Fake Time Lapse

TheMacB

TheMacB

Veteran
i have a scene where our main character is waiting in the waiting room of a vet clinic only to find out that his dog is dead. he waits there for a long time. from afternoon to sunset. and he sits perfectly still the entire time.

i want to show time passing by moving a light outside the window, causing the shadows in the room to shift.

what can i do with the camera to make it look like a time lapse and not just a light moving outside the window. faster shutter? i will definitely test before shooting but wanted some ideas from you guys so i can do a bunch of different tests.

wadaya got?
 
How long do you envision this sequence? 3sec? 5sec? does it go from time lapse back to "normal" speed in the end? I would shoot stills (to match the resolution of your camera) while moving the light, and then lay the JPEG's in the timeline. Speed? same as in "normal" shooting mode(1/48?)
If the time and budget allows, camera on a short track moving in small (but equal) increments to match the light movement (but obviously in much smaller steps- stepper motor on the wheels). One frame at a time. (you could have the light on a track as well to avoid pointing in different directions, or..... you can get it soft (instead of harsh sun). The illusion could be elaborated to move from sun to clouds (softer and colder light with a diffusion and a blue gell in the path of light to change the color temp while leaving the camera on the same settings (WB and exposure) and back to a warmer sun with longer shadows. My 2c.
 
The deal is that whatever you do you must speed it up in post at least 400-500% so basically you will have to move the light(shadows) really really slowly.
 
the effect will probably last 10 to 15 seconds. then followed by regular motion of the vet coming out to give him the news.

i like the idea of using a still camera. i think that would look very cool. but i think it will be tricky to move the light slow enough. if i can pull it off this will be the way i go.

if i can't, then i'll just shoot it really slow and speed it up 400% or so. that's also a good idea. we don't actually have to film from afternoon to sunset we can just film for 1 minute and speed it up 400% to 15 seconds. that should be fairly easy.

i'll test both sometime before shooting and post what i've got. thanks for the ideas! any others?
 
I think it would look pretty cool if nothing was sped up. Just move the light outside with people moving regular inside. Sort of two timeline type of thing.
 
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