Time-lapse filmmaking talk

Godfrey Reggio's first film KOYAANISQATSI changed my perspective on time-lapse photography. This film should be watched by every filmmaker because it gave birth to the explosion of what we know as time-lapse today. Everything from CBS's Survivor to the recent Beijing Olympics uses this style of photography. If you are not familiar with the film you can watch the trailer below.


I have been experimenting with time-lapse videography for a long time. It is a really cool way of viewing the world from a altered perspective. The ability to watch something 1000x faster then it is normally viewed can create a visceral experience and help you see something in a whole new light.

I have found that time-lapse is a great way to show an event to a mass audience. An event that would normally bore people can be very engaging when it only lasts a minute or two. My video ONE MINUTE ENGINE REBUILD -DIRECTORS CUT is my favorite of all of them. I shot the repair over a period of three days. I set up a 1k lowel tungsten balanced light, and put my Panasonic DVX-100A on a tripod with lots of sandbags. I set up the camcorder on a 100 shutter, 3.2 Kelvin white balance, 2.8 exposure, and a fixed focal of 72 for the event. I set the time-lapse to recording 15frames every 1 minute. In post I took the footage and multiplied it by 1000%, cut out the dead spots where the work was not progressing, applied frame blend, and added music from my Smartsound collection. The rest is history.




Here is another fun video of car repair. Since i'm mechanically inclined and don't have the money to pay a mechanic, I might as well combine both of my skills right? This video incorporated all the same camera settings I used before. The difference is I wanted to see what it would be like to view a time-lapse that jumps all over the place. I move the camera at least a dozen times throughout the process to give a different perspective. Check it out!

ONLINE AUDIENCES LIKE BONEHEAD VIDEOS

I have come to the conclusion that online audiences like bonehead videos. Sure, videos with high production value, and compelling storylines are great. But that doesn't mean an audience online will want to watch it. My award winning short IN CASE OF EMERGENCY had a very succesful run at festivals across the United States, and yet when I premiered it online...it might as well been a documentary on kitten bowel movements. Simply stated, people online have short attention spans and want instant gratification. I think this is a reflection of some audiences might be watching on their smart phones, while others might be sitting at starbucks sucking down a carmel frappachino while perousing on their laptop. Perhaps the rule of thumb is this; if an audience wanted a higher quality experience, why would they be watching content via the internet anyways? With media players still averaging 640x480 resolution on a tiny box on your computer screen, and the average bitrate around 800 kbps, the viewing experience is mediocre at best. So the old mantra if you can't beat em, join em is my answer. In conclusion, I hope the internet will progress and start looking for more compelling content, but in the meantime I present my latest bonehead video entited ONE MINUTE BRAKE JOB.

Oil Speed Paintings by Tom Chapman

My dad is a oil painter and I'm a filmmaker. We thought it would be fun to combine our talents and bang out a series of videos showing the work being performed. Only thing; I know how boring it can be watching paint dry (figure of speech). So I decided to put my own spin on things by showing the paintings come to fruition in blistering speed. This gives an altered perspective that is pretty cool.