Definition

Noun: A technique in filmmaking or video playback where the action appears to happen at a significantly reduced speed compared to normal reality. This effect is created by recording footage at a frame rate much higher than the standard playback rate.

Usage

"Slow motion" is used as a noun, typically in an uncountable form, to describe the technique or the resulting footage itself. It is often used with prepositions like "in" or phrases like "shot in."

Examples

• The director used slow motion to dramatize the athlete's final leap.
• We watched the water balloon burst in slow motion.
• The crash was captured in stunning slow motion.

Advanced Usage

• In slow motion: This is the most common phrase, used to describe something happening or being viewed at a slowed-down speed.
  • The dream sequence was filmed entirely in slow motion.
• Slow-motion replay: A specific term used in sports broadcasting to show an action again at a reduced speed.
  • The referee reviewed the foul using a slow-motion replay.

Variants and Related Words

• Slow-motion (adjective): Used attributively to describe something related to this technique.
  • It was a slow-motion sequence.
  • The slow-motion effect was beautiful.

Synonyms

• Time-lapse (Note: This is a different technique where events over a long period are sped up, not slowed down. It is sometimes conceptually related as a manipulation of time in film.)
• Slowed-down footage/video

Antonyms

• Fast motion
• Time-lapse (when considered as the opposite effect of compressing time)

Related Idioms and Phrases

• In slow motion: Beyond its literal film meaning, this phrase can describe a real-life event that seems to unfold with dreadful, deliberate slowness.
  • As the car skidded toward me, the whole world seemed to move in slow motion.

Noun

1. a movie that apparently takes place at a slower than normal speed; achieved by taking the film at a faster rate