16 mm film
16 mm film is a historically popular and economical
History
Eastman Kodak introduced 16 mm film in 1923, as a less expensive alternative to
Kodak hired Willard Beech Cook from his
Intended for amateur use, 16 mm film was one of the first formats to use
Production evolution
The silent 16 mm format was initially aimed at the home enthusiast, but by the 1930s it had begun to make inroads into the educational market. The addition of
16 mm, using light cameras, was extensively used for
Beginning in the 1950s, news organizations and documentarians in the United States frequently shot on portable Auricon and, later, CP-16 cameras that were self-blimped and had the ability to record sound directly on film. The introduction of magnetic striped film further improved sound fidelity.
Replacing
Format standards
Perforations
Two
Film stocks are available in either 'single-perf' or 'double-perf', meaning the film is perforated on either one or both edges. A perforation for 16 mm film is 1.829 mm × 1.27 mm (0.0720 in × 0.0500 in) with a radius curve on all four corners of 0.25 mm (0.0098 in). Tolerances are ±0.001 mm (4×10−5 in).[5][6]
Standard 16 mm
The picture-taking area of standard 16 mm is 10.26 mm × 7.49 mm (0.404 in × 0.295 in), an aspect ratio of 1.37:1, the standard pre-widescreen Academy ratio for 35 mm. The "nominal" picture projection area (per SMPTE RP 20-2003) is 0.380 in by 0.284 in,[7] and the maximum picture projection area (per SMPTE ST 233-2003) is 0.384 in by 0.286 in,[8] each implying an aspect ratio of 1.34:1. Double-perf 16 mm film, the original format, has a perforation at both sides of every frame line. Single-perf is perforated at one side only, making room for an optical or magnetic soundtrack along the other side.
Super 16 mm
The variant called Super 16 mm, Super 16, or 16 mm Type W is an adaptation of the 1.66 (1.66:1 or 15:9) aspect ratio of the "Paramount format"[9] to 16 mm film. It was developed by Swedish cinematographer Rune Ericson in 1969,[10] using single-sprocket film and taking advantage of the extra room for an expanded picture area of 12.52 mm × 7.41 mm (0.493 in × 0.292 in).
Super 16 cameras are usually 16 mm cameras that have had the film gate and ground glass in the
In 2009, German lens manufacturer Vantage introduced a series of anamorphic lenses under its HAWK brand. These provided a 1.30x[11] squeeze factor (as opposed to the standard 2×) specifically for the Super 16 format, allowing nearly all of the Super 16 frame to be used for 2.39:1 widescreen photography.
Ultra 16 mm
The
The Ultra 16 format, with frame dimensions of 11.66 mm × 6.15 mm (0.459 in × 0.242 in), provides a frame size between standard 16 mm and Super 16—while avoiding the expense of converting a 16 mm camera to Super 16, the larger lens-element requirements for proper aperture field coverage on Super 16 camera conversions, and, the potential image vignetting caused by trying to use some "conventional" 16 mm lenses on those Super 16 converted cameras. Thus, almost all standard 16 mm optics can now achieve the wider image in Ultra 16, but without the above pitfalls and optical "shortcomings" encountered when attempting their use for Super 16.
The 1.89 ratio image readily converts to NTSC/PAL (1.33 ratio), HDTV (1.78 ratio) and to 35 mm film (1.66 [European] and 1.85 wide screen ratios), using either the full vertical frame, or the full width (intersprocket) frame, and at times, portions of both, depending upon the required application.
Modern usage
The only supplier of 16 mm color reversal/negative film in 2022 is
16 mm film is used in television, such as for the Hallmark Hall of Fame anthology (it has since been produced in 16:9 high definition) and Friday Night Lights and The O.C. as well as The Walking Dead in the US. In the UK, the format is exceedingly popular for television series such as Doc Martin, dramas and commercials.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) played a large part in the development of the format. It worked extensively with Kodak during the 1950s and 1960s to bring 16 mm 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 mostly for home display of theatrical shorts, newsreels, and cartoons, documentary capture and display for various purposes (including education), and limited "high end" amateur use.[13]
As of 2016[update], the format was frequently used for student films, while its use in documentaries had almost disappeared. With the advent of
.Thanks to advances in film stock and digital technology—specifically digital intermediate (DI)—the format has dramatically improved in picture quality since the 1970s, and is now a revitalized option. Vera Drake, for example, was shot on Super 16 mm film, digitally scanned at a high resolution, edited and color graded, and then printed out onto 35 mm film via a laser film recorder. Because of the digital process, the final 35 mm print quality is good enough to fool some professionals into thinking it was shot on 35 mm.[citation needed]
In Britain, most exterior television footage was shot on 16 mm from the 1960s until the 1990s, when the development of more portable television cameras and videotape machines led to video replacing 16 mm in many instances. Many drama shows and documentaries were made entirely on 16 mm, notably
As recently as 2010,
The
The first two seasons of
The first season of Sex and the City was shot on 16 mm. Later seasons were shot on 35 mm. All three seasons of Veronica Mars were shot on 16 mm and aired in HD. This Is Spinal Tap, and Christopher Guest's subsequent mockumentary films, are shot in Super 16 mm.
The first three seasons of Stargate SG-1 (bar the season 3 finale and the effects shots) were shot in 16 mm, before switching to 35 mm for later seasons.
Peter Jackson's 1992 zombie comedy Braindead was shot on Super 16mm, so that more of its $3 million budget could be spent on its extensive gore effects.
The 2009
British Napoleonic-era TV drama Sharpe was shot on Super 16 mm right through to the film Sharpe's Challenge (2006). For the last film in the series, Sharpe's Peril (2008), the producers switched to 35 mm.
Moonrise Kingdom was shot using super 16 mm.
Darren Aronofsky shot mother! on 16 mm.[17]
Linus Sandgren shot most of the 2018 biographical drama First Man on Super 16.[18]
Spike Lee shot the Netflix film Da 5 Bloods' flashback scenes on 16 mm film, which was part of the reason cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel was considered for an Oscar nomination. The Insider reports that Netflix was "initially concerned about having the movie's flashback scenes shot on grainy 16 mm film ... There was pushback because it opened up a lot of challenges." According to Sigel, the film stock Lee wanted to use was expensive because it is rarely used. It would be even more expensive to shoot on 16mm film while on location in Vietnam and then ship the film back to the United States to be processed at a film lab. Lee was "pretty adamant" about using 16mm for the flashbacks; Sigel said "I would never have been able to do it without such fervent support from him." Sigel had pitched to Lee the idea to shoot the Vietnam sequences using the kind of camera and film stock that would have been available during the Vietnam era.[19]
Digital 16 mm
A number of digital cameras approximate the look of the 16 mm format by using 16 mm-sized sensors and taking 16 mm lenses. These cameras include the Ikonoskop A-Cam DII (2008) and the Digital Bolex (2012). The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera (2013) and the Blackmagic Micro Cinema Camera (2015) has a Super 16-sized sensor. The Z CAM E2G (2019) even offers Digital 16 mm in 4K and with a global shutter.
Cameras
Professional cameras
The professional industry tends to use 16 mm cameras from
Amateur cameras
For amateur, hobbyist, and student use, it is more economical to use older models from Arri, Aaton,
, and others.Film reproduction methods
Most original movie production companies that use film shoot on 35 mm. The 35 mm size must be converted or reduced to 16 mm for 16 mm systems. There are multiple ways of obtaining a 16 mm print from 35 mm. The preferred method is to strike a 16 mm negative from the original 35 mm negative and then make a print from the new 16 mm negative. A 16 mm negative struck from the original 35 mm negative is called an original. A new 16 mm print made from a print with no negative is called a reversal. 16 mm prints can be made from many combinations of size and format, each with a distinct, descriptive name:
- A 16 mm negative struck from an original 35 mm print is a print down.
- A 16 mm negative struck from an original 16 mm print that was struck from a 35 mm original is a dupe down.
- A 16 mm print struck directly from a 16 mm print is a double dupe.
- A 16 mm print struck directly from a 35 mm print is a double dupe down.
Film traders often refer to 16 mm prints by the print's production method, i.e., an original, reversal, dupe down, double dupe, or double dupe down.
Color fading of old film and color recovery
Over time, the cyan, magenta and yellow dyes that form the image in color 16 mm film inevitably fade. The rate of deterioration depends on storage conditions and the film type. In the case of Kodachrome amateur and documentary films and Technicolor IB (imbibition process) color prints, the dyes are so stable and the deterioration so slow that even prints now over 70 years old typically show no obvious problems.
Dyes in the far more common Eastmancolor print film and similar products from other manufacturers are notoriously unstable. Prior to the introduction of a longer-lasting "low fade" type in 1979, Eastmancolor prints routinely suffered from easily seen color shift and fading within ten years. The dyes degrade at different rates, with magenta being the longest-lasting, eventually resulting in a pale reddish image with little if any other color discernible.[20]
In the process of
Technical specifications
- 7.62 mm per frame (40 frames per foot) for print stock—7.605 mm per frame for camera stock
- 122 m (400 feet) = about 11 minutes at 24 frame/s
- vertical pulldown
16 mm
- 1.37 aspect ratio
- enlarging ratio of 1:4.58 for 35 mm Academy formatprints
- camera aperture: 10.26 by 7.49 mm (0.404 by 0.295 in)
- projector aperture: 9.65 by 7.21 mm (0.380 by 0.284 in)
- projector aperture (1.85): 9.60 by 5.20 mm (0.378 by 0.205 in)
- TV station aperture: 9.65 by 7.26 mm (0.380 by 0.286 in)
- TV transmission: 9.34 by 7.01 mm (0.368 by 0.276 in)
- TV safe action: 8.40 by 6.29 mm (0.331 by 0.248 in); corner radii: 1.67 mm (0.066 in)
- TV safe titles: 7.44 by 5.61 mm (0.293 by 0.221 in); corner radii: 1.47 mm (0.058 in)
- 1 perforation per frame (may also be double perf, i.e. one on each side)
- Picture to sound separation: sound in advance of picture by 26 frames for optical sound and 28 frames for magnetic.
Super 16
- 1.66 aspect ratio
- camera aperture: 12.52 by 7.41 mm (0.493 by 0.292 in)
- projector aperture (full 1.66): 11.76 by 7.08 mm (0.463 by 0.279 in)
- projector aperture (1.85): 11.76 by 6.37 mm (0.463 by 0.251 in)
- 1 perforation per frame, always single perf
Ultra 16
- 1.85 aspect ratio
- camera aperture: 11.66 mm by 7.49 mm (0.459 by 0.295 in)
- projector aperture: 11.66 mm by 6.15 mm (0.459 by 0.242 in)
- 1 perforation per frame (may also be double perf, i.e. one on each side)
See also
Techniques
- List of film formats
- Sync sound
- Pilottone
Related film genres
References
- ISBN 0-9654497-8-5.
- ISBN 0-9654497-8-5.
- ^ Eisloeffel, Paul (2013). "16mm Format History" (PDF). Archives Filmworks. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2016-06-30. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
- .
- ^ "Film specifications" (PDF). Kodak. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-03-26. Retrieved 2019-04-20.
- ^ "How to Read a Kodak Film Can Label" (PDF). Kodak. 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-03-23. Retrieved 2019-04-20.
- ISBN 978-1-61482-073-4.
- ISBN 978-1-61482-382-7.
- ^ Jones, Andy (2014). "Beyond HD". BBC Academy. Archived from the original on 2014-12-19. Retrieved 2019-04-20.
- ^ "The Early Years of Super 16 and How it All Started – Film and Digital Times". Film and Digital Times. August 20, 2009.
- ^ "Hawk Anamorphic 1.3x SQUEEZE".
- ^ Gullickson, Brad (May 29, 2018). "Frank G. DeMarco On Capturing Punk Rock Grit in "How to Talk to Girls at Parties"". Film School Rejects. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
- ^ a b Ferrari, Alex (2016-10-17). "How to Shoot Super 16mm Film Tutorials". Indie Film Hustle. Retrieved 2019-07-19.
- ^ "Mill TV Taps Baselight to Work Magic for BBC's 'Merlin'". Archived from the original on July 18, 2011.
- ^ "A new HD frontier for Scrubs" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2009-03-20. Retrieved November 1, 2009.
- ^ Macaulay, Scott (November 14, 2011). "Cinematographer Barry Ackroyd Discusses Oscar Winner The Hurt Locker". Filmmaker Magazine.
- ^ Thorsteinsson, Ari Gunnar (October 11, 2016). "Darren Aronofsky on His Private Writing Process, Fighting Financiers and His Mysterious New Film". indiewire.com. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
- ^ Kadner, Noah (January 7, 2019). "Moon Walk: First Man". ASC Magazine. Retrieved April 14, 2019.
- ^ Sharf, Zack (2020-06-18). "'Da 5 Bloods' Cinematographer Says Netflix Pushed Back Against Spike Lee Using 16mm Film". IndieWire. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
- ^ "A History of Low Fade Color Print Stocks". In70mm.com. 1963-07-11. Retrieved 2014-05-20.
External links
- Demonstration of a BBC 16mm film crew preparing to shoot
- Discussion and demonstration of 16mm film cameras by former BBC cameraman
- Demonstration of 'lacing up' a 16mm film camera
- History of sub-35 mm Film Formats & Cameras
- SUPER-16 modification of Bolex Reflex 16 mm camera
- "Sweet 16: A-list Cinematographers Say the Emulsion's Never Looked So Good, Here's Why...", written February 1, 2005, and accessed December 29, 2005.
- DIY processing 16 mm – guide for DIY processing of black/white 16 mm film
- Early list of films shot in Super16
(Wayback Machine copy)