r/Filmmakers • u/FantasticMagicalNote • 1d ago
Question Newbie filmmaker here, looking for help to create this effect in a video
Doing a project that requires our subject to be standing still while people around them walk sped up leaving a blur. Not sure how to recreate this effect so would appreciate an explanation or a link to a YouTube video that explains it. I use an fx30 camera and Davinci resolve. Please explain to me like im a toddler
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u/alotofbalogna 1d ago
It’s not just low shutter speed it’s a stacked multilayered shot
1) set up your framing 2) shot of your artist, 180 shutter 24fps 3) experiment with this, or just look up won kar wais approach for Chungking express. Remove artist from frame, let people walk through the crosswalk as normal keep frame exactly the same including the focus distance 360 degree shutter, lowered frame rate 4) normalize the frame rate from 3 to 24fps 5) layer your shots (need someone decent at Vfx) 6) color & print
That’s how you do it, now go do it u don’t have an excuse
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u/emilNYC 1d ago
If it’s a locked off shot, OP can just stack them and create a mask around the talent. Would be pretty easy
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u/kurthertz 1d ago
You’d require rotoscoping as passersby crossed talent. Not as easy as plonking him in
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u/enewwave 1d ago
Not necessarily. If the foreground subjects are all wearing dark clothes like in the reference photo, a luma key to remove everything but their black clothes might be fine with some feathering. They’re gonna be sped up anyway and cross with the main subject for a single frame at a time.
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u/kurthertz 1d ago
Luma key is a nice idea and yes re single frames potentially. Just saying for OP it would be unwise to suggest it’s simply merging the two clips
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u/alotofbalogna 1d ago
Yes maybe I’m a boomer by indie filmmaking standards (31) but I consider that “decent” at Vfx. Understanding key concepts and can feather the mask as/if needed
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u/emilNYC 1d ago
Ha yah well VFX 10+ yrs ago wasn’t remotely as easy or accessible as it is now. These days what people can do is child’s play
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u/gheeDough 1d ago
With Davinci Resolve’s magic mask 2, it’d be literally a few clicks to isolate the actor
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u/falkorv 1d ago
Sometimes it is slow shutter speed. Dua lipa music video has an amazing example of this. And it’s the good old simple way.
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u/alotofbalogna 1d ago
Think he’s still proposing low shutter speed, just “stacking” the shots after all normalized to the same frame rate (I gotta check out that dua lipa vid)
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u/little_crouton 1d ago
Some cameras will allow you to set a >360 shutter angle and will auto stack your shots.
You would have to still keep the actor very still in this case, but the stacking would be handled for you
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u/Sir_Phil_McKraken 1d ago edited 1d ago
This is more of a time lapse than a video as such. Your subject needs to stand dead still for like 5 minutes and have everyone else moving around. Might be difficult since it's a crossing.
Edit: guys I know this is less than a second or two. He's asking in a filmmaking sub, you can't make a moving shot out of a half second time lapse
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u/metalgrizzlycannon 1d ago
I think this one in only a few seconds long, possibly 2-5 seconds, at a fairly busy crossing. The closest shoe is pretty in focus, meaning some person stood still long enough for it to look about as stable as the subject. Biker is visible.
If you want people to disappear completely, might need a few minutes.
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u/Benderbluss 1d ago
I'd say it's less than a second, since you have clear feet on some of the people.
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u/metalgrizzlycannon 1d ago
Yeah you're right. Whichever foot was planted mid stride looks pretty clear.
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u/No-Island-6126 1d ago
this is nowhere near to 5 minutes long, you can see individual people barely travelling a meter
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u/VampireCampfire1 1d ago
Photo Timelapse with subject still - some kind of maths to make shots per minute conform well to 24fps.
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u/LastChristian 1d ago
Ok so if you understand the basis of this effect, you can experiment with settings to get what you need.
It's this: the slower your shutter speed, the more action is blurred. Slower action needs a slower shutter speed than faster action to achieve the same blurriness. No action (like the skater) means no effect. A slow shutter speed also means use a tripod. The example shot probably had around a half-second shutter speed, but you can just shoot a still image of action in your scene to find the correct shutter speed for your film.
So just slow down the shutter speed, right? Almost. A slower shutter speed lets in more light, so it's possible that you can't lower your ISO or close your aperture enough to prevent overexposure. Also you might need a wide aperture for aesthetic reasons.
That means sometimes slowing the shutter speed works by itself, but other times you need help reducing the amount of light entering the lens. That help comes from a Neutral Density filter. It's like sunglasses for your lens. You can get a fixed ND filter or a variable ND filter that lets you change how much light passes through.
You should probably get a variable ND filter if you're going to shoot this type of shot on a sunny day or if you always film at f/2.8 or whatever. I should mention that this is one accessory where you can see the difference between a cheap one and an expensive one. Hope this helps!
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u/LizardOrgMember5 1d ago edited 9h ago
There are some tutorials for that on YouTube.
Here is the video that explains that visual style: https://youtu.be/TAGuU4i6KaQ?feature=shared
And if you use Premiere Pro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ctM6ul6QNQ
And some other useful tutorials:
https://youtube.com/shorts/LHCwEhTP82I?feature=shared
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u/here2race 1d ago
If the subject is standing still - it's relatively easy, you can even film it in place - subject is not moving, long shutter speed, nd filter probably.
If you want the subject to move normally, but all the rest at different speed, it's pretty tricky thing to be done, in post. Fix cam, 2 shots, a lot of masking and playing around in post. I did such a shot about 10 years ago, link below. It's nothing fancy, but shows the idea. The effect starts at about 1min50
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u/TheHungryCreatures 1d ago
This is just a time lapse with a still subject, you can more or less just do this in-camera.
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u/vidvicious 1d ago
Looks like a step printing effect. Look up “Wong Kar Wai style step printing effect” on YouTube.
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u/AntiRacismDoctor 1d ago
Low Shutter Speed, high Aperture. Get a prime lens thats 100mm-120mm. Tell your actor to stay still. Let the shutter speed be between 1/8th and 1/16th of a second. Add color and grain in post.
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u/bigwonderousnope 1d ago
It will be impossible for your subject to be perfectly still in a time lapse. They breathe and micro figit, wind blows clothes, etc. Same reason I try and avoid leafy trees when timelapsing.
You can do it in the edit with a lot of fucking around.
You could also get a cardboard cut out of him and do it somewhere without traffic lol
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u/arcticmonkey1 commercial director 1d ago
Open up your shuttler to 360 and have your talent stand perfectly still
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u/Outrageous-Citron604 1d ago
Using a Tripod by stacking two shots.
Shot 1 - Making your protagonist stand still looking to the camera with no distractions
Shot 2 - With a lower shutter speed record people passing by
On post with some rotoscoping and masking this could be done ig
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u/postfashiondesigner producer 1d ago
I don't know why you got a downvote, but you mentioned a viable way to do this.
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u/davisbergstrom 1d ago
Let's think about this photo from a photo perspective, the shutter speed was most likely slow, something like 1/4 sec. or 1/2 sec. or even as slow as a full second. The subject in the middle would have to stay perfectly still, like u/ConsistentlySadMe mentioned, but if you use a slow shutter to record video (1/4 or 1/2), and still shoot at 24fps, you'd get a dreamy/surreal effect with the subject in the middle sharp (depending on the ability of the subject to actually stay perfectly still).
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u/FantasticFourLGD 1d ago
You could either do this practically or in post. To do it practically, you'll probably need to close off the street your using so the subject can stand perfectly still for 5-10 minutes as extras cross around him. Then you can apply a speed ramp to it. Make sure to use a low shutter speed to get that blurring effect.
To do it in post you can get two plates, one of the subject and one of the people passing by. Ensure that the extras do NOT cross over where the subject is standing. Ideally the only change between the two plates will be a change in shutter speed. Then layer the two plates and roto out the subject into the same plate as the extras.
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u/TheOpinionLine 1d ago
Have talent hold still... Take the frame rate down. * Lock Camera on Sticks.
* If you can, use Multiple Cameras to bracket the shot in post.
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u/Vik_The_Great 21h ago
I love when people forget portable greenscreens exist with all this nonsense about rotoscoping
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u/DrFriedGold 20h ago edited 20h ago
This video should help you https://youtu.be/2x2Wrz6EX1M?si=xuwvFB1EePzqaLdZ
If you can't stop down enough to create a good blur you can add a neutral density filter to the lens
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u/Iktsuarpoq 5h ago
Wong Kar Wai did it, combining low shutter and asking the actors to move really slow, if you actor has to move !
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u/MrKillerKiller_ 1d ago
Busiest day/time/crosswalk. Tripod. Stand still. Speed up like 4x and add motion blur.
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u/TheStupendusMan 1d ago
Plates is the best way. Locked off camera then comp them in.
The easiest way is locked off camera and your talent needs to stand extremely still.
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u/ConsistentlySadMe 1d ago edited 1d ago
Turn your shutter to a low setting and have them stand perfectly still. Done.
Edit: obviously lots of ways to do this better, but this is the toddler version for you