Cy Kuckenbaker, a film professor and filmmaker, layered five hours of footage shot at San Diego International Airport on November 23 between 10:30am and 3pm to make this crazy-looking video. He shares the details of how he created the video with the excellent photography blog Petapixel, explaining that the concept grew out of a still image by Ho-Yeol Ryu.
Kuckenbaker used a clever trick to merge the shots -- he filmed the planes against a clear blue sky and used a chroma key effect to isolate the aircraft. From there, he simply layered them to create a flock of jets. The bridge and clouds were added later. Quick to capitalize on the viral success of his video, Kuckenbaker has launched a line of merch on Cafe Press, featuring little planes flying across water bottles, t-shirts, and more.
For more videos by Cy Kuckenbaker, visit http://cysfilm.com/.
Via James Hamblin, Petapixel, and Colossal.
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