October is over but we can move onward and upward to new projects and challenges!
Looking back
Before we go forward, let’s take a quick look back at the month’s choices of Richard Armitage characters requested for the October Animated GIF Challenge. I like math and numbers so I created this bar graph for comparison. Please click on it to view in full size. Image opens in a new tab or window.
Click for full size -- Image opens in a new tab or window
Clearly, Sir Guy of Gisborne was far and away the most popular. Lucas and Harry tied with four, and in fact they even shared the eyechart animated gif! 😎 John Thornton was also chosen four times.
Promo picture courtesy of RichardArmitageNet.Com
My only surprise was that John Porter scenes were requested only twice. However, I am more than happy with your selections! On one hand, that leaves more JP for me, LOL! It also demonstrates that you chose your favorites and did not make the requests you thought I would prefer. That was the whole point in sharing the graphic duties. I really enjoyed this project and was able to study scenes I had not really noticed before in such depth.
Here are a few things you might want to know about animated gifs:
- They can be made from stills or video; I make mine from video footage
- GIF is usually pronounced like the word “gift” without the final “t” although the developers pronounced it “Jif,” like the peanut butter!
- GIF stands for “graphics interchange format”
- GIFs consist of a maximum of 256 colors so this format is better for logos and line art rather than photographs
- Animated GIFs cannot contain sound
- Animated GIFs are images and not videos. You can save them the same way you would any other image on the Internet. However,
- animated GIFs do not move when you view them on your computer in Windows Photo Viewer; you must view them in your browser such as Internet Explorer or Firefox
- animated GIFs cannot be resized or they will lose their animation
Now it’s time for a study break! Let’s look at some Richard Armitage character pictures. 🙂
Do you notice what they all have in common? 😉
Looking forward
In a few days, I’ll post my animated gif tutorial. It will be in several parts because we’re going to start from scratch. I’m going to write it up based on the method I’ve developed using the software I have at hand. However, I will direct you to a free trial of the software if you would like to try it out. Also, if you have been interested in making fanvideos, the first several steps will be the same! I would love to see your work if and when you decide to share your creations. 🙂
Final note
The animated gif project was so much fun! It’s such a pleasure to work with you. We make a great team! ♥ Watch for the tutorial to start in a few days.
bccmee's Richard Armitage Vids & Graphics 
Once again, thanks a lot for this wonderful challenge Bccmee !!! 🙂
Response to your question “Do you notice what they all have in common?” : Richard doesn’t smiley on these pictures ? LOL
@April: You’re very welcome. It will be fun to see everyone’s creations after the tutorial. Good point about those RA pictures. His characters do not smile very often! 😀
Can I guess? They all show at least one of Richard’s hands and they are all John Porter.
@Nancy: Wow, it looks like you’ve spent your study break time studying! 🙂
Thanks for a wonderful October challenge and for letting us all take part. It was lots of fun Bccmee!
What do they have in common? They’re all of John Porter 🙂
I think what they have in common is that RA is acting non-verbally through his body posture and hand gestures.
@Musa/Fabo: It was a real pleasure for me, too! Ooh, very nice assessment of the pictures!
Glad to be part of your team 😉
Wow a gif tutorial – really looking foreward to getting some tips.
My answer to your question: It is JP and his lovely HANDS and ARMS 😉
@Alfie: I had so much pleasure from this past month. Never thought a challenge could be so fun!
I see you too have been studying those pictures very hard….hope you didn’t strain your eyes, LOL!
The success of Guy enjoy me because it’s my favourite but me too I thought that John Porter would be more requested (he’s a so wonderful character and the season one is great).
I absolutely love what you do and keep watching your blog as often I’ll can.
Thank you very much Bccmee for your time , your kindness and your creativity.
P.S. : your tutorial is an very interesting idea.
@Lady Prisca: I definitely see the appeal of Guy. In the promo picture, he looks almost regal. You’re very welcome and I thank you for your kind words! I hope you enjoy the upcoming tutorial.
Oh, Bccmee! I’m so excited that you’re doing a tutorial! *squeal*
Of course Guy won. His guyliner, smolder and leather is just….mm.
@Lady Rose: I’m glad that you’re excited, LOL! Yes, I agree, Guy was pretty hot with all those traits you mentioned! 😀
giggles….it says above…”please share your thoughts” …I couldn’t possibly so I will just say thankyou ‘B’ …it’s been amazing…I’ve rushed home from work everyday for your gifs…the suggestions were brill weren’t they…I had hundreds of John Porter gifs going round in my head but unfortunately I couldn’t get rid of the Lucas donut scene…So looking forward to keeping intouch with everyone…what an amazing team we make…GO TEAM ARMITAGE!!!
“I’ve rushed home from work everyday for your gifs”
Yes Jules , for me too it was a nice rendez-vous everyday. This rendez-vous will miss me.
Sorry I would to say that I ‘ll miss this rendez-vous.
@jules: No complaints here! The doughnut scene was inspired! We never once saw John Porter eat a single bit of food, did you notice? I’m very delighted you enjoyed yourself and I look forward to the next few months of projects!
Also, I’m honored that you rushed home daily to take a peek. I very much appreciate your participation!
I’m looking forward to the tutorial. I’ve been interested in learning how one goes about doing these things. Thanks for all your work!
@Jael: It will be fun to see those creations from people who are able to obtain the raw materials for the animated gifs! 🙂 And you’re most welcome!
Hi Bccmee,
Loved the gifs month! I’m looking forward to your tutorials.
Hmmm. What these pix have in common–besides them containing RA in character as JP? Might they all be scenes from various gifs you would have like to have created?
Or, given you mention of liking numbers, do the episode and picture numbers have a significance? I couldn’t detect a geometric progression, nor recurring pattern–such as subtracting the episode # from the picture # to get the next picture #. I know, I’m reading way to much into this. Ha! I’m a former math major and I like geeky puzzles. Did you know that one can count only use the number 4: 4/4 = 1; (4+4)/4 = 2; (4 + 4 + 4)/4 = 3; 4, 4 + 4/4 = 5 … you get the idea ha!
Cheers! Grati ;->
geeeze Grati…I’m promoting you to head of Section ‘D’…you could crack all those complex codes in an instance…I’ll put in a word with Harry Pearce for you…giggles…
@Gratiana: Thanks, glad you enjoyed the month of gifs! It was such a blast for me. I still can’t believe all the brilliant suggestions I received, many of which I would have never thought of on my own!
Wow, clever girl! I never saw that math trick. There was no pattern in the numbers of the image names so I hope you didn’t hurt yourself looking, LOL!
Thank you again for this wonderful October! Thank you for the statistics!
Having plenty of Guy this month was really magic!
I already bored you about the tutorial, so you know I will appreciate it very much!
I can’t wait for your posts to come.
@Carla: I’m so glad for the tutorial request! Lots of people have been curious so I will reveal all! I like to share knowledge. It’s rather like love…the more you give away, the more comes back! 😉
I’m hoping to see your favorite, John Porter, very soon. HBO Canada is showing Stike Back, season 1 – so, I’ve set my PVR and should be looking at those “guns” soon, swoon………
@Elaine: I’m so glad you’re able to see Strike Back on TV, woohoo! Yes, I love that show. John Porter is so incredibly sexy, if I dare say. 😉
Wow Bcc, a gif tutorial!!! that’s so considerate and generous of you, sharing your knowledge and skills with us …. If I had a video of you I would make your gif with the caption; BCC you rock!! 🙂
Also I would like to thank you again for the amazing “Oktoberfest” of RA-gifs you offered us. Hugs!
@Ana Cristina: ROTFL re: a gif of me!!! That really made me laugh.
So thrilled you enjoyed “Oktoberfest” which could have been named “RA-ktoberfest” if I thought of it sooner. Might have to save that name for next year. 😀
You’re so welcome.
Here are a few things you might want to know about what I know about animated gifs:
■GIF stands for “graphics interchange format” – already looked that up so I could say it without feeling like a complete fraud.
■GIFs consist of a maximum of 256 colors so this format is better for logos and line art rather than photographs – still don’t know what “line art” is. I’m taking a “need to know” approach.
■animated GIFs do not move when you view them on your computer in Windows Photo Viewer; you must view them in your browser such as Internet Explorer or Firefox – Oh my goodness! If only I had known this at the start. I thought I had “broken” my precious Lucas. Took ages to for penny to drop and get him twirling again.
Oh well, I suppose discovering stuff for oneself is a good thing. I am going to approach your tutorial with great interest AND caution.
And FYI, here Jif is a cleaning product http://www.unilever.co.nz/brands/homecarebrands/Jif.aspx
And FYI, here Jif is a cleaning product
And this is why I didn’t eat any peanut butter when I was down under. 😉
@beengizzied: I expect to see some very shiny animated JIFs from you then!
By the way, your comment about Jif being a cleaning product there and a peanut butter here reminds me of an old advertisement parody from Saturday Night Live, a long-running comedy show in the states. Here’s a link to the video for “New Shimmer”: http://www.break.com/usercontent/2009/4/SNL-New-Shimmer-Commercial-704661 Fast forward to about 1:27 to get past the introductory material.
I really miss Gilda Radner.
I enjoyed the gifs you made this month. You and your posse did some great work. I’m looking forward to the animated gif tutorial. Without Animation Shop, I’m rather clueless re: animated gifs.
@trinalin: Thanks very much! I hope you enjoy the tutorial. Any input is welcome. 🙂
Fun!!
So, i took the study break right in the middle of work today 🙂 and i realized that in the dream i had of RA recently… remember i told you… he was wearing the same shirt as JP in study_pic1 🙂 The same one and he had his sleeves folded in the same manner!! oohhh i love this man!!
and, and, here is my objection to the description below the bar chart “John Thornton was also chosen…” also?? my JT is more popular than Guy! its just that he does not have the swagger as GoG, so his gifs might not have so much movement… but, but, given that, he still should not be also-ed at all in my opinion 😛 😛 (pv is very protective of her JT, as you can see 🙂 )
@PV: Oh wow, it’s fun when something reminds us of our dReAms, especially when they’re RA RelAted! Yeah he looks totally HAWT as John Porter. 🙂
LOL re: the John Thornton reference. Hope we’re not going to have a turf war. *giggle* 😀 😛
Thank you again for a great October. It was a daily dose of smile. And I see, it definitely was a month of Sir Guy, but to quote one of the slogans on the Jonia’s blog “Guy. Making people successful in a changing world” 😉
Tutorial, what a great idea. 🙂 I can’t wait (and perhaps also find out how to reduce the size of my video * helpless *)
What these pictures have in common? Well, I see only great J. Porter.
@Ania: You’re very welcome. Hehehe, I will have to look for that slogan on Jonia’s blog. I hadn’t noticed it before!
I do hope my tutorial will be helpful!
John Porter is great indeed! ♥
Bcc, It´s so sweet from your part to want to share your knowledge with us. I look forward to learn something about gifs .
Regarding to the pictures posted, my friends have already said . All they are J.Porter and seems he is looking at for something…I´m not sure… I never was an observant person .I´m not surprise too ,that Guy has been the winner, althought that Lucas ´gif eating a donut has been one of my favorite ones. In fact, it was so hard to choose one, among so many interesting gifs. I never saw a month to pass so fast. It was quite amused all these days.
Hugs!
@Tereza: It was a very fun month, especially with all the amazing scene selections and the humorous and thoughtful comments! It would be very difficult for me to pick a favorite animated gif. I loved each and every one of them as if they were my children, LOL!
WOW…..homework for this evening thanks Bccmee! Study time will be a pleasure.
Thank you for all your hard work
@mersguy: LOL! I expect a full report, young lady. 😉
And you’re most welcome!
Just catching up on your final GIFs for this month after my trip to London this weekend. I enjoyed this month so very much – thanks for the fun and the hard work!!
I’ll definitely be paying attention during your tutorial, I’d love to be able to make some myself. So nice of you to share your skills with us!
x
@IngeD3: You’re very welcome! Hope you had a great time in London. 🙂 I’m so glad you enjoyed the animated gif challenge. I look forward to the coming weeks.
I think this study break could lead to behaviour that might end in a detention. School study breaks never looked this good.
@Elaine: LOL! We’ll have to be on our best behavior, which in some cases might not be all that good. 😉 It’s graded on a curve.
Yes, but which curve? The curve of his back? The curve of his cheek? Which cheek? Cheeky monkey……….. I could go on for hours………….
@Elaine: It’s nice to get to know the level of the class, LOL!
@bccmee – I probably wouldn’t even register on a bell curve. My mind turned to mush somewhere around day 4 of the gif fest.
@Elaine: You’re clearly going to need to stay after class!
Bccmee,
If you don’t mind, I would want to know another statistics: what gif was more successful (has received more comments, except yours)? Just curious. 🙂
Thanks for lots of fun!
@fabi: You are free to go through and see which gifs have the most comments. I’m not sure actually! 🙂
You’re very welcome, by the way.
A Limerick for Bccmee
aka “‘The Gifs of RA”
Your gifs to your friends kept you busy
All those pictures & vids making you dizzy
You made clips of Harry, Ricky & John
Lucas, Alex, Ian, Thorin & John
But the big favourite was of course Gizzy!
(OK so the limerick is a little off)
Keep up the great work 😎
PS – All the pictures feature John Porter – but there must be more to it than that?!? Please explain as I keep fogging up my laptop screen with heavy breathing studying the photos for the answer!
PSS – If you EVER feel bored and want to make a gif or graphic featuring say other gorgeous MI-5 officers (Tom, Adam, Zaf, Dmitri, etc….) Please feel free to share 😉
@tyme4t: Regarding other characters, if you follow my upcoming tutorial, you will be able to make your own animated gifs of those guys!
OH NO…. another “fangurl” distraction! LOL Can my RL handle spending even more time drooling – ahem – learning about these men 😉
If I do get creative with the gifs…I will share.
@tyme4t: Another gem! I’m very honored to be the topic of your limerick, thank you. 🙂 Actually some of the spinning round animated gifs did make me a little dizzy, LOL.
Speaking of the John Porter pictures, now I wish I had slipped in a Lucas from Spooks 9.1. I didn’t think of it sooner! 😀 I will answer it in a day or two.
will continue to study the JP pictures to figure out the puzzle….. happily study btw!
What do you mean…OTHER georgeous MI-5 officers???:)
Dear Bccmee!
I will try hard to learn something but I have love\hate relationship with my computer:)
Here I am “master of Jifs”!:)
@Joanna: I look forward to seeing your creations once the tutorial is posted in a few days! 🙂 Thanks for your comments.
I loved all your animated GIFs, even the Porter ones. 😉
Looking forward to the tutorial. I shall be taking notes and following along.
@judiang: Way to get on my good side, LOL! I’m looking forward to your creations, whatever they may be. 🙂 Thanks for your comment.
Bcc Thanks again for all the fun. You’re a great team leader!
But I will not pass the test, John Porter distract me and I forget what I’m looking for! : 0)
@Ana Cris: You’re very welcome. And I know exactly what you mean about distraction! I have the same problem even after 2.5 years of admiring RA! 😀
I love the willingness to share the tools of creativity in this fandom. Thanks, bccmee!
@jazzbaby1: You’re welcome! It’s so fun to be part of “our little community!” 😀
This was the coolest reason to get out of bed every day, thank you so much for this and I hope you’ll do it again…ahem, as in, maybe, please, DECEMBER w holiday themed GIFs? I’m just sayin….
Peace!
@Monica: You’re welcome! I appreciate your thoughts! I do have a few ideas for December so I hope we can have another fun project then!
Thanks B! Your work is always a pleasure to see. This was so much fun, watching new and creative gifs each day! I am happy that Guy had the most but I see John Porter is going to get his fair share of yur talent! Keep up the great ideas and thanks for the tutorials. Someday I hope to make a movie video:-)
@jeanniegisborne: I really appreciate your kind words of support. They mean a lot to me. Yes, no doubt Guy of Gisborne is extremely popular and that is completely understandable! I’m delighted you enjoyed the animated gif challenge and I think you for participating. 🙂 I definitely look forward to your movie video!!!
I almost forgot to answer the question on what all the pictures had in common! Quite simply, they are all John Porter pictures. I really enjoyed your clever answers and hadn’t thought of some of them that way. Again, I obviously need to give them more study. 😀
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