So, why 24fps? Thomas Edison’s First Projector, from Edison National Historic SiteĮarly animators and filmmakers discovered how to create the perception of motion through trial and error, initially pegging the trick somewhere between 12 and 16 frames per second. Like I said, how we see things is complicated. In fact, there’s an incredibly rare disorder called “Akinetopsia”in which the afflicted has the ability to see static objects, but not moving ones. Our ability to detect motion is the end result of complex sensory processing in the eye and certain regions in the brain. Motion in film is an optical illusion, a hack of the eye and the brain. You even see when you’re asleep-remember the last dream you had? Our retina is nothing like film or a digital sensor. Truth is, cameras are a terrible metaphor for understanding how people see things. Mitchell VistaVision Model V-V 35mm motion picture camera circa 1953/54 (Picture: Doug Kline) The race towards new standards, in both frame rate and resolution, means a whole new era in experimentation and innovation. The current explosion in distribution platforms (internet, phones, VR googles) means that the bedrock standard of 24 frames per second is under attack. Filmmaking is one big last-minute hack, designed to get through the impossibility of a shot list in the fading light of the day. The longer answer: the entire history of filmmaking technology is a series of hacks, workarounds and duct-taped temporary-fixes that were codified, edified and institutionalized into the concrete of daily practice. The short answer: Not much, the film speed standard was a hack. What’s so special about seeing images 24 times per second? Why 24 frames per second, why not 23 or 25? To kick off the campaign, we’re re-posting a few of our most popular blogs. All donations make before or on September 15 will be doubled-dollar-for-dollar up to $100,000. Film Independent is currently in the middle of a Matching Campaign to raise support for the next 30 years of filmmaker support.
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