Shutter speed is the the length of time a shutter is opened to expose film. The shutter speed assigns low numbers to slow film and higher numbers to faster film. I like this picture because it represents the result of the shutter speed set to 0.5″ seconds. Although the picture itself is blurry, it is not difficult to pinpoint what is happening. The movements bring the photo to life because this will be the feeling when spinning on a chair. Dizzy and dis-functional. Perfect example of setting the shutter speed to high for faster photos.
Shutter speed is often expressed in fractions of a second so yes a higher number is a shorter amount of time. 1/125 is shorter than 1/60.