Shooting Notes: Timelapses
Considerations:
When to use:
As mentioned in an earlier journal entry the incorporation of a timelapse within an immersive film helps to create a sense of time, motion and connection to a location. It is a juxtaposition to an intended contemplative pacing I have been seeking to create longer timelapses with intervals which convey the passing of time which is not jarring when sequenced with the slowed down motion used elsewhere. This is an important consideration in the creation of a consistent narrative.
Composition:
Once the camera is set up for a long timelapse the changing light, weather, cloud cover etc are out of one’s control and are all part of nature telling its own story. However, the composition is foundational. My focus on the remote landscape of the North Pennines uplands was particularly challenging. It is a featureless mono-scape, lacking in topographical relief and standout artifacts which lend themselves to identifiable and interesting compositions. As such I was dissatisfied with much of my earlier attempts but finally found a setting which seemed to work:
https://vimeo.com/1176140799?fl=ip&fe=ec
I initially wanted to avoid including human artifacts to emphasise the remoteness of the landscape. The incorporation of the air traffic control domes and human activity in the lowlands was, for me, a controversial choice. Compositionally it worked and on reflection I think the balance between wilderness and society are accentuated by the contrast between the night sky and the lights in the valley below. The inclusion of the soundscape of moorland birds also helps the viewer to experience the remoteness of the location.
Logistics:
The remoteness of the location meant carefully pre-planning:
Optimal weather, night sky (moon phase) and pre-knowledge of where sun and moon will set/rise. Specialist mountain weather and night sky apps were used including https://www.photopills.com/ to assist. Times were then calculated in anticipation of the changing light (screen shots).
Sufficient equipment needed to be carried to the location but not so much that the weight would prohibit access. Likewise, sufficient personal gear is needed to keep warm and safe as well as hot drinks and food. Checklists, packing systems and aide-memoires became essential. Forgetting one item could prevent a successful execution: a missing cable, uncharged batteries etc.
At the location, once the image is composed and the camera position locked off, long timelapses require additional battery capacity, means of combatting condensation, protection from the weather, tripod stabilisation. Some of the longer shoots were upwards of 8 hours. It also helps to have a place to sit comfortably with easy access to the camera functions and personal gear. Discomfort ultimately negates all the preparation.
Execution:
Timelapses were created using two techniques: automatic and manual. The automatic settings, the interval time and duration are set and then the camera works in automatic mode to adjust exposure etc. I found this technique really useful for Behind-the-Scenes (BTS) or supplementary footage where the camera can be left to operate remotely. Manual timelapses are shot as a series of still images: duration is set at the outset, and the camera automatically takes each picture in turn but the exposure can be manually adjusted between each shot.
This is a technique is essential when the timelapse has extremes of exposure such as day to night. Particularly if the intention is for the stars to recorded without trails caused by the earth’s rotation. I worked on this over the semester involving much trial and error: manually adjusting exposure without moving the camera, leaving enough headroom between exposures and making under/over exposure decisions to suit the changing light. Through experimentation I introduced a remote trigger, wired to the camera to make adjustments with less risk of vibration and also a laminated aide-memoire of which way to turn the dials to reduce/increase exposure.
It also proved to be essential to be familiar with all workings of the kit to avoid using artificial light during the night sequences. With long exposures of 10 seconds even the slightest light spill is recorded and creates flickering in the final film.
An early example of a timelapse with many of the faults noted above: poor composition, light leaking from a headtorch, flickering and the power for the lens heater failing resulting in a foggy ending…
https://vimeo.com/1176170858?fl=ip&fe=ec
Editing:
A long, dusk to dawn, 12 hour timelapse with an interval of 14 secs requires over 3000 individual images which, at 48.00Mb per image, results in a 145Gb file. At 25fps the final clip will last just over 2 minutes. The computer power required to edit and render such a large file this is an important consideration. Using a combination of Adobe Lightroom to adjust white balance from day to night and shadow/highlight adjustments with specialist timelapse editing such as https://lrtimelapse.com/ it is possible to create a reasonable smooth transition through the period of extreme light transition.
Next Steps:
I have found a constant shooting interval of 14 seconds works well for an immersive night sky. However, for the key times of sunset and sunrise to pass they needed a shorter interval of 2 to 3 seconds to capture the rapid changes and in light. I will try and incorporate a way of ramping interval times as well as exposure settings for the final project. If the logistics of providing sufficient power and image memory capacity can be resolved I’d like to reduce the long duration of 14 seconds to extend the duration of final rendered clip.