The “time freeze” effect, typical of action films, can offer exceptional results. And it can be made without expensive equipment: a modern camera, GIMP, and of course our trusty Kdenlive are enough.
Those sequences, typical of action films, in which the action stops in a precise moment and the camera scrolls along the scene while the actors and all the objects are immobile, they are very beautiful. In large film productions, these sequences are made with high speed cameras (for example the Red Epic, which reaches 300 frames per second, or the Phantom Flex, which reaches 10,000 frames per second with a reduced resolution) mounted on a dolly programmable, like the Kessler CineDrive (which allows you to program the movement of the camera and run it repeatedly in the same way). The problem, for a low budget filmmaker, is that Red costs around $ 30,000, while Phantom costs nearly $ 50,000. In addition, the programmable motorized dolly costs nearly $ 10,000. And however beautiful a scene may be, it is not worth spending a minimum of forty thousand dollars to make it. Fortunately, we have a zero-cost alternative: all we need is a reflex camera (even mirrorless, but with a crop factor of less than 1.8) that is capable of making movies. The trick we will use is the following: we will shoot the first part of the movie in one place. This will then be interrupted, and we will extract a frame from it (in which, therefore, the actors appear immobile). We will take photographs along the entire path that the camera should take: the convenience of using photographs, instead of videos, is that it is possible to stop the action in particular moments, difficult to capture otherwise. Then the extracted frame and the photographs will be glued together with GIMP in order to obtain a sort of “panoramic” photo which we will then scroll with Kdenlive as if we were passing the camera on a “virtual” dolly. In our example we decided to return the camera to the starting point, before continuing the action. But it is also possible to start it from a different point: it is sufficient that in that position, instead of taking a photograph, a movie is produced. A frame used to compose the entire landscape is then extracted from it and, when the “virtual” camera arrives in that position, the video can continue from that frame. What matters, in order to obtain an appreciable result, is to choose the times correctly. The scrolling of the panoramic photo, for example, should not be too fast, otherwise the details of the image would not be seen (which make it more realistic). But it doesn’t have to be too slow either, otherwise viewers would get bored. Even the trick that we suggest in our tutorial, that is not to go directly from one end of the panoramic photo to the other but to use an intermediate key frame to make the last phase of the movement slower, is just to give the correct rhythm to the sequence. Perhaps, “rhythm” is the most appropriate word: because the choice of the times depends above all on the rhythm of the soundtrack associated with the movie. To find the right times it is sufficient to carry out several tests, until the correct combination is found. You can see the example video at the following address: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NbO0eP5aPw
The exposure time
Realizing this effect correctly is not too complicated, and does not require expensive equipment. We used a mirrorless digital camera, with a 50mm Zeiss lens, so that we could shoot the movie with an extremely reduced exposure time (about a three thousandth of a second). In this way, the various frames did not suffer the “blur” effect. Obviously it is not necessary to use such a short time: if the objects do not move too fast, even a time of 1/500 of a second may be sufficient. In our example the object in question was water, so we preferred a very low time to be able to accurately capture all the droplets.
We choose the frame
First of all, we need to decide where to stop the image
![](https://kdenlivetutorials.com/wp-content/uploads/all/small_vfx9_preparazione1.png)
![](https://kdenlivetutorials.com/wp-content/uploads/all/small_vfx9_preparazione2.png)
A little photo editing
The various photographs taken must be merged together
![](https://kdenlivetutorials.com/wp-content/uploads/all/small_vfx9_gimp1.png)
![](https://kdenlivetutorials.com/wp-content/uploads/all/small_vfx9_gimp2.png)
![](https://kdenlivetutorials.com/wp-content/uploads/all/small_vfx9_gimp3.png)
![](https://kdenlivetutorials.com/wp-content/uploads/all/small_vfx9_gimp4.png)
From GIMP to Kdenlive
We finish the work on the photos and bring the result to Kdenlive
![](https://kdenlivetutorials.com/wp-content/uploads/all/small_vfx9_panoramica1.png)
![](https://kdenlivetutorials.com/wp-content/uploads/all/small_vfx9_panoramica2.png)
![](https://kdenlivetutorials.com/wp-content/uploads/all/small_vfx9_panoramica3.png)
![](https://kdenlivetutorials.com/wp-content/uploads/all/small_vfx9_panoramica4.png)
Forward for keyframes
We move the panoramic photo using the keyframes of the Composite transition
![](https://kdenlivetutorials.com/wp-content/uploads/all/small_vfx9_composizione1.png)
![](https://kdenlivetutorials.com/wp-content/uploads/all/small_vfx9_composizione2.png)
![](https://kdenlivetutorials.com/wp-content/uploads/all/small_vfx9_composizione3.png)
![](https://kdenlivetutorials.com/wp-content/uploads/all/small_vfx9_composizione4.png)