Bolex time lapse filming

[ShadeOfGreen]

Hey this is my first post so, hey whats up.

 

I want to do a time-lapse scene and I need some info. Basically I want the shot to be of a corner of a room. It begins at night time and the time-lapse is of the sun coming in through the window. I don't have a motor or intervelometer so this has to be done by hand so to speak. My basic questions are:

 

1: Should i alter exposure times or shutter angle at all? I'll be changing settings as the sun comes up and things get brighter, also using my 35mm to get a rough estimate of how long the exposures should be when its dark.

 

2: How often should I be getting captures? I want the whole scene to last maybe 20 seconds with the last part (of the sun coming up) being the longest.

 

Any info greatly appreciated. Especcially in the form of a website that deals with this (most are just about how to do it with a device, which seems pretty easy but whatever)

[Charles MacDonald]

1: Should i alter exposure times or shutter angle at all? I'll be changing settings as the sun comes up and things get brighter, also using my 35mm to get a rough estimate of how long the exposures should be when its dark.

 

I would guess that would depend on howmuch of a change in exposure you would need, and if changing the appature would cause a shift in your depth of field.

 

The mood you are wanting will determine if you come from "total black" or dim, are you doing forboding, mystery, or just a pasage of time? you may want to use some difuse light to bring out objects in the dark room, which would reduce the need to change exposure as the sun comes up. Your bright may also want to end up OVER bright, depending on the mood. (Hangover very bright- Kids birthday - not too bright)

 

2: How often should I be getting captures? I want the whole scene to last maybe 20 seconds with the last part (of the sun coming up) being the longest.

 

Normal film is shown at 24 FPS, so 20 seconds is 480 frames. divide the number of minutes you will be shooting in real time, and you have an idea of how often you need to shoot. You will want consistancy when the sun is comming up, depending on the latitude, it may brighten up in only a few frames. (of couse something else you can fake, if your wanting tropics you can shorten the transistion, if you want northern climes you can up for shoot rate to make it take longer..

[Ry Kawanaka]

I've done similar shot last year with super8. I used 200T negative 7217.

I figured it was hard to change exposure or shutter speed setting while it is being shot. It might look abrupt change unless you have extremely precise way of changing the setting.

So, I measured the light it would get when the sun's up. Tthe bright was absolutely too hot compared to the light I got before the sun rise. So I threw a very very slight soft light for the overall fill and put some ND and half CTO gels on the window in order to keep all the light level within the latitude somehow. Then I just ran the internal intervalometer and it turned out to be a pretty nice shot. I forget what the interval rate was.

Although it was super8, it's basically a same deal, I believe.

Hope this helps you.

 

Ry K

Edited December 6, 2005 by Ry K