Clever time-lapse empties out San Francisco

If you plucked all the people and all of the cars out of San Francisco, what would we be left with?

Crafty filmmaker and time-lapse photography whiz Ross Ching decided to find out. As the first installment of his “Empty America” series, Ching’s new video digitally deletes all the pesky citizens from our fair city.

Who hasn’t had a daydream — or nightmare — about being the only living person in The City, with all of San Francisco’s splendor at hand to serve your private whim.

Many of San Francisco’s most famous vistas — from Castro Street to Lombard Street, from North Beach to Ocean Beach — are eerily showcased in the video, all completely devoid of humanity.

Ching is different from other digital magicians too: He shows us how his tricks are done in a second, behind-the-scenes video for all the Photoshop and After Effects geeks out there looking to create their own post-apocalyptic scenes.

Jesse Garnier

Jesse Garnier is the editor and founder of SFBay. A Mission District native, he also teaches journalism as associate professor at San Francisco State University.