Natalie’s Blog

I have never done a review on a movie before, but this one is so awe-inspiring that I could not pass up sharing it with the world.

If you follow me on Twitter (and have for several months now) you will notice that I have tweeted about this exact movie at least four times. I won’t stop because it’s just that good and I need to remind my old followers, as well as introduce my new ones, to this wonderful timelapse clip.

I came upon it by mistake, honest. I do not recall what I was searching for or how I found it, but once I did, I made sure to sign up for Vimeo so that I could add it as a favorite.

Now, right off the bat you get a wonderful clash of thunder with the company logo present fading into the scene nicely and then slowly fading out. I feel that logo presentation is especially critical when it comes to movies on the web as the first few seconds will show how much effort was put into the shots.

Here we go, 10 seconds in, a semi-climatic burst of Pink Floyd and a rolling shot of a cactus with some Air Force Base disturbance in the lower right hand corner. Tom of Timescapes says that he is going to attempt to redo this shot, I don’t have a problem with it the way it is now. In fact, the bursts of light sync up nicely with the music in my opinion.

About 21 seconds in we get an obvious same general location shot, however from a slightly different angle. Still some disturbances in the background taking a little bit away from the scenery.

At 33 seconds the scene changes again, this time to a very mobile timelapse. Tom mentions that he has some off road tires on his truck and it’s not the smoothest ride, but we get the point, right? “Into the distance.” Could’ve done without that split second of turning on the road.

Now we’re at 38 seconds. This is a preview of the really awesome work that his Canon Mark 5DII did. The moon is so bright it looks like the sun, and the real motion of the dolly is seen here.

44 seconds in some of the real HD video appears. This is the first of very few scenes. I’m not all that ecstatic about real video in the movie, however, the panning is so spot on with the birds that it really adds to it.

51 seconds is more HD video. I have no clue what a kid fishing has to do with this movie.

57 seconds, more HD video, a nice sunset, but, eh. Craving more timelapse just about now.

1:01 we’re back to a timelapse without the dolly. Amazing how many stars are in the sky for this shot. The video seems to be a real tease right about here, getting ready to climax.

1:07 there’s some cool shots of some windmills with an industrial background. What really hits me here is the clouds moving in the opposite direction of the stars. A wonderful shot.

At 1:13 there’s the dolly again, moving in the opposite direction of the stars with the sun rising slowly fading into the scene at…

1:21. You will notice just how flat these images are proving right here that it was a still camera shooting and not a camcorder of any sort. The colors are the most vivid during this scene and the panning is adjacent to the direction of the stars. Looking really good right here.

Nearing 1:31 an extremely vivid night shot of mountains in the background and you can even catch a plane flying by overhead.

When you get to 1:37 you’ll notice a dramatic change as the camera is now moving vertical as opposed to horizontal. This is the first time this will be seen in the movie.

1:43 is more birds. This time it’s during the sunset, just some more video.

1:49 – Back to the good stuff! Check out the detail on this one as you can see the shadow of the almost lone tree moving as the earth makes its rotation. Stunning!

At 1:54 there’s a sharp transition to a new scene with the music moving towards a more dramatic mood. The purples in this shot are flat out amazing, and the clusters of stars are unbelievable. Something I plan to see some day.

2:00 is one of the best shots in the entire movie. Check out those stars? This is just amazing. So crisp, so clear, and the trees are strategically placed at the bottom of the shots to give the viewer a sense of motion. The dolly does so much for this video.

2:06 is another cactus shot, I love the cacti shots! What’s really neat about this scene is how the stars on the left side of the movie are moving downward while the stars on the right are moving up. I don’t know if this was planned, but it’s truly a wow moment. The scene does an extended black fade out until the next, setting up for the radio communications.

The radio communications of the song takes place at 2:17 of this movie. Tom took the timelapse shots at VLA in Socorro which is very fitting.

Back to the windmills at 2:29.

At 2:35 we get a different, old school windmill shot.

Then back to VLA at 2:38 in real video with some cows grazing in the foreground.

2:40 is some more timelapse, but can be perceived for real video since the dishes aren’t moving at first. Check the clouds for confirmation, then you’ll see the dishes re-aligning themselves.

2:47 is a darker VLA timelapse setting the mood.

At 2:53 we’re starting to get away from the radio transmissions and getting back to the starry sky. Now, for the second time, we see vertical panning, this time up instead of down.

3:04 the music takes a subtly dramatic turn and we’re back to cacti (YAY!). The dolly is really making this scene, and, again, we’ve got some background disturbance by the Air Force Base. A long fade into black transmission to line up with the beat at…

3:15 Here’s a completely new shot (yes, this is timelapse as well). It is so 3-dimensional that it takes my breath away. The truck makes a few sudden movements which are clearly visible, but stays pretty smooth on the road as compared to the first driving shot.

At 3:31, a different view from 3:15, but same concept, same remarks.

3:37, repeat.

At approximately 3:47 you see the last of the trees and just a plane of land and mountains. PERFECT synchronization to the temporary halt in vocals. Again, I don’t know if it’s on purpose, but lets pretend it was.

3:50 is for some of the best panning timelapse on the movie. The colors are vivid, yet dark, and you get that sense of motion.

3:56 (damn, it’s getting close to ending) And we’ve climaxed! Look at the details on this tree/cactus thing! It’s what o’clock in the morning and he’s getting this much detail. Check out the clouds as they whiz by. You have the clouds moving left, the stars moving right slowly the tree moving at a sort of “middle speed” to the left.

4:02 the cactus/tree thing is moving to the left as (for once) the clouds and the stars are moving in the same direction to the right. Personally, I like opposite movement when it comes to the clouds vs. stars. Watch the bottom branch as this one goes by. Definitely gives the movie some depth right here.

Tom’s Vimeo signature comes up just in time at 4:13 for the abrupt end of Learning to Fly.

After you’ve watched this, whether you’re a Floyd fan or not, I hope that you’ll appreciate the beauty and make mention of it to everyone you know, not just photography fans.

Tom has graciously made this movie available in an uncompressed download here (IN HIGH DEFINITION). Get ready to wait, it’s 352MB and is wide enough for any monitor. I used to own a projector, and once I get another it will surely be a treat to watch it at 100″ on the wall.

I hope you enjoy, and please link to Tom’s movie’s web page on Vimeo at http://www.vimeo.com/4038064. You can visit Timescapes.org and even join in his forum to find out how he did it at http://www.timescapes.org/phpBB3/index.php.

Enjoy!