Ian, Author at Randomly London

Timeless – An Absolutely Stunning London Timelapse

Timeless is an absolutely stunning timelapse/slow motion short film of London by MB Films. It features most of the tourist/famous hot spots of central London including Piccadilly Circus, Chinatown, Palace of Westminster, London Eye and many more. The music is by Rael Jones and is a perfect accompaniment to the film. The one thing I did find amusing watching a film titled ‘Timeless’ is that I keep wondering when it was shot every time I got a glimpse of the Shard.

One of the greatest Timelapse videos I’ve seen of London, you can learn more about the technical specs and filming details on the MB Films blog post about the film.

New Video Featuring Area Around Waterloo And Canary Wharf

Hope you’re all having a great bank holiday weekend. I found this short video on reddit by user green_tito. It features some great random shots of London, primarily featuring the areas around Waterloo station (including Lower Marsh) and Canary Wharf. Do you notice how sunny everything looks in the video? Well that’s no accident as it was shot back in March, 2012 when we actually had a few weeks of nice weather.

Is There Any Doubt We Are In Drought?

What: WE ARE IN DROUGHT

By: unknown (If you know please let me know)

When: April, 2012

Where: London, UK

Why: Well given that it’s election day I thought we could all do with some cheering up. This ironic drought photo, was making the rounds last week. However, I thought I’d post it here in the off chance you haven’t already seen it. I first saw it on this Reddit thread, but I gather it’s been featured in many other places as well. Really sums up the last two months of London weather.

Rainbow Over Palace of Westminster (Houses Of Parliament)

What: Rainbow Over Palace of Westminster (Houses Of Parliament)

By: Harry Key

When: April 25th, 2012

Where: City of Westminster, London, SW1

Why: I found this picture of rainbow over the houses of parliament on reddit. It was taken last week after one of the many downpours. Harry Key, the photographer, was nice enough to let me to show it here. Given that today is election day (albeit local), one has to wonder if it is foreshadowing some kind of result.

London From A Whole New Angle – Amazing Video Flyover Video

London aerial 1 from JasonHawkes on Vimeo.

The video above has been making the rounds around the blogosphere recently and I thought I’d share it here too. It was made by Jason Hawkes, who also has some amazing nighttime photos of London on his website.

As you can see there are some really stunning night and day shots of central London, with the Shard in particular being the focus of a good portion of the video. Anyway you should probably stop reading this and watch the video, if you haven’t already.

London Student Protest – Vision Of A Post-Apocalyptic London

What: London Student Protest – Vision Of A Post-Apocalyptic London

Where: City of Westminster, London, SW1A

Why: I should start off by saying that this is not my own work. I found it on Reddit from user WholeWideWorld. I just thought it was really neat looking and got his permission to share it here.

This is a photo from one of the London student protests that happened last year. I love the post-apocalyptic look of the photo, especially because it was taken in front of the Clock Tower (Big Ben), arguably the most photographed building on earth. As other users on Reddit have pointed out, it looks like something from the video game Half-life or the film Children of Men.

Beyond that, I also think the picture does a really good job of capturing the surrealness of the protests. To me the police don’t even look entirely real. But what do you think? Leave your comments below:

Fly Around London Like a Pigeon

The video above shows the Pigeon Simulator in action. It was created by George Mackerron, a UCL researcher, for the CASA Smart Cities Conference.

Basically the simulator allows you to fly or flap around London as a Pigeon would, using a Microsoft Kinect to capture your moves. It’s not all fun and games though, as you can discover information about air pollution levels, height of the Thames and general weather information.

London Marathon – 1908 Summer Olympics Part 2

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What: Johnny Hayes Winning the Marathon Race. Olympic Games, London 1908

When: July 24, 1908

Where: White City Stadium, London, W12

Why: Following up on the last 1908 Olympic post this is a picture of American runner Johnny Hayes actually winning the Gold Medal at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. Dorando Pietri finished ahead of Hayes but was disqualified because he was helped over the finish line due to exhaustion. This was the first time the race was run at it’s current distance of 42.195km (26.22 miles).

The London Marathon – A Look Back At The 1908 Olympics

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What: A depiction of Dorando Pietri finishing the 1908 Olympic Marathon in London

By: Alberto Salinas

When: July 24, 1908

Where: White City Stadium, London, W12

Why: Since the London marathon is being held today, I thought it might be interesting to have a look back at the first marathon to be run at the current distance of 42.195km (26.22 miles). This distance was chosen for the 1908 Summer Olympics, which were appropriately enough held in London. The reason why the distance is an odd number in both kilometers and miles has to do with the Royal Family wanting to get a better view of the start of the race. The race distance would fluctuate slightly over the next dozen years, finally being standardized at the 1908 Olympic distance in 1921.

The image above depicts Dorando Pietri, an Italian runner who entered White City Stadium first, but ran the wrong way and then collapsed several times. Officials eventually helped him to cross the finish line first, but he was disqualified because of the outside help. American runner Johnny Hayes who finished just after Pietri, ended up winning the gold medal. However, Queen Alexandra was so moved by Pietri’s performance that she awarded him a special (gold or silver) cup.

Commuting Into Waterloo Station – Time-Lapse Video

I just found this wonderful video of people commuting to and from Waterloo Station. There are many great shots of the more mundane elements of commuting from people waiting for their train to commuters touching in to them finding a seat (if they’re lucky). However, the highlight for me are some the shots of the buildings you can see from the train including the ever popular Shard and Battersea Power Station among others.

Update 24-04-2012: Just found out this video was created by Iris Wu. You can see more of her work on her website: http://iris-manwu.com.