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The Instagramification of Jihad

Propagandists with ISIS, the Syrian al-Qaeda rebel group, are stylizing assassination footage in a clear push to recruit (wait for it) millenials.

Warning: The video above is extremely graphic.

You might remember the most stylized video out of war-torn Syria.

But take a look at this video. It features footage made public recently by ISIS, the Syrian al-Qaeda rebel group, and is essentially a four-minute supercut pulled from a longer, 50-minute reel depicting ISIS executions, drivebys, and roadside bombs on Iraqi police and military personnel over the past few months. Fair warning: It's pretty brutal.

If you can manage to set aside the sheer morbid reality of the situation in this part of the world today, you might be thinking, sourly, that this video is actually shot and edited pretty well. It's perhaps what makes this so much more than just another blown-out recruit video: Using high-speed cameras and everyday video editing software, propagandists with ISIS are stylizing assassination porn in a clear push to win over—wait for it—millenials.

Film burn dissolves? Speed ramping (basically an animated frame-rate change that gives you that slow motion punch and pull effect)? Sound design? It's all there, ready to be consumed by loyal followers and curious potential members alike—or as a warning to those against which ISIS is waging holy war, which is to say seemingly everyone. If you're a particularly dark person, there are at least a half dozen GIFs in there just waiting to be GIFd.

Either way, it's shareable. Call it the Instagramification of jihad.