VIDEO Dad makes time-lapse video of daughter from newborn to 14 years old

For those parents out there who feel like your kids are growing up too fast, here’s a video that sums up your feelings. Dutch filmmaker Frans Hofmeester made brief videos of his daughter Lotte every week of her life, from the time she was a newborn until she recently turned 14. The result is an awe-inspiring four-minute clip that is made even better by the fact that Lotte wasn’t necessarily in the mood when dad turned on the camera.

And here’s the music that should be playing in the background:

(Song: Nanci Griffith performing “Turn Around” from the album Other Voices, Other Rooms)

Frans talked about his motivation for making the videos on his website. “She was changing at such a rapid pace, that I felt the need to document the way she looked, to keep my memories intact,” he explains. “Other people might make a photo book, but I decided to film. The baby blanket, the white background, was a constant factor.”

And Lotte isn’t the only one getting the time-lapse video scrapbook treatment, her younger brother Vince is also posing once a week for his dad’s camera. “Vince was born( on 23-11-2002) when Lotte was three. Of course I started to film him too.”

Here’s the video of Vince through the age of 10:

As I mentioned above, part of what makes the clips so emotionally stunning is that Vince and Lotte weren’t always in a “camera mood” so to speak. “Sometimes they did not feel like it,” Frans explains. “Then I said ‘Just one minute. Tell me about your ball game, did you win?’ That way I stalled them so I could complete the shot.” Apparently the “Tell me about your ballgame” ploy worked in varying degrees. 🙂

Frans’ documentation of his daughter Lotte first got worldwide attention after his video of her up through the age of 12 was used in a Print commercial in 2012:

OK moms and dads – you know what you have to do. We will check back in 14 years!