FLOWMOTION CITY CAMEO FILMS ARE BEAUTIFUL TRIPS NOW

Filmmaker Rob Whitworth creates stunning time-lapse portraits of cities that capture the flow of their inhabitants as they go about the work and play.

The films offer viewers what are, in essence, lightning-fast tours, each giving a whirlwind glimpse of a city’s landmarks and a taste of the energy in constant flow around them.

Whitworth heavily researches, scouts, plans, and storyboards his shoots so that he can optimal tell the moving story of each city, highlighting unique architecture, cityscapes, and culture.

 

BARCELONA -- SPAIN

Some of his films, like Barcelona GO!, have gone viral. But they are not just tourist fodder. Most people that watched Barcelona GO! were from Spain. Most of the Kuala Lumpur video watchers were Malaysian. People are fascinated with their own hometowns.

Whitworth uses a bunch of tricks and transitions. One of his favorites is Hyperlapse, a tool that connects shots in a funky way. The camera moves past a location and then Whitworth cuts to a different location with the camera moving along, with hyperlapse linking the shots.

By implementing some digital pan and zoom techniques, Whitworth adds visual elements that offer different perspectives of the same scenery, worked through Final Cut Pro’s Motion, a visual effects tool that works alongside FCP.

The cities in motion feel almost biological -- highways become arteries and capillaries. Streaks, blurs and whooshes seem to carry messages, like neurons firing signals along neural pathways. Sometimes it is a frenetic flow. Sometime it seems to glide peacefully.

 

DUBAI -- UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

You can virtually fly through the Dubai Flow Motion first via the cockpit of Emirates A380, then through the 163 floors of Burj Khalifa, in and out of the hotel rooms and elevators, down to the magical aquarium below. Then go for a skydive above the entire city.

Check out the city’s extravagant fireworks displays, and dune buggy racing. One sequence involves a vertigo-inducing vertical drop through all 163 floors of the Burj Khalifa, starting at the cloudy peak, in and out of hotel rooms and elevators, and down to the lush aquarium beneath.

 

PYONGYANG -- NORTH KOREA

Pyongyang isn’t a very tourist-friendly city. Since most of the world has never been to North Korea, and since the government isn’t into sharing much, it’s impossible to see what the city is about.

Whitworth collaborated with JT Singh, a branding specialist focused on cities, to create a rare visual journey inside Pyongyang. The resulting film, “Enter Pyongyang,” was also made in conjunction with the North Korean tour company Koryo Tours. It is presented as “an invitation to explore.” 

You will swoop up and down the subway, see the back-lit Juche tower, the obligatory statues of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, and you will watch people living their lives in their own rat race, which looks, in many ways, similar to others around the world -- no doubt part of the point.

 

KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIA

Whitworth spent 400 hours, over five months, capturing the city of Kuala Lumpur by day and by night, shooting 19,997 photographs. The colors rock out with the city’s neon lights and funky culture.

 

HO CHI MINH CITY - VIETNAM

Ho Chi Minh City hustles and flows with mega-traffic in “Traffic in Frenetic HCMC, Vietnam”, Whitworth’s ode to the Vietnamese city. He shot over 10,000 RAW images to beautifully show the buzzy motions of the city. It reminds us of a beehive or ant colony in the works.

Read more about Beautiful Flow, as they relate to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact including 10 Books Featuring Beautiful River Flows,  10 Beautiful Waterfalls Are Flowing Now, The Sweet Flow of Sweet Maple Sap Now and Artist & Works Flow Beautifully Now.

Enter your own images and ideas about Beautiful Flow in this week’s creative Photo Competition. Open for entries now until 11:59 p.m. PT on 03.22.15. If you are reading this after that date, check out the current BN Creative Competition, and enter!

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IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: by Rob Whitworth. Still image from This is Shanghai film.
2. Image: by Rob Whitworth.Still image from Dubai Flow Motion film.
3. Photo: by Rob Whitworth. Cityscape Nightfall.  
4. Video: by Rob Whitworth. Barcelona Go!
5. Image: by Rob Whitworth. Still image from DaNang International Firework Competition film.
6. Image: by Rob Whitworth. Still image from Traffic in Frenetic HCMC.
7. Image: by Rob Whitworth. Still image from Dubai Flow Motion.
8. Video: by Rob Whitworth. Dubai Flow Motion.
9. Image: by Rob Whitworth. Still image from Dubai Flow Motion.
10. Video: by Rob Whitworth and JT Singh. Enter Pyongyang.
11. Image: by Rob Whitworth and JT Singh. Still image from Enter Pyongyang.
12. Image: by Rob Whitworth and JT Singh. Still image from Enter Pyongyang.
13. Video: by Rob Whitworth. Kuala Lumpur DAY-NIGHT.
14. Video: by Rob Whitworth. Traffic in Frenetic HCMC, Vietnam.
15. Image: by Rob Whitworth. Still Image from Barcelona GO!
16. Image: by Rob Whitworth. Still image from Dubai Flow Motion.
17. Image: by Rob Whitworth. Still image from Traffic in Frenetic HCMC.