Remember the flipbooks we used to love playing with as kids? Well, with today’s digital technology, their expressive abilities have multiplied by a thousand fold, and they have gotten a whole lot more impressive. In fact, the effects that can be produced nowadays by compiling thousands of still photos are much more evocative, and can provide far more visual information, than traditional video is capable of.
So, for your viewing pleasure, and to demonstrate some of the masterpieces that can be created using this amazing technique, we’ve put together this list of the 5 most stunning image compilation videos ever created. Enjoy!
Yosemite HD
Yosemite is without a doubt one of most gorgeous, unspoiled nature preserves in the world. ; This awe-inspiring video brings it to life like never before, and brings us about as close as one can get to experience the majesty of these astounding landscapes firsthand.
VLT (Very Large Telescope) HD Timelapse Footage
Arguably the coolest celestial time-lapse video to date, these photos were taken from Cerro Paranal, Chile at the site of some of the most powerful telescopes on earth. ; The stars have never looked so beautiful.
BBC Planet Jungles and Forests
Watching the grass grow (so to speak) has never been an exciting pastime, until now. ; This awe-inspiring BBC time-lapse project gives a rare look into the nuance and surprising subtlety of natural growth.
Breakbot – Baby I’m Yours (Feat. Irfane)
This music video is a feast for the aesthetic senses. Created by Irina Dakeva, and consisting of images taken of more than 2000 handmade watercolor paintings, it is astounding to think of the enormous amount of work that must have gone into creating such a beautiful project.
Eyjafjallajökull Volcano Time Lapse
Volcanic eruptions are extraordinary events, for both their rarity and also their monumental power. When this Icelandic volcano erupted in the spring of 2010, shutting grounding flights throughout much of Europe, Sean Stiegemeier traveled across the world to capture the incredible natural occurrence. ; He returned with this gorgeous footage.
As you can see, this exciting and relatively new artistic method has a wide range of applications and possibilities. It can be a wonderful tool for enabling scientific inquiry, and it is –as we have seen – an apt tool for creating art. Perhaps most significantly, though, is the way that it highlights the intersections between these two disciplines. As photographers and scientists continue to explore this technique, we can certainly look forward to many more of these beautiful, eye-opening creations.
