One year ago we published a timelapse short film called Frankfurt Moving. The film was viewed over 200.000 times in the first week and received a lot of positive feedback not just from people living in Frankfurt but all around the world.
But because it’s impossible to cover all interesting spots in a 3 minute video we decided to make another one. The goal for the second timelapse film was to create more dynamic shots with more movement. It’s not a hyperlapse film but certain shots come close to those techniques.
You can watch the film in 1080p or 4K below:
Frankfurt Moving 2 was shot between September and December 2015 mostly in the city center in daylight and at night. We had a lot of different setups but most of the time we used a motion controlled slider to get dynamic shots and to reveal locations or showcase the area in a better way.
All shots were captured with Canon DSLRs. We used a variety of lenses including the Sigma 30mm F/1.4 and the Tokina 11-16mm F/2.8.
The timelapse gear is still the same as on the first production. Just like on the photo above we used the 120cm long Konova K5 slider with three different motors depending on how fast or slow it should move. If you want to know more about the Konova timelapse controllers and sliders you can watch two videos and read more about it HERE.
Depending on the slider is set up it’s possible to create all kinds of shots. The camera can move from left to right but also up and down at different angles. A key element was the dolly zoom also known as the Hitchcock zoom or Vertigo effect in which the camera moves closer to an object while the lens zooms out or the other way around. While it’s possible to achieve this zoom with some motion controlled timelapse devices we created that effect in post. The slider movement was always real but the zooming was done in After Effects but simply scaling the footage up or down. That technique works best if there is an object in the foreground to make the effect more dramatic and intense.
Below are a few samples before and after the zoom was applied so you can get a better idea of how the shots can be manipulated in post.
The photo above shows the Konova K5 close to a railing. The camera will start moving back through the railing while also moving up the slider. So at first the viewer doesn’t know from where the shot is being captured until the railing and the bridge appear. On the floor on the right side is the controller as well as the battery pack wired with the camera and slider.
This shot was shortly taken after it stopped raining heavily. In this setup the camera starts at the ground and moves up while shooting to the side. The slider’s legs are only on the floor on one side, on the other side is a tripod.
Frankfurt Moving 2 was captured in 5K raw and edited in Adobe After Effects CC in a Ultra HD timeline. Just like the first film Frankfurt Moving 2 was also cropped to an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 instead the usual 1.78:1 (16:9). The final resolution is 3840×1632.
You can find out how to edit and post process a timelapse film in our blog post HERE.
The shots were graded using custom LUTs and FilmConvert directly in After Effects.
The epic music was provided by Premiumbeat.com and is called “The Last Of Us” by Peter McIsaac Music.
Gear used in this production:
Western Digital 2TB ext. hard drive
Written by Moritz Janisch
