News Time-Lapse Trends: changing seasons
“Time-Lapse Trends” is a video blog series which draws attention to some of the many exciting trends in time-lapse production. We feature a new trend in each instalment, to demonstrate the scope of the medium and the various ways in which it is applied, ranging from the popular to the more obscure.
Each passing season brings with it its own weather conditions, holidays and activities. The noticeable differences can be brought out even further using time-lapse.
The weathering process of foliage is a key signifier of the seasons. By speeding up the processes of growth, rejuvenation and death of various living things, it is possible to see an entire life cycle in the shortest of time-lapse videos.
Change
Fixing focus on a particular thing is one way to communicate seasonal change. ‘4 Seasons 1 Tree’ makes a standalone tree the focal point for a time-lapse of the four seasons.
Changes appear quite subtle but this helps to reflect the longevity of a whole year and the spectacular details that come with each phase.
Knate Myers fused the changing of the seasons with his partner’s pregnancy using time-lapse. Capturing an image of his partner in the same spot in their back garden every 2-3 weeks, he was able to track the growth of unborn child with that of each season.
It is incredible to be able to see the circle of life in action, at a pace in which we are able to comprehend every detail.
‘Four seasons in one day’ – which even features a song by the same name – shows us a scene in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Each change of frame brings us the same scene from various times of the year. Even with very few frames per minute, time-lapse can still be very effective providing that a significant period of time has passed between each shot.
Creative license
Of course, with so many comparable techniques and approaches to time-lapse, there are various ways in which the passing of the seasons can be represented.
‘Seasons’ from visdia (below), for example, used a complex layering of time-lapse footage in order to create this seamless journey through woodland.
While footage from each season was layered on top of each other, the plants were individually filmed in a remote studio with motion control. Bringing these components together gives the illusion of a woodland scene through the seasons in just a minute and a half.
Similarly, Ismail Atiev’s short piece, ‘Summer Winter Summer’, juxtaposes time-lapse footage of these two seasons side-by-side by using multiple ‘slicing’ effects.
Regardless of how the season trajectory is presented – through a more traditional, linear time-lapse narrative, or perhaps with certain effects added in post-production – the subject will undoubtedly never cease to be a popular subject for time-lapsers.