A vertical line of cameras could be attached to the length of an aerial or a skyscraper to follow the windless decent of an individual object and its associates as they tumble and separate and merge. Acting in sequence at the speed of the fall, the cameras could record the lit nighttime plunge of snowflakes and raindrops or tumbling autumn leaves, confetti, winged seeds, etc.

The resulting film clip might show one flake in the center weaving to and fro, being passed by others (upwards as well as downwards), rolling and colliding.
-- FarmerJohn, Jan 31 2005

I want to see this baked - fantastic idea [fj]
-- zen_tom, Jan 31 2005


I think that a single motion picture camera moving down at the rate of the fall makes more sense than this setup. The results would likely be superior and far less expensive to achieve.

Now, if you are trying to capture a single moment in time along the placement axis of cameras, then it makes perfect sense.
-- bristolz, Jan 31 2005


Combine with balloondrop.com, and give discounts to people wanting to drop video cameras.
-- david_scothern, Jan 31 2005


No, written of time lapse photography: “You want to aim for about a hundred shots for a 5 second film, so if it’s over a day, you’ll need to take a shot every five minutes, but if it’s over a week, then take a photograph every 20 minutes.”

If a snowflake fell a meter per second, passing ten cameras one frame each, a 200 meter structure should net a 100 second film, though bris’s suggestion does sounds superior.
-- FarmerJohn, Jan 31 2005


Aii (click) iiiii (click) iiiii (click) iiiiii (click) iieeee (click) ee... thud.
-- jutta, Feb 01 2005


Good thing you rented that camera.
-- bristolz, Feb 01 2005


The use of multiple cameras instead of one motion picture camera goes back to the 1880's. Another technique which is almost that old was to capture slow motion footage of a droplet hitting liquid by using a variable timing device to trigger a camera flash at different points in the cycle of a device that produced periodic identical droplets. When shown at speed, the effect was a droplet hitting the liquid in slow motion; in reality it was one photograph of each of many different droplets.
-- supercat, Feb 01 2005


//The use of multiple cameras instead of one motion picture camera goes back to the 1880's.//

I have a mental picture of Charles Chaplin flipping over comically, and seeing it pan around Matrix-fight-scene-style.
-- Detly, Feb 01 2005



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