Time Compression Question

[Cartoon King]

I was trying to research my question in the archives of the old message board but was unsuccessful. What exactly are time compressed cartoons and how does the process work? Does this relate to the tape speed or some form of editing? :confused:


"Dragons is so stupid!!!"

[Jack]

The cartoons are sped up, but not so much that it seems like fast-forwarding a tape. This makes the cartoon a few seconds shorter, but it can also:

speed up the action, throwing the timing off
speed up the voices
darken the print

The cartoon isn't always ruined, though, I can't tell the sped up versions of "Robin Hood Daffy" and "What's Opera Doc?" from the un-sped versions.



Jack:D

[snowpeck]

Some cartoons are time compressed ridiculously. I remember one in particiular. The title escapes me now, but Daffy and Porky were detectives. It was compressed so much that at times, I couldn't understand a word they were saying!

gcb

[Jack]

Is it "Deduce, You Say?", I didn't know that one was sped up, could someone maybe make a list of sped cartoons?




Jack

[barnyarddawg]

The time-compressed Dough for the Do-Do is completely unwatchable. In the Rabbit of Seville Bugs sounds like he's on helium, and in The Foghorn Leghorn, the whole rhythm of the cartoon is thrown off.

[hiphats]

I suppose it's worth repeating...many of the time compressed cartoons you see on CN are often taken from UK video prints, which are mastered in the PAL format (which runs about 5% faster in terms of film speed when converted to our NTSC format), which is why often times when you see a cartoon you get a faster pitch.

By the way, it was quite interesting to see "Dough For The Do Do" time compressed. I like it!

[Patrick McCart]

They are definately showing UK tapes.

In the movie, Help!, there's a scene with a "slowdown" ray that makes the running Beatles slow down.

Right when the film starts to slow down...it darkens.

Since it's run faster, less light exposes the footage.

It's actaually good to know that cartoons are time-compressed...that shows that they're the most popular since they were transfered for other countries and also re-dubbed (Deduce You say has a secret Spanish audio track if you can find it on TV showings.)