Movies for TV - Early Television Foundation

12
FUNDAMENTALS
type of film is rarely used in studio work, due to the extreme contrast
obtained and the "graininess" of the emulsion. The only time when
it would be used is in the case of an event occurring after dark where
proper studio lighting could not be provided. Many brands of film
are on the market, but most studios use those sold under the names
of Kodak, Ansco, and Du Pont. In film work it always pays to use a
well-known make as the emulsion can always be depended on to be
consistent in its speed and grain. When purchasing film for a shoot-
ing which is expected to take a good many feet, it is good practice
to buy all the film ordered for the shooting at one time and at one
store. In that way the cameraman will be able to ensure that all the
film has the same emulsion batch number. This means that the
exposure, and results, will be the same for all scenes on the film.
This helps to prevent exposure errors and maintains an even quality
of photography. This may seem a very small point to mention; it
would be if this were being written for an experienced film man.
But that is one of the things learned by experience and is important
to mention here for the reason that in a small station or production
unit, the temptation might be very strong to save a few dollars by
using a few hundred feet of film from a number of odd batches.
While this would probably not cause any damage, it might ruin a
shot, causing it to be shot over again. At the least,
it could cause
a variation in the color-lighting values of the various scenes. Differ-
ent manufacturers have their own systems of expressing the speed
of the films they produce. However, they all bear a relationship
to each other, and no matter which one happens to be in vogue at
the moment it is possible to translate any value in one system into
its equivalent in the favored one.
While film costs for 16 mm stock are not excessive, they are not
exactly cheap, although compared to 35 mm the price
is most at-
tractive. For use in the average small station or motion picture
studio the 200-foot magazine will probably be the most popular.
A number of the popular, semi-professional 16 mm cameras are
capable of using a 400-foot magazine instead of the standard 100-
foot reel. These magazines are external to the camera and can be
loaded beforehand if available in sufficient quantity. This facilitates