Movies for TV - Early Television Foundation

PRINCIPLES OF MOVIES 5
perforations to the frame. Each foot of film has 16 frames, or pic-
tures. The film is approximately one and three-eighths inches wide,
but because the perforations occupy a certain amount of space, the
picture or frame is approximately one inch wide by three-quarters
of an inch high. This proportion is known as the aspect ratio and
is approximately 4:3: that is, the frame is four units wide and
three units high. The same standard has been chosen for television
pictures. This makes the problem of using films on television simpler.
In England, the aspect ratio of television picture is 5:4. This is
not very different from 4:3, and the average viewer would not
notice it, but of course it necessitates a slight change in the film
transmission equipment. It is being changed to conform with U. S.
standards. Figure 1-1 shows a strip of 35 mm film with these items
indicated.
The 16 mm film comes in two types, sound and silent. The
silent type has perforations on both edges. The sound film has
perforations on one side only. On the other side of the latter is the
sound track; quite obviously there would not be enough room for
the track if the perforations were on both sides. Because the film is
comparatively narrow, there is no tendency for the one-sided pull
on the perforations to set it askew in the gate. Each type of film has
forty frames to the foot and one 16 mm film is
perforation to each frame. The
approximately 0.63 of an inch wide. Figure 1-2
illustrates these features on 16 mm film. The frame area in the
camera is 0.41 inches by 0.294 inches. To allow for shrinkage it
is 0.022 inches and 0.008 inches respectively less in the projector.
Before continuing, it may be of interest to mention the other
sizes of film that have been developed, some of which are still in use
although none of them has been used for television. Everyone is
familiar with the 8 mm film used by so many amateurs, but in
addition to that there is 9.5 mm film put out by Pathe which is very
popular in England and France. In an effort to produce a good
quality sound film for semi-professional and advanced amateur
use, Pathe also introduced the 17.5 mm film. The extra 1.5 mm
were used to carry the sound track at the same size as the 35 mm
film track in an effort to retain the quality of the latter. A long