An easy way get started in the world of video making, and at the same time have fun and gain understanding of the principles of cinematography, is by learning how to produce a time lapse, which is a very popular photographic technique. Originally, it was used to show what is captured by the camera at very slow speeds, images imperceptible to the human eye. To show plants growing or the evolution of a construction project, the frame rate used to capture the image is much lower than the one used to view the resulting sequence. So we have to take a lot of pictures of the same space over a protracted period, and then play them in a much shorter time. We obtain a visual effect in which everything we captured moves very quickly when compared with real time.
But perhaps you are not interested in portraying how a flower blossoms, or how your neighbour repairs his garage. This, then, is the time to let your creativity flow! There are hundreds of situations you can portrait using this technique, playing with your photo camera. Even the last generation of smartphones allows you to take image sequences to edit your own time lapse! Just set the elapsed time between each photo and remember to maintain your camera stable, preferably using a tripod.
These are two examples of time lapses we have created at MIUC:
Once you have understood the photographic concepts that lie beneath the production of a time lapse, it may be time to go a step beyond that. You can try to create a stop-motion, which is an animation technique to make objects appear as if they were moving on their own. Perhaps you could try something more difficult to prepare and shoot such as a go motion or even a bullet time. Below please find an example of a stop motion, which demonstrates what can happen if you read overly much…
And now it is time to stop reading. Let’s go! Use your imagination, take your camera and start creating your first time lapse! And don’t forget to have fun!!
