Introduction

The Fast Times Effect is perfect to show the world rushing by your subject as he or she moves in normal time, thereby communicating a world of information about the character and story. For example, you could direct the actors playing a couple on the verge of a breakup to move further and further apart on a bench at an airport in "real time," looking at everything but each other, while all the world traveling to their destinations hurries past them in a frenzied blur. The dramatic effect of everyone else in the world moving in fast motion emphasizes the emotion the couple is feeling in the moment.

The Fast Times Effect can be used, as well, whenever you need your main character to move with superhuman speed. In this case, your background clip would be kept at normal speed and the clip of the main character, filmed in normal speed, would be sped up to "super speed" and overlaid on top of the normal-moving background. Think "Dash" from The Incredibles.

Playing with time by experimenting with the Time Stretch function in Premiere Elements can yield a range of results that may be useful in different projects. Keep in mind that although the effect can be very dramatic (as demonstrated in this chapter), it can also be used very subtly. For example, in a normal scene you could use the Fast Times Effect for just a second or two as two people pass by on a crowded city street and have an internal moment of "haven't we met before, maybe in another lifetime....?" And then the scene returns to full speed. To add to the drama, you could even slow down the two actors a bit. For the most part, you are only limited on how you can apply this effect by your imagination.