Harold E. Edgerton assembled this film for a National Geographic Society lecture he delivered in 1965. In it he shows a series of high-speed photography demonstrations, with subjects including studio takes in normal and slow motion time of moving fan blades, a cat drinking milk, tennis and golf actions, a football being kicked, hovering hummingbirds, an orange peel spray, swimming copepods, light bulbs breaking, and milk drops. Many of these images are associated with the MGM short film titled “Quicker ’n a Wink” (directed by George Sidney with technical advice and participation by Edgerton), which won an Academy Award in 1940 for Best Short Film.

TIME CODE	DESCRIPTION
00:00:01	Introductory information: film title, synopsis, date, run time.
00:00:08	Film starts.
00:00:19	Harold Edgerton sets up a demonstration of how moving fan blades affect the flow of air, revealed by smoke drifting across the blades.
00:00:26	Slow motion film of smoke drifting onto moving fan blades, and circular eddies being formed.
00:00:43	Edgerton adjusts film inside a motion picture camera, closes and adjusts it to point towards famous golfer Charles Lacey with a golf club.
00:01:05	Slow motion footage of Lacey as he swings his club and sends the golf ball smashing through a phone book.
00:01:21	A cat laps up milk in a bowl, shown at regular speed.
00:01:26	The cat is shown in slow motion lapping milk; note how the cat laps up milk onto the underside of its tongue.
00:01:40	A young woman in profile blows a large soap bubble and then pierces it with a pointed stick.
00:01:51	Close-up in slow motion shows the bubble being pierced by a pointed object and popping after being penetrated quite deeply.
00:02:20	A water-filled balloon is hit by a small pellet that bounces off its surface.
00:02:26	A balloon is popped by a pellet that can be seen progressing across the screen in slow motion.
00:02:43	Slow motion of a pellet hitting a water balloon.
00:02:54	A man swings a racket at a tennis ball suspended on a string.
0002:58	Close-up in slow motion shows the tennis ball as it is hit by the racket; the ball is considerably distorted and the racket net is stretched.
00:03:06	Second take of the tennis ball being struck by racket in slow motion.
00:03:11	Third take of the tennis ball being struck by racket in slow motion.
00:03:19	Fourth take of the tennis ball being struck by racket in slow motion.
00:03:26	A football is kicked, shown in slow motion.
00:03:32	Second take of the football being kicked in slow motion.
00:03:35	Hummingbirds skit around a feeder, shown at regular speed.
00:03:52	Slow motion footage of a hummingbird at a feeder, revealing its wing motion.
00:0411	Second take of a hummingbird at a feeder, shown in slow motion.
00:04:35	Third take of a hummingbird at a feeder, shown in slow motion.
00:04:49	Fourth take: several hummingbirds at a feeder, shown in slow motion, including one that hovers in place.
00:05:21	Slow motion footage of a bird (pigeon?) as it is released from a person’s hand and flies away.
00:05:46	A man is shown holding a bird and releasing it for flight, filmed in slow motion.
00:06:05	An orange is peeled.
00:06:12	Slow motion footage of the orange being peeled, revealing squirts of juice from the skin surface.
00:06:38	Slow motion footage of a copepod (small crustacean) as it swims, shown in silhouette.
00:07:42	Slow motion close-up of a light bulb being banged onto a hard surface, showing internal filaments reverberating.
00:08:00	Second take: slow motion close-up of a light bulb being hit on a hard surface showing internal filaments reverberating.
00:08:15	Drops of milk fall from a dripping machine into cup of milk, shown at regular speed.
00:08:17	Close-up of milk drops falling into a cup of milk.
00:08:19	Slow motion of milk drops falling into a cup of milk, showing how the drops subsequently form a partial coronet and column of milk.
00:08:44	Milk released from a dripping machine is shown in slow motion as it falls and forms droplets.
00:09:07	Milk drop falls into a cup of milk, shown in slow motion.
00:09:42	Another take of milk drops falling into a dark liquid (cranberry juice?).
00:09:55	View of strobe light as it flashes intermittently.
00:10:02	A person sets up an experiment to show a milk drop dripping onto a flat plate covered in a thin layer of milk.
00:10:17	Slow motion footage shows the creation of a milk drop coronet as the drop hits a thin layer of liquid on a flat surface.
00:10:25	Take 2 of the creation of a milk drop coronet.
00:10:33	Take 3 of the creation of a milk drop coronet.
00:10:41	Take 4 of the creation of a milk drop coronet.
00:11:06	End of film.
00:11:13	© 2010 MIT credits.

Comments on this video: