Girl's Amazing Time-lapse Video: From Birth to Age 12 in Minutes. Time Flies
Twelve years ago filmmaker Frans Hofmeester embarked on the greatest work of his life, becoming a father. Every week, the Dutch video artist would hover over his daughter Lotte's crib and capture stills. He continued his weekly photo shoots diligently, even as she began sitting upright, her features growing more defined by the day.
Video: 30-story building goes up in minutes
Over a decade later, Hofmeester had taken 600 plus photos of Lotte, tracking the minutiae of her development in ways that albums and scrapbooks simply can't capture. Stringing each photo together on Final Cut Pro, Hofmeester created a remarkable time-lapse video of Lotte's evolution from newborn to tween, in under 3 minutes. In the video her emotions run the gamut, from curiosity to bleary-eyed frustration to wide-eyed enthusiasm. The only thing that remains unchanged is a baby blanket. The keepsake that Lotte lay on as a newborn remains the background of every photo throughout her twelve year journey.
Since Hofmeester posted the video to Vimeo last week, it's been viewed over 1 million times and become this week's mandatory viral distraction worldwide.
Video: around the world in an instant
Now the father of two, Frans also released a time-lapse video of his 9-year-old son Vince. As with Lotte's video, it's a work in progress. Frans hopes to continue documenting his children's development, according to a comment he posted to his Vimeo account. (Getting a teenager to pose regularly with her baby blanket may pose a new challenge.)
Video: time-lapse tracks pregnancy in a minute
Since the dark ages of viral videos, time-lapse has held a special place in viewers' hearts. One of the earliest examples was in 2006, when photographer Noah Kalina condensed photos of himself taken everyday over a period of six years and set it in motion on YouTube. It's since been viewed by over 22 million people and rocketed the photographer into full-fledged, commercial-grade fame.
More recently, a 10-year-old girl named Natalie became the subject of a similar photo project, when her parents tracked her development in photos from her first days to her 3,650th. Unlike Kalina's adult video which journeys mainly through various stages of facial hair and sad eyes, Natalie's evolution is more profound. As with Lotte, she radically reincarnates from year to year, personality stretching through her skin, until the only thing left from her earliest days is her smile. All that, in a matter of minutes. Even in real time, that's how it feels.
Related links:
Why I got my 1-year-old a Facebook account
Girl goes from zero to ten in minutes
Scrapbooking for modern moms
