The History of Motion

Decades ago, an aspiring film director won a contract to create a documentary series about the Civil War in nine episodes covering a total of 11 hours of video. The majority of the source material was 16,000 black-and-white still photographs from the mid 1800s. Imagine the task of creating an epic documentary with nothing but old black-and-white still photos!

To create a dramatic feel, the director used a technique that, although he did not invent, he clearly popularized because his documentary became a huge success. The technique involved pulling on a rubber band tied to the control arm of his tripod. The rubber band acts like a shock absorber and smoothes out the panning motion. This smooth motion combined with excellent narration and haunting violin music produced a compelling documentary.