It’s 2am and I’m anxious for the LBI lighting crew to lift a half-ton truss of colored spotlights 30 feet above me. I'm time-lapsing the building of a stage and two hours had passed with little movement.
Time-lapse gets pretty dull when nothing moves.
Although tonight’s installation is for the launch of a new product, it will still be quite an extravaganza of smoke, light and sound. A rock show without the band.
One of my first time-lapse project was for a production company working with U2. The group was slated to appear at Giant’s Stadium deep in the New Jersey Meadowlands at the beginning of their Stadium Zoo Tour. A producer named Ned from Dreamchaser Productions in Dublin, Ireland called looking for someone to do the deed.
I asked, “What does it pay?” and he responded "Six grand.", after which I suggested that I was the perfect one for the job.
I ran off to buy my first time-lapse camera and as such, began my new specialty.
I asked, “What does it pay?” and he responded "Six grand.", after which I suggested that I was the perfect one for the job.
I ran off to buy my first time-lapse camera and as such, began my new specialty.
Time lapse, for those unaware of the technique, is the process of shooting one image at a time at a set rate, say, one frame every five seconds and then playing it back at the normal speed for the format you are shooting in. For film it would be 24 frames per second (fps) and if you are shooting video, it is usually 30 fps. The result is that everything you have filmed is now showing up at a much faster rate. Clouds form and zoom by the camera at breakneck speed, city traffic will race down the streets and with amazing grace, flowers bloom in seconds.
Often, the difficulty in creating a time-lapse is having the patience to wait for an event to unfold.
At times, it works out just right and another time someone might park a truck right in front of your shot and kill it, but the results are worth the challenges, as time lapsed images can be both beautiful and fun. The simplest movement can take on new life when ramped up several times its normal speed.
The first time lapse films that I worked on only used one camera. It was locked in a singular position and from that one angle, you might witness the construction of a building or amusement park ride while shadows shifted from west to east and clouds flew by. This type of rig became pretty boring to me after a while and soon after, I began using several cameras so that later, I could edit between the camera positions. This, along with a cool music track created a fun experience.
Eventually, I began to walk around, placing cameras in multiple locations in the hopes of capturing short term movement. Like a back-hoe digging a foundation or a steel column being lifted into position. I would spend many hours walking between the different cameras to make sure they were still working, that there was still enough film or tape left and finally, to check that their position was still valid.
Time lapsing the construction of a roller coaster for Six Flags was a fairly slow moving process and in the case of Kingda Ka, the worlds tallest and fastest coaster, it took all of that winter. As there was not enough money in the budget for us to be there daily, we would try to arrive on days that a major element of the ride, like a giant piece of steel was about to be lifted into place and it always seemed to happen at first light. We froze our butts off.
Still, Sarah and I rarely found it boring and it became a challenge anticipating how the slow moving action in front of me would play out in high speed time lapse.
In the case of U2, time lapse was only part of the story.
At times, it works out just right and another time someone might park a truck right in front of your shot and kill it, but the results are worth the challenges, as time lapsed images can be both beautiful and fun. The simplest movement can take on new life when ramped up several times its normal speed.
The first time lapse films that I worked on only used one camera. It was locked in a singular position and from that one angle, you might witness the construction of a building or amusement park ride while shadows shifted from west to east and clouds flew by. This type of rig became pretty boring to me after a while and soon after, I began using several cameras so that later, I could edit between the camera positions. This, along with a cool music track created a fun experience.
Eventually, I began to walk around, placing cameras in multiple locations in the hopes of capturing short term movement. Like a back-hoe digging a foundation or a steel column being lifted into position. I would spend many hours walking between the different cameras to make sure they were still working, that there was still enough film or tape left and finally, to check that their position was still valid.
Time lapsing the construction of a roller coaster for Six Flags was a fairly slow moving process and in the case of Kingda Ka, the worlds tallest and fastest coaster, it took all of that winter. As there was not enough money in the budget for us to be there daily, we would try to arrive on days that a major element of the ride, like a giant piece of steel was about to be lifted into place and it always seemed to happen at first light. We froze our butts off.
Still, Sarah and I rarely found it boring and it became a challenge anticipating how the slow moving action in front of me would play out in high speed time lapse.
In the case of U2, time lapse was only part of the story.
It was day three at Giant Stadium and the rain had been coming down for hours. My cameras were all wrapped in plastic bags and the summer heat was causing the lenses to fog. Finally, there was a break in the weather and the backing tracks from “Real Thing” began to wail over the PA. The band appeared on the B-stage which was situated out at the 50 yard line.
I desperately wanted to get some close-up shots for myself, so with my small Hi-8 camera in hand, I slowly moved through the shadows towards the stage. I had the Edge in my viewfinder when suddenly Bono abruptly raised his hand, halting the rehearsal.
“You there, Mr Tiffen". (I had a Tiffen hat on.) "Is that an 8mm camera?". He spoke very politely, but his voice boomed loudly over the monitors. I was positive this could be heard on the NJ Turnpike.
I was like, “S***t! Busted!”
Then Bono gestured and asked “Wouldn’t your shot look better from up here?”
My eyebrows went up. “Really?”
At this very moment, my battery light is blinking and when I check, I find that I only have three minutes of tape left.
Raising my finger I shouted “Just a minute!” and ran off to retrieve my case on the sidelines. The band must of thought I was a lunatic. To assure them that I was, I tripped and slid about 6 feet on the wet tarpaulin, camera held high like Miss Liberty.
Standing up, I shouted "I'm good" and looked over to where I thought my assistant John Decker was standing with our gear, but he was no where to be seen.
I was mortified! So now, with pants jacket soaked, I turned and ran back towards the stage.
Approaching the stage, Larry Mullen stepped out from behind his drums to give me a hand up to onto the platform after which the band finally went on with their practice while I proceeded to roll off those last three minutes of tape. To be honest, it was so cool having them in my own viewfinder that I pretended to shoot for another five. Then with a wave of thanks, I slipped back into the shadows.
I have worked on three different U2 tours since and fortunately, no one has ever reminded me of my brilliant slide, diagonally, across the forty yard line.
Time lapse has become much more common since then and much simpler to achieve. Many, simply shoot long clips with their video cameras and then speed up the footage in their non linear editing systems. Others are using DSLR cameras to achieve the same technique by using the camera's built in intervalometer. Regardless of the method, it's still important to think in time lapse to get the best results.
To see some of of our time lapse films, please visit our website at www.duckyou.com
To see some of of our time lapse films, please visit our website at www.duckyou.com
Back at the launch site things are finally getting back underway. The chain drives above me have begun to grind and any second a 50 foot lighting truss will be lifted into position.
Roll the cameras!
www.duckyou.com
www.duckem.com
Roll the cameras!
www.duckyou.com
www.duckem.com
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