Frame Rate In Cinematography Explained

Let’s unpack what frame rate is and how it is practically done with a camera and editing software, look at some common frame rates that are standardised in different places around the world, and with that knowledge, take a look at some creative ways that frame rate can be used to tell a story.

MERCH:

SOCIALS:

GEAR:

Liquify - 'Midnight Lofi'
Pie Are Squared - 'Nebbione'
Quelche - 'Venice'
Soundroll - 'Mist'
Port George - 'Ellen'
Liam Thomas - 'Arcturus'
Chill Winston - ‘The Truth’

0:00 Introduction
1:07 What Is Frame Rate?
3:56 Squarespace
5:03 Common Frame Rates
8:01 Creative Uses
11:13 Conclusion

DISCLAIMER: Some links in this description are affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with these links I may receive a small commission without an additional charge to you.

Thank you for supporting my channel so I can continue to provide you with free videos!

[eruannster]

I have a friend who works as a DOP on a few smaller movies and some commercial work, and I once asked him "is there a specific reason why movies or shows aren't shot at a higher frame rate, like 60 or even 120 now that the technology is capable of it?" and he paused for a moment and said "well... honestly the reason I don't do it on my productions, is because I just think it looks like shit".

I thought that was a pretty... succinct answer.

[theknowledgebysaurabhkumar]

Last clip use of frame rates is really meaningful as it evokes the feeling of both isolation & Integration at the same time.

[neplusultra]

Most old sound-sync film cameras like Panavision's Gold, Platinum and Millennium film cameras, and Arri's Old BL, 535, Studio, and Lite as well as the Moviecam Compact and Super Compact cameras top out between 36fps to 60fps. This provides some smooth slow motion without putting a huge dent in the lighting budget. In terms of using film cameras; anything that can run above 60fps is pretty much a MOS camera (Mit Out Sound) which are louder than the sync sound cameras because the camera body lacks the necessary sound deadening on it.

Panavision's Panastar MOS camera was usually used for high speed shots and can run up to 120fps. The Panastar was used on some films in the 90s and early 2000s, but I don't think it's used anymore.

The Arri 435, however, came out in the mid-90s as a replacement for the the Arri-III and it is *still* being used on film productions today: it has been used on everything from commercials, to music videos, to short films and feature films. The earlier versions of the 435 could go up to 120fps, but I think the 435 Advanced tops out at 150fps.

The Photosonics 4ER was *the* film camera used to capture *super* high speed footage; it could go up to 360fps. Like the 435, it has also been used in numerous commercials, music videos and films. The Wachowskis used it on the first Matrix. Zack Snyder used it on 300. Gore Verbinski used it on Pirates of the Caribbean 3. Michael Bay used it for Pearl Harbor and the first Transformers. However, the 4ER is really bulky and heavy fully decked out, and it is REALLY LOUD at full tilt - it sounds like a turbine engine spooling up.

Ever since the early 2010s, however; most people use the Phantom Flex cameras to shoot ultra high speed footage. The Phantom Flex4K can shoot up to 1, 000fps in 4K, 2, 000fps in 2K/1080p.

Whether you're using film or digital: one of the things about using higher frame rate is that you need more light the higher in fps you go. For film cameras: the faster the film travels through the gate, it's exposure to light becomes less and less. The shudder angle on the camera must also be adjusted to the frame rate to allow the correct amount of motion blur. All of the battles scenes in Saving Private Ryan were shot with a shutter angle of about 45 degrees, instead of the usual 180 at 24fps. This virtually eliminated motion blur, and accurately recreated the vision a person has under adrenaline in the middle of a war. Ridley Scott emulated this look for Gladiator and Black Hawk Down.

For digital cameras; you don't have to worry about the physical aspect of dealing with actual film, obviously. But, you still need more light for digital cameras running at a higher frame rate as well. Their shutter rates need to be quicker in accordance with fps to match motion blur - just like the film cameras.

Digital cameras still have their limits. Unlike film cameras; for digital cameras, the higher the frame rate you ran at, the less of the sensor you are able to use because the camera's processor has a limit to how much of the image the sensor is able to capture at certain frame rate.

Ben Serensin was in charge of shooting the Endeavor destruction scene in Pirates 3. In that famous shot; where Lord Beckett accepts his fate, and walks down the stairs in slow motion as his ship and crew disintegrate around him: Ben said he used a 4ER camera, and the rig it was on was motion controlled; so he did one pass with the actor walking down the stairs at 70fps. The 2nd pass was done without the actor, showing the structure being blown apart at 360fps. Ben said that motion-controlled rig the camera was on was programmed to move the camera at the speed matching the fps. Unfortunately this meant that at 360fps; the rig had to dolly in REAL fast and then stop in order to match the movements. The rig broke on the first try. So, they rigged something simpler that didn't have a pan head. For that sequence, the whole set had to be lit up to T22 1/2, and needed 3 million watts of lightning; they needed 100 tons of air conditioning to keep the cabling and entire set cool.

Bill Pope had similar lighting problems when he did the 1st Matrix: he said he basically needed to run all the lighting he needed through a dimmer rack in order to go from a lighting base of T2.8 to T16. "Bullet Time" was created because motion-control rigs were essentially useless for the elaborate camera moves they wanted to do at 300+ fps. So they stacked a hole bunch of EOS-1D X dslr cameras next to each other in the arc of where a regular film camera would go if it were to dolly or pan around the action, as if in real time. They then fired the cameras sequentially, within a fraction of a second of each other. So, when you take all the individual frames, and put them together; it looks as if a regular film camera was able to dolly around the action at a super high frame rate.

[RayadoRolloTV]

Wong Kar Wai is the master of everything. Such an incredible talent.

[xxhamedxx]

I would be great if you brought up the shutter speeds that are used in relation to the frame rate

[jayzee]

It would be interesting to hear how shutter speed interacts with all this

[stex]

According to Christopher Doyle, the "8fps" choice was not made for esthetic reasons.... They didn't have enough lights..., so the only way to shoot was the slow the heck down. Of course, being great artists that they are, their 8fps solution not only addressed the technical issue, but it also added this extra layer to their story telling.

[norachinwee]

You explain this soooo eassilyyyy I don't know why other people make it so complicated. thank you

[lilmilontiktok]

Thank you. Frame rates were always confusing to me

[UmbrellaGent]

While on this topic, could you do a video touching upon how they achieved the particular frame-rate effect during battle scenes in Saving Private Ryan?
There is certain crispness (not smoothness, mind you) to the on-screen motion that somewhat difficult to describe. I believe they somehow manipulated shutter speed in order to get rid of motion blur, or something along those lines.
Perhaps it could be a neat video topic on its own or perhaps it could be a part of a broader discussion.

[areapictures]

One super underrated use of slow-motion is Conrad Hall shooting Angela in American Beauty at 30fps and playing back at 24fps. It's subliminal but you feel it.

[loganmcdonaldfilms]

Great video! The movie Hausu from 1977 has a great scene where they used step printing to really throw you off and create tension. The movie suddenly goes from a funny ghost story to something a little more serious and scary.

[piusgyagenda]

Thank you for this video I have learned a lot about FPS and how to use it creatively 👊🏻🎥

[m.i.andersen]

Thanks for the video. I thought the standard NTSC frame rate was still "The soap opera look" 30 fps. (actually 60 fps interlaced when it got its name). I live in the PAL world so I use 25 fps for broadcast, or 24 fps for social media and other internet platforms.

[robertobuatti]

When I watched Gemini Man the motion really through me off because of how it was shot at 120 FPS, it felt like a video game with some of the VFX, you could just tell it looked a little CGI and artificial plus the motion didn't look like a movie.

[tubeman]

Great video, especially when explaining the creative application. I would love to see more about frame rates related to the creative application. Also, I would love to see a video of a clear explanation between 24fps and 23.976fps and which one to choose and why etc. Thanks so much for your videos they are a pleasure to watch! :)

[basiccomponents]

This was incredible, you opened a world for me, thanks a lot!

[impersonalbrand]

someone uploaded a scene from The Hobbit in 48 fps and one of the comments perfectly summed it up (I'm paraphrasing): "in 24fps, Ian McKellen looks like Gandalf; in 48 fps he looks like an old man cosplaying." I think this gets at something deeper about 24 fps that a lot of people don't consider: lighting, art direction, make-up, set design, etc, etc have all been built around 24fps and once you start upping the frame rate, the magic of cinema gets lost. the poetry is taken out and it becomes more clinical. people underestimate how much the unique blur of 24 fps at a 180 shutter angle goes in creating the unique atmosphere of cinema. news and sports broadcasts are in higher frame rates and that's totally fine--those are live broadcasts and we're not really watching them for the cinematography or art direction. video games, on the other hand, are interesting. I've noticed a lot of hardcore gamers hate 24 fps and want all movies shot at high frame rates but movies aren't video games and I don't think movies should become more like video games. so, good luck to gamers in trying to get filmmakers to crank up frame rates but they can pry 24 fps out of my cold dead hands lol.

[mikeeeeyway]

i thought this video was deep dive for wong kar wai technique😂

[TraceurDom]

Love your content! wish you would include what the movie is when it shows up the first time :)