Negative pulldown is the manner in which an image is exposed on a film stock, described by the number of film perforations spanned by an individual frame. It can also describe whether the image captured on the negative is oriented horizontally or vertically. Changing the number of exposed perforations allows a cinematographer to change both the aspect ratio of the image and the size of the area on the film stock that the image occupies (which affects image clarity).
A comparison of 4-perf, 3-perf and 2-perf 35 mm film formats
The most common negative pulldowns for 35 mm film are 4-perf and 3-perf, the latter of which is usually used in conjunction with Super 35. 2-perf, used in Techniscope in the 1960s, is enjoying a slight resurgence due to the birth of digital intermediate techniques eliminating the need for optical lab work. Vertical pulldown is overwhelmingly the dominant axis of motion in cinematography, although horizontal pulldown is used in IMAX, VistaVision (still in use for some visual effects work), and in 35 mm consumer and professional still cameras.
The majority of 35 mm film systems, cameras, telecine equipment, optical printers or projectors, are configured to accommodate the 4-perf system; each frame of 35 mm is 4 perforations long. 4-perf was (and remains) the traditional system, and the majority of projectors are based on 4-perf, because 4 perforations is the amount needed per frame vertically in order to have enough negative space for a roughly squarish image, which became the silent film standard aspect ratio of 1.33:1.
Later, when the film industry was facing the perceived threat of obsolescence to television, universally a 1.33:1 aspect ratio at the time (and remained so in many countries until the introduction of DTV), studios started experimenting with various competing widescreen formats.
Current practiceEdit
Eventually, aspect ratios of 1.85:1 in North America and 1.66:1 in Europe became standard for 35 mm productions shot with normal non-anamorphic lenses. However, the way the aspect ratio is created with these films is not in-camera, but rather by placing a cropping device, known as an aperture mask, over the film in the projector. What this means is that most films are shot in full screen format (often incorrectly referred to as 1.33:1 but actually 1.37:1 because of the sound tracks), but composed for 1.85:1 or 1.66:1 and cropped that way in projection. Therefore, a fair percentage of the film is wasted, because the cropped top and bottom are usually never meant to be shown, unless it was well protected for Full Screen presentation. 3-perf and 2-perf are only used in the origination and post-production transfer process.
2-perf camera systems use 2 perforations per frame on 35 mm film with an aspect ratio close to the 2.39:1; the aspect ratio used in anamorphic prints. It was first proposed conceptually around 1930, but was not put into practice until 1961, when Techniscope was developed at Technicolor's Italian branch. It has recently been brought up again with the advent of higher quality, lower grain film stocks as well as digital intermediate post-production methods which eliminate optical blowups and thus improve quality. While in the recent past, some companies have offered custom conversions of camera equipment to 2-perf, it appears that camera manufacturers are now poised to support the format. Arri made 2-perf movement blocks for their Arricam and Arriflex 235 cameras available for rental in March 2007.[1]Aaton's Penelope camera, released in October 2008, was the first camera specifically designed for 2-perf usage (as well as 3-perf).
In the early 1980s, Swedish cinematographer Rune Ericson collaborated with Panavision on the concept of creating a 3-perf mechanism for motion picture cameras.[2] By changing the camera gate and shutter mechanism, 3-perf minimized the problem of wasted film; each frame is 3 perforations high rather than the standard 4-perforations. The 3-perf image's aspect ratio is roughly 1.78:1, formatted closer to the widescreen television's common aspect of 1.85:1, minimizing image lost outside this aspect. With a smaller frame, the camera effectively runs 25% slower, yielding 25% savings on film stock; the camera will run more quietly because less film is moved through the camera per frame; and the Super 35 variant allows for a larger negative area, which can help compensate for increased grain when using higher-speed film stocks.
In the late 1990s, cinematographer Vittorio Storaro proposed a film standard known as Univisium (also called Univision), which advocated for 3-perf Super 35 to create a 2.00:1 aspect ratio.
Disadvantages of 3-perf and 2-perfEdit
One disadvantage of 3-perf and 2-perf is found when projected theatrically, as it needs to be transferred back to a 4-perf system. This typically involves a film print with black cropping on the print itself in order to fit the image onto a 4-perf frame – encountering same wastage problem as before. Even so, the amount of film shot on a production is much greater than the length of the final film, so 3-perf or 2-perf are still viable cost-saving options for production. Generally, 3-perf is most frequently used for widescreen television productions shot on film, as film is developed and then transferred to video, rendering projection incompatibilities irrelevant. Recently, this process has become popular with big-budget motion picture production, due to the advent of the digital intermediate process. The negative is scanned to high resolution (usually HD, 2K or 4K (digital cinema)) digital files, colour graded, and ultimately printed back to standard 4-perf for projection. At some point in the future, the final 4-perf print will become unnecessary assuming the cinema distribution and projection chain become fully digital.
3-perf and 2-perf pose minor problems for visual effects work. The area of the film in 4-perf work that is not projected nonetheless contains picture information which is useful for such visual effects tasks as 2D and 3D tracking.[citation needed] This mildly complicates certain visual effects efforts for productions using 3-perf and 2-perf.
A VistaVision 35 mm horizontal camera film frame. The dotted area shows the area actually used.
VistaVision is a higher resolution, widescreen variant of the 35 mm motion picture film format which was created by engineers at Paramount Pictures in 1954. It uses a horizontal, 8 perforation 35 mm image, similar to that used in 135 film for still photography. Paramount did not use anamorphic processes such as CinemaScope but refined the quality of their flat widescreen system by orienting the 35 mm negative horizontally in the camera gate and shooting onto a larger area, which yielded a finer-grained projection print.
horizontal movement, from right to left (viewed from base side)
24 frames per second
camera aperture: 70.41 by 52.63 mm (2.772 by 2.072 in)
projection aperture: at least 2 mm (0.080 in) less than camera aperture on the vertical axis and at least 0.4 mm (0.016 in) less on the horizontal axis
aspect ratio: 1.35:1 (camera), 1.43:1 (projected)
Dynavision (8/70) (Also known as Iwerks 8/70)Edit
fisheye or spherical lenses, depending on if projecting for a dome or not
vertical pulldown
24 or 30 frames per second
camera aperture: 52.83 by 37.59 mm (2.080 by 1.480 in)
^Arri advertisement, British Cinematographer, March 2007, p. 2.
^"Rune Ericson biography". The Swedish Film Database. Retrieved 2016-09-20.
External linksEdit
Movie Making Manual wikibook article on Telecine including a list of facilities that can telecine 2-perf
August 28, 2023
negative, pulldown, this, article, tone, style, reflect, encyclopedic, tone, used, wikipedia, wikipedia, guide, writing, better, articles, suggestions, march, 2023, learn, when, remove, this, template, message, manner, which, image, exposed, film, stock, descr. This article s tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia See Wikipedia s guide to writing better articles for suggestions March 2023 Learn how and when to remove this template message Negative pulldown is the manner in which an image is exposed on a film stock described by the number of film perforations spanned by an individual frame It can also describe whether the image captured on the negative is oriented horizontally or vertically Changing the number of exposed perforations allows a cinematographer to change both the aspect ratio of the image and the size of the area on the film stock that the image occupies which affects image clarity A comparison of 4 perf 3 perf and 2 perf 35 mm film formatsThe most common negative pulldowns for 35 mm film are 4 perf and 3 perf the latter of which is usually used in conjunction with Super 35 2 perf used in Techniscope in the 1960s is enjoying a slight resurgence due to the birth of digital intermediate techniques eliminating the need for optical lab work Vertical pulldown is overwhelmingly the dominant axis of motion in cinematography although horizontal pulldown is used in IMAX VistaVision still in use for some visual effects work and in 35 mm consumer and professional still cameras Contents 1 Usage of various formats 1 1 History 2 Current practice 3 35 mm 3 1 2 perf 3 2 3 perf 3 3 Disadvantages of 3 perf and 2 perf 3 4 VistaVision 4 70 mm 4 1 Standard 65 mm 5 70 Todd AO Super Panavision 4 2 Ultra Panavision 70 MGM Camera 65 4 3 Showscan 4 4 IMAX 15 70 4 5 Dynavision 8 70 Also known as Iwerks 8 70 5 See also 6 References 7 External linksUsage of various formats EditHistory Edit The majority of 35 mm film systems cameras telecine equipment optical printers or projectors are configured to accommodate the 4 perf system each frame of 35 mm is 4 perforations long 4 perf was and remains the traditional system and the majority of projectors are based on 4 perf because 4 perforations is the amount needed per frame vertically in order to have enough negative space for a roughly squarish image which became the silent film standard aspect ratio of 1 33 1 Later when the film industry was facing the perceived threat of obsolescence to television universally a 1 33 1 aspect ratio at the time and remained so in many countries until the introduction of DTV studios started experimenting with various competing widescreen formats Current practice EditEventually aspect ratios of 1 85 1 in North America and 1 66 1 in Europe became standard for 35 mm productions shot with normal non anamorphic lenses However the way the aspect ratio is created with these films is not in camera but rather by placing a cropping device known as an aperture mask over the film in the projector What this means is that most films are shot in full screen format often incorrectly referred to as 1 33 1 but actually 1 37 1 because of the sound tracks but composed for 1 85 1 or 1 66 1 and cropped that way in projection Therefore a fair percentage of the film is wasted because the cropped top and bottom are usually never meant to be shown unless it was well protected for Full Screen presentation 3 perf and 2 perf are only used in the origination and post production transfer process 35 mm Edit2 perf Edit Main article Techniscope 2 perf camera systems use 2 perforations per frame on 35 mm film with an aspect ratio close to the 2 39 1 the aspect ratio used in anamorphic prints It was first proposed conceptually around 1930 but was not put into practice until 1961 when Techniscope was developed at Technicolor s Italian branch It has recently been brought up again with the advent of higher quality lower grain film stocks as well as digital intermediate post production methods which eliminate optical blowups and thus improve quality While in the recent past some companies have offered custom conversions of camera equipment to 2 perf it appears that camera manufacturers are now poised to support the format Arri made 2 perf movement blocks for their Arricam and Arriflex 235 cameras available for rental in March 2007 1 Aaton s Penelope camera released in October 2008 was the first camera specifically designed for 2 perf usage as well as 3 perf 3 perf Edit Main article Super 35 In the early 1980s Swedish cinematographer Rune Ericson collaborated with Panavision on the concept of creating a 3 perf mechanism for motion picture cameras 2 By changing the camera gate and shutter mechanism 3 perf minimized the problem of wasted film each frame is 3 perforations high rather than the standard 4 perforations The 3 perf image s aspect ratio is roughly 1 78 1 formatted closer to the widescreen television s common aspect of 1 85 1 minimizing image lost outside this aspect With a smaller frame the camera effectively runs 25 slower yielding 25 savings on film stock the camera will run more quietly because less film is moved through the camera per frame and the Super 35 variant allows for a larger negative area which can help compensate for increased grain when using higher speed film stocks In the late 1990s cinematographer Vittorio Storaro proposed a film standard known as Univisium also called Univision which advocated for 3 perf Super 35 to create a 2 00 1 aspect ratio Disadvantages of 3 perf and 2 perf Edit One disadvantage of 3 perf and 2 perf is found when projected theatrically as it needs to be transferred back to a 4 perf system This typically involves a film print with black cropping on the print itself in order to fit the image onto a 4 perf frame encountering same wastage problem as before Even so the amount of film shot on a production is much greater than the length of the final film so 3 perf or 2 perf are still viable cost saving options for production Generally 3 perf is most frequently used for widescreen television productions shot on film as film is developed and then transferred to video rendering projection incompatibilities irrelevant Recently this process has become popular with big budget motion picture production due to the advent of the digital intermediate process The negative is scanned to high resolution usually HD 2K or 4K digital cinema digital files colour graded and ultimately printed back to standard 4 perf for projection At some point in the future the final 4 perf print will become unnecessary assuming the cinema distribution and projection chain become fully digital 3 perf and 2 perf pose minor problems for visual effects work The area of the film in 4 perf work that is not projected nonetheless contains picture information which is useful for such visual effects tasks as 2D and 3D tracking citation needed This mildly complicates certain visual effects efforts for productions using 3 perf and 2 perf A VistaVision 35 mm horizontal camera film frame The dotted area shows the area actually used VistaVision Edit Main article VistaVision VistaVision is a higher resolution widescreen variant of the 35 mm motion picture film format which was created by engineers at Paramount Pictures in 1954 It uses a horizontal 8 perforation 35 mm image similar to that used in 135 film for still photography Paramount did not use anamorphic processes such as CinemaScope but refined the quality of their flat widescreen system by orienting the 35 mm negative horizontally in the camera gate and shooting onto a larger area which yielded a finer grained projection print 70 mm EditMain article 70 mm film Standard 65 mm 5 70 Todd AO Super Panavision Edit spherical lenses 5 perforations frame 42 frames meter 12 8 frame ft 34 29 meters minute 112 5 ft minute vertical pulldown 24 frames second camera aperture 52 48 by 23 01 mm 2 066 by 0 906 in projection aperture 48 56 by 20 73 mm 1 912 by 0 816 in 305 m 1000 feet about 9 minutes at 24 frame s 4 5 kg 10 pounds in can aspect ratio 2 2 1Ultra Panavision 70 MGM Camera 65 Edit Main article Ultra Panavision 70 Same as Standard 65 mm except Shot with special anamorphic adapter in front of lens 1 25 squeeze factor projected aspect ratio 2 76 1Showscan Edit Main article Showscan Same as Standard 65 mm except 60 frames per secondIMAX 15 70 Edit Main article IMAX spherical lenses 15 perforations per frame horizontal movement from right to left viewed from base side 24 frames per second camera aperture 70 41 by 52 63 mm 2 772 by 2 072 in projection aperture at least 2 mm 0 080 in less than camera aperture on the vertical axis and at least 0 4 mm 0 016 in less on the horizontal axis aspect ratio 1 35 1 camera 1 43 1 projected Dynavision 8 70 Also known as Iwerks 8 70 Edit fisheye or spherical lenses depending on if projecting for a dome or not vertical pulldown 24 or 30 frames per second camera aperture 52 83 by 37 59 mm 2 080 by 1 480 in See also EditList of film formatsReferences Edit Arri advertisement British Cinematographer March 2007 p 2 Rune Ericson biography The Swedish Film Database Retrieved 2016 09 20 https web archive org web 20080118094257 http www arri de prod cam technology 3 perforation htm https web archive org web 20060713061542 http www aaton com products film 35 3perf phpExternal links EditMovie Making Manual wikibook article on Telecine including a list of facilities that can telecine 2 perf Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Negative pulldown amp oldid 1166009198, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
