This video was created from one hour of source footage shot from a bluff in San Diego the morning of Jan 21, 2014. I was interested in exploring the manipulation of water and to see how the movements and patterns from surfing interact. Watching surfing typically happens in one or two ways: in films/videos or in person standing on a pier, beach or bluff. In most surf films, the riders are so talented and the waves are so good it becomes an abstraction from the average viewer's/surfer’s experience at an average break. On the other hand, watching in person can be very slow and depending on the swell there may be long stretches when nothing happens at all. This video is a playful attempt to split the difference and reveal just how much can actually happen in an hour in an otherwise nondescript surf spot with non professional riders. There are no CG elements, these are all real surfers and real waves with the time separating them removed. The video does not contain every wave that passed during the hour; I picked the best rides but otherwise tried to maintain chronology. 

A sample of the source footage may be viewed here: http://vimeo.com/95695485 

A look at the AE editing may be viewed here: https://vimeo.com/95881511

My blog post with additional info, text and images here: http://tinyurl.com/pqdymcv

The San Diego Studies is a series of short videos that collapse time to reveal otherwise unobservable rhythms and movement in San Diego. The project is supported my MOPA San Diego and the San Diego Foundation. For more information about this video please visit cysfilm.com and MOPA.org

San Diego Study #1: vimeo.com/54658957
San Diego Study #2: vimeo.com/58240175
San Diego Study #3: vimeo.com/82038912

To request permission for distribution and licensing contact: cysfilm@gmail.com

Shot on a Canon C100 + Atomos Ninja in CLog, with a Canon EF 100-400 f/4.5 L lens at 24p. The post work was done in After Effects.

One Hour of San Diego Surfing Time Collapsed: San Diego Study #4

Filmmaker Cy Kuckenbaker is an expert at playing with space and time. Whether he's condensing four hours of planes landing into a 30-second clip of [some serious air traffic](https://vimeo.com/54658957), or messing with highway traffic and reorganizing the cars by color (which we [detailed in a documentary](http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/show/cy-kuckenbaker-creates-the-ultimate-traffic-patterns) last fall), the artist is a whiz at manipulating the world into a surreal landscape filled with what appears to be clones. His newest clip, the fourth in his _San Diego Studies_ series, turns one surfer's lonesome day in the water into a patterned surfer party.

"I was interested in exploring the manipulation of water and to see how the movements and patterns from surfing interact," wrote Kuckenbaker on the page of his time-condensed video lapse. Watching non-professional surfers can be a slow and patience-testing process, but the study "reveals just how much can actually happen in an hour in an otherwise nondescript surf spot with non professional riders."

Watch Kuckenbaker's newest short above, and see how he made it below. Imagine how good this would look on a sunny day, [shot via drone](http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/strapping-a-gopro-camera-to-a-drone-results-in-the-most-insane-surf-video).

A brief look at the After Effects technique used to composite waves.

Making Of: Surf Time Collapse AE Edit

See Cy Kuckenbaker's website for more on his work: [http://cysfilm.com/](http://cysfilm.com/)

_[Cy Kuckenbaker Creates The Ultimate Traffic Patterns](http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/show/cy-kuckenbaker-creates-the-ultimate-traffic-patterns)_

_[Pelle Cass' Time-Lapse Photos Outsmart Even The Trickiest Photographers](http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/Video-pelle-cass-time-lapse-photography-explores-the-interconnectedness-of-daily-life)_

_[Strapping A Camera To A Drone Results In The Most Insane Surf Video](http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/strapping-a-gopro-camera-to-a-drone-results-in-the-most-insane-surf-video)_

[@zachsokol](https://twitter.com/zachsokol)

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Cy Kuckenbaker's latest in his "San Diego Studies" series turns one rider's lonesome morning into a party.

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Time-Condensed Surf Video Captures An Entire Swell All At Once

FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Time-Condensed Surf Video Captures An Entire Swell All At Once

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