Getting Started: Altering Space and Time with Video (page 2)

Now that you've addressed the boundaries of your universe, you must deal with yet another dimension. Your universe must move in some sort of logical sequence. Each shot, for example, must be related to the next shot. You have the power to control the flow of time in your video.

For the most part, you don't really have to think much about the flow of time in your video. If you're videotaping an event, like a play, for example, the sequence usually will be chronological and logical. Your one-hour tape represents one actual hour of time. However, some other event, like a wedding, may lend itself well to effective "time management". A wedding may start at 2:30 in the afternoon with the ceremony and end at midnight when the band stops playing at the reception. That's nine-and-a-half hours of real time. Your audience will probably not want to watch a nine-and-a-half-hour video. The answer is to condense the day into a 60 minute summary.

The trick is to show the flow of time - beginning, middle and end - without showing every second in between. Pick the best parts of the event and, with a little bit of editing, piece them together. In the case of a wedding, these might be parts of the ceremony, the happy couple climbing into the limousine while being pelted with rice, the limo arriving at the reception hall, the best man's toast and other highlights of the reception (see Figure 2).

When you're editing your project, you also can use transitions to signify the passage of time. Cuts imply that things are happening without a delay in time. A cut from the brides teary eyes to the ring slipping onto her finger implies that she is looking at the ring.

A dissolve implies a short passage of time. A dissolve from the recessional to the couple driving away tells the viewer that you have cut something out, but that the events took place in close succession. What did you cut out? The 45 minutes of time that it took for the 500 guests to be dismissed row by row, greet the wedding party, get their tiny bags of rice and make their way outside while the bride and groom returned to the auditorium for a few pictures with the photographer. A dissolve bridges the gap in time.

Fades signify a longer passage of time. The dissolve gets the couple from the church to the limo. A fade to black gets the limo from the church to the reception hall 50 miles away. Your viewers understand that time is passing, but they never quite know how much time. They don't care. Your audience is treated to the best parts of the program in a time-compressed format.

Understanding the relation of space (your window into your universe) and time (the logical sequence of events) is the first step toward taking your video to a new level. A level where video no longer simply records events. Instead, it creates a new reality.

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