Travel timelapse in the UK

by Steve Keenan

I received an email last week from DorsetbyNight with a link to a timelapse film made across the county. What a pleasant surprise.

The film, as it suggests, is a project to to show county landmarks and locations at night - and is a prelude to a larger collaboration highlighting the fact that Dorset is the only county in the UK without a city, which enhances stargazing. You can find out more on the project’s Facebook page.

I commented on how much I enjoyed the film, particularly the lighthouse shot, and got a response from filmmaker Stephen Banks, who works for Bridport-based PR firm Watershed - “Hope videos like this help boost the tourism trade in Dorset.”

I hope so too. It’s one of my favourite counties, being from Southampton and having worked twice in and around Bournemouth. And it seems Dorset might be a hotbed for budding time-lapse filmmakers - here’s a lovely short from Lulworth, filmed this summer, and another, from Matthew Clark of the Dorset coastline.

Timelapse films are two-a-penny but good ones aren’t. One of my all-time travel favourites is Mt Teide on Tenerife but I’ve rarely come across few showing the UK well.

Events are easier to cover - take a look at the Latitude Festival and Jubilee Pageant seen in a recent Guardian travel article - but destinations do not seem to have been in the past.

But is there a whiff of change? On doing a bit of research, I’ve noted a few filmmakers out and about in the UK this summer experimenting with the format - or a least a mix of film and timelapse from David Matthews in a beautiful film of Buttermere Lake in Cumbria. I was also taken with the first clips - from Upper Swaledale in North Yorkshire - from what is promised to be on ongoing project in the Dales.

And, heavens above, another stargazing film - this time from Penwith, Cornwall - shot in July. And another Cornwall film, a part-Tiltshift beauty from Padstow, filmed this Easter.

At this rate, I can see a map of the UK being pulled together by VisitBritain. At least. Or a competition. Or maybe a time-lapse blogger trip. Hang on, I think I may have an idea going here…

* Let me know the UK time-lapse videos showcasing destinations that you rate in the UK