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Gavin Heffernan - Artist Study

Gavin Heffernan

Gavin Heffernan is an independent filmmaker in America. Recently over the past two years he started an experimental timelapse project using his knowledge from being a filmmaker.

His timelapses have become very popular, having been featured in National Geographic, Huffington Post, CBS News, WIRED, and many more magazines/websites. I like his timelapses because of the focus on the astrological aspect, using very long exposures to show star trails, inside a time lapse, resulting in a stunning video.

http://www.sunchaserpictures.com/#!trailers/c1747

Analysis

Each photo has around a few seconds long exposure, however it appears that the sky, in some photos, is separate to the ground, given that it seems to have longer exposures in some photos. This could be because one is not used to seeing the sky pictured in the context of a timelapse in this way, or just that the sky has been filmed separately and added on in post production. The video appears very surreal and almost artificial, which is perhaps what Heffernan was aiming for. I like how the light is used creatively, capturing movement from the vehicles and stars. I also like the panning shots, providing much more interest than if the shot were still. I will use panning in some of my shots in my timelapses, however because I do not have a timelapse dolly, I will digitally pan the video in After Effects, giving a very similar effect, apart from that it is restricted to one dimension, rather than on a dolly which could curve round and change angle.

One thing I do not like in this video is the sky in some places, for example in this screenshot to the right. I feel the sky here is too unrealistic and does not properly fit the scene - the star trails are very long and very sharp, almost pixellated.

 

The first half of the video is much more realistic and remarkable.

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