{"id":65379,"date":"2015-11-06T11:54:00","date_gmt":"2015-11-06T17:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/?p=65379"},"modified":"2015-11-06T14:00:51","modified_gmt":"2015-11-06T20:00:51","slug":"creating-the-illusion-of-speed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/creating-the-illusion-of-speed\/","title":{"rendered":"Cinematography Tip: Creating the Illusion of Speed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Creating the illusion of speed\u00a0can be surprisingly\u00a0difficult, regardless of whether or not your subject is actually moving quickly.\u00a0Here are some common techniques you can apply to your filmmaking to turbocharge on-screen action.<\/h2>\n

Making action appear faster than it is, or even simply as fast as it is actually occuring, is a bit more complex\u00a0than one might think. Visible speed depends on a variety of factors, ranging from camera settings to framing.<\/strong>\u00a0In most cases, you can’t shoot a real car chase at breakneck speeds, so let’s take a look into some of the Hollywood trickery involved in\u00a0high-speed action.<\/p>\n

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Motion Blur<\/h3>\n

We’ll start with the basics. Motion blur is one of the most important things to consider when exaggerating motion<\/strong>. It is\u00a0generally the result of an object moving very fast or slow in comparison\u00a0to the camera. The larger the difference in\u00a0speed between an object and the camera filming it, the more motion blur that object will create<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In most cases, motion blur is best applied to background objects, rather than the subject of the shot.<\/strong> For instance,\u00a0motion blur is great for tracking shots in which the camera is traveling a similar speed to\u00a0the subject. However, you would want minimal motion blur when your subject is quickly flying by the camera.<\/p>\n

The viewer’s focus should never be on a blurry object or person, so be sure to limit its use to unimportant, passing objects, unless there is a specific exception in which you want to draw attention to the blur.<\/p>\n

\"How
\n<\/a>Image:\u00a0Incorrect use of motion blur via Shutterstock<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Technically speaking, high motion blur is achieved with a low shutter speed, <\/strong>and vice versa. For example, if shooting at 24 fps, a shutter speed of 1\/50 would produce a lot of motion blur, whereas a shutter speed of 1\/2000 would virtually eliminate it. Be sure to always set\u00a0your shutter speed to\u00a0at least twice your framerate <\/strong>(For 24fps, set to 1\/48 or higher. For 60fps, set to 1\/120 or higher)<\/strong>, as anything lower will result in choppy, unnatural-looking footage.<\/p>\n

\"motionImage: Good motion blur via Shutterstock<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The iconic speeder bike chase of Star Wars Episode VI: The Return of the Jedi<\/a><\/em> is a classic example of\u00a0effective application of motion blur. Interestingly enough, this sequence was shot by walking through the forest and shooting one frame\u00a0at a time<\/strong>, then superimposing the speeder bikes over the resulting footage. Because photos aren’t restricted by\u00a0a frame rate, they can use very low shutter speeds to increase motion blur beyond the limitations of reality<\/strong>, which was great for\u00a0depicting\u00a0the blisteringly high speeds\u00a0of the futuristic speeder bikes.<\/p>\n