Have you ever wondered how a 30-second video of the sun setting was made? Or maybe the video of the construction site that began as a cleared, empty piece of land and became a full operational building in less than a minute? Or perhaps a short 90-second clip of the changing seasons?

Time-lapse is a video production art form which captures and records film frames at slower-than-regular speeds (one frame every three minutes) over an extended length of time (seven days). When these images are edited and played at normal speeds (30 frames per second), time appears to be in “fast forward”. Hours and days are compressed into seconds; years into minutes. The whole piece would be two minutes and forty-eight seconds.

Time-lapse videos are entertaining and educational. The process can be used to speed up the audience’s perception of time. The final product is a video which is pleasing to the visual and perhaps even audio senses, usually in the form of a supplementary soundtrack. A great time-lapse becomes a mini-movie which both intellectually and emotionally stimulates your audience. Positive emotional stimulation increases dopamine levels which may help improve comprehension and long-term memory. Entertaining while presenting supports better understanding of the concept and helps the audience improve its retention and recollection of the information delivered.