Frequently Asked Questions
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Contents
1 Motion Picture Formats (original
cinematography)
1.1 Which film gauges are currently
in common usage for original cinematography?
1.1.1 35mm - Standard Theatrical
Gauge
The standard gauge for theatrical motion pictures has always been 35mm.
This rather arbitrary width supposedly originated with an agreement made
between Thomas Edison's associate, William K. L. Dickson, and George Eastman
in the early days of motion pictures, because the original Kodak (tm) box
camera used film which was 70mm wide, and a 35mm motion-picture stock could
inexpensively be derived from this stock by slitting it lengthwise and
perforating the edges. This gauge remains the most widely used for theatrical
features, and is also commonly used for television work.
1.1.2 16mm - Home Movies/Television/Low-Budget
Theatrical
In 1923, 16mm was introduced by Kodak (tm) for home-movie use (just after
9.5mm, now a nearly dead amateur format, was introduced in Europe). Supposedly
this width was chosen instead of 17.5mm (half of the commercial standard)
for safety reasons-at the time 35mm stock was manufactured on a nitrate
base, making it extremely flammable. This, of course, would be too dangerous
for home use, and so 16mm was manufactured on a so-called `safety film'
acetate base, which was not flammable. This non-even division of 35mm discouraged
the cutting of 16mm film from dangerous nitrate stock. Since its early
days, 16mm has become the `jack-of-all-trades' of film formats, finding
use for everything from home movies through medium-budget features. Most
current use is for television work and low-budget features. The Super-16
format, described below, originated in the 1970's, as an inexpensive means
for providing additional negative area within the 16mm format.
1.1.3 8mm - Cheaper Home Movies
In 1932, 8mm film was introduced in order to bring home movies to the masses.
This `regular 8mm' is standard 16mm film which has twice as many perforations
as 16mm. It is run through an 8mm camera normally, exposing one half of
its width. The take-up spool then is flipped and the film is reloaded,
so as to run through the camera opposite to its original direction, exposing
the other half of its width. After the film is developed at the laboratory,
it is slit down the middle and the pieces are spliced together, resulting
in an 8mm film. Regular 8mm is not commonly used now, given the superiority
of Super 8mm, and the film is difficult to find now (although it is
still available). Unlike the other major formats mentioned here, cameras
for regular 8mm are no longer manufactured.
1.1.4 Super 8mm - Better Home
Movies
In 1965, it was found that the perforations on 8mm film could be made smaller
in order to allow for a larger image area, and thus a sharper picture.
This resulted in `super-8mm' film, which is sold pre-loaded into plastic
cartridges (as opposed to the metal spools of regular 8mm), which snap
into the camera. Unlike other gauges, the `pressure plate' (the piece which
provides pressure on the back of the film in the gate area, in order to
ensure that the film lies flat when it is exposed) is plastic and is built
into the cartridge. In other gauges, it is a (usually) removable (for cleaning)
metal plate which is part of the camera. Super 8mm is now used mostly by
students, those shooting no-budget films, portions of feature films which
demand a super 8mm 'look,' music videos, and some direct-to-TV/video work.
A variant of the Super 8mm format, ``Single 8,'' was sold by Fuji and possibly
other manufacturers, which used the same film stock, packaged in somewhat
different-shaped camera cartridges; cameras were made specifically for
this format. Once processed, film can be projected on any Super 8mm projector.
Current availability of Single 8 cameras and film stock is unknown.
1.1.5 65mm - Better Theatrical
Features
Despite a brief experimental period in the 1920's and 1930's, `wide screen'
motion pictures did become popular among film producers until the 1950's
and 1960's, when television began to pose a threat to their business. At
that time, wide film stocks existed in a number of widths, but eventually
65mm became the standard film stock for large-format cinematography. This
offered a picture of substantially higher resolution, steadiness, and apparent
color saturation than standard 35mm film. This format is now used for some
theatrical features, as well as 'special-venue' and 'ride' films (see below).
1.2 Which formats are common
for 8mm cinematography?
-
-
-
regular 8mm camera frame: .192" x .145"
-
-
-
super 8mm camera frame: .224" x .163"
1.3 Regular 8mm/Super 8mm (standard
8mm/super 8mm frame)
As mentioned above, there are two `varieties' of 8mm film, both of which
are still in use. Both of these varieties are commonly shot `flat' (i.e.
without any `anamorphic' horizontal compression), using standard lenses.
Several frame rates are used in these formats: films shot for silent
projection (no sound-on-film) are usually photographed at 16 frames per
second (fps), 18 fps, or 24 fps. Films shot for sound-on-film projection
run at 18 fps, or, more commonly, 24 fps. Different cameras provide different
combinations of shooting rates.
Regular 8mm commonly comes in 25' and 50' spools, as well as 100' spools
(although the Bolex regular 8mm is the only camera which takes the 100'
spools). Super 8mm comes in 50' and, less commonly, 200' cartridges. Most
cameras are only capable of accepting the 50' cartridge, though. Eastman
Kodak (tm) once produced super 8mm `sound' cartridges, which contained
film with pre-applied magnetic stripes along the edges, designed to be
recorded in camera. Production of new pre-striped super 8mm film was discontinued
in the fall of 1997, due to lack of demand.
regular 8mm film frame: super 8mm film frame:
(note big perforations) (note small perforation)
| | | |
| -------------- O | | ---------------- |
| | Small | | | | Larger | |
| | Image | | | | Image |o| <--- Smaller
| | Area | | | | Area | | Perforation
| -------------- O | | ---------------- |
| | | |
|<------ 8mm ----->| |<------ 8mm ----->|
1.4 Which formats are common
for 16mm cinematography?
1.4.1 16mm (standard 16mm frame)
-
-
-
standard 16mm camera frame: .404" x .295"
Like 8mm and super 8mm, 16mm films are almost always shot `flat,' as few
anamorphic camera lenses are currently available, although they were somewhat
more common in the 1960's for sophisticated amateurs. The 16mm film stock
itself has not changed since the format's introduction, and it is almost
always double-perforated (i.e. it has sprocket holes on both sides), though
few cameras actually require this (the Maurer and the Mitchell 16mm models
do, however). Double-perf camera stock is becoming rarer, however, with
the increase in Super 16mm production; it is now special-order from Eastman
Kodak (tm) and other manufacturers.
The film itself comes either wound tightly around a plastic `core,'
for loading into a camera magazine (either in a darkroom, or a portable
`changing bag'), or, for 100' and 200' lengths, mounted on small metal
spools (like those for regular 8mm), which can be loaded into the camera
in moderately bright daylight. Professionals usually use 400' and (rarely)
1200' lengths of the film. (The Panavision 16 is the only currently-available
camera which will take the 1200' rolls; old newsreel cameras, such as the
Auricon (which is still available on the used market), also can take this
large size).
Films shot in 16mm almost always run at 24 frames per second (fps),
with the exception of many silent home movies which are sometimes shot
at 16 fps. European television films are photographed at 25 fps to match
the frame rate of the PAL television standard. Occasionally, U.S. television
films are shot at 29.97 fps or 23.976 fps to match or nearly match the
TV standard, respectively.
As with super 8mm, magnetic-striped 16mm raw stock was once available
for use in cameras with built-in recording heads, although pre-striped
stock is no longer available. It was primarily used for TV newsfilm applications,
until 3/4" videotape replaced 16mm for newsgathering in the late 1970's/early
1980's.
1.4.2 Super 16mm (HDTV/35mm blowup
frame)
-
-
-
super 16mm camera frame: .488" x .295"