I seem to be addicted to slow motion video at the moment. It may be the imminent release of the Red with its promised 120 full frames per second, or maybe I’ve just been watching too much Mythbusters. But all this high speed video showing up on TV has me excited. I’m willing to submit the world to almost endless slow motion criket or drag racing if the end result is my own 1000FPS video camera.
Motionographer just set me off again with these beautiful PSAs (1, 2) by Duckling. Intimate high speed camerawork joined with fantastic post production delivers the required road safety message with the poise of Sony’s Bravia spots but without the gore Australians are submitted to by our government sponsored propaganda.
The reverse-time gambit is getting a little played out, but only because it’s so very effective. Also linked from the Motionographer is Coldplay’s clip for The Scientist, which takes the same concept but wraps it in soppy pop ballad and unrealistic crash physics. It hardly matters though, as Rabbit In Your Headlights did it best, and David Lynch’s Bambi ad for the PS2 copied that best… Really, if it involves a combination of cars, explosions, slow motion or time-reversing it’s been done before, so we might as well just enjoy the pretty pictures.
Pleix’ “Birds” filmclip for Vitalic’s awesome Poney, Pt 1.
Fatboy Slim’s Gangster Trippin’, the logical extension being Helios‘ recent Nokia 6265 Explosion Ad.
Unkle again, with Reign.
Want to do it yourself? This Rarevision article is a little dated, but covers the basics.
But the purpose of this article is not to point out the benefits of true progressive scan 24 frames per second. It’s to talk about something I haven’t seen a lot of on the web, which is how to achieve great slow-motion photography while shooting a 24p project.
Some of you may be thinking, “it hasn’t been talked about because it’s really not that big of a deal.” Well, the truth is that many filmmakers put great emphasis on visual style, and the limitations of cheap cameras (even 24p cameras) have restricted the creative potential of visual filmmakers. The ability to shoot slow motion sequences is part of that potential, and is an issue that needs addressing.
Ok. I think I’m done with Slow Motion videos for now, but if I’ve missed any important ones please hit the comments.