As a videographer, I am always trying to effectively tell a story. I have discovered that one of the most effective storytelling tools in video production is the time lapse.

With a time lapse you can compress a long and static event into a short engaging clip. An effective use of a time lapse is a party like the nope film below where people mingle around but don't do anything too interesting to capture as video clip. As a single video shot this would be as interesting as watching grass grow. However, when compressed into about 3-5 seconds the clip is engaging, and it tells a story without boring the viewer.

When making a time lapse there are few things to consider. First, what is it that we want to focus on. The image that we want the viewer to lock on should be still or slowly progressing/regressing. On the other hand, the figures or characters moving around will be moving fast and so we want to blur them out. In this type of video production this is achieved through motion blur with the use of a slow shutter speed. The shutter speed in the above mentioned video clip was set at 1/3 sec and we get a ghosting effect of the people. Hence, the viewer perceives the activity but is focused on the aesthetics of the room and people who are still or moving slow.