History Main / Undercrank

* Even taking into account TheSpeedOfSilents, Creator/MackSennett seems to have used an especially low frame rate for his comedies to make the action more zany and frenetic.

* An odd case is found in ''Film/GodzillaRaidsAgain''. In some of the fight sequences between Godzilla and Anguirus, the usual [[OverCrank overcranking]] technique used to add a sense of weight to the monsters was accidentally reversed - but the effects supervisor liked how the shots turned out and [[ThrowItIn kept the footage anyhow]].

* In some horror movies (the ''Film/HouseOnHauntedHill1999'' remake, ''Film/Thir13enGhosts'', and ''Film/JacobsLadder'' come to mind), the ghosts are filmed WAY undercranked to make them look [[UncannyValley deranged and supernaturally fast]] on playback. Especially the headshaking ghosts.

* In the opening scene of ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'', Wanda Maximoff flings Cap down some stairs using her powers before walking backwards and shutting the door using her telekinesis. Her backwards walk in undecranked and very creepy looking.

* ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'' plays this straight with one of the possible effects where Bonnie or Chica, when in the West and East Hall corners (respectively), will have their heads twitch unusually. It becomes especially apparent in later nights.
* ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys3'' has this right on its menu screen--the new animatronic, Springtrap, is a horrific, twitchy, disturbing mess. It was also seen having whole-body spasms this way in the trailer, seemingly implying that it was on permanent undercrank. [[spoiler: It isn't. Oh dear lord, it isn't.]]

* A CGI equivalent was used in the trailer for a ''Warhammer'' videogame. During a battle, there's a brief glimpse of an eldar fighting an ork. While the motion of everything else appears realistic for the size of what's moving, the eldar's movements are animated so he is wielding his swords inhumanly fast to show he ''isn't'' human.

* A CGI equivalent was used in the trailer for a ''Warhammer'' videogame. During a battle, there's a brief glimpse of an elf fighting an ork. While the motion of everything else appears realistic for the size of what's moving, the elf's movements are animated so he is wielding his swords inhumanly fast to show he ''isn't'' human.

* In the first two ''Film/MadMax'' [[Film/MadMax2TheRoadWarrior films]], many actions scenes are sped up massively to make the cars appear to be driving faster. The fourth movie, ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad'', is a nearly non-stop, two-hour long car chase, and over half the movie is either undercranked or overcranked to a degree.

* Used very subtly on the first person viewshots (to the point of near-unnoticeability) during parts of the famous chase scene in ''TheFrenchConnection''.

* The backgrounds of the speeder bike race on Endor in ''ReturnOfTheJedi'' are the result of an undercranked camera and a Steadicam.

* For his FilmOfTheBook ''Film/{{Firefox}}'', Creator/ClintEastwood hired the same special-effects man, John Dykstra, to do the supersonic nap-of-the-earth fighter-jet chase footage as George Lucas hired to do the Endor speeder-bike sequence mentioned above. In the behind-the-scenes featurette, Dykstra said it was quite a struggle to find a place with enough land to do the sequence because like in ''ReturnOfTheJedi'', the camera was being cranked at 1 frame per second, '''on a Learjet'''

* This is how {{Fred}} gets his trademark high-pitched voice.

Generally, the frame rate isn't lowered to less than 21 frames per second, as anything beyond this makes the effect too glaring. More extreme undercranking tends to be used for supernatural characters (to emphasise their unnatural speed), or comedic effect (because it's easy to make it look [[RuleOfFunny funny]]). As with overcranking and the ''ChariotsOfFire'' [[ParodiesOfFire theme]], if someone's running, [[StandardSnippet expect to hear]] "[[Series/TheBennyHillShow Yakety Sax]]" either onscreen (if it's a comedy) or in your head (if it's not).

* ''Series/MyFavoriteMartian'' had a few of these moments, too, especially when [[AlienAmongUs Uncle Martin]] and Tim were trying to hide something from the nosy neighbor/air-headed landlady [[Cloudcukoolander Mrs. Brown]], or worse, [[PoliceAreUseless Detective]] [[{{Jerkass}} Brennan]].

* ''Series/MyFavoriteMartian'' had a few of these moments, too, especially when [[AlienAmongUs Uncle Martin]] and Tim were trying to hide something from the nosy neighbor/air-headed landlady [[Cloudcukoolander Mrs. Brown]], or worse, [[PoliceAreUseless Detective]] [[Jerkass Brennan]].

** In relation to that, there was a Nick-at-Nite commercial that promoted the comedic effects of "Fast motion!", featuring said scenes ''from'' TheMunsters.

* In the first two Mad Max films, many actions scenes are sped up massively to make the cars appear to be driving faster.

Generally, the frame rate isn't lowered to less than 21 frames per second, as anything beyond this makes the effect too glaring. More extreme undercranking tends to be used for supernatural characters (to emphasise their unnatural speed), or comedic effect (because it's easy to make it look [[RuleOfFunny funny]]). As with overcranking and the ''ChariotsOfFire'' theme, if someone's running, [[StandardSnippet expect to hear]] "[[Series/TheBennyHillShow Yakety Sax]]" either onscreen (if it's a comedy) or in your head (if it's not).

* ''Series/MisterRogersNeighborhood'' occasionally featured "[[AlliterativeTitle Funny Fast Film]]", sped-up videos of people doing mundane things.

Beyond extreme undercranking, where you are still counting in frames exposed per second, comes "time lapse" shooting, where you are counting in seconds (or hours, or longer) per frame exposed. Popular subjects for time lapse are blooming flowers, the movement of the clouds or stars, building concert stages, and city streets.

* ''PlanetDinosaur'' does it in various scenes, and it's a major reason why the CGI of that show gets trashed so much. But truth be told, it ''is'' a very distracting effect, especially when there's no motion-blur, and the animals you're watching are supposed to be several-ton beasts, yet jerk around like frantic mice.
* ''{{Koyaanisqatsi}}'' was largely based around exploring how this and the {{Overcrank}} could be used in creative ways.