Slit-scan photography
The slit-scan photography technique is a photographic and cinematographic process where a moveable slide, into which a slit has been cut, is inserted between the camera and the subject to be photographed.
More generally, "slit-scan photography" refers to cameras that use a slit, which is particularly used in scanning cameras in panoramic photography. This has numerous applications. This article discusses the manual artistic technique.[1]
Use in cinematography
Originally used in static photography to achieve blurriness or deformity, the slit-scan technique was perfected for the creation of spectacular
This type of effect was revived in other productions, for films and television alike. For instance, slit-scan was used by
Description
Slit-scan is an
- An abstract colored design is painted on a transparent support
- This support is set down on the glass of a backlighting table and covered with an opaque masking into which one or more slits have been carved.
- The camera (placed high on top of a vertical ramp and decentered in relation to the light slits) takes a single photograph while moving down the ramp. The result: at the top of the ramp, when it is far away, the camera takes a rather precise picture of the light slit. This image gets progressively bigger and eventually shifts itself out of the frame. This produces a light trail, which meets up with the edge of the screen.
- These steps are repeated for each image, lightly peeling back the masking, which at the same time produces variation in colors as well as variation of the position of the light stream, thus creating the animation.
Naturally, this effect is very time-consuming, and thus expensive, to create. A 10-second sequence at 24 frames per second requires a minimum of 240 adjustments.
References
- ^ "The Role of the Slit-Scan Image in Science and Art". petapixel.com. 18 October 2017.