Time Lapse (Blu-ray) (2014) |
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General | Extras | ||
Category | Science Fiction | Featurette-Behind The Scenes-(22:49) | |
Rating | |||
Year Of Production | 2014 | ||
Running Time | 103:55 (Case: 105) | ||
RSDL / Flipper | No/No | Cast & Crew | |
Start Up | Menu | ||
Region Coding | 2,4 | Directed By | Bradley King |
Studio
Distributor |
Gryphon Entertainment | Starring |
Danielle Panabaker Matt O’Leary George Finn Jason Spisak Sharon Maughan Amin Joseph |
Case | Standard Blu-ray | ||
RPI | ? | Music | Andrew Kaiser |
Video | Audio | ||
Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None | English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 | |
Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.75:1 | ||
16x9 Enhancement |
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Video Format | 1080p | ||
Original Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | Miscellaneous | |
Jacket Pictures | No | ||
Subtitles | None | Smoking | Yes |
Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
Action In or After Credits | No |
Finn (Matt O’Leary) is an artist with serious painter’s block. He has a job as a maintenance man in an apartment complex, unblocking toilets when he can tear himself away from staring at a blank canvass. He lives on site with his girlfriend Calle (Danielle Panabaker) and his friend Jasper (George Finn), who is on a losing streak betting on the greyhounds with his bookie Ivan (Jason Spisak). When the tenant in the apartment across the walkway, Mr Bezzerides (John Rhys-Davies, although we only see him in a photograph), has not been seen for a week and is behind on his rent, they use their master keys to enter his apartment. There they find a massive camera bolted to the floor pointing at their own window and a wall full of polaroid pictures of the three friends in their front room. They quickly realise, however, that each picture is taken at 8 pm precisely and shows events at that exact time, but 24 hours ahead. In other words the picture is of something which has not yet happened, but will in 24 hours.
From Mr Bezzerides’ diary they learn that he had seen his own death in the pictures and that he had decided to try to alter the event, but in a storage shed they find his body. They have already seen a picture from the next night, when they were scheduled to host a party, so they decide not to call the police but to see what happens. When the picture is shown to be accurate, they consider the possibilities and dangers of the camera. For Jasper the benefits are simple; he can see from the next day’s papers the greyhound racing results, and thus unfailingly pick the winners. Finn discovers in the pictures details of a painting, and using the picture as a guide, he starts painting again. To protect themselves they also pretend that Mr Bezzerides is still alive by collecting his mail and paying his bills. The problem is that they know what they should be doing at precisely 8 pm the next evening because they have seen the picture; if they alter things it could mean that their future has ceased to exist. So each evening at 8 pm they meticulously reconstruct the previous day’s picture.
At first things go to well; Finn paints and Jasper’s winnings increase. But some of the pictures create tension in the relationships between the three friends, such as jealousy when one shows Jasper and Calle kissing while Finn paints. Another captures Finn painting an almost nude Calle, while Jasper is glimpsed looking in from outside. But in reconstructing these scenes are they in fact creating something that may not otherwise have happened. Things spiral further out of their control when Ivan, a man with violent tendencies, comes seeking an explanation as to how Jasper’s bets always win and wants in. And then a colleague of Mr Bezzerides comes looking for him. The photographs are also becoming more unsettling. Are they really a guide to Finn’s, Calle’s and Jasper’s future?
Time Lapse is the first feature film of co-writer / director Bradley King and with co-writer / producer BP Cooper and they have delivered something rather special. Films that deal with time always throw up some intriguing, if not mind numbing, contradictions and Time Lapse is no exception. This is not about travelling through time, such as in The Terminator for example, or the big picture such as changing history. Instead Time Lapse is very low key and focussed on three rather ordinary people and ordinary concerns: they do not seek to change history but instead take advantage of knowing 24 hours into the future, for example to make some money on the dogs. The film plays with the classic conundrum, the question about chicken or the egg: what came first, the pose or the picture? Can they use the camera to send themselves warning messages, thus helping to construct the picture they send to themselves? And what would happen if they deviate from the future picture?
Time Lapse also takes place pretty much in one location with a handful of speaking parts, aiding the low key, normal life feel of the film. The three main cast members Matt O’Leary, Danielle Panabaker and George Finn are all believable; none are well known names, although Panabaker has 50 credits listed in the IMDb, mostly in TV. The only “name” in the cast is John Rhys-Davies of Indiana Jones and The Lord of the Rings fame; apparently his two scenes were cut from the final film, a bold move perhaps with the only known actor, but he does get a special thank you in the closing credits.
Time Lapse makes a virtue of its low budget (apparently it was totally funded by the filmmakers), restricted sets and small cast to introduce a range of interesting questions about knowledge, relationships, greed, friendship and time. Does knowing the future (or is it “one” future) have an impact upon your actions and how far do you go to ensure that that future occurs. And what happens if it doesn’t? Time Lapse teases with these questions and more and the results are unpredictable. Indeed, in a conclusion that does make sense, sort of, many of the questions remain pretty much unresolved. Which is not such a bad thing really.
Time Lapse is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, the original ratio being 1.85:1, in 1080p using the MPEG-4 AVC code.
Time Lapse was filmed using a Red Epic digital camera. The print is sharp and detailed, and the sets and the time lapse camera look great. Colours are bright and natural, showing little of that digital flatness or glossiness. Blacks and shadow detail are very good, brightness and contrast consistent, skin tones natural.
There was some evidence of noise reduction in a couple of darker scenes but marks and other artefacts are absent.
There are no subtitles available.
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Audio is English DTS-HD MA 5.1.
Dialogue was always clear, centred and easy to hear. This is not a film with action sequences, or indeed exterior scenes to any extent, so the audio was front oriented with the rears mainly used for music or noise during the party scene. Effects, such as the gunshots or contact with a baseball bat, were natural. The sub-woofer supported the music.
The original score by Andrew Kaiser utilising a string quartet was good, adding atmospheric and ominous cues.
There are no lip synchronisation issues.
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Overall |
The Blu-ray cover states there is a trailer as an extra as well as the behind the scenes featurette but there is no trailer on the disc.
This is a much better than usual making of. It is more like a video diary featuring predominately writer / director Bradley King and co-writer / producer BP Cooper and it covers a lot including the start of the project, with the scenes and timelines posted on walls covered with notes and connecting string, fixing up an abandoned 1920s apartment complex and moving in, filming, the machine, storyboards, the problems of continuity when they are filming time loops, casting, John Rhys-Davies on set, the score and working the film festivals! Additional comments come from various crew including art direction, fabrication, director’s assistant and the composer. Interesting and well worth a look.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
Technically the video and audio of the Region A/B US Blu-ray of Time Lapse is the same as our release. However as extras that release has the same “Behind the Scenes” as ours but adds two audio commentaries, both with Bradley King and BP Cooper, 2 deleted scenes and a film trailer which gives it the edge.
Time Lapse is a thought-provoking and unpredictable sci-fi thriller. It takes the usual time travel conundrum and twists it 90 degrees. Instead of the “we go into the past to change things so that the future becomes different” Time Lapse shows a picture 24 hours in the future that those in the present are required to construct so they can have the future the picture shows. As it turns out, what is shown in the pictures can, in reality, come about in a number of unexpected and unpredictable ways.
The video and audio are fine. The making of is very good.
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Review Equipment | |
DVD | Sony BDP-S580, using HDMI output |
Display | LG 55inch HD LCD. This display device has not been calibrated. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p. |
Audio Decoder | NAD T737. This audio decoder/receiver has not been calibrated. |
Amplification | NAD T737 |
Speakers | Studio Acoustics 5.1 |