film - 16 mm film
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The image readily converts to NTSC/PAL (1.33 ratio), HDTV (1.78 ratio) and to 35mm film (1.85 ratio), using either film both the full vertical frame or the full width (intersprocket) frame, depending upon application. The two major suppliers of 16mm film today are Kodak and Fujifilm. Panavision even has a rarely-seen model known as the Elaine which appears to film 2001 in film be making somewhat of a comeback. For amateur, hobbyist, and student usage it is more economical to use older models from Arri and Aaton as well as Auricon, Beaulieu, Bell and Howell, Bolex, Canon, Cinema Products, Eclair, Keystone, Krasnogorsk, Mitchell, and others. In most original film production, movies are shot on 35mm.
Today the format also is frequently used for student films, while usage in documentary has almost disappeared. During the 1920s the format was often referred to as sub-standard film by the professional industry.
To see more films filmed in Super 16mm, see Super 16. The first season of the popular series, Sex and the City, was shot on 16mm. If a new 16mm print is made from a print with no negative it is called a Reversal .
However, with the recent development of digital intermediate workflows, it is now possible to digitally blow up to 35mm with virtually no quality loss (given a high quality digital scan), or alternatively to use high-quality video equipment for the original image capture. A variation of the Super 16 format is the DIY-crafted Ultra-16 , which is formed by widening the gate of a standard 16mm camera to expose the area between the perforations. Nevertheless, it is still in extensive use in its Super 16 ratio (see below) for high-quality programming in the US and UK.
Some drama shows and documentaries were made entirely on 16mm, notably Brideshead Revisited, The Jewel in the Crown, The Ascent of Man and Life on Earth. The addition of optical sound tracks and, most notably, Kodachrome in 1935, gave an enormous boost to the 16mm market.
Dupe Down , Double Dupe , and Double Dupe Down . Over a period of many decades, the pigments in color 16mm film slowly degrade and become transparent. Recently Aaton released the A-Minima, which is about the size of a camcorder and has been used for specialized filming requiring smaller or more versatile cameras.
At first used as a news-gathering format, the 16mm format was also used to create programming shot outside the confines of the more rigid television production sets. Later seasons were shot on 35mm. Scrubs was shot in 16mm with the Aaton A-Minima and the Aaton XTR up to the ninth season. Today, the professional industry tends to use 16mm cameras from Arri and Aaton, most notably the Arriflex 16SR3, Arriflex 416, and the Aaton XTRprod.
Digital video tape has made significant inroads in television production use, even to the extent that in some countries, 16mm (as well as 35mm) is considered obsolete as a TV production format by broadcasters. Because of the digital process, the quality of the final 35mm print is high enough to often fool professionals into thinking the footage was shot on 35mm. In Britain most exterior television footage was shot on 16mm from the 1960s until the 1980s and some even until the early 90 s, when the development of more portable television cameras and videotape machines led to video replacing 16mm in many instances.
16mm prints can also be made from many combinations of size and format, each with its own distinct and descriptive name as follows: When film traders buy and sell 16mm prints they often refer to the print through its production method, that is an Original , Reversal . Photo Sonics have special extremely high speed cameras for 16mm which can go up to 10,000 frames per second.
16mm film is used in television, such as for the Hallmark Hall of Fame anthology series and Friday Night Lights and The O.C. in the US. Independently produced documentaries and shorts (intended mainly for TV use) may still be shot on film.
Single-perf only has perforations on one side of the film. They worked extensively with Kodak during the 1950s and 1960s to bring 16mm to a professional level, since the BBC needed cheaper, more portable production solutions while maintaining a higher quality than was offered at the time, when the format was almost exclusively for amateur filmmaking.
For example, the 2008/09 BBC fantasy drama series Merlin was shot in Super 16 . The Academy Award winning Leaving Las Vegas (1995) was shot on 16mm. The Ultra-16 format, with frame dimensions of 11.66mm by 6.15mm, allows for a frame size between those of standard 16mm and Super 16 while avoiding the expense of converting a 16mm camera to Super 16, the lens requirements of Super 16 cameras, and the image vignetting caused by traditional 16mm cameras.
Vera Drake, for example, was shot on Super 16mm film, digitally scanned at a high resolution, edited and color graded, and then printed out onto 35mm film via a laser film recorder. The preferred method is to strike an 16mm negative from the original 35mm negative and then make a print from the new 16mm negative.
Since Super 16 takes up the space originally reserved for the soundtrack, films shot in this format can be blown up by optical printing to 35 mm for projection. If a 16mm negative is struck from the original 35mm negative, it is called a Original .
Used extensively in WW2, there was a huge expansion of 16mm professional filmmaking in the post-war years. The picture area of regular 16mm has an aspect ratio close to 1.33, and 16mm film prints use single-perf film so that there is space for a monophonic soundtrack where the other perf side would be on the negative.
In the UK, the format is exceedingly popular for dramas and commercials. Films for government, business, medical and industrial clients created a large network of 16mm professional filmmakers and related service industries in the 1950s and 1960s.
Some low-budget theatrical features are shot on 16mm and super 16mm such as Kevin Smith s 16mm 1994 independent hit Clerks. Super 16 cameras are usually 16mm cameras which have had the film gate and ground glass in the viewfinder modified for the wider frame.
More recently, the advent of digital and high-definition television with its 16:9 aspect ratio has led to the use of Super 16. In addition to making home movies, one could buy or rent films from the library, one of the key selling aspects of the format.
The placement of the perforations on a standard strip of 16mm film (to the left of the division between frames) allows for use of this normally unexposed area. 35mm nitrate was discontinued in 1952. The silent 16mm format was initially aimed at the home enthusiast, but by the 1930s it had begun to make inroads into the educational market.
Furthermore television documentary film-makers will frequently use clockwork 16mm cameras to shoot scenes in extreme climates. Double-perforation 16mm film has perforations down both sides at every frame line. 16mm film refers to a popular, economical gauge of film used for motion pictures and non-theatrical (for instance, industrial or educational) film making.
Double-sprocket 16mm stock is slowly being phased out by Kodak, as single-perf film can be used by regular 16mm as well as Super 16, which requires single-perf. Today, most of these uses have been taken over by video, and 16mm film is used primarily by budget-conscious independent filmmakers. Other common film gauges include 8mm and 35mm.
There are multiple ways of obtain a 16mm print from 35mm. The home movie market gradually switched to the even less expensive 8 mm film and Super 8 mm format. 16mm is also extensively used for television production in countries where television economics make the use of 35mm too expensive.
Initially directed toward the amateur market, Kodak hired Willard Beech Cook from his 28 mm Pathescope of America company to create the new 16mm Kodascope Library. The variant called Super 16mm, Super 16, or 16mm Type W uses single-sprocket film, and takes advantage of the extra room for an expanded picture area with a wider aspect ratio of 1.67.
Thus, standard 16mm optics may be used to achieve a wider image. As it was intended for amateur use, 16mm film was one of the first formats to use acetate safety film as a film base, and Kodak never manufactured nitrate film for the format due to the high flammability of the nitrate base.
This inevitably results in color film that now appears to be reddish, with few other colors. In the process of digitizing old film into a modern digital movie format, the faded film can sometimes be restored to full color with the use of digital color enhancement methods that amplify the faded pigment colors, but do not amplify the red pigments. 16mm Super 16 Ultra 16 35 mm: CinemaScope (1953) · VistaVision (1954) · Modern anamorphic (1957) · Super 35 (1982) 70 mm: Todd-AO (1953) · IMAX (1970) 35 mm × 3 strips: Cinerama (1952) · Kinopanorama (1958) · Cinemiracle (1958) . The advent of television also enhanced the use of 16mm film, initially for its advantage of cost and portability over 35mm.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) played a large part in the development of the format. Collectors of 16mm film have a forum at http://www.film-center.com 16mm film was introduced by Eastman Kodak in 1923 as an inexpensive amateur alternative to the conventional 35mm film format.
The 35mm size must be converted or reduced to 16mm for use in 16mm systems. Ironically, thanks to advances in film stock and digital technology - specifically digital intermediate (DI) - the format has experienced a dramatic improvement in picture quality since the 1970s and is now seen as revitalized option.
With the advent of HDTV, Super 16 film is still used for some productions destined for HD.
