Childhood Nightmares – Cinemagraphs by Marcel Meyer

I discovered cinemagraphs a few months ago, and since then I’ve continued to be fascinated by them. If you haven’t heard the term before, you’re not alone. They’re essentially a static image, much like you would take with your cell phone or camera, but with one or more elements in motion. The result is a subtle effect that’s extremely interesting, and often times creepy as well.

In this dark and dreary collection of cinemagraphs, German artist Marcel Meyer portrays a serious of childhood nightmares. All of the shots feature a child wearing pajamas in various lonely locations, such as empty fields and darkened hallways. The child is creepy enough on his own, but there’s something in particular about the lighting which helps instill a nightmarish quality to the scenes. There’s a good reason that horror movies often feature demonic children in shadowy locations, usually screaming or writhing around in an extremely annoying fashion.

My Favourite Childhood Nightmares

You know, staying out in the woods dressed like this probably isn’t the greatest idea. I realize that balloons are really pretty awesome (especially this one), but is it really worth it? I can’t imagine the leaves, twigs, and other grime being very pleasant for a barefoot person.

This looks like just about the least appealing playground I’ve ever seen, and believe me, I’ve seen quite a few. This is yet another example of why modern playground suck. You know, I’m betting that the boy was so bored at the playground that his evening was filled with nightmares about it.

This is an especially subtle shot, and artistically, it’s well within the “wtf?” camp. If your monitor is dark or you aren’t very observant, have a look at the woman laying on the floor to the right of the staircase. This is some weird shit going on here, especially given that she’s seemingly tied to a chair.

I’ve looked at all of these images dozens of times, and it’s only now as I write this that I notice a second animated detail. I’m sure you notice the balloons, but look around the scene a bit more and you may find a second surprise.

It’s interesting to see the lighting change while everything else is completely stationary. It’s almost as if the two kids are simply standing very still, biding their time to strike out at the viewer and either murder them, or do something incredibly annoying, such as whine about not getting enough cake at dinner.

Now, the shots I’ve included here are definitely my favorites, but you’ll find the rest of this collection (and in higher resolution) on Marcel Meyer’s website. Marcel has done a wide range of interesting projects, and he’s even included “making of” videos for most of them. They’re actually pretty interesting, and show just how much work he puts into each of his projects.