Slow Mo at Normal Speed?

[John Locke]

Any veterans out there have any idea how to sync slow motion with normal speed? Like in music videos, where the singing is normal speed, and the movement syncs with it even though they are moving in slow motion.

I'm guessing they just double the speed of the music, and speed up their movement to match it. Then, cut the speed in half in post-production to sync with a normal speed sound track.

Is that right?

[Geoffrey Rice]

John;

You are correct. This is a great effect. I just recently picked up a DVD "The Work of Director Spike Jonze" that contains a classic Weezer video "Undone" that uses this process. The band gives a commentary on a separate track and discusses the challenge of playing a double speed (it's a band performance video). The resulting look is great; gravity affecting the movement of clothing, and hair -- making it look otherworldly. A pack of dogs runs in and out of the set as well, all moving at the resultant half speed. Adding to the challenge of having the band perform a double speed was the challenge of shooting the video all in one steadicam shot. I highly recommend the DVD. I've been thinking about trying it out in a music video I'm planning to shoot for a friend's band. John, any thoughts on shooting with the DVX 100 doing this. Am I correct in assuming if I shoot 24P or 30P that I would just have to reduce the frame rate to 12fPS or 15fps in post?

[Geoffrey Rice]

John;

Just noticed the date on your original post. I'm sure you've probably got all your answers on this by now!

Geoff

[John Locke]

Hi Geoffrey,

Yes...I got an answer on this by e-mail actually (which is why no posted response is showing)...but thanks for responding.

Now I can't find the e-mail though, and can't remember the exact settings. I remember it included a link to some well-known DV guru's site and he had a tutorial about how the music video by "The Police" where Sting is dancing around amongst all the candles was made. In that instance, a double/half ratio wasn't used as I had previously thought. Good to know that ratio does work okay though, based on what you've said about the Weezer video.

I'll see if I can refind the site and post the link here...it lays the process out very clearly. I'll also see if I can check out the Spike Jonze DVD.

As for your DVX100 question...I'm the wrong person to answer that. I've only worked with the Canon XL1. I'll see if I can get someone to chime in on that!

[John Locke]

Found it here! It's a long page, but the stuff pertaining to this conversation is only three sentences:

Speed up your music in FCP to 150%, export it to CD and burn it. You could just playback from a laptop (PowerBook/iBook) and pump it through a PA or boom box. Have the artist lip sync and move fast with the new faster music. In post you slow you video back down to 66.7% and you should have that wonderful look with good sync.

I'm not sure who to credit for that info...either Ken Stone, Shawn Bockoven, or Joel Peregrine. All their names appear on the page.

[Geoffrey Rice]

Thanks very much John for going to the trouble to find this for me. Great article. Also the idea of only working at 1.5 speed seems good advice. I was quite concerned about the resulting look if I attempted to reduce to 50% in post. Also, It will be a bit easier on the the band!

By the way on the Spike Jonze DVD, although all are great one other video really stands out. One for The Pharcyde entitled "Drop" that was shot and then completely reversed in post. Jonze reversed the music playback while filming and the band learnd to sing all the lyrics in reverse! Had a linguist work with them. It's a pretty incredible video -- check it out.

Geoffrey

[Rik Sanchez]

I totally forgot about this type of shooting, I wish I had remembered it, thanks for the precise numbers on the music speeds.

This would have worked great on the shoot we did on a friend's music video, we shot it at my friend's s/m club, we had one part of the song where he was tied up to a rack and my other friend (mistress Dahlia, her photo is in the calendar I gave you John, the month of september) was in back of him giving him some whacks with a riding crop, it would have looked good with him singing in sync while the action is all slo-mo.

[John Locke]

OT: Rik, I've been meaning to ask you if you wanted me to send you a copy of the educational DVD I shot recently with Blake. I figured since you guys are chums and you're the one who put us in contact, you might want to have a copy. Warning: Compared to your music video, this is pretty dry stuff...what isn't, for that matter? ;) Let me know if you want a copy.

Back on topic: Related to this technique, does anyone have an idea how the final hurricane scene was shot in "Force of Nature"? You see Ben Affleck and his bride-to-be talking at normal pace, while all the mayhem behind is in slo-mo. That couldn't be chromakey, could it?

[Rik Sanchez]

John,
yeah, I would like a copy of that DVD, all of us here in Osaka who know Blake would like to see it, even though we see him more now than when he lived here in Osaka, have you seen the Tu-Ka keitai commercial he is in? He seems to be on TV every week. I also saw him in this month's JapanZine, it's also on the web: http://www.japan-zine.com/Stuff.htm

I think I ought to spend more time shooting regular videos, it seems it's affecting my perception of reality. If I go out to film at a club or some other event and if I don't have any women in thongs, corsets, and fishnets, I find the evening is missing something. Today I shot my s/m friends riding on the back of a Harley in downtown Kyoto, fishnets, corsets, and Harleys, it was a nice day for a ride. I'll send you a copy of that DVD when I get it done, right now in the middle of the editing. Did I ever send you a copy of Vol. 1 of my S/M series? If not I'll send you a copy plus the short film a friend and I did, and yeah, I did manage to get a corsets and fishnets scene in there.

I'll mention to my friend this slo-mo technique and maybe we can use it when we film the rest of his video, he has a scene where he is being attacked by a bunch of people and we could have him singing while they are whailing on him.

[Geoffrey Rice]

Rick;

I saw a documentary on Discovery Japan that centred on nature effects in films and they specifically discussed Force of Nature as weather was used very creatively as a metaphor for the relationship of the main actors. They specifically discussed the hurricane scene that you speak of. I can't remember if chromakey was used but they had a special effects guru who had worked on Twister create the hurricane using tons of well positioned fans and they created an eye in the middle for the main actors (I guess no chromakey was used). I do remember that they digitally added tons of debris that moved thought the scene (perhaps giving the slo-mo effect). In another sceneCG artists created a hail storm and I recall that they had to create custom software to animate individual pieces of hail.


By the way John and Rick, I recently completed a stop-motion animation for NHKs long running Minna no Uta (Everyone's Song) It was for a song for by Sheena Riingo entitled "Ringo no Uta". I shot and lit it all myself using a DVX-100 connected to a Mac using Frame Thief software. You can catch it on NHK until the end of December. You can do a search for Minna no Uta to check out the schedule. Let me know if you have a chance to see it.

Regards,

Geoff

[John Locke]

Interesting, Geoff. I'll do my best to find it. I rarely watch regular TV...but I'll search for it.

Apparently, there was a special on the making of the hurricane scene in "Forces of Nature"...here's the synopsis. Anybody see it?

[Geoffrey Rice]

Yes; that's the show I saw. Cinema secrets. Discovery channel Japan has been running the series. Worth watching.

Geoffrey

[John Gaspain]

tagged, great post!