I enjoy shooting for time lapse and it can be done several ways. The original technique was to shoot one frame of film or video at a specific interval. For example, to speed of clouds, you might shoot one frame every five seconds and then when you play it back at 24 fps for film or 30 fps for video, everything will move extremely fast. It required using a device called an intervalometer. Basically a timer with which you could set up the interval of your shots and the amount of frames shot at each interval. Some cameras had this feature already built in.
When creating a time lapse this way, it helps to plan ahead and try to pre-visualize the movement in order to achieve the action you are looking for. If you set a longer interval between exposures, the resulting action will be faster movement and of course the opposite is true, as well. More on this in a bit.
The other way more commonly used these days is to shoot a long segment of video without moving the camera and then speed it up with your editing system. At your edit desk you can determine the correct speed for your project. The down side here is that this technique takes a bit more time, because you have to digitize all that footage into your system in realtime or fill your drives with very large files.
The most difficult part of working in time lapse is finding the patience to complete a shot properly. I might setup a shot of the NYC skyline, directly across the river from one of the Hoboken parks/piers. Everything looks great and I am trying to imagine how the slow moving clouds will look, sped up. Then, I'll see a large ocean liner making its way north of the Hudson, or a beautiful bank of clouds over the financial district. My current shot seems lame compared to these new revelations. Too often, I have returned home only to find that my original instinct was the best and I had killed a great looking shot by being impatient and leaving it too soon.
So, I have established the 20 minute rule for myself. I bring along a stop watch and continue to hold my position for a minimum of 20 minutes. I've also taken to bringing more than one camera when possible.
My longest time lapse to date was 7 days. I set up 10 cameras in the University of Nevada stadium to document the building of U2's POP Tour stage. Some of the cameras were capturing one frame every 2 minutes, while others moved much faster. If the action was slow, like the building of the stage and the giant POP arch and screen, then capturing the action at one frame every two minutes was perfect. That way, each hour of construction equalled around 1 second of screen time. A weeks worth of construction was captured in around a minute of playback. If people or objects are moving very fast in front of the camera, then I would set the camera to shoot one frame every one or two seconds.
The results were beautiful and were featured prominently in the U2 POP documentary film.
On the other hand, hanging out in the stadium while the week passed was a bit tedious. I had to make my rounds to the different camera positions all over the stadium to ensure that everything remained operating properly and to insure that the action happening in front of camera four was still moving. And of course, I needed to keep the continuous supply of fresh film and batteries flowing.
The lens I'm using is also a consideration. Clouds will move much faster on a close up shot of the top of a building than they will on a wide vista. The more you experiment the more it will make sense.
The first part of City Lights was created using my Sony EX3 and it included the use of some low light Nikon telephoto lenses to create some "big moon" shots, but I hope to finish it using our new Sony HXR-NX5 camera. Called NXCAM for short, this camera is smaller and lighter than our EX cameras and records onto AVCHD cards or a small flash drive that mounts on the side of the camera and it is capable of holding up to eleven hours of 1920x1080 HD video.
Regardless of the type of camera being used, it's key to have your camera mounted securely on a decent tripod when experimenting with time lapse. A stiff wind or the vibration of a passing bus will be very noticeable and can easily blow the best shot . I've been using several different types of Manfrotto tripods when I go out on the street to film. If I know that I will be working close to my car, I might use a larger tripod like my 536 carbon fiber or 545B. Both offer great stability. But if I plan to do a lot of walking around, I might use something a little smaller and more portable. I don't really need a fluid head for time lapse, because I'll be locking the camera down in one position. So, in fact, you could even use a still camera tripod.
Speaking of still cameras, many new digital cameras have a built in intervalometer and will allow you to create beautiful time lapse movies. I have used both Nikons and Canon cameras for this purpose with amazing results, but there is a trade off. Digital SLR camera shutters have a limited life span and although the price of replacing a shutter is less than the price of a new camera, it can still be costly affair. It's a fair price to pay if someone is paying you for your work, but if you wear out your only camera prematurely, it's a drag.
That's why I have used the built-in time lapse capability in all of my Sony cameras. There are simply no moving parts. No shutters or spinning tape drums and therefore, nothing to wear out.
So, the snow is melting and hopefully it will stay away long enough for me to get back out into the mean streets of New York City. I'm ready to once again brave the cold and freeze my tush off for my art.
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www.vimeo.com/crazyduck
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www.vimeo.com/crazyduck
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