| What are Stock
Option’s prices for motion picture film? |
| Stock Option’s motion picture film pricing is divided into three categories
- Shortends, Recans, and Fresh Uncracked. Shortends, Recans and Fresh
Uncracked film can be bought at Stock Options at a 15-75% discount off
the manufacturer’s price. 16mm film is typically a fraction of the cost
of 35mm film. Fuji film stock is typically priced less then Kodak film
stock both in 16mm and 35mm format at Stock Options. Please call Stock
Options at toll free 1-877-799-5400, or locally (Toronto) 416-504-4956,
(Vancouver) 604-294-5444. Pricing tends to fluctuate based on stock availability
and prices paid by Stock Options on the open market. Stock Options does
not sell shortends that are less then 100 feet in length for 16mm film,
or less then 200 feet in length for 35mm film unless otherwise requested.
|
| Why Use Stock Options Film? |
| Stock Options is a wholly owned Canadian Company. Motion Picture film
can be bought at Stock Options at a fraction of the cost. Typical savings
can range from 15-75% off the manufacturer’s price. Motion Picture Film
can be the single most expensive “piece” of any film budget. All film
in Stock Options fridges is, on average, less than 2 months old and is
always 100% guaranteed. It is 100% guaranteed because Stock Option’s fog
tests every single can of unexposed film negative that is brought in
through our doors. Typical savings can range from $1,000 to $2,000 per
4,000 feet bought. |
| How many minutes are on a roll of 16mm and 35mm?
|
| 16mm motion picture film is sold in rolls of 400ft. 400ft. for 16mm
is the equivalent of 11.06 minutes of screen time. Given that Stock Option’s
sells shortends in 16mm with varying lengths between 100ft. on up to 390ft.,
the following is a list of common lengths and their respective minutes
of screen time: |
| 16mm |
100' = 2:46 mins 150'
= 4:10 mins 200' = 5:33
mins 250' = 6:56 mins
300' = 8:20 mins 350' =
9:43 mins 400' = 11:06
mins |
| 35mm motion picture film is sold in rolls of 400ft. and
1,000ft. 400ft. for 35mm is the equivalent of 4.26 minutes of screen time.
Given that Stock Options sells shortends in 35mm with varying lengths
between 200ft on up to 990ft., the following is a list of common lengths
and their respective minutes of screen time: |
| 35mm |
200' = 2:13 mins 300'
= 3:20 mins 400' = 4:26
mins 600' = 6:40 mins
700' = 7:46 mins 800' =
8:53 mins 900' = 10:00
mins 1000' = 11:06 mins |
| What is a typical shooting ratio? |
| A shooting ratio is a gauge on many “takes” (attempts at getting a shot
just right) will be necessary. In 16mm, an hour equals about 2,400 feet
of film. If you have a 2:1 shooting ratio, you’re prepared to shoot no
more than two takes of any scene. That means you’ll need to buy 4,800
feet of film. Typical ratios for both the short, commercial, music video
and feature film are 6:1 to 10:1. |
| Daylight or Tungsten Film Stock? |
Daylight - White is balanced to the approximate temperature of daylight
of about 5,600 degrees Kelvin. Under natural, indirect sunlight, true
colors should be captured on film. To use this film under photo flood
lights, a blue compensation filter must be used to adapt the light hitting
the film to a lower colour temperature. In low light levels, a correction
filter will cut light down sufficiently to increase contrast and kill
any existing depth of field, so Tungsten film should be the first choice.
Shooting daylight film indoors without a compensation filter will result
in an orange exposure. This can create an interesting effect if desired.
Tungsten - White is balanced to the approximate temperature of the tungsten
filament (of a photo bulb) at 3,200 degrees Kelvin. To use tungsten film
outdoors in natural light, an 85 compensation filter must be used to condition
sunlight (which would come out with a thick blue hue over every shot if
you forget the filter). It is more practical to shoot tungsten film for
both indoor and outdoor (with a 85 filter) because there is far more daylight
to cut with a filter than there are lights in a standard light kit. |
| What is ASA (ISO)? |
| Film speed is measured by Eastman Kodak in the United States in graduations
called ASA or ISO. This refers to speed, and speed refers to the amount
of time needed to burn-in an image. How does ASA affect the performance
of film? The faster the film, the less light is required to get a particular
shot. The higher the ASA, the grainer the image. Slow film on a sunny
day would be almost devoid of grain. Fast film shot in low light conditions
would appear noticeably grainier. In 16mm, the small image size makes
grain much more obvious. Light your scenes carefully avoiding big white
areas because the grain just swims against white walls. 35mm due to the
image area hides improper lighting much better. |
| Do I have to load daylight spools in a
darkroom? |
| No. Film wound on daylight spools can be handled in indirect light.
Don’t handle a daylight spool in direct sunlight - find a closet or bathroom
to load your film. |
| What is Reversal Film? |
| Reversal film was engineered as a one-step, cost effective system that
originates much as a slide in still photography. After developing, the
images are ready for immediate screening. Before video, it was the medium
for news gathering. Duplication is possible, but if distribution is your
intent, use a negative system which is cheaper in the long run. Negative
film offers far more flexibility for colour correction and contrast control.
Reversal film renders extremely clean, nicely saturated images, however
they are far less forgiving when exposing a scene properly. |
| 16mm or 35mm Motion Picture Film? |
| 16mm - If cost is a concern, then 16mm is offered for almost half the price of the 35mm when buying raw stock, and when developing. Standard 16mm images are restricted to 1.33:1 (4/3 TV aspect ratio). As the name implies, it is 16 millimeters wide. Unfortunately, because the image area is so small, there are no means of commercially projecting 16mm in wide screen theaters unless you make a 35mm blow up. Blowing up 16mm to 35mm usually resorts in a dramatic increase in grain. In 16mm, the small image size makes grain much more obvious. Light your scenes carefully avoiding big white areas because the grain just swims against white walls.
|
| Super 16 - 16 millimeters wide but the image area has been enlarged and widened into the edge area reserved for an optical sound track on standard 16mm. This arrangement makes Super 16 a purely silent format on its own. This format has gained popularity as an inexpensive HDTV (high-definition TV) compatible film for later conversion because its aspect ratio left very little of the image area that must be cropped or cut-off from the top and bottom edges to form the wide 16:9 aspect ratio of HDTV. The aspect ratio of the Super-16 film gate is 1.66:1 and the image area is somewhat less than one-third of standard 35mm.
|
| 35mm - A full frame that is 4 perfs tall but can be cropped to 1:1.85 (aspect ratio) wide screen format. 35mm due to the image area hides improper lighting much better. It also features less grain pending the film stock you chose.
|
| Frames per second? |
| Twenty-four frames per second is a fixed, unchanging constant in the USA for motion picture film. One second of real time = 24 frames per second, or 24 FPS. This holds true for all standard professional film formats in the U.S. (with the exception of videotape at 29.97 or 30 FPS including 16mm and 35m film.
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