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time-lapse cinematography
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Observe a dandelion from flowering to forming of a seed head
Time-lapse: A total lunar eclipse
Learn how scientists use time-lapse photography to track movement and flow of glaciers
Experience the city of Chicago
View a time-lapse video of cloud formations rolling across the sky followed by a thunderstorm
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Observe a living plant cell undergoing mitotic cell division recorded by time-lapse photography
Behold a time-lapse video of a mushroom cap's emergence from the ground
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Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale, with her dog, Toto, from the motion picture film The Wizard of Oz (1939); directed by Mervyn LeRay. (cinema, movies)
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time-lapse cinematography

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Observe a dandelion from flowering to forming of a seed head
Observe a dandelion from flowering to forming of a seed headTime-lapse video of a dandelion, from flowering to the forming of a seed head.
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time-lapse cinematography, motion-picture technique by which a naturally slow process, such as the blossoming of a flower or cloud-pattern development, can be seen at a greatly accelerated rate. Normal sound cinematography reproduces movement by recording and projecting it at 24 frames per second. In time-lapse cinematography, single frames are exposed at much greater time intervals (usually minutes) and then viewed at the standard 24 frames per second. Most often the technique uses a camera that operates automatically upon the signal of a timing device.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Robert Lewis.