Designed to allow users to create hybrid images that sit somewhere between the realms of photo and video, Cinemagram is the latest in a long line of apps designed to leverage the iPhone’s powerful built-in camera. Thanks to a generous tutorial walkthrough and a friendly user interface reminiscent of the one used by Instagram, getting started with Cinemagram couldn’t be easier.

In order to create what Cinemagram’s developers call a ‘cine,' you're invited to work through a number of steps, the first of which involves capturing a few seconds of video. The video footage is then frozen and displayed on screen as a still. At this point, shutterbugs are asked to select an area of the image they’d like animate by defining it on screen with their finger. Finally, choose from a number of filters to stylize your cine à la Hipstamatic, and just like that you’ve created an slick, animated work of art. And it's sharable on a number of social networks including Tumblr, Facebook, and Twitter, plus cines can be sent via email as .GIF files.

It’s a great idea in theory, but not always in practice. Cines taken in areas where there is a lot of background action lack the elegance realized by those taken against static backdrops. Additionally, while we like that the app allows user to export their cines to a number of social networks, I just never felt very compelled to share my creations.

The bottom line. Cinemagram is indeed quite novel, but the novelty wears off with repeated use, and I was happy to return to shooting to run-of-the-mill photos and videos without much desire to explore this offering much further. In its current form, Cinemagram just isn't all that captivating.