Last evening we decided to try our hands at some time lapse photography. We want to have at least a few scenes in the final film that are time lapse photography, to serve as interesting transitions. Time lapse photography involves taking a series of still photographs of an event over time, and then playing them back at a high frame rate (24 frames per second, for example). The resulting movie will usually last only a few seconds, but will depict many hours or even days of real time. When you see flower buds opening or a sun rising in a matter of seconds, you are more than likely watching time lapse photography.
Our first attempt was to photograph the sunset over the Golan Heights. After trekking over to a grassy knoll overlooking the mountains, we set up the camera (a dSLR, not the XH A1) on a tripod, pulled out our little clock, and started snapping a photo every 30 seconds. Taking turns with pressing the shutter, we sat out there for nearly two hours. Fortunately the experience wasn’t as painstaking as it sounds. We brought along a couple Goldstars (Israeli beer) and enjoyed the sunset and cool breeze. There were a few mistakes we made with the exposure of the pictures, so we’ve deemed our first attempt a practice-run.
As the sun started to set, less and less light was entering the camera, so over time the pictures were getting underexposed. At one point, the mountains were barely visible because the images were turning out so dark. We decided half way through to up the exposure, but this resulted in a dramatic light change in the subsequent photos, causing the sequence to look strange. The only way to get around underexposing (we think) is to overexpose in the beginning, so that the sweet spot of the sunset is exposed properly. We’ll have to read more on the web and try again to get it just right, but the effect still looks pretty cool. Hopefully in the next few days we can put up a short clip of the time lapse.
Later that evening we were invited for dinner at Frankie’s. We ate under a large weeping willow, drank wine and listened to stories. Frankie, Kathy, Leah and Etsion (man with no shoes) told stories with their long time British friend Sebastian, who used to be a tennis coach in the kibbutz when Frankie and Kathy were volunteers. After dinner, the conversation became heated. Kathy and Etsion began arguing about the change in the kibbutz. Etsion said that everyone with higher education have left the kibbutz, while the “lower class” (he termed them) remained. Kathy argued with his use of the term, noting the high-level mechanic skills of her husband Uzi, who did not receive university education. She added that many educated families have returned because it is a “nice place to live.”
Later, the group reminisced about the days when they were young — when the volunteers would work hard all day, party hard all night, and socialize at the pool on the weekends. The coming of the volunteers marked an exciting time for the kibbutzniks because they met dozens of people from all over the world. Many inter-marriages resulted.
During the filming, we noticed the light was dim and that we couldn’t see the faces of the subjects we were filming. Tessa asked Frankie if he had any additional light we could use. He promptly took her to the junkpile to retrieve a light he had just recently affixed to the post of a fan. It was so bright we were worried that small aircraft would start landing on Frankie’s lawn, so we directed it against the facade of the house. The reflected light was much softer against the faces of the subjects we were filming. The light contraption has now been added to our collection of equipment.
This morning we went to the old dining room to film an interview with Dganit. After scouting the location two days ago, we set up a row of unused folding chairs that we had found in one of the rooms of the building. Placed a few feet in front of a red wall, the chairs served as an excellent interviewing spot. The sun shining through the old windows also provided some really nice soft white light.
Dganit showed up at 9 am sharp, and we just sat her down and started filming. We opened with some easy questions, asking her to tell us about herself and her family. After a few minutes, Dganit really started to open up and talk, even without much prompting from us. She spoke about her love of horses and how sad she was that she could no longer work with them after being fired from her old job at the stables. She told us of her mixed feelings towards joining the army – being excited to leave the kibbutz and to meet new people, yet fearful of the lack of freedom that comes with being a soldier. We gained some insight from her on the difficulties of living in a kibbutz, namely how she felt that the community disliked her family. All in all it was a very productive interview, and it looked and sounded great, thanks to the awesome XH A1 and the Sennheiser Evolution G2!
