Boiling a Time Lapse

The genre of time-lapse videos is not a small one. There are many a videographer who are obsessed with this. And understandably so. Almost any type of framing looks interesting and all you’ve got to do is get a camera, leave it somewhere for a while and then come back to see your own fast-forwarded slice of the world. The problem with something that nearly everyone can do is that nearly everyone is doing it. So, you’re passionate out of your head about time-lapses, so much even that you’d do a time-lapse of anything from kittens to your eating a bowl of cereals in the morning. The main issue with that is that everyone is going to think that you’re an uninspired excuse for a filmmaker? How to avoid this? Easy. Be creative! I have to admit that I am also a big fan of time-lapses and have found that they are made more interesting by camera movement. It you’re not Robocop or sitting on a big pile of cash right now that can become very problematic. A solution to this is – and I have to admit I didn’t come up with it – to use an egg timer and pop a camera on top. The video shows it done with a GoPro. Unfortunately I don’t dispose of one, but I’ve got the next best thing: a Rollei Actioncam. Still small and perfect for this kind of job. The result, although nothing much is happening on the sky, is pretty impressive. After this experiment I’ll surely do it again. Check out the result for yourself:

This is where I got the idea from:

A Moment’s Passenger

Time is a commodity all of us dream to achieve. We all wish we could stop time or, at least, turn it back. But time doesn’t work that way. It is irreversible and all we can do is to cheat on it and steal extraordinary moments that will last forever. Traveling means escaping time and experiencing the world, not like you would normally taste it, one bit at a time, but the whole of it in one big bite.

This is the basis for ‘The Moment’s Passenger’, a video that I made as a passenger in one day of travelling with every single means of transport. Unfortunately I was unable to procure a boat, but I’ve got everything else covered. The beautiful Irish countryside, the Irish Sea, the clouds, the spring landscape were combined along with an amazing fast-paced atmosphere to depict the very idea of travelling and experiencing time as never before.

Hope you enjoy it,

Paul.

2-Minute Song

One GoPro, recording four iPhones, playing four videos, along too one song. 

Yes, I know.. a slightly peculiar concept. However, through some patience, endurance and countless attempts to sync the phones simultaneously, we’ve managed to bring that wacky idea to life.

If you haven’t watched the video yet, let me try and sum it up for you. Essentially, we elevated a camera above a table. On the table are four phones facing upwards towards the camera. Each phone each has a video ready to play, which we all be played simultaneously. The content of the videos is in sync to a soundtrack. The phones are then choreographed to move around a surface, whilst the videos are still playing. Got that?

Check the video out. 

Initially, we sat down as a group and brainstormed some ideas. We were inspired by a video from ‘Mystery Guitar man’, which had a very similar concept of filming phones playing videos in sync.

After coming up with a song, we moved onto production. First step was to storyboard the entire video, which took some time, we needed to choreograph the footage playing on the phones but also where the phones would be placed.

A Little World From High Above

Tilt-shift is a very pretty thing where blur and colour correction are applied to a time-lapse video to render the effect of a miniature world. Being my first such experience as a filmmaker, I think it turned out pretty good.
On top of being a first in terms of technique, this project was also a first in that it was completely shot, edited and published using a mobile phone. I used the Miniatures app for the tilt-shift effect and iMovie to edit it, add music and write titles. Both apps performed flawlessly and I am very happy with the result. I am even writing this post on the same iPhone 4S I used to make the video. So what came of this purist and experimental approach to filmmaking? You can watch it below:

24 Frames 24 Hours – Taking The Bus Round Bucharest

Every city is beautiful, and Bucharest is no exception. Sure, it has its drawbacks. What city doesn’t? What’s left for one to do when one is taking the elevator down from the top floor of his building, other than think about the tumult of life in a busy city. On one hand, a downright cacophony slowly eating away at your hearing and sanity. On the other hand, the sweet liveliness you so reluctantly recognize to be vital to your existence and well being. A vibrant city filled with people and art, resonating to piano and saxophone tunes. Everyone has their side of the story. Yes, the city is full of terrible things trying to get you. Then again, every place on Earth is. But as far as bad experiences go, this is the least boring. It’s downright terrific!