Basic Film Format Sizes for a Motion Picture 8mm Introduced in the 1930?s, as an amateur format based on the 16mm format. Simply put, it is one half as high and wide as the 16mm format. It features sprocket holes on one side of the Frame. The Space between frames is greater than Super 8mm. Regular 8mm is no longer being manufactured. Super 8 MM Introduced in 1965, as a replacement for regular 8mm. It features smaller sprocket holes and a smaller space in between the frames. The result is a 50 percent larger viewing area. It also comes in cartridges making it easy to load and unload, in and out of a super 8mm camera. It is also cost effective for anyone from the novice to the experienced filmmaker who uses it as a cost effective way to transfer to a digital format; which in turn makes it easy to do digital and special effects at a fraction of the cost 16 mm. 16mm has great and many applications and uses. Industrial Films, educational Films, Documentaries, and some television commercials are shot on 16mm film. Furthermore several low budget feature films. Cartoon/Animators such as Disney and Warner Brothers use this format for its versatility. The 16mm format is also great for the independent filmmaker because it offers a wide range of portable, lightweight equipment, and a relatively inexpensive film stock and lab (processing) cost. 35mm is the standard gauge format for most feature films and in motion picture theaters. Commercials and Television Programs (except for news programs) are formatted to film (not video) in order to display and special effects such as slow motion, fast motion, strobe, or other special effects. The 35mm format is also very expensive, and therefore beyond the realm of possibility for the independent and low budget feature. 70mm although it is virtually obsolete today, the 70mm format offers two possibilities for theatrical distribution, for large big city theaters, and for general distribution in neighborhood theaters. It is more than twice as expensive as 35mm in stock footage and processing, but nothing beats its color sharpness and clarity.

      

Movie Camera Movie cameras view and record From 8 to more than 24 frames per second, a speed which requires a precise mechanism. Light passes through the matte box to the lens, then a revolving, mirrored shutter and a prism are used to direct the image to the film and the viewfinder simultaneously. Film is advanced from reel to reel by toothed gears, which are designed to catch onto its perforated edges. The camera is arranged so that each time the shutter is open, the film is still, and a new frame is recorded. When the shutter closes, the film is advanced, preparing the next frame for exposure. Filming Speed the rate at which each frame shot; a.k.a. frames per second (fps). Filming speed determines the speed of the action being shoot is exposed to the film. The regular filming speed for no sound is 18 fps regardless of format in order to give the illusion of normal motion. The regular filming speed with sound is 24 fps regardless of format in order to give the illusion of normal motion with consistency for speech and sound alignment. Slow Motion. The illusion of slow motion is produced when the action(s) is shoot at a high filming speed and played back / projected at the same speed as the rest of the production, usually 24 fps with sound (Color or B&W is irrelevant). At an excepted normal rate of 24 fps, the action would be shot at 32 or 48 fps to produce the illusion of a slow motion or super slow motion effect. Fast Motion The illusion of fast motion is produced when the action(s) is shoot at a low filming speed and played back / projected at the same speed as the rest of the production, usually 24 fps with sound (Color or B&W is irrelevant). At an excepted normal rate of 24 fps, the action would be shot at 18 or 12 fps to produce the illusion of a slow motion effect. An example of fast motion is a chase seen is using vehicles on a highway or city street. It is very difficult to shoot a chase seen at high vehicle speeds safely and accurately and without incident to actors/extras or filming crew, therefore the film is shot a low filming speed in order to give the illusion of a high speed chase. Time Lapse. This effect is used to save film stock & processing cost. Instead of filming a process as fps, a single frame is taken every 30 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes, 30 minutes, hour, etc. or variation there of, depending on the subject and the capabilities of the camera. Examples of the use of this type of filming are: watching a flower blossom, the progress of the moon, progression of a culture in a petri dish, or other scientific uses. Single Framing/Animation. This effect is used to make animated features; i.e. Cartoons, and Clay-mation, and freeze-frame animation. There is no fps, or specific rate between frames. This is not the same as regular photography, however the time between each frame is variable. The animation process can be a very tedious and is time consuming. Traditional Cartoon animation is an art within itself. Animation done today is often done on computers.

      

Mechanism of a Projector Movie projectors show 24 frames of film per second, a speed that tricks the eyes into perceiving continuous motion. Film is designed with perforated edges so that the toothed sprocket wheels can advance it through the projector at a consistent speed. While a frame is in front of the gate, a revolving shutter permits light from the projection lamp to illuminate it briefly. This image is passed through the barrel lens and on to the movie screen, where the rapid change from image to image produces the flickering effect often noticed at movies. Projecting the Film The components of a motion picture projector are similar to those of a camera. Instead of collecting an image on film, however, the projector displays the image from the film on a screen. This requires the presence of an intense light behind the film, which in a large theater is usually achieved with an arc light and in a small theater with xenon globes. The projector uses a shutter to block the light while the film is being transported to the next frame, a mechanism to transport the film, and a lens to focus the image on a screen, the size of which is limited by the capabilities of the lens and the amount of available light. Projectors also have the ability to reproduce sound. This is done at the sound head, which is placed below the point where the image is projected. The sound track, positioned to one side of the image on the film, passes between an exciter lamp and a photoelectric cell, creating an electrical signal that is amplified and sent to speakers at the rear of the screen. The projector operates at precisely the same speed as the camera, and as a result it throws a succession of 24 frames per second on the screen. The human eye needs 0.25 sec to receive an image and transmit the information to the brain for registration and interpretation. The overlapping of picture information every 1/24 sec easily exceeds the persistence of vision requirements. As a result, the images on the screen seem to blend into one, and photographs showing successive positions of a person or object in motion give the illusion of a continuously moving picture. For natural appearance of the screen picture, camera and projector must operate at the same frame speed, but by operating the camera at speeds much faster or much slower than normal, the apparent time of a motion can be expanded or reduced. The familiar ?slow-motion? movies of athletes in action are obtained by operating the camera at three or more times its normal frame rate, thus making the motion picture occupy three or more times its actual duration when projected on the screen at normal speed. When the camera is operated at a very slow frame speed, precisely the reverse effect occurs. An extreme example of this procedure is photographing a growing plant at the rate of one frame every few hours. When such a film is projected, the actual time of growth is diminished several thousand fold, and in the projected picture the plant apparently springs from the earth and unfolds its leaves in a matter of seconds. Both slow motion and fast-motion photography are valuable in some scientific research.

      

Format Ratio, the Ratio of the frame size format on the Film, frame width to frame height. Academy, 1.33:1 The Standard Ratio for Commercial Motion Pictures for Video & Film. Wide Screen, 1.85:1 The Standard Ratio for American Wide Screen Motion pictures, and is nearly half again as wide as academy. Cinema Scope, 2.35:1 Also known as the Letter Box or anamorphic format ratio. To Fit the Picture on the screen the frame is Squeezed down and the top & Bottom of the frame appear to to be blacked out, however, the actual amount of background is nearly twice as much as Academy, and half again as much as Wide Screen.

      

Film Stocks, This refers to the original image when shot on the film. The Film Speed / Stock also known as ASA which refers to the Silver Halide crystals in the Emulsion, the very essence of film. Regular photographic film for cinematography produces a negative image on the film medium, be it color or black & white. This type requires an acetate print to make a positive print that is "projector ready". Reversal Film, produces a positive image that is "projector ready" after processing. This type of film print is also used for slides. Projector Ready. This means that film on the reel is the same positive image seen as image projected on screen by the projector.

      

Literature & Illustrations for "Motion Picture,Movie Camera, Mechanism of a Projector, & Projecting the Film" Microsoft (R) Encarta. Copyright (c) 1994 Microsoft Corporation. Copyright (c) 1994 Funk & Wagnall's Corporation. All Other Topics & Illustrations on this Page were Reseached & created by James Milligan, Copyright (c) 2000 Highlander Film.