the star of the show here, and they are brilliantly accented by pinkish reds and a few pops of orange. In addition to making strong and impactful color choices, Colleen chose very compelling pieces of the video. Image selection can make or break a gifset, and this is a category in which Colleen always excels. Placing the close up, predominantly red shot of all three brothers looking towards the camera in the center was a clever choice to break up the blue and draw attention. Colleen has a superb eye for composition.
Eleven - According to the tags on this set, creating this one was a somewhat experimental process for Colleen. She made the decision to try something new and combine still images with gifs when building Eleven’s aesthetic. The still images enhance the subtle softness of the collection of images, and the muted coloring creates a sense of wonder, danger, and a bit of childlike fear. In this set, Colleen cropped gifs in a clever and intentional way, using only parts of Eleven’s face to convey closer detail. This set creates a full-body summary, as we see her hands, her feet, a bit of her torso, and her face, all in different pieces that combine into a well-rounded whole.
The Jonas Brothers - “#im dead from making this pls support me.” The time and effort that must have gone into this breathtaking rainbow creation should be considered and appreciated. 63 individual gifs make up this colorful set, and Colleen took the time to create, color, and combine them all into the finished product. Each grouping of gifs blends beautifully into the next, as the vibrant hues play off of each other perfectly. In this set we see all stages of the iconic three-piece band, from their adorable Disney Channel beginnings to their current mature style, and everything in between. This set was a work of pure passion, and with it Colleen embodied the reason we make gifs - to showcase the things we love.
Willy - It’s no secret that Colleen loves Bill Hader, and in this gif series she has compiled a collection of his sexiest characters. This gifset stands out from the crowd for its subtle, but unifying, use of blue and cyan. While the coloring of this set isn’t overwhelmingly vibrant or flashy, Colleen used her refined eye for color to create a sense of harmony and calm. The color blue is here to complement, but not detract from, the subject, and we find ourselves drawn to the character at the focal point of the set. The bottom left gif is particularly captivating for its combination of different shades of blue.
CREATOR’S TOP PICKS
Colleen loves all her sets equally, so go ahead and stalk her #mine tag to pick your favorites!
Thank you to Colleen for inspiring me over the past year! Be sure to check out all of her amazing gifsets, reblog them, and leave nice feedback!
