Recently, I won a go pro for winning first place in the AOOS educational film competition for my film “Changing Tides: Bear Collaring.” With this awesome new camera, I’ve been able to try my hand at time lapses. There’s a lot to learn, so I’ve added tips that I’ve learned along the way with my first few time lapses below.
“The Woods” was fun to shoot. Laying on the snow covered ground was required to frame the shot, but it was worth it. I love the natural area with the infusion of the jets passing by in the sky. Tip: take a photo and make sure you LOVE your framing. There’s a tree on the right side of the frame that bugs me. Tip 2: This is using the wide setting, and definitely distorts the image. I personally like the result, but change to medium or narrow if you don’t.
“The Drive” was tough to frame. And how did I get that camera to stay in one place? The Answer is duct tape. A lot of duct tape. But I really enjoy this video as well. When driving we don’t always see the scenes passing by us because we’re (importantly) focused on the road. Tip: make sure your dashboard isn’t in the shot by moving the camera as close to the window as possible. Make sure it isn’t getting in your view of the road… safety first!
CMU’s campus can be busy and empty at time through out the day. This is a moderately empty day (friday afternoon) shot from the high perspective of the library. Tip: watch your window reflections! This was shot through a window, and there were some reflections seen that I didn’t notice when shooting, so either stay completely stationary or leave the area where reflections could happen.
Kaiti Grant 