How to Make a Thirst Trap Gif

It’s time for my new bread and butter! I turned to Vanessa’s “How To Take A Butt Selfie” article in a moment of anxiety when a thirst trap was expected of me and I had NONE and had never taken one (that I wanted to send) before! Using Vanessa’s selfie advice, I made a thirst trap gif instead. Here’s how to make your own.

1. Hype yourself up with some music.

When I have an end goal in mind, I’m hitting up “Suga Mama” by Beyoncé. When I know what I’m about but not trying to give them too much, I do “Check On It” by Beyoncé and whatever that dude’s name is. When I think I’m ‘in like,’ it’s “Knock You Down” because it gives me a second to get myself to That Place when Kanye’s part comes on. There’s more, but you gotta figure out what gets you feeling like That Gender Neutral MothaFucka That Owns They Shit.

2. Record a short, sexy video.

Get your angles and try to aim for a clip under 20 seconds. Here’s an example of a video you can turn into a gif:

3. If you recorded the video on your phone, upload the video to your computer.

If you can, Airdrop the video to your computer. Otherwise, you may want to use a File Secure Protocol to move it from Android to a Windows computer. Personally, I use MEGA and just be deleting shit afterwards, but listen to your soul and also people who have more experience with this area of technology!

4. Edit your video.

We’re on the computer — time to make sure everything is trimmed and cropped the way we want it. I use iMovie because I don’t understand anything else through Apple (I was hardcore Android for all my life and then…well, here we are). Remember if you’re going from iPhone to Windows, you need to convert the video from MOV to MP4!

5. Download the Gifski app and upload your video to Gifski.

Once you’ve installed Gifski on your computer, you can find it under “Applications” if you’re on your Mac, or if you go to the Start button on your Windows computer, you should see it filed alphabetically. When you open Gifski, it will say “Drop a Video” or “Open.”
Screenshot of the Gifski app. Against a black background with purple, pink and orange stripes in the corners, text reads: "Drop a video or Open, and Open."

You can drag your video to this button or click “Open,” which will take you into your file manager — that’s where you can select the video from wherever you’ve saved it.
Screenshot of a.tony's computer where they've highlighted the video they want, have scrolled down the options, and highlighted "Convert to Gifski."

After you’ve uploaded your video, it’ll have a load screen like this while it converts:
Screenshot of the Gifski app converting the video into a gif. The screen shows that the video has converted 6%.

Next, it will open to this screen, where you will see all frames of the video. You can trim down the video here if you’d like.
Screenshot of the Gifski app with a.tony's video of their hand opened. Below the video, the app shows all the frames of the video.

6. Convert your video into a gif.

After pressing “Enter” or “Ok,” the app will show you this screen while it works its gif magic.
Screenshot of the Gifski app converting the video into a gif. The app shows that the video has converted 6%.

7. Save it!

This is important! You’ve got to save the image to your computer because as soon as you close out, the gif is lost! Click “Save As” if you want to keep it on your computer, click “Copy” if you just want to share it in a text message or click “Share” if you want to share it through one of the apps already installed on your computer.
Screenshot of the Gifski app with the finished product. The app offers the options to copy, share or "save as."

Alternatively, when you’re on the go, you can take a video, trim it and then upload it to the GIF Maker app or go to your browser and use EZGif.

And there you have it! Go forth and get your crushes lost in your sauce with your moving thirst traps!

A gif shows a.Tony's open palm. They then fold in all but their pointer and middle fingers to make a "come hither" motion. A beige carpet and a black cord are in the background.

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A. Tony Jerome

A.Tony is a black nonbinary artist out here to do good and to do gay. They are a 2015 Pink Door Fellow, 2016 Lambda Literary Emerging Writer Fellow, 2020-21 Afro Urban Arts Lit From the Black! Fellow, and have worked with Roots.Wounds.Words., Words Beats & Life, and Winter Tangerine among other places. You can find more of their work on their website and listen to them scream about poetry & other interests on Twitter.

A. has written 47 articles for us.

4 Comments

  1. While I’m not sure that “thirst trap” content is something that everyone wants to create, I appreciate the tutorial on making a gif! Adding glitter video elements can be a fun and creative way to make your gif stand out and grab people’s attention. It’s always helpful to have step-by-step instructions and tips for creating engaging content, whether it’s for personal or professional purposes. Of course, it’s important to also consider the appropriateness and context of your content, and ensure that it aligns with your personal or brand values. Regardless, this tutorial on making a glittery gif was informative and entertaining, and I’m sure it will be useful for those looking to add some extra sparkle to their social media content.

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