When done, it's about the size of a 1 liter water bottle. But the materials that go into it have to be laid out on a workbench for assembly. And then after that, there's connecting it up to the power supply and sensors. I'm guessing the space of the shot would be one or two workbenches, but this much hasn't been planned yet. So maybe I would use two cameras for this segment to give more flexibility in editing.
Ah, okay, there's a place for a timelapse there - the assembly process, which is a very dynamic "big picture" and lends itself well to timelapse. But the connecting up doesn't. I'd plan these as two entirely different shots.
In the spirit of your earlier comment
people who can give me some direction I would make the following suggestions.
(1) For the timelapse, you'll have several creative decisions to make, but I'd go for the highest possible viewpoint, even directly overhead if you can get it. This'd work best if the component parts were laid out left and right of the image and came together in the centre, or some similarly dramatic movement across the screen.
Alternatively, shoot from two angles, the one focused tightly on the unit being assembled; the other looking from a low perspective across the range of materials laid out (and progressively disappearing). You could intercut these two sequences later - especially if, say, all the content of Bench 1 went into making the base and case of the unit, and the content of Bench 2 morphed into the functional pipes and wires and whatnot.
If you want this clip to look really good, pay attention to what component parts are placed where. That is something that you will never, ever, ever be able to fix in post.
(2) Think about whether you want to concentrate the audience's attention on the
experiment or the
scientists. Logically, the only reason for using a timelaspe in this situation would be to show the device being built, and as we know that it's being built by people not robots, we don't really need their flickering presence distracting from the star of the piece.
To achieve that, you could either get everyone to step out of the shot at the time of each frame, or you could make them disappear using old-school technology : an appropriate ND filter and a long exposure time.
(3) Bear in mind that a timelapse is not video; it's a series of conventional still images for which you should be evaluating your exposure parameters shot by shot. That's unlikely to be practical, so unless you have total control over the lighting (i.e. no daylight coming through windows, no randommers switching on/off lights in adjacent areas, no weird fluorescent tinges), you should plan to process each one individually using photo manipulation software before you import them into a video editor.
(4) For the "powering up" sequence, I'd revert to real video/cinematography, and take the time to shoot the connection of each plug/jack/pin/whatever from the best possible angle, paying attention to little details like the LED that lights up when this cable is plugged in or the plume of dust disturbed by a fan starting up (so watch out for heads/hands/elbows getting in the way at the critical moment) Again, these are elements that you will not be able to create in post, no matter how many hours of footage from however many cameras you sit through.