SINGAPORE - This year's National Day Parade (NDP) and show turned out to be a memorable visual spectacle, and The Straits Times captured all of it in a time-lapse video.
In the 3min 13sec clip, one will be able to experience various points of view, from a performer looking at thousands in the audience, to up high to see the intricate formations created by the performers.
Three cameras - one on stage at The Float @ Marina Bay and two at the 32-storey Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore hotel rooftop - were set up on Thursday (Aug 9) to snap a photo of the parade every second across four hours, starting from 4.30pm.
ST executive photojournalist Benjamin Seetor, 39, who produced the video with photojournalist Gavin Foo, said: "It was our first time doing a time-lapse video of the entire NDP, and from multiple angles too."
They spent about five hours producing the video, which was stitched together using about 5,400 of the 23,728 shots that were captured.
Mr Foo, 38, said it was the longest time-lapse video he has worked on while using so many cameras.
"It was challenging because everything had to go smoothly. The batteries had to be charged and the weather had to be good," said Mr Foo.
The highlight for him? Watching the flag fly-past during the National Anthem - almost at eye level from the hotel rooftop.
He said: "Most of us will only see it from the ground."
Said ST picture editor Stephanie Yeow: "We aim to do something special every National Day. Last year, we produced the NDP gigapixel - a high-resolution panorama of the crowd watching the show. That was very well-received by our readers.
"This year, we decided to try something that we have not done before. And time-lapse videos are very popular with readers who now consume a lot more content on their mobile phones. I hope our readers like our special project for this year!"
