When filmmaker Colin Rich made his time-lapsed film “NightFall” he needed the ability to do smooth camera movements to capture images of Los Angeles as dusk turned to night. He turned to Matthews Studio Equipment in Burbank. The company, owned by Ed Phillips, supplied him with the FloatCam DC Slider and Motion Control System, which features a simple design that allowed Rich to concentrate on getting his shots. Founded in 1968, Matthews is the exclusive distributor of FloatCam products in the Americas and throughout Asia. The motion control system allows users to capture time lapse and stop motion modes using a DSLR camera. Movements, whether manual or programmed, can be recorded up to 999 times and stored for later use. “The weight of the unit proved to be a stabilizing element, where I knew I could really get it to do my bidding when it came to designing a shot and knowing that when it was finished, I had what I needed and didn’t have to worry about vibration,” Rich said in a prepared statement. The three-minute “NightFall” shows Los Angeles from the beaches to downtown to the Hollywood Hills as night overtakes the sky and the city lights glow. “Nightfall is my favorite time to shoot time lapse,” Rich said. “Capturing the transition from day to night, while looking back at the city as the purple shadow of Earth envelopes the Eastern skyline and the warm distant twinkling halogen lights spark to life and give the fading sun a run for her money will never grow old or boring.” “NightFall” can be viewed online at Vimeo and Rich plans to submit his work to various film festivals around the world. – Mark R. Madler
Filmmaker Captures LA at Nightfall
