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History Some classic subjects of timelapse photography include: The technique has also been used to photograph crowds, traffic, and even television. The effect of photographing a subject that changes imperceptibly slowly, is to create a smooth impression of motion. A subject that is changing quickly already is transformed into an onslaught of activity. The first use of time-lapse photography in a feature film was in Georges Méliès' motion picture Carrefour De L'Opera (1897). Time-lapse photography of biologic phenomena was partially pioneered by F. Percy Smith in 1910 and Roman Vishniac from 1915 to 1918. Time-lapse photography was further pioneered in a series of feature films called Bergfilms, including (Mountain films) by Arnold Fanck, in the 1920s, including The Holy Mountain (1926). But no filmmaker can be credited for popularizing time-lapse more than Dr. John Ott. Ott's initial "day-job" career was that of a banker, with time-lapse movie photography, mostly of plants, initially just a hobby. Starting in the 1930s, Ott bought and built more and more time-lapse equipment, eventually building a large greenhouse full of plants, cameras, and even self-built automated electric motion control systems for moving the cameras to follow the growth of plants as they developed. He even time-lapsed his entire greenhouse of plants and cameras as they all worked, a virtual symphony of time-lapse movement. His work was featured on an episode of the request TV show, You Asked For It in the late 1950s. Ott also discovered that the movement of plants could be manipulated by varying the amount of water plants were given, and varying the color-temperature of the lights in the studio, with some colors causing the plants to flower and other colors causing the plants to bear fruit. Ott even discovered ways to change the gender of plants merely by varying the light source color-temperature. By using these techniques, Ott time-lapse animated plants "dancing" up and down in synch to pre-recorded music tracks. His cinematography of flowers blooming in such classic documentaries as Walt Disney's Secrets of Life (1956), pioneered the modern use of time-lapse on film and television. Ott wrote a book on the history of his time-lapse adventures, My Ivory Cellar (1958). Ott's experiments with different colored lighting systems and their effects on the health of plants led to experiments with colored lights on the health of animals, then humans, then on individual cells, using time-lapse micro-photography. Ott discovered that only a full spectrum of natural light (including natural amount of infra-red AND ultra-violet) worked to entirely promote full physical and mental health in plants, animals and humans. A second book detailing these experiments followed, Exploring the Spectrum (1973). Ott-Lights are sold at lighting stores worldwide. A major refiner and developer of time-lapse is the Oxford Scientific Film Institute in Oxford England. The Institute specializes in time-lapse and slow-motion systems, and has also developed camera systems that could go into (and move through) impossibly small places. Most people have seen at least some of their footage which has appeared in TV documentaries and movies for decades. PBS's NOVA series aired a full episode on time-lapse (and slow motion) photography and systems in 1981 titled Moving Still. Highlights of Oxford's work are slo-mo shots of a dog shaking water off himself, with close ups of drops knocking a bee off a flower, as well as time-lapse of the decay of a dead mouse. The first major usage of time-lapse in a feature film was Koyaanisqatsi (1983). The non-narrative film, directed by Geoffrey Regio, contained much time-lapse of clouds, crowds, and cities lensed by cinematographer Ron Fricke. Countless other films, commercials, TV shows and presentations have included time-lapse. The Benny Hill Show used this method in practically every episode, especially at the end. For example, Peter Greenaway's film A Zed & Two Noughts featured a sub-plot involving time-lapse photography of decomposing animals and included a composition called "Time-lapse" written for the film by Michael Nyman. More recently, Adam Zoghlin's time-lapse cinematography was featured in the CBS television series Early Edition, depicting the adventures of a character that receives tomorrow's newspaper today. David Attenborough's 1995 series, The Private Life of Plants, also utilised the technique extensively. Terminology
How time-lapse works Film is often projected at 24 frame/s, meaning that 24 images appear on the screen every second. Under normal circumstances a film camera will record images at 24 frame/s. Since the projection speed and the recording speed are the same the images onscreen appear to move normally. Even if the film camera is set to record at a slower speed, it will still be projected at 24 frame/s. Thus the image on screen will appear to move faster. The change in speed of the onscreen image can be calculated by simply dividing the projection speed by the camera speed. So a film that is recorded at 12 frames per second will appear to move twice as fast. Shooting at camera speeds between 8 and 22 frames usually falls into the undercranked fast motion category, with images shot at slower speeds more closely falling into the realm of time-lapse, although these distinctions of terminology have not been entirely established in all movie production circles. The same principles apply to video and other digital photography techniques, however until very recently video cameras have not been capable of recording at variable frame rates. Time-lapse can be achieved with some normal movie cameras by simply clicking individually frames manually. But greater accuracy in time-increments and consistency in the exposure rates of successive frames are better achieved though a device that connects to the camera's shutter system (camera design permitting) called an intervalometer. The intervalometer regulates the motion of the camera according to a specific interval of time between frames. Some intervolometers can also be connected to motion control systems that move the camera on any number of axes as the time-lapse photography is achieved, creating tilts, pans, tracks, and trucking shots as the speeded up motion is viewed. Ron Fricke is the primary developer of such systems, which can be seen in his short film Chronos (1992) and his feature film Baraka (1992, released to video in 2001). Short Exposure vs. Long Exposure Time-lapse
Time-lapse camera movement As also earlier mentioned, some of the most stunning time-lapse images are created by moving the camera during the shot. A time-lapse camera can be mounted to a moving car for example to create a notion of extreme speed. However to achieve the effect of a simple tracking shot it is necessary to use motion control to move the camera. A motion control rig can be set to dolly or pan the camera at a glacially slowly pace. When the image is projected it could appear that the camera is moving at a normal speed while the world around it is in time lapse. This juxtaposition can greatly heighten the time-lapse illusion. The speed that the camera must move to create a perceived normal camera motion can be calculated by inverting the time-lapse equation: Baraka was one of the first films to use this effect to its extreme. Director and Cinematographer Ron Fricke designed his own motion control rigs that utilized stepper motors to pan, tilt and dolly the camera. A variation of these are rigs that move the camera DURING exposures of each frame of film, blurring the entire image. Under controlled conditions, usually with computers carefully making the movements during and between each frame, some exciting blurred artistic and visual effects can be achieved, especially when the camera is also mounted onto a tracking system of its own that allows for its own movement through space. The most classic example of this is the slit-scan opening of the stargate sequence toward the end of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), created by visual effects maestro Douglas Trumbull. (Additional info via Daniel J. Fiebiger.) Related techniques | ||||||||||||||
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