motion-picture technique by which a naturally slow process, such as the blossoming of a flower or cloud-pattern development, can be seen at a greatly accelerated rate. Normal sound cinematography reproduces movement by recording and projecting it at 24 frames per second. In time-lapse cinematography, single frames are exposed at much greater time intervals (usually minutes) and then viewed at the standard 24 frames per second. Most often the technique uses a camera that operates automatically upon the signal of a timing device.