The illusion of the motion picture is created by flashing a progressive succession of static (still) images projected onto the same location of the screen. Each successive frame is incrementally different from the preceding frame, creating the illusion of motion. If you have ever examined a length of film, the increments of movement between frames will soon become obvious as you compare the slight differences of the subject's advancing positions. Frames are projected, one frame at a time, the light from the projector is blocked while the frames are changing but this is happening at warp speed but the human eye does not readily notice the screen momentarily going black (the brain ignores these blanks and confuses itself to see motion where there is none). If the screen did not go black during frame changes, the illusion of movement (persistence of vision) would turn into a psychedelic blur.

Twenty-four frames per second is a fixed, unchanging constant in the USA for motion picture film. One second of real time = 24 frames per second, or 24 FPS. This holds true for all standard professional film formats in the U.S. (with the exception of videotape at 29.97 a.k.a. 30 FPS) including 16mm and 35mm film.

The pre-sound format was at 16-18 FPS. The reason for this was this; before synchronized sound was developed for motion pictures, those low frames per second was the least number of frames per second that could create the illusion of the motion picture without looking too jittery. Many frames per second change into hundreds of feet of film very quickly, so keeping the frames per second count to the lowest possible number was critical for the commercial success of the infant motion picture industry.

With the development of synchronized sound, it was found that the resolution of the lip movements of the actors was too coarse to support the sound of the recorded voice. At 18 FPS, speech looked like a Godzilla movie poorly dubbed into English. After some experimentation, it was determined that 24 frames per second was the least possible number and the most economical means of maintaining the illusion of the synchronized sound motion picture and kept the business profitable and an ongoing industry today. The European standard is 25 frames per second, just like their PAL video standard.

Motion picture film is identical to still picture film. It's no coincidence that both formats use 35mm film, nor is it a coincidence that 110 Instamatic is exactly 16mm wide, or 2 1/4 still is 65mm wide - all film is derived as a cookie-cutter denomination of the massive rolls of 8x10 inch Kodak stock. This is why there is 8x10, 4x5, 2 1/4, 35mm, 16mm, and 8mm film; the 8x10 rolls are halved, halved again, and halved again, and so on, all the way down the product line.

Film is configured as a narrow strip of transparent base material that provides a mechanically stable surface (barely shrinks or stretches) on which, a photo-sensitive chemical emulsion (in dry, solid form) is bonded to. Film is usually cut into lengths from 50 to 2000 feet. One side of a piece of film is referred to as the emulsion side, and the other is called the base side. On one or both edges of the film, sprocket holes called "perfs" (perforations) form a continuous series of holes along the entire length of the film; the toothed sprockets on the drive wheels of a camera engage the perfs to advance the film. At the film gate immediately behind the lens, a claw engages a perf to pull down the next frame and center it precisely, at a (relatively) constant and controlled speed. On typical 16mm film, a frame is located between every perf. On Academy 35mm film, each frame has four perfs on each side.

Film that is unexposed to light, sealed and factory fresh is considered unexposed. This is what you load the magazine in the camera with before shooting. If the seal on a film can is broken by anyone other than yourself, it may or may not be already exposed (it will be - that's Gomer's law). If you're going to shoot anything important, do yourself a favor and buy new film. Short ends (unused returns) wouldn't be acceptable for anything critical like a professional job.

When a film's emulsion is struck by light, it is chemically altered in a manner very similar to being sunburned. The grains comprising the emulsion are microscopic and burn-in individually, creating a scale ranging from gray to black (or rare, medium and well-done). A properly exposed piece of film can hold an enormous amount of precisely burned grains that will form a very complex image when developed. Exposed film that is undeveloped contains a "latent" or hidden (and very unstable) image - it takes processing in the lab to make the images appear. If you open a can of exposed film to see what it looks like before it's processed, it will become irreversibly and catastrophically damaged by light. Don't allow any knucklehead to do this to you by accident. Mark your exposed film "Open in darkroom only." You may not think a lab would do otherwise but it is possible that your film may be confused with processed film. It's happened to me before at major labs in New York and Los Angeles.

Black and white negative developing in its most simple form consists essentially of two chemicals, developer and fixer. When exposed stock is immersed and agitated in developer (in a darkroom), the grains struck by light are dyed opaque. The unexposed grains dye at a much slower rate. Soon, an image begins to form. Left too long, the entire film would become dyed so the developing time is critical. Even removed from the developer, the film is still being dyed - any new light (if the lights are turned on) would turn the entire film black. To arrest this dyeing process and make the images on the film permanent, it is immersed into a chemical called fixer. Fixer neutralizes the developer chemical and dissolves away the undyed (unexposed) grains, leaving only the grains that were dyed black. Once all of the unexposed emulsion has cleared the film, the image becomes fixed permanently to the base and no longer sensitive to light. The lights can now go on and the film dried. Color negative has multiple layers of emulsion (cyan, magenta, yellow, anti-halation, etc.) and requires extra processing steps but is essentially the same chemical process. I've developed color negative with black & white chemicals using nothing but a coffee mug and a wristwatch for an exposure test; sure, the color was an absolute horror but the density of my exposed negative (which was the information I wanted) was determined on the spot.

Double perf film has perforations on both edges of the film. All 35mm film is double perf. On 35mm film, a space is reserved between the image area and the inboard side of the perfs for the optical sound track. 16mm film also comes in double perf for certain stocks and some reversals but single perf is the norm for 16mm negative.

Single perf film has perforations on just one edge of the film. All Super-8 and Super-16 film is single perf. In order to increase the image area of 16mm to that of Super-16, the image area was extended to the very edge of the film. A sprocket hole on that far edge would be seen within the projected image and appear as a big, bright white spot on the screen. Super-8 film makes provision for a magnetic audio stripe occupying the edge where the perfs have been omitted. Standard 16mm film is the only other single perf film you will be concerned with. The optical sound track on 16mm film replaced the perfs on one edge of the film. With perfs on only one edge, the way a roll of film is wound (and which side the perfs are on) becomes very significant.

There are three major categories of motion picture film. While many more formats have come and gone, the most enduring formats are listed in the next section following:

8 MILLIMETER

No new equipment for this diehard format has been manufactured since color TV was invented. Eastman Kodak no longer sells 8mm film, so forget it. Just as the name implies, it was 8 millimeters wide and the image area was one-quarter that of standard 16mm. In fact, 8mm was simply 16mm cut down the middle with a few extra perfs thrown in for luck. If you feel you must shoot 8mm, buy Super-8 equipment - NEVER old 8mm, it's so obsolete you can't get film or processing, so pass on your neighbor's garage sale bargain for his old 8mm equipment.

Cine collector Robert Lacovara writes:

I buy both reel and magazine regular 8mm from Martin Baumgarten in New York. His e-mail address is Super8mm@aol.com. As you might imagine, he's more into Super 8mm, but 8mm is no problem. He buys the double perf 16mm film from Kodak, and spools it, or loads it into magazines. Processing is reasonably quick, although Kodachrome has to go to Lucerne, Switzerland. All of the films and formats for 50' of 16mm double perf cost about $27 or so with processing. I typically use Kodachrome.

SUPER-8

In the mid-1960's Kodak introduced this Instamatic format that was instantly popular because it used a film cartridge that required no threading (unlike 8mm). Super-8 remained the favorite for home movies until the introduction of home video cameras. This film is also 8 millimeters wide but the sprocket holes are smaller and they are spaced further apart, one perf per frame, making the image size slightly larger. Unless transferred straight to video, it's a difficult format to post unless you're used to performing neurosurgery with chop-sticks.

STANDARD 16 MILLIMETER

This popular format began life as an obscure and otherwise unsuccessful film before World War II pressed it into wide service as a lightweight combat and gun camera format. Since the war ended, surplus 16mm equipment had been extensively used for early news gathering, documentaries and low budget films. The image quality of Eastman Kodak's modern 16mm film stock is comparable to standard 35mm film of the 1960's, when transferred to tape. Eastman 16mm is sometimes used for top-rated television series and documentary films. Standard 16mm images are restricted to the familiar 1.33:1 (a.k.a. 4/3 TV aspect ratio) and is a very poor choice for anything other than transfer to video tape where 16mm is a barely passable alternative to 35mm. As the name implies, it is 16 millimeters wide. Unfortunately, because the image area is so small, there are no means of commercially projecting 16mm in wide screen theaters unless you make a 35mm blow-up (which has severe limitations).

SUPER-16

Super-16 is 16 millimeters wide but the image area has been enlarged and widened into the edge area reserved for an optical sound track on standard 16mm. This arrangement makes Super-16 a purely silent format on its own but can be transferred to tape or 35mm with passable results. In the early 1990's, this format gained popularity as an inexpensive HDTV (high-definition TV) compatible film for later conversion because its aspect ratio left very little of the image area that must be cropped or cut-off from the top and bottom edges to form the wide 16:9 aspect ratio of HDTV. The aspect ratio of the Super-16 film gate is 1.66:1 and the image area is somewhat less than one-third of standard 35mm. No one sells Super-16 film (per se) - it's just standard 16mm film used in a 16mm camera that is configured to the Super-16 format. But be aware: Just because a lab processes 16mm film does NOT mean they are capable of processing Super-16 PROPERLY. The film rollers for Super-16 processors do not contact the image area on the un-perfed edge of the film. If you try running Super-16 film in a standard 16mm processor, projector or camera, the edge of the image area will become horribly scratched. Usually, a processor can be reconfigured with the appropriate rollers to develop your film but do yourself a favor by finding a lab that regularly processes Super-16 and only use equipment specifically designed for Super-16.

STANDARD 35 MILLIMETER

This is the workhorse of the industry for television series, TV commercials and even theatrical films. The film is 35 millimeters wide and was Edison's projection standard that theaters adopted before the wide screen formats. Most professional 35mm motion picture cameras use some variant of this format. An Academy full frame is 4 perfs tall but can be cropped to 1:1.85 (aspect ratio) wide screen format. The need for expensive Panavision or Cinemascope anamorphic equipment is not absolutely necessary if it's not in your budget. Any standard 35mm image can be cropped to a wide screen format in the lab, or masked directly at the film gate. Your shots can be photographed with wide screen framing in mind, framing everything in the viewfinder under the assumption that the top and bottom edges are to be cut off. The film you shoot with the most inexpensive 35mm camera can be used to make a feature film - if good lenses are used and you dub your dialogue in post (supposing you had an old coffee grinder for a camera). Since most successful independent films find their way to a video release (if they're the lucky few), it's probably a good idea to shoot full-frame Academy - that way, if your distributor demands you lose the letterbox, you can without cropping even further into your image area (rather than be left with little more than Super-16 image area after more cropping in the lab).

35mm ANAMORPHIC
(PANAVISION, ARRISCOPE, CINEMASCOPE)

This theatrical format is THE standard for true wide-screen feature films. The format is identical to full frame, 4 perf 35mm with one exception - the camera is fitted with an anamorphic lens that squeezes a wide screen image into the same image area as standard 35mm. When exhibited in the theater, the projector must be fitted with an anamorphic projection lens to un-squeeze the image to fill the wide screen (or else everything looks too tall and too thin). In post, there are extra considerations created by anamorphic images that will add to your complications. Projected anamorphic images have an aspect ratio of 1:2.35, making it considerably wider than 1:1.85. Generally, films with epic, sweeping vistas demand anamorphic photography.

35mm SPHERICAL PANAVISION
(3 PERF IMAGE/4 PERF FRAME)

This Theatrical format is a very popular standard for most theatrically released feature films. The format is identical to 35mm Academy with one exception - the image remains about the same width, but the image is masked to just 3 perfs in height (but the film still advances 4 perfs per frame). This full width, although shorter image has a lot of border between frames. The need for special anamorphic lenses is not necessary to fake a wide screen look. A narrow strip running the entire length of the film is reserved on the outboard edge of the image area for the optical sound track or digital audio encoding/reference, just like standard 35mm. If you're smart, you will wait to crop your film to 1:1.85 in the lab for many important reasons.

35mm VISTAVISION

This format is almost identical to a 35mm still photograph. The film travels in a horizontal direction - exactly the same way as a 35mm still camera. Ever see a 35mm still negative from a One-hour Photo place? That's what a Vistavision negative looks like. The frames are eight perfs wide. This format is used almost exclusively for special effects and animation because the cameras are fitted with excellent registration pins and offers a great alternative to 65mm. The image size is more than twice as large as a standard 35mm image that makes for greater definition and increases registration tolerance by 200% and more when composited with 35 anamorphic or Panavision formats.

65mm (70mm) MILLIMETER WIDESCREEN

At premiere theaters with 70mm projection equipment, 70mm films are exhibited with noticeably greater clarity and sharpness. Director Ron Howard's beautiful 1991 film "Far and Away" was photographed with unbelievable 70mm visual clarity. The original photography was shot in 65mm. The release prints are 70mm because extra edge material is added to provide the space for the audio/digital sync tracks. Since the aspect ratio is nearly identical to 1:2.35 anamorphic, it's the best qualified format for digital imaging destined for an anamorphically projected movie. There are several format variations in 70mm but let the major studios and the IMAX guys worry about this one, it's too expensive for independent filmmakers to even consider.

Film is available in two major classifications, Color and Black & White - no explanation necessary. Within those two types, there are two sub-types, Negative (negative to positive) and Reversal (positive to positive), i.e., Ektachrome. Don't fool around with reversal film, it bites. Your valuable original negative must be archive quality and that means only one thing - factory fresh stock. 

Negative film was engineered as a duplication system that originates as a negative. Subsequent copies can be made directly into positive prints for distribution. There exist two other optional steps called inter-positive and inter-negative. These play their roles as buffer steps in compositing and when the master negative is too valuable to dupe over and over again to run off prints and you want to preserve it from printer damage. It works like this, an inter-positive is made of your hand-cut negative and an inter-negative is made from the inter-positive. The inter-negative is then used to run off scores of prints. When the inter-negative becomes too scratched to make quality prints, another inter-negative can be made from the pristine inter-positive, which should be stored and environmentally protected in a film vault.

Reversal film was engineered as a one-step, cost effective system that originates much as a slide in still photography (identical film). After developing, the images are ready for immediate screening and is usually a one-of-a-kind reel of film that should be carefully protected as if it were a negative. Before video, it was THE medium for news gathering. Duplication is possible, but if distribution is your intent - do it right and use a negative system - it's cheaper in the long run. For immediate transfer to video this is an acceptable type of film but a negative offers far more flexibility for color correction and contrast control. Reversal was popular because the cost of a print was not necessary but the down side of reversal is that it's a little tricky to process and few labs develop it anymore.

Film stock is further sub-classified, referencing white balance characteristics for color films and film speed for both color and black & white (Black & White film stock is concerned with speed and exposure latitude only).

White is balanced to the approximate temperature of daylight at about 5600 degrees Kelvin. Under natural, indirect sunlight, true colors should be captured on film. To use this film under photo flood lights, a blue compensation filter must be used to adapt the light hitting the film to a lower color temperature. In low light levels, a correction filter will cut light down sufficiently to increase contrast and kill any existing depth of field, so TUNGSTEN film should be your first choice for indoor film. Use 50D or 200D Eastman color negative film for shooting in sunlight or their equivalents from Agfa or Fuji.

White is balanced to the approximate temperature of the tungsten filament (of a photo bulb) at 3200 degrees Kelvin. Under photo flood lights, semi-true colors can be captured on film (I've found that a steady house voltage is elusive and usually requires color correction in the lab). To use tungsten film outdoors in natural light, a Wratten-85 compensation filter must be used to condition sunlight (which would come out with a thick blue hue over every shot if you forget the filter). Whenever a filter is used, the amount of light entering the lens is reduced. It is far more practical to shoot tungsten film for both indoor and outdoor (with a W-85 filter) because there is far more daylight to cut with a filter than there are lights in your light kit. Simply put, if you only have four lights and you need a fifth, the last thing you want to do is put a dark filter over your lens. Use 500T Eastman color negative film for shooting under artificial light or its equivalent from Agfa or Fuji. If you're only buying one roll of film for daylight and tungsten purposes, use a Tungsten film (not daylight) and get your hands on a Wratten-85 filter fast.

Film speed is measured by Eastman Kodak in the United States in graduations called ASA or ISO. Speed refers to the amount of time needed to burn-in an image. The complete explanation is not that important at this point. What concerns a filmmaker is how does ASA affect the performance of their film. The faster the film, the less light is required to get a particular shot. For a night shot, fast film should be used. The trade off is, the higher the ASA, the grainier the image. Slow film on a sunny day would be almost devoid of grain. Fast film shot in low light conditions would appear noticeably more grainy. Grain is usually distracting and should be avoided unless you are re-creating newsreel footage or some similar effect. Beware of creating unnecessary grain when shooting in 16mm, the small image size really makes grain obvious. Light your scenes carefully avoiding big white areas because the grain just swims against white walls. In 35mm, the image area is four times larger and hides goofed-up lighting much better.

There is an entire science behind understanding film performance, of which latitude is only one. The aspect of latitude that affects you most directly is the exposure lattitude (plus or minus number of F/stops that can still achieve a decently exposed image). This means "F/stop margin of error" for most of us. It works like this, if the film you're using has 1 stop exposure latitude and your light meter tells you to set the F/stop to F-2.8 but your lens only goes down to F-4.5 - you can still shoot at F-4.5 (if you can't change shutter speed) and still get an acceptable image on film that can be doctored by the lab. This is a handy piece of information when shooting in low light conditions.

A 400 foot core of Eastman Kodak 16mm or 35mm film usually comes packaged inside a cardboard box, this can be slit open in the light and the film-can can be removed but DO NOT REMOVE THE TAPE SEALING THE CAN. In a darkroom, the tape can be removed from the can and the roll of film can be removed from its box. Remember to pull the tape off slowly because ripping the tape off causes a static charge that produces light (which can be a problem in a crowded changing bag). The roll will be wrapped in a black (opaque) plastic bag (do not discard the bag, can or tape! You will need them to wrap your exposed film when you send it to the lab for processing). Inside the plastic, you will find the film wound around either one of the two means listed below. Store all film in the refrigerator for short term storage. Transport film in a small cooler when on location to protect the film from freezing or frying as this will make the film brittle or cause a color shift, tinting your images an unwanted hue. For long term (a year or more) film storage, I've placed Eastman Kodak film in the freezer (for nearly 10 years) and it was still usable. It is critical that frozen film thaw FULLY (overnight at room temperature) before use or the emulsion will de-laminate (peel apart) and the base will fracture, causing a stoppage in your camera among other catastrophes.

Film wound on cores must be handled in complete darkness. Cores generally fit detachable, external magazines that have spindles approximately one-inch in diameter and are round in shape with a small key that engages the slot in the core. Care should be taken not to let the film pull sideways off the core because it has no sides, guides or edges. It's configured similar to a roll of masking tape except the core has a tendency to pop out if mishandled, so handle the film as little as possible to prevent abrasion of the emulsion.

Film wound on daylight spools can be handled in INDIRECT light. Don't handle a daylight spool in direct sunlight - find a closet or bathroom to load your film (and don't drop your magazine lid in the toilet!). The first five feet or more will be burned, so once the camera is threaded you must pass the burned film until you reach fresh, unexposed film. Learn to thread your camera in total darkness and save those wasted feet of film if you're short on film. Daylight spools are black metal reels with solid, unslotted edges that extend completely over the edges of the wound film and resembles an audio tape reel (without the slots on the sides). Daylight spools generally fit internal camera magazines that have spindles approximately the same diameter as a pencil and are square in shape. If only spools fit your camera, buy your film on daylight spools. Don't try to wind your own spools from cores as you could easily scratch it by cinching it too tight or wind it in one of four different ways in the dark that will cause problems. 100 foot daylight spools are packaged in a plastic box with a clear, plastic spool retainer inside and a paper strip around the film. Only open these daylight spools in indirect light and keep all of the packaging material so you can send your film to the lab. Look at the take-up and supply spindles of your camera and figure out if you need cores or spools. If the spindles are square and the diameter of a pencil, it takes spools. If the spindles are round and the diameter of a quarter ($0.25US), it takes cores.

Since film has a black anti-halation base coating, light has a tough time passing through this layer. This is why the emulsion always faces the lens of a camera - this original footage is a B-wind and reads correctly through the base. The term "read" refers to its orientation. Suppose a billboard was shot on film with the emulsion properly facing the lens. After processing, the words would read backwards if looking at the emulsion side of the film. Flip the film over to the transparent base side and the words will read the way they are supposed to. This is why B-wind film reads through the base.

Since film is always copied or contact printed emulsion to emulsion, the image flops its orientation much in the same way as things reverse in a mirror. This orientation is defined as A-wind and B-wind. A-wind film reads through the emulsion - not the base. This is because the film has been flipped over when the emulsions of both films are put in direct contact while contact printed, so the images are flopped. The copy made from this A-wind will be a B-wind. Printing alternates the winding of a film, wound emulsion in or emulsion out. The copy that is distributed to the theater is normally an A-wind because the base of a print always faces the lens of a projector (camera and projector winds are usually opposite). A&B winding usually comes up when printing, duplicating, editing film manually and negative cutting.

Time code is a sequential numeric code that can be encoded onto the entire length of a roll of film. Its purpose is to provide a fixed frame number reference on the edge of the film so when the sound and images are transferred to video, it can be synced for editing (eliminating the manual syncing of a work print and audio mag-track). What's great about video off-line editing of film is that you can auto-sync the audio if it was tied into a time code encrypting audio recorder at the time of photography (like a digital Nagra or a Fostex PD series DAT audio recorder). Aaton makes a timecode striping device for their cameras that burns time code directly onto the negative for auto-syncing picture to sound. This will save you a lot of time since you don't have to manually sync the audio to every shot from the many reels (or DAT cassettes) of audio tape. The entire film can be edited off-line on video tape or digitally using an Avid, then the negative can be cut exactly like the off-line by referencing the edit decision list the off-line process generates. Time code is the common link between picture and audio that locks it all together.

Aaton cameras used to be the only cameras with an efficient on-board time code generator until they began to sell their generator as a separate unit. Now Arriflex and Panavision have optional Aaton time code generators in their high-end cameras. Time code is encrypted (exposed) onto the film by the film gate as each frame is being shot. Needless to say, not everyone can afford to rent these dream machines - but there is an affordable alternative if you're shooting film.

Eastman Kodak has an affordable answer. They've pre-marked their negative with bar code called Key Kode. It looks just like bar code and is machine readable, so you can get it to sync with your audio in post. This beats the heck out of editing audio on mag-track by hand, using a razor, grease pencil and perf tape.

There have been many camera designs and different formats introduced over the years. Many have gone with the wind but they all have one thing in common, they all take pictures one frame at a time - just like a still camera with a motor wind but taking a lot more than one picture per second. Each frame of film is a complete photograph.

Each properly exposed but successively and incrementally different from the last frame (assuming that you are filming a moving subject). The basic parallels between a motion picture camera and a still camera are in that they both provide a lens capable of being focused, a lens aperture (F/stops) to adjust exposure and a means of transporting film to the film gate. Motion picture and still cameras share the same viewing systems such as range finders (complete with parallax and other drawbacks), and the through-the-lens reflex (SLR).

Well developed photographic skills are a prerequisite for a cinematographer that must also develop an understanding of the dynamic of changing perspectives and shifting shadows presented by motion pictures. That's where cinematography gets a little more complicated than its single-shot counterpart.

Camera configuration generally falls into three recognizable sections, the lens, body and magazine. The lens mates to the camera body which contains the mechanism (or movement). The magazine (which manages the supply of film) is also mated to the camera body. The body can be viewed as the heart of the system. It's what most of the accessories mate to. The magazine has two spindles inside that rotate both the supply reel (the roll of raw stock) and the take-up reel which neatly rolls up exposed stock and keeps it from wadding into a hairball inside the camera body.

Camera operation described here is essentially what happens inside the camera to make it work. At the film gate immediately behind the lens, a claw reaches up and hooks into a perf on the film and pulls it down, centering a single, unexposed frame of film at the gate. The shutter opens and exposes the film (takes a photo). As the shutter closes, the claw reaches up and draws down the next unexposed frame as more film is transported from the magazine's supply reel into the camera body and fed toward the film gate. The exposed frames exiting the film gate are drawn down by a toothed sprocket in the body and transported toward the take-up reel in the magazine. The take-up reel neatly winds the exposed film so it can be neatly removed and shipped to the lab once the supply reel has emptied. That's more or less what goes on inside the camera when it's running, usually at twenty-four times a second.

FIXED & VARIABLE SHUTTERS

A shutter is a light blocking device which controls the duration of light exposure to the film negative. The primary function the shutter performs is to establish a consistent exposure - the film has to be stationary to receive an unblurred image (move the film during an exposure and you've got a blurred image), so the shutter is timed to unblock the negative in the film gate only when the film has momentarily paused and receives the light of the image transmitted through the lens; following the exposure, the shutter blocks the film gate and the film is advanced behind the shutter to the next unexposed section of film. Once an image is burned in the film gate, it becomes a frame. The second function performed by the shutter is found only in a Variable type shutter. Just like the shutter speed of your 35SLR still camera, a variable shutter provides the means to reduce the duration of exposure, independent of the frame rate (frames or exposures per second). Since motion picture film in the USA exposes at a rate of 24 frames per second, a motion picture camera's theoretical shutter speed is 1/48 of a second - at best. In fact, most shutters run slightly faster. If you've shot stills at a shutter speed under 1/100th of a second, you know that shooting a moving object will blur. You also know that to kill that motion blur, you'll have to speed the exposure up (which also means you'll have to go to a wider F/stop to maintain the same overall exposure). In a motion picture camera, the exposure can be sped up, not by spinning the shutter faster, but by reducing the angle of the shutter. That's why shutter speed on a motion picture camera is graduated in degrees.

A viewing system provides the cinematographer with a visual reference of the field of view that will be recorded onto the film in order to frame and compose a scene. Essentially, it's the hole you look through to see what the camera "sees" like a sight on a rifle (no apology for the politically incorrect analogy). There are two principal viewing systems.

This system is great for directing long range artillery fire as it was originally designed to do but makes camera work frustrating because what you see is hardly ever what you get. This is because you are not looking through the lens, but from off to the side - through a separate lens other than the camera's lens. Although the view finder lens and the camera lens are very close to one another (approximating what each other sees) the closer a subject being photographed is to the camera, the more the subject will be moved out of frame - even though the subject is well centered in the view finder. This problem is called parallax. To compensate for this divergence in viewing angle, an adjusting knob (or lever) is provided to correct the angle of the viewer lens to correct for parallax. Certainly an improvement but still time consuming and it's just another headache for the cinematographer to contend with. When your first roll of film comes back from the lab with everything off center, even though you framed everything properly and artistically in the range finder - you will understand why the "reflex" system was developed and why you will swear you will never use a range finder ever again.

A beam splitter in the reflex viewing system taps a portion of the light coming into the viewing optics and directs it toward an optical sensor called a CCD. This is the element of a video camera that translates the image entering through the lens of a video camera into a video signal. This small CCD sensor mounts to the motion picture camera's viewing optics and is connected by a cable to a monitor for the director's benefit (NOT the craft service guy). Try to avoid over using the video assist monitor, it can be a terrible distraction for you and the crew if you're all watching it instead of working. If the monitor does become a distraction, just turn it off. Used wisely, video assist is a great tool. Misused, it can be a real time killer.

This is what transports the film to the film gate and operates the shutter and takes up the film from the supply reel. Cameras require energy to operate, kinetic, electric, any controllable speed source. In the beginning, there was the hand crank. That limited filmmaking to guys with forearms like Popeye. It wasn't too long before some advances were made.

The most significant 35mm wind-up camera of modern filmmaking is by far the Bell & Howell Eyemo. This robust 35mm combat veteran of World War II has gotten shots in the most adverse conditions without any power failures, broken parts or stoppages. An Eyemo can sit sixty years and you just wind it up and it works perfectly. The other great feature of the Eyemo is its compact size. No other 35mm camera can fit into the tight spots you can jam an Eyemo into. A modified and motorized Eyemo was used to film action segments of "Terminator 2: Judgment Day." Bell & Howell made an Eyemo in 16mm called a Filmo (or 70-DR) that also has a 100 foot internal magazine. There are other B&H 16mm wind-ups (the ity-bity 200EE) that uses 50 foot cassette loads that are smaller than most palmcorders and Super-8 cameras. The 16mm Bolex is a great old range finder camera that's also a good animation camera - if you happen to have the factory rack-over device. The Bolex Rex models have a crappy reflex viewing system that's almost adequate. The Kodak Cine Special is another reliable 16mm camera that should be mentioned. Spring wound cameras are limited to silent shooting but they certainly are THE camera of choice for the guerrilla filmmaker, needing a small, tough, concealable 16mm camera, independent of electricity.

If you have an Eyemo, NEVER PART WITH IT! They have been out of production for many years and are something of a collector's item. Any savvy cinematographer will try to add one to their personal 35mm arsenal if they can find one that someone is stupid enough to sell. An interesting new 16mm reflex camera is the Russian Krasnogorsk-3 that sells for around $400.00 Considering that it comes with a zoom lens, it's a bargain (and you have a polishing attachment for your Dremel tool!).

Electric motors offer continuous constant speed, unlike some spring wound cameras that drop from 24 FPS to zero as their spring winds down. An electric drive is referred to as a "wild motor" because even a small speed variation can throw an audio recording out of synchronization with the picture (which may or may not be repairable in editing). This limits an electric drive camera to silent shooting too but can sometimes be adapted to crystal-sync operation. Cameras in this category include the light-weight Beaulieu R-16, the Arriflex 16S (it's obsolete but it's the best "cheap" 16mm camera around). For 35mm shooting, there is nothing like the obsolete Arriflex-2C. This used to be THE work horse of 35mm. It is everything you could hope for in a basic camera with an outstanding reflex viewing system. This camera exceeds the Eyemo in every aspect but two, it needs a battery and an external magazine. More low budget theatrical and guerrilla films were made with this loud, clanking camera than any other. The Arri-2C can be adapted to crystal-sync but still sounds like a coffee grinder, so sound shooting is still impractical.

Crystal sync cameras are true sound capable cameras. The speed of the electric motor is critically governed by a quartz crystal much in the same way as a digital watch. Fluctuations in speed are ironed out by the crystal motor that an audio recorder (like a Nagra or DAT) can synchronize with. If your project has any dialogue longer than two words at any given time, you need crystal-sync sound or an old pilot-tone sync generator.

The Arriflex 16S with a crystal motor can do the job but can still make an awful lot of noise. Some of the noise can be hushed by throwing one or two thousand blankets over it but the sound made by the camera will still interfere with audio recording. A half-solution is to set the camera far away from the dialogue if it is fitted with a telephoto lens, but you are limited to the best focal length of the lens. Another option is the Arriflex 16BL or 35BL, the BL stands for "blimped." A blimp is a sound absorbing shell fitted over the camera, it's sometimes called a "Barney." The Arriflex BL models also have sound insulated lenses and much quieter mechanisms. These too are obsolete but are still in wide circulation. Most of the cameras used by guerrilla filmmakers are old, obsolete "has-been" cameras but a resourceful guerrilla recognizes the value of a camera that can do the job required because these "cheap" cameras cost between a few thousand and as high as 20 thousand dollars. The next step in used equipment begins in the low 20's and peaks around 120 thousand dollars for some modern 16mm and 35mm cameras.

This should put the value of an obsolete but operational old camera into perspective for you (suddenly, DV demonstrates its benefits in cost, practicality and image quality). Sound recording Super-8 cameras are around for a few hundred dollars but are still impractical. The best all around Super-8 camera is the Beaulieu which can be fitted with a crystal-sync motor for syncing with a Nagra audio recorder and has an interchangeable zoom lens system. If you cannot afford crystal-sync sound and your end product's destined for video tape, just get it over with and shoot DV. You'll get first-rate sync audio footage and save a bundle on film and processing. Many high resolution DV camcorders are available whose images blow 16mm out of the water.

Ever see slow motion footage of a bullet ripping through an egg? Those shots were obtained with a high speed camera. Used primarily for special effect shots, these expensive cameras are rentable. The internal movement is radically different from a typical claw movement camera. They work like this, film is fast-forwarded through the film gate at an incredible speed while a very fast, rotating prism performs the function of a shutter without ever touching the film. Contact between the film and the camera is limited to the high-speed transport rollers that can move 1000 feet of film past the gate in a heartbeat. It takes time for the debris of a real explosion to hit the ground. Miniature explosions have to be slowed down to give the explosion "scale" to maintain the illusion of size. These kind of slow motion effects are the primary applications for high speed cameras.

For short films requiring no more than 2 weeks to shoot, you can sometimes afford the rental of high end cameras for less than the cost of a used car. These cameras are just incredible. With rental time at a premium, spend your time reading the operator's manual, familiarizing yourself with the camera and asking questions at the rental house BEFORE YOU RENT IT - the time to learn is not after you've rented the camera and the clock starts ticking. If you plan on renting one of these monsters, find out what support equipment you will need to rent along with it.

In one word this camera can be summarized - prestige. It has absolutely everything. A CCD reflex viewing system that is inspiring to look through. Its viewfinding optics rack over from normal viewing to anamorphic viewing so you can shoot with either spherical or anamorphic lenses without distortion in the viewfinder. The camera is so quiet, you have to press your ear against it to know it's running. This is a cinematographer's camera. It's constantly upgraded according to the needs of operators. The accessories are so well thought out, the camera can be configured to meet any shooting condition imaginable. Their Primo series of lenses are exquisite and numerous. Panavision cameras are never sold, you may only rent them and they don't come cheap. Panavision's far sighted marketing strategy includes a camera orientation seminar (held at their showroom) to familiarize camera assistants and potential renters about the Panavision camera systems. The seminar costs nothing. If you want to rent these machines, I strongly recommend calling for the next scheduled orientation. You should also buy their operator's manual at their company store. Panavision also has their own 16mm camera that has a proprietary 1.5 power anamorphic lens system; I've never used it, so I can't tell you if it's worthwhile; others I've seen were just worthless (but since it's Panavision, my guess would be that it works very well).

The Arriflex 535 camera does not have the Hollywood prestige of Panavision Platinum to the layman, but savvy filmmakers really appreciate this next generation camera. Everything about it is state-of-the-art. Sporting almost as many features as the Panavision Platinum, the 535 uses compact axial core magazines. Its new refinements and low noise put the 535 into the same high-end category as Panavision's best. The 535 is fully capable of wide-screen feature production, in both 1:1.85 wide screen and Arriscope anamorphic.

Since most films are shot out of sequence for many important reasons, each shot must be edited and put into order later in post production. This takes quite a bit of finesse and a good sense of timing and judgment to cut shots together in a way that flows and makes sense. Besides that, the mechanics of doing this require some eye-hand coordination skills. Footage is manipulated by hand and physically cut and pasted together into a long, raggedy montage of film. The editing process makes or breaks a film. Remember, the way a film is cut is every bit as important as the directing and the acting - in fact, all the movie making effort is dependent upon the editor doing the most with what footage they have to work with. NOTE: If your film is NOT destined to be a theatrically released feature, transfer it to video tape for editing because editing on tape is easier, faster and less expensive than going through the costs of the intermediate rolls of film required in printing. The following traditional techniques applies to basic editing on film.

To edit your film, it must be viewed on a film projecting apparatus of some kind. Whether projected from the front onto a reflective screen or projected from behind onto a frosted glass screen, film is viewed during editing in a way that allows the editor to conveniently play, pause, rewind and fast forward through the footage. Devices that do this are usually motor driven viewers. The most common motor driven viewer used for editing is the good, old Movieola.

Models come in upright and flat-bed configurations. These devices still cost a lot for 35mm but 16mm machines are dirt cheap because 16 is usually transferred and edited on tape so the equipment retains little practical value today (if any). A viewer is used to enlarge the projected image to a practical size where sound can be synchronized with picture and the edit/cut decisions can be made and executed.

The most basic form of film editing is the manual, kitchen table set up using a pair of rewinds and a viewer. Instead of using a motorized apparatus to transport the film forward and backward, you do it manually with a pair of hand cranked devices called "rewinds." A rewind is comprised of a crank which is mounted to an editing surface (like your kitchen table - New York style) that has an axle on which a reel of film can be spindled. Use the rewinds as a pair, one to act as a supply, the other to act as a take-up. Set the viewer between the two rewinds. Feed your film through the viewer and then wind it onto the take-up rewind. Start cranking forward and watch the image start to move in the viewer. Notice the image speeds up and slows down as you increase or decrease your cranking action. If the film starts to get chewed up in the viewer, stop cranking. You need to realign the film in the viewer. It's a poorman's Movieola, but many films have been edited this way in someone's kitchen or garage.

Fastening two cut pieces of film together is done with a "splice." There are two primary methods of splicing film. One is done with adhesive cement and the other is done with adhesive tape. To align the film and cut the edges squarely, the ends of film are clamped onto a block with registration pins that engage the film's perfs like a vise to hold the film down straight and square for uniform cutting.

The most sturdy method of cementing two pieces of film together is called a "hot splice." This method (first developed in a delicatessen in Fort Lee, New Jersey) requires slight overlapping of the film ends and cementing both together. To provide better adhesion, the emulsion of one film end is scraped ragged and the base of the other film end is also scraped ragged. These small nooks and crannies give the glue dovetails (more actual surface area) on which to adhere, making a stronger weld between the two spliced ends (the same way you have to sand metal before you paint it, so the new paint doesn't peel off the slick surface). Hot splicers come in two types, ones that work and ones that don't. Plug it in, if it doesn't heat up - it's broken. As long as it heats and has registration pins on which to align the two ends of film, it's probably a good one. De-burr and polish anything on it that might scratch your film. The hot splicer heats up to dry the cement faster than you blowing on it. Don't blow dust on your splice - that's why it's heated. The splice must remain on the hot block until the glue has completely dried. This takes about 10 to 15 seconds. These splices are painstakingly slow to make but should be used if you are cutting an original negative. In fact, this is the method negative cutters use. NOTE: Hot splicers cut film in a way that a perf from each frame overlap.

Not as "gooey" as Scotch tape, splicing tape comes in 16mm and 35mm rolls, complete with pre-cut perf holes (you must always leave the perf holes on film unobstructed by splicing tape). Never use old splicing tape, always buy a fresh, new roll of tape so it holds together well. Tape splicing requires you to use a splicing block - not a hot splicer (they cut ends differently). Tape splices are used to edit work prints and mag-track. To make a tape splice, simply align the film ends on the block so their cut ends are butted squarely against one another. Then fix a small portion of tape over the registration pins on the block that the film perfs are engaged. The idea is to tape the pieces together, so have the tape in full contact with both pieces of film and rub it on good.

Yes, it does matter which end you paste to which and both emulsions must be facing in the same up or down direction; otherwise your images will be mirror flopped or running upside-down and backwards. Always take careful note of the heads, tails, A-wind, B-wind orientation of your film. Use clear splice tape for picture (opaque splice tape is for mag-track only). Tape splicers cut film in a way that cuts exactly between two frames. When taped, the film perfs do not overlap like a hot splice.

When you send your camera negative to the lab for processing, they can make a projectable print of it - if you ask for it. A "one-light" print is not color corrected, it's a straight contact print. Since many labs can have your film ready by the next morning (if you get it in before a certain time) you can see what you shot yesterday - that's why they call them "dailies." If you're not happy with what you see, you can re-shoot the shots if you didn't strike your sets or burn any bridges at your shooting location. Keep these dailies, you will use them later in editing as your "work print."

If you didn't have dailies made at the time of photography (for whatever reason) have the lab make you a work print from your negative now. Editing your film begins with editing the (positive) work print dupe of your negative. Leave the negative alone for now. Since the work print is for editing reference only, you can smoke, eat and let the cat hair fly as you tape splice this into the order you wish your end product to appear. This is where you can scratch film, leave finger prints and dust - just don't damage the perfs so you can watch it over and over until you feel it has been cut to your satisfaction.

This is where your script supervisor's log that noted the order of the scenes and which takes were included on each roll of film you shot (shot 1A-take 2, shot 1B-take 3, shot 1C-take 1, etc.) are invaluable for navigating your reels, searching for the shots you wanted to use. The more modern means of editing film involves the use of an off-line editing machine like an Avid to generate an EDL (edit decision list) that is printed out on paper to specify to the negative cutter what frames of the negative to extract and cut together. By either means, once the work print is cut and/or laid off to tape, it is now considered to be in a state of "Picture Lock." That means no more picture editing whatsoever can be considered because the audio editor is about to sync all of the audio against the frame count of your finished "picture locked" work print.

Synchronizing the audio portions of a film is done by transferring the DAT cassette or Nagra reel to reel audio tapes to a magnetically coated roll of film know as "mag-track" complete with perfs. The device doing the tape to mag-track transfer ensures that the speed of the audio on the mag-track matches the speed of the film frame by frame. Traditionally, once the audio has all been transferred to mag-track, it can be synchronized and edited to exactly match the picture by using rewinds or a Moviola. Now however, most audio editors work digitally for both film and video using Adobe Premiere (on the low end) in conjunction with Sound Forge that get pretty close results to the high end Avid system and Pro Tools software.

If you are working in 35mm, mag-track is clear 35mm film material with what appears to be two strips of quarter inch audio tape bonded down its entire length. These are magnetic audio tracks (actually, only the wider of the two records audio signals, the slightly narrower strip serves as a physical stand off to prevent the mag-track from rolling up unevenly). 16mm mag-track is fully coated on the "emulsion" side and appears rusty in color. One side is very shiny, the other dull, much like audio tape but much thicker and sturdier. With 16mm and 35mm mag-track, the dull side is analogous to the emulsion side which must always face the audio pick-up heads on the audio reader. All tape splices must be made on the base side only - never on the "emulsion" or particle side.

Somehow, the picture and sound must be synchronized together (using the clapping of the slate as both audio and picture cue) so when someone on film speaks, the words spoken match the movement of their lips; this is done by putting the mag-track onto the same rewinds as the film. They may start rolling together, but they will soon fluctuate in actual speed if they are not locked together somehow. To correct for speed deviations, a device known as a synchronizer is used to interlock the two reels of film and sound together. A synchronizer has several sprocketed wheels, sharing a common axle. When one wheel turns 10 frames, the others follow exactly 10 frames (they are fixed together). Some synchronizers are rigged for sound. Directly over the synchronizer wheels, audio pick-up heads (just like on a quarter inch tape recorder) pick up the sound signal from the mag-track as it passes underneath. Always have the "emulsion" side of the mag-track facing and contacting the audio head if you expect to hear anything. Once the mag-track exits the synchro, it goes straight to its reel on the take-up rewind. The picture film is locked to the synchro too, then enters the viewer. At the beginning of both the film and the mag-track reels, a common "start" cue mark is made (visually with a grease pencil). These two marks must be locked together in the synchro using the "start" frame, usually the slate or clap marker sound blob. Once these two marks are cued up and locked, picture and sound will stay in sync.

Matching sound to picture is accomplished with the same techniques as editing a work print. This is exactly why the picture is considered locked. If you start cutting the audio to match the picture, all you need is the editor making subsequent edits to throw all of your sound edits out of sync. Tape splices are made to the mag-track - as if it were film, between frames (except the cuts are diagonal), using a splicing block - NOT a hot splicer. This is because there are 4 perfs to a frame of 35mm film and a pref between each frame of 16mm film. When a length of mag-track is out of sync with the picture, "frames" (counted by the number of perfs to a frame) are either spliced out or spliced in to take-in or let-out the lag in the sound so it conforms to the picture. The silent inserts in your audio are smoothed over with a separate "room noise" or ambience track, recorded silence (or subtle roar on a set that wasn't quite as silent as you might have thought!). It must be kept in mind that if 500 frames of picture pass your viewer, exactly 500 frames of mag-track must simultaneously pass with the film to keep the sound in-sync with the picture. If a movie has 172,800 frames of picture, the mag-track must also be a matching 172,800 frames in length.

Several reels of mag-track can be ganged onto the same rewinds as the picture, each cued-up and locked into the synchro for multiple tracks of audio. This is important because one reel of mag-track can contain dialogue, another can contain sound effects and another the music track. Each track can be independently edited (but all tracks must correspondingly sync to the picture). Remember to flip the audio heads off the mag-track when it is being fast forwarded or rewound if you're using manual rewinds. A mixing session can be arranged with an audio mixing studio for the final mixed track where all your reels of Mag-track can be combined into one. This is important because the music can be toned down during dialogue and the emphasis can be moved from one track to another.

Your final mixed audio on a single Mag-track reel must be converted into an optical track. An optical track is a roll of film (a negative) that is as long as your entire movie with a narrow pattern on one edge of the film - opposite the perfs (in single perf) 16mm and between the image area and the perfs in 35mm. Light intermittently passes through this pattern, generating the analog signals that are converted back to an audio signal by the amplifier in the projector. Since your original camera negative is a B wind, make sure your optical track is a B-wind too. This optical track will be composited by the lab onto your answer or composite print and your final composited inter-negative, from which, all of your distribution prints will then have sync optical audio right on the print itself.

Now that the audio tracks are prepared, you're ready to do the irreversible to your negative. Before a one-piece print can be made (according to the cuts in the EDL made from your work print), the frames of the negative must be exactly matched to those cut together on the work print - so the frame numbers match the EDL paperwork generated in editing. You really should send it to a professional negative cutter and pay them a well-earned fee, before doing something insane like attempt to cut negative yourself for the first time. If your back is against the wall and you've got to do it yourself, first have your cat shaved, dust off your hot splicer and prepare as clean an environment as possible (and whatever you do, DON'T SMOKE, EAT or DRINK over your negative!). Prepare your work space to cut, hang and label scores and scores of carefully and squarely cut negative in a way that they won't be damaged or contaminated. Now you will find out how static electricity sucks all the dust out of the air and glues it onto your hanging negative. That's right, you can't do this in a room with carpeting. A computer anti-static floor mat is