Timescapes

[Ryan Farnes]

Anyone else catch this film by Tom Lowe? I'm a little late to the party, but apparently it made its way to the top 10 on iTunes Documentary shortly after release a couple of months ago. I just recently did the special edition HD download. Fascinating production and distribution model. It's a compelling example to follow in independent production of non-fiction film.

I think it misses the mark as a film, but many of the visuals are as compelling as you'd expect them to be given his outstanding past work.

 

[Daniel Wogan]

I can't believe no one responded to this. I just downloaded the downscaled 1080p version and watched it on my 47" 1080p Viera via HDMI and it was amazing. I literally just sat there with my mouth open marveling at it's beauty.

I think it misses the mark as a film, but many of the visuals are as compelling as you'd expect them to be given his outstanding past work.

I didn't really expect any plot or story, so I didn't judge it "as a film," but more of a Planet Earth-like compilation of visuals. And it definitely passed that judgement.

 

[keylight]

I can't believe no one responded to this. I just downloaded the downscaled 1080p version and watched it on my 47" 1080p Viera via HDMI and it was amazing. I literally just sat there with my mouth open marveling at it's beauty.



I didn't really expect any plot or story, so I didn't judge it "as a film," but more of a Planet Earth-like compilation of visuals. And it definitely passed that judgement.

The lack of plot and story hurt it I think. I'm partial to short timelapse that says something. Try this one on your 47" screen: http://timelapse.org/2012/07/passing-through/

Or this one: http://timelapse.org/2012/09/the-lion-city/

It had - and I sort of hate to put it this way - too many notes. Ron Fricke's Chronos (which was made 25 years ago) was a finer film.

 

[Daniel Wogan]

The lack of plot and story hurt it I think

That's true, but as I said earlier, I was only judging it on the visuals. But perhaps it would have been a better film with some sort of narration and story.

Really cool timelapse videos too, I really like the rack focus in the tilt-shift one. Also, great analogy with the Amadeus reference :tongue:

 

[keylight]

That's true, but as I said earlier, I was only judging it on the visuals. But perhaps it would have been a better film with some sort of narration and story.

Really cool timelapse videos too, I really like the rack focus in the tilt-shift one. Also, great analogy with the Amadeus reference :tongue:

I've been thinking about how that focus was done. It has to be AE, but I'm not quite sure of which effect. More than just a blur.

 

[Daniel Wogan]

I've been thinking about how that focus was done. It has to be AE, but I'm not quite sure of which effect. More than just a blur.

Something that's way beyond my understanding or capability, that's for sure.

 

[Ryan Farnes]

I didn't really expect any plot or story, so I didn't judge it "as a film," but more of a Planet Earth-like compilation of visuals. And it definitely passed that judgement.

This was my review on iTunes:

The visuals are amazing. The music is sufficient, even pitch perfect at times. Particularly during the beginning shot. It feels like a deeply profound scene you‘d see on an IMAX screen. Unfortunately though, the film doesn't maintain this magic throughout. In fact, boredom can set in quickly due to excessively long edits. A different kind of film perhaps‘? True enough. We too often retreat to stimulating editing that artificially engages us.


However, recognizable scenes continue to manifest themselves throughout the film. Other shots that arent recognizable, particularly the star timelapses, are essentially clones of each other, resulting in a strangely repetitive and illogical progression of pretty pictures, like a slideshow your parents get in a chain email. Interspersed are live action slow motion scenes. Some of which resonate, and others that seem completely nonsensical. Particularly given the nature of the editing.


Tom Lowe is credited as the Director, Cinematographer, Editor and Producer. Perhaps the biggest shortcoming of the film was his decision to edit it himself. I think a great deal more meaning and interest could have been generated through the creativity of an editor that might have built a subtle story out of the footage and music. This is the something that was missing. The footage has little or no fault, and l think Mr. Lowe has proven himself already and he certainly reinforces it in this film. His ability to produce this film independently is to be commended.


Unfortunately, my lurking suspicion was proved true. Timescapes is essentially a 40 minute version of the trailer. It is a visually compelling debut, but I found myself eventually fast forwarding to get to the end.

I'd agree about it being non-traditional, but the price was anything but. I haven't paid as much for any film as I did for TimeScapes in years.

 

[keylight]

^ Really well written review. I think you're right on the editing. I'd add that from what I've read about the project, it sounds like it started off rather random and without any real plan, and sort of developed into a bigger project. Don't really know if that's true or not, but it does feel like a film that had little pre-production planning or thought.

 

[Daniel Wogan]

^ Really well written review. I think you're right on the editing. I'd add that from what I've read about the project, it sounds like it started off rather random and without any real plan, and sort of developed into a bigger project. Don't really know if that's true or not, but it does feel like a film that had little pre-production planning or thought.

I saw the "Making Of" that came with the special edition HD download and that's exactly what happened. Tom put a couple timelapses on Vimeo (some of which I believe are actually in the film) and John Stanford contacted him offering to produce and score the movie. So it suddenly became a full-length movie out of nowhere and therefore had little thought or planning, like you said.