UWOL #7 "Tempus Fugit" by Rob Evans
 

Yet again, I had to resort to Plan B! The first idea was to shoot a dream style movie around an old 12th C Priory that we stayed in for a weekend. I got some stunning shots, but it turned out I really struggled to weave the story into the footage I had. So. Onto plan B ;-)

I have been checking out the videos and techniques of a guy who goes by the name of MiLapse - http://www.youtube.com/user/milapse - in fact a lot of credit for my video needs to go to this guy! He uses a motorised telescope head with an SLR mount to capture HDR motion timelapses. This is something I have always loved, so a week later I ordered a Meade tripod,head and controller from a stateside store for the incredible price of $160 inc shipping!!!! It turned up last week, and settled by plan B idea ;-)
So what to shoot? I sat down and scribbled a list of places and things where I thought there would be adequate movement over a period of time. That was the easy bit. Getting to these places, you need to sit down and watch, time and measure the stuff you're about to shoot, so you can figure out how long you need to roll for, the angle of movement on the tripod and most importantly the speed of movement - too fast or too slow and you miss your action. It was my first go at all this, so I think about half my footage( 6 of 12 hours ) didn't get used!! It's a wonderful technique to mess about with, especially when you speed it back and it show you patterns and layers that you just don't see in realtime. It does however require the patience of a saint and the ability to fight off the urge to whip the tripod round cause "something really interesting is happening over there" ;-). Something I'll be playing with a lot more in future!!!

Shot on a Sony HVR-A1 - edited HD in PP2
HD version is available here ( right click save as please!) http://www.treborsnave.com/video/tempusfugit.wmv but be warned, it is 173 mb!!!!

Enjoy!!!!

I LOVE!!!!

this is cool,I realy enjoyed this film, adventure of the day...
nice work.

Some times it feelt like "jumped", but the pans that just kept going to picture to picture (tainstation etc.) was so cool.

/Markus

Rob that was outstanding...
I particularly liked the birds on the river about 50 seconds in....

I'm not sure how it relates to the theme, but I really did enjoy it.

Bob T.

This is one of the more esoteric takes on the theme. I think it worked though, partly because time lapse just captivates me. I love the way people seem to be moving as if magnets are placed under their feet dragging them around.

Fascinating, and on a budget,too. I love it. You might consider slowing things down to real time periodically, just to give the viewers' eyes a rest.
And it's not hard to see how this piece relates to ADVENTURE. You had the car and driver going down the wrong side of the street!

Rob, that was an exceptional film, wow!
Some will maybe say that you was overusing the timelaps in this film, but I think that your subjects was different from sequence to sequence so my attention was kept all the way through your film!
I have a plan of doing some timelaps this year of my own. I have to study the concept you have used here!

Thanks for doing this Rob!

Rob,

Wow, what a film! That shot of the goose flying towards the camera and the sunrise following it were the stuff magic is made of.

Good choice of music and a lot of variety to keep the timelapses fresh.

I love both slow motion as well as timelapse work.
I wonder if that mount would support a HVX200 with a mattebox?

Awesome stuff!!

Oh yes Rob...I admire the ideas that everyone comes up with in these challenges.Everyone pushes the envelope just that bit farther with every challenge.great stuff...I have to learn to do this...amazing!

i love the little stuffed animals and the soccer legs and the shots of the crane against the sky.

this stuff is amazing. i'm still not sure that i understand how you did it. i need a tutorial, because this is uber-cool, and i can imagine lots of applications...

Wow Rob! I'd say plan B was really the plan A all along. Fascinating and captivating. Very well done from beginning to end.

Cat

Hey Rob,

If this was only your plan B, I'd love to see your plan A. Because this was outstanding!
Too much timelapse can be a little boring, but you kept coming up with new things all the time, and it worked perfectly!
I am impressed.

One suggestion:
I think the sunrise could have been a nice opening of your film.

Keep up the good work!

Rob,

I really liked your entry, I have it in my top 4 so far.

It kind of reflects our busy bee life styles, everyone zooming around.

Made me think the planet must look crazy to something that operates at a slower pace!! It made me think!!!

I liked the moving car shots!!!

Thanks for the feedback all - I wasn't quite sure how it would go down with everyone - esoteric is a great word for it (thanks Adrinn) but i'm really glad you're all enjoying it. All of your points are valid, and I'll take the ideas on in future shoots - thanks!

Meryem - if you look this Milapse guy up on youtube all the tutorials are there, including the link for the place to buy it (erm I have no commercial links there LOL). The toys were my favourite too, felt like a bit of a nod to Sony's "colours" ad recently with all the play-doh rabbits jumping around in timelapse ( did you guys get that over there??? )

Kevin - Yeah, i should think it should handle the weight, I had an fx1 with large battery pack and a century WA and it was fine - it's designed for pretty large telescopes.....

Now, rotting banana timelapse anyone??? ;-)

Rob,

A nice variation on conventional filming technique with the use of timelaspe.

I have done a few timelapse sequences using my Canon 20D DSR with an intervlometer and imported the pictures as individual frames into final cut pro. But the movement you've added through each sequence definitely adds a dimension to it.

Mihali

Rob, wow. That was great. I have tried for years to get that effect and never got it as perfect as yours was. Great cam work and editing. Bob