How do you visualize seemingly imperceptible changes over time, like trees rustling in the wind or cabinets shaking when someone walks by? Michiel de Boer, a.k.a. Posy, devised what he terms “motion extraction,” a filtering technique that leaves only the variances in time visible.

In a compelling and instructional video, de Boer explains a rather straightforward editing technique he uses to isolate movement over time. Examples include how to reveal a camouflaged deer walking through a forest and rain plunking into puddles, transforming scenic landscapes into what appear like glowing, abstract animations. As Kottke notes, the most stunning moment shows a man walking through a gravel bed, his footprints suddenly illuminated as bright splotches where the rocks have shifted.

Check out the tutorial-turned-artwork above, and find more of de Boer’s educational experiments on YouTube.

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