Slowing down time (in writing & film) - Aaron Sitze

在写作和电影中将时间拉长 - Aaron Sitze

Transcriber: Andrea McDonough Reviewer: Bedirhan Cinar

翻译人员: Lingxiao Cheng 校对人员: Ying Wang

I got in my first car accident when I was sixteen.

我人生的第一场车祸发生在我十六岁时

I had just gotten my license and I was driving home

那时，我刚拿到驾照并驾车回家

when a car pulled into the intersection

这时候，一辆车驶入了交叉路口

and bang! It hit me.

然后，“嘣” 的一声，这辆车撞上了我的车。

It had happened that quick.

事情发生得如此之快。

Bang!

只在一声巨响之间！

But when I play that memory back,

但是，当我回忆这起事故时，

it doesn't take two seconds.

它并非只是两秒钟内发生的事。

I see the tires of the car rolling through the stop sign,

我看到那辆车的轮胎滚动着驶过停车标志，

I have time to think,

我还在思考着：

"You know, I think that car is going to hit me."

“我想这辆车就快撞上我了”

I see the right-hand corner of the hood

我看到发动机罩的右角

crumple up like tin foil,

像锡箔纸一样地皱了起来，

I see the red paint flake off and drift off into the air,

我看到车上的红色涂料剥落着并漂散到空气中，

I can see all of that, like it's happening in slow motion.

我能看到所有的这些，就像慢镜头回放一样。

In my memory, that experience takes ten seconds.

在我的记忆中，那次事故只发生在十秒之中。

But why?

但是，为什么呢？

Why did that memory play back longer

为什么记忆回放的时间被拉长到

than the actual time it took?

比实际发生的时间要长得多？

This is an interesting phenomenon

这是个非常有趣的现象

and it's not just for car accidents,

而且，不仅限于交通事故。

a roller coaster,

过山车，

or a first kiss.

初吻，

These events seem to take longer than they actually take.

类似的事件在回忆时，都好像比真实发生的时间要长。

But why?

And when it comes to writing about that experience,

究竟是为什么？

当我开始把这种经历付诸笔头的时候，

how do I get that peculiar feeling across?

我是怎样理解这种奇妙的感受的？

How do I slow down time as a writer?

我要怎样像一个作家一样，把时间拉长？

To get the answer, we have to visit Hollywood.

为了寻求答案，我们需要去拜访一下好莱坞。

You see, the way filmmakers create slow motion

你们看，电影摄制者制作慢镜头的方式

will tell us a lot about how writers can create slow motion.

可以让我们明白作家是怎样创作慢动作场景的。

First, let's remember how film works.

首先，让我们想想电影是怎样运作的。

When the camera turns on, it's not recording motion,

当摄影机工作时，它并非在记录动作，

it's taking lots and lots of individual pictures.

而是在记录若干独立的画面。

Then when those pictures are played back in the projector,

当这些画面在投影机上被回放时，

they blend together and create the appearance of motion,

它们就混合在一起，形成了动作的表象,

like a flip book.

就像手翻动画书一样。

So, let's imagine that a camera man needs

那么，让我们试想一下，一个摄像师需要

to film his actress skipping through a field of daisies

拍摄女演员在一片雏菊地里跳跃的画面

in regular motion.

并用正常的速度呈现出来。

Ready, action.

预备，开拍！

She skips across the field,

她在野地里跳跃，

he records it,

他在拍摄，

and...cut.

然后，停。

Let's say for the sake of easy math

为了简便运算

that our camera man took 50 pictures,

让我们假设摄像师拍下了50个画面，

50 little frames on that length of film.

也就是胶片上的50帧。

Now, let's take that film and play it back

现在，让我们拿出这段影片来回放，

at the rate of 50 frames per 5 seconds.

用每5秒50帧的速度。

This rate is constant,

这个速率是不变的，

the projector will always go at the same speed.

投影机会一直按照相同的速度播放。

It's easy, we got 50 frames, so our film takes 5 seconds.

非常简单，我们有50帧画面，所以我们的影片播放需要5秒钟。

She skips across the field...

她在田野中跳跃...

...and cut!

...然后，停。

So, then, how do we slow down time in film?

所以，接下来，我们要怎样让影片中的时间慢下来呢？

How do we create slow motion?

我们要怎样制作慢镜头呢？

Maybe this is a surprise, but we don't take less pictures,

这可能会让你吃惊。不过，我们并非是通过拍摄更少的画面，

we take more pictures.

而是，拍摄更多的画面。

Ready, action!

预备，开拍！

She skips across the field,

她在田野中跳跃，

he records it,

他拍摄下来，

and cut.

然后，停。

Now we have a lot of film, a long length,

现在，我们有了一长段拍摄完的胶片。

let's say 100 frames long.

假设是100帧那么长吧。

Now, when we play it back,

现在，如果我们将胶片回放，

it takes a longer time to get through,

会需要更长的时间来完成播放，

and there's the actress in slow motion.

演员的动作会呈现出慢镜头的效果。

Skipping through the field of daisies!

在 雏菊 地 里 跳 跃 着！

Which brings us now to writing.

这把我们带回到了写作上。

When you're writing a narrative,

当你要写一篇记叙文的时候，

you may want to use slow motion in one of your scenes.

你可能会在你描写的一个场景中用到慢镜头。

It's a cool effect, just like it is in Hollywood,

这是种很酷的效果，就像好莱坞电影里的一样。

and it draws the reader's attention to important moments.

它能够在重要的时刻抓住读者的注意力。

Well, here's how you do it.

你可以试着这么做。

You see, when we read,

你们看，当我们阅读的时候，

our brain makes the words into pictures

我们的大脑会将读到的词语形成画面，

and the pictures blend into action.

然后把画面组合形成动作。

So what we read is what we see

所以，我们所读到的也就是

in the time it takes us to read it.

当我们在阅读的当下在头脑中所形成的画面。

For example, imagine you're writing a narrative

比如说，试想你正在描写

about your game-winning free throw in the championship game.

一场冠军赛中致胜的一个罚球场景。

Here's a moment as a writer

在这个时刻，作为一个作者

that you might want to slow down time

你可能需要使时间慢下来

to really capture the second-by-second tension

以真正把握住这个场景中

produced by the scene.

秒与秒之间的张力。

You concentrate,

你集中精力，

you put the pencil to paper,

你握笔展纸，

you really want to slow down time,

你想要使得时间慢下来，

you write,

你写道：

"I shot the ball in the hoop.

”我将球射到篮中，“

Time slowed down. Then we won."

时间慢了下来。然后，我们赢了。

To read that, takes two seconds;

读完这句话只需要两秒；

therefore, your reader imagines a scene that takes two seconds.

所以，你的读者会想象出一个只有两秒的场景。

Ball goes up, comes down, done.

球被抛出，落下。这样而已。

See, even though you wrote, "time slowed down,"

你会看到，即便你写下了：”时间慢了下来，“

you didn't achieve that effect for your reader.

你并没有为读者达到预期的效果。

Just saying it doesn't make it happen.

只是说出来并不代表它会发生。

Now, let's take what we make about film,

现在，让我们采用电影制作的原理，

time slows down with more pictures,

用更多的画面让时间慢下来，

and try again.

然后再试试看。

This time write A LOT more.

这一次，写出更多的内容。

"I bent my knees and held the ball loosely.

”我弯下膝盖，松弛地握着球。

Letting the ball bounce on the floor once more,

让球在地板上又弹了一次，

I gathered my thoughts.

我整理思绪，

This was the moment.

就在这刻，

My right arm extended as I released the ball with a gentle flick,

我张开右臂，将球轻轻地弹了出去，

it rotated slightly as it arched toward the rim.

它轻巧地划出弧线，到达了球篮的边缘。

I held my breath.

我屏住呼吸。

The ball nudged the back rim,

球在篮框边缘后部轻轻回旋，

falling through the net with a gentle, satisfying swish.

轻松地跌入篮中，一个漂亮的落地。

And the crowd exploded from their seats."

全场雷动。”

See, we just slowed down time through our writing.

看到了吧，我们刚才做到了通过写作让时间慢下来。

The bottom line is this:

要领是这样的：

there are moments in life that take longer

生命中的一些时刻，会比

than they actually take.

它们实际发生的时间要长。

When you're planning out your narrative,

当你在为你的叙述打草稿时，

think about those moments,

认真想想这些时刻，

those snippets of life that took longer than the watch:

这些在感受上会比实际时间长的零星片段：

the moment of hearing bad news,

听到坏消息时，

the moment of hearing good news,

听到好消息时，

the moment of exhilaration when you realize you hit the jump,

当你起跳投篮成功的喜悦时刻，

or the moment when you realize you aren't going to land it.

或者，当你意识到你无法射球成功时...

Once you identify these moments in your narrative,

当你抓住叙述中的这些时刻时，

you can use this effect of slow motion when you write.

你可以在写作中运动慢镜头效果。

Just remember, it's not enough to say, "time slowed down"

记住，仅仅只说“时间慢了下来”是不够的

and it's not enough to throw a couple adjectives

而且，在一个句子中抛出若干形容词

in a sentence and call it done either.

也是远远不足的。

Descriptive writing is good writing, that's true.

描述性的写作是好的写作，没错。

But if you want to express the feeling of slow motion in life,

不过，如果你想表达出生活中发生的慢镜头场景的感受，

you have to actually take up

你不得不将

more physical space on the page,

更多的物理空间占据在页面上，

use more film so to speak.

用更多的画面来说话。

In doing so, you will create tension

这样做的话，你可以制造张力

and keep your reader interested.

引读者入胜。

And that way, the next time you write,

通过这种方式，在你下次写作的时候，

you'll control the camera of your own writing.

你就可以掌控你笔下的镜头了。