IMAX: TimeScapes [2011 / 2013] [Special Edition] [Blu-ray] [German Release] The Beauty of Nature and of the Cosmos! From The Astronomy Photographer of the Year!
IMAX: ‘TimeScapes’ is a non-verbal masterpiece by award-winning filmmaker and photographer Tom Lowe with ground-breaking lapse recordings. Filmed over a period of 2 years with EPIC cameras in 4K Digital HD, and IMAX: ‘TimeScapes’ shows sensational pictures of nature, starry sky, wildlife, people and technology, as they have been never seen before. 'TimeScapes' is a breath-taking and audio-visual experience in unique image quality, for fans of 'BARAKA,' 'SAMSARA' and 'KOYAANISQATSI.'
The southwestern United States, to the partly or completely about the states of New Mexico, Arizona and California count, has an embossed of outstanding natural landscape, a remarkable wildlife, technological achievements of man, unparalleled views onto the nocturnal firmament. Like impressions are captured here on film and unfold in slow motion, time-lapse in an absolutely unique effect, especially just roaming about with the use of his Toyota pickup truck shooting the film. It is simply poetry in sound and motion time-lapse photography.
Director: Tom Lowe
Producers: Tom Lowe, Nigel John Stanford, Eric Kessler, Joshua Kazam, Mike Goveia, Dustin Kukuk, Chris Mierzwinski, Curt Morgan and Nilo Merino Recalde
Composer: Nigel John Stanford
Image Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audio: 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio
English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio
Subtitles: None
Running Time: 48 minutes
Region: Region B/2
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Rubber Monkey / Dreamcore / Kessler / Light Iron
Andrew's Blu-ray Review: IMAX: ‘TimeScapes’ is the debut film from award-winning cinematographer and director Tom Lowe. The film features stunning slow-motion and time-lapse cinematography of the landscapes, people, and wildlife of the American South West. Tom Lowe spent 2 years roaming the Southwest with is Toyota pickup truck in shooting this spectacular film. Braving the conditions, he would camp out in places such as Yosemite, or Joshua Tree National Park, shooting the night sky, then editing the footage and uploading short films to the Vimeo web site. This led to a chance encounter on the internet with New Zealand composer and entrepreneur Nigel John Stanford. 'TimeScapes' takes the viewer beyond the limits of time and space and into a state of spiritual rapture that leaves us not simply touched but totally transformed.
The path of Tom Lowe is totally fantastic and is the envy of all video artists and amateur photographers, and because Tom Lowe is an American, who originally was totally unknown to the public, until people viewed some of his work on the Vimeo web site that showed some of his stunning time-lapse photography, which went onto generating few thousand views, and an achievement that germinated in Tom Lowe to pursue the project of this feature film. Conversing with the help of composer and producer Nigel John Stanford, the project really took shape and was sponsored by Canon. But for Tom Lowe decided to devote himself full time to his passion and directing this first feature film which he had always dreamed of creating!
Production involved many hardships, where Tom Lowe slept outdoors for 250 nights, sleeping on cots (without tents) under the stars next to his camera, while the time-lapse was being captured. IMAX: ‘TimeScapes’ takes the viewer beyond the limits of time and space and into a state of spiritual rapture that leaves us not simply touched but totally transformed and has managed to capture not only the visual but also the spiritual beauty of our world and for Tome Lowe time-lapse photography only really started out as a hobby.
The project took shape over a two year period, and Tom Lowe travelled mostly in the southwest of the United States with his Canon EOS SLR digital cameras and mini Red Digital Cameras to direct this first feature film, entirely of time lapses and slow-motion sequences. The special feature of the film was shot in 4K and the slow-motion sequences were performed using the Red Epic camera and the time-lapse sequences and Tom Lowe used his Canon DSLR 5D Mark II mainly.
This was a very small film in terms of the budget, so making it a very personal film for Tom Lowe, which was never going to be on the same scale of a Hollywood project. But this film is definitely worth viewing on this stunning Blu-ray disc, as it has totally exceptional filmic quality to show off the best of his photography, as IMAX: ‘TimeScapes’ has likewise marked the history of ultra-high definition since it was the first feature film to be marketed in 4K High Definition quality and is just as spectacular as you would see with any IMAX film. Aesthetically, the film has been described in the tradition of works by Ron Fricke like 'BARAKA' and 'SAMSARA' for which Tom Lowe dedicated in homage to Ron Fricke. The film can be best described as meditative visual journey, without words. Now and again you just get brief standard photographic images and I loved the shot of the beautiful brown bear sitting down and seem to be looking very forlorn and the final part of the film is where a young lady is walking through a massive spectacular blanket of something like bluebells, that stretches a massive distance towards a mountain range in the distance and sadly as the young lady walks off, the film then fades to inform us we have sadly come the end of Tom Lowe's epic time-lapse photographic spectacular film. But of course what is so spectacular you experience is the totally awesome time-lapse photography and is absolutely without doubt exceptional, as well as very professionally presented and will certainly totally amaze you and especially if you are an enthusiastic amateur astrophotography like Tom Lowe. A visual singularity of a sort that would have made Carl Sagan very proud indeed.
Blu-ray Image Quality – The IMAX: ‘TimeScpaes’ film is presented in this special edition in a stunning 1080p resolution image, with an equally impressive 1.78:1 aspect ratio, with images that will occupy the entire frame of what you will get with you viewing experience. The level of sharpness is totally outstanding and really excellent and also looks totally naturally. But can vary depending on the nature of the scenes and the images that appear more velvety on the slow-motion sequences via the Red Epic system, give a sort of quilted look, especially with some of the time-lapse sequences. Nevertheless, despite this, the benefits still remain totally excellent, and the colours are absolutely stunning and totally remarkable for the duration of the documentary. Filmed in 4K resolution on a Canon EOS and Red Digital Cameras and Edited in 4K on an Abode Premiere. Please Note: Playback Region B/2: This will not play on most Blu-ray players sold in North America, Central America, South America, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Learn more about Blu-ray region specifications.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – All I can say is that the performance of this audio track is an awesome stunning experience, but would have been even more stunning if it had been in 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, but despite this anomaly, it is still very impressive and awe inspiring. But of course it is helped along with the impressive constructed music soundtrack by composer Nigel John Stanford, who accompanies it so much with his brilliantly fabulous images for Tom Lowe's stunning film, and offering a somewhat kind of impressionist dimension. This exclusively musical soundscape is so appropriate, without overdoing it, especially for your entire viewing and listening special pleasure and frankly it will not disappointment you at all, but again it would have been even more enhanced brilliantly if they had included a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track for sure, still despite this, it is still an impressive audio experience.
Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Audio Commentary by Director Tom Lowe: Here Tom Lowe introduces himself and informs us that this is the audio commentary for IMAX: ‘TimeScapes.’ Tom Lowe also tells us that Nigel John Stanford designed the main title wording of IMAX: ‘TimeScapes’ at the start of the film and Nigel John Stanford was inspired by the title sequence of the film 'ALIEN,' but as you see the shadow decrease with the wording, Tom Lowe feels it reminded him of his time-lapse photography, and he really liked what Nigel John Stanford had produced. As we go through the film, Tom Lowe explains in great detail why he did certain shots, and also tells in great detail where he filmed at all the locations. When we see the graceful pelicans coming into land onto the water, Tom Lowe tells us that he could watch and film them all day as he feels they are totally amazing very graceful birds, but he could also watch and film other kinds of bird, as it gives him the greatest joy in the world. As we go through the rest of the film, Tom Lowe tells us that with certain landscapes he filmed in time-lapse photography, Tom Lowe also explains that they were filmed at night and the light that gradual crosses the landscape is created by the brightness of the moonlight from the moon as it emerges over the horizon, and you do not actually see the mon, only very briefly in some other shots. Also Tom Lowe loved going into great detail of what different lenses and cameras he used to create the magical images we see, especially with each location Tom Lowe filmed in and also goes into great detail how the different images came about, but now and again he does tend to repeat certain technical information, which is understandable, as it was such a personal project he had always want to pursue, but despite this, Tom Lowe is a really nice guy and I would sure love to meet him personally and shake his hand to congratulate him on such an awesome project, especially the 2 years of his life travelling around different parts of America, as I love his enthusiasm and total dedication for making such stunning time-lapse photography, that is just as professional as an any IMAX films I have in my Blu-ray Collection and I definitely class this film as an IMAX experience. So all in all Tom Lowe is again such a really nice guy and was a joy to listen to his very personal audio commentary. So enjoy my friends!
Special Feature: The Making of ‘TimeScapes’ [2011] [1080p] [1.78:1] [18.28] This is an excellent special feature documentary that makes you understand how this brilliant project came into being to produce this Tom Lowe IMAX: ‘TimeScapes’ project and especially how it was all achieved. We get a truly intimate insight into the world of Tom Lowe, as he informs us how it all came about, which originally just started out as a hobby of getting into time-lapse photography and we also get to see extensive look behind-the-scenes on how he captured the spectacular images. But it only came about when Tom Lowe was able to get hold of a 4K Canon EOS Camera and also the Red Digital Camera, and Tom felt no one had really tacked time-lapse photography properly that he has personally produced, and it also all came about when he personally built his own dolly set-up. We also get to see Nigel John Stanford who took about his personal input into the IMAX: ‘TimeScapes’ film and we also get to see some of Nigel John Stanford's own personal time-lapse photography of “Stars Bora Bora Timelapse” that was filmed in his native country of New Zealand. We are now back with Tom Lowe who talks how very dedicated he is about setting up particular shots, which we get to see Tom Lowe in action, with some of his friends that tagged along with him and we also get to see how rough they slept, but Tom Lowe personally didn't mind that as he felt total freedom. Tom Lowe then talks extensively of most of the locations he visited and especially ones he found that no one else has filmed before, especially in Arizona and the spectacular rock formation he called the “Holy Land” because as you will see they are extremely strange rock formation that are equally beautiful and strange at the same time to look at. Tom Lowe also enjoyed filming in Yosemite Park, as it was a totally rich environment of totally spectacular scenery and especially finding areas that had not been filmed before. We also get to see Tom Lowe working on the technical aspect of filming in 4K on his computer, but he had to contact the Light Iron Company in Hollywood, California to help Tom Lowe finish off his project to make it look even more stunning. As Tom Lowe's project was up and running, loads of people contacted him via different networks asking if they could join him at the different locations he visited and in the end about 20 people joined him for part of the journey, especially taking lots of photographs of what views he was filming. After a 2 year journey he wondered if his project would be a success and indeed it did. Tom Lowe also hopes the film he has produced will bring lots of joy and happiness which it has, and Tom Lowe also hopes his film will inspire other budding time-lapse photographers out there to pursue their dreams like he has.
Special Feature: Behind the Music [2011] [1080p] [1.78:1] [13.24] Nigel John Stanford adopts with this project as both the producer and composer. He explains here how he designed and composed the soundtrack via his computer. This particular special feature is an extension to the previous special feature “The Making of TimeScapes” and especially in having a very intimate insight into Nigel John Stanford and the he works composing music scores and goes into great detail of the process of doing the music score for IMAX: ‘TimeScapes.’ Nigel John Stanford informs us that he uses a special computer entitled “Digital Audio Work Station” from the CUBASE6: Advance Music Production System Company, and makes the job so easy when mixing the music and sound effects together, and shows us how musical instruments can be produced, and the first thing Nigel John Stanford shows us his “Emotional Piano” and you get to hear a very realistic sound of a piano and so over time he builds up with lots of other muscular instruments and voices of humans, that again can be accessed from his super computer and over a period of time he eventually brings everything together we hear the actual musical score for part of the IMAX: ‘TimeScape’ film that you also get to see and how it all came together. Despite it being a very short special feature, it is long enough to explain to us the mysteries of composing music for modern day audiences.
Special Feature: Production Photos [2011] [1080p] [1.78:1] [6.31] This is totally superb, and here we are given a very special slide show of photographs and also taking us behind-the-scenes of filming IMAX: ‘TimeScapes,’ but now and again you get small excerpts from the action film inserted between each spectacular 1080p photographs. Another bonus you get is the stunning composed music score of Nigel John Stanford, which gives this Production Photos a totally awesome spectacular professional presentation. So well don Tom Lowe, you are the best!
Special Feature: Film Credits [2011] [1080p] [1.78:1] [8:20] This is just a repeat of the credits you see at the very end of the film, especially telling you who was involved in the making of the film IMAX: ‘TimeScapes.’
Finally, IMAX: ‘TimeScapes’ is a totally fabulous project of truly exceptional professional film viewing experience. The photography with the new technologies of enthusiastic Tom Lowe, gives all nature lovers an amazing experience on every level and especially since this 4K film was the result of a personal project of Tom Lowe and was completely finalised in 4K, which again gives you a totally awesome experience and also makes this Blu-ray a totally stunning tour-de-force image experience, that will blow you away. Time-lapse photography with the IMAX 'TimeScapes' is a totally artistic expression of pure joy and also a totally brilliant perfection to experience. However, 'TimeScapes' has not been filmed to be an entertaining blockbuster; instead Tom Lowe wants to show you the beauty of motion pictures either in slow-motion or time-lapse compressed views. Tom Lowe in my humble opinion is a fascinating expression of art and for anyone interested in cinematographic art it is a must see and possibly one of the best works of 2012 when it was originally released. Bravo to the creator Tom Lowe! Very Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
