What Shutter Speed best approaches film look?

[mikeflight]

I've experimented with a lot of shutter speeds and I still would like to know what other people think is the optimal shutter speed to achieve a film look for a standard drama film. I understand it depends on what you want, especially with a stylized look like Crank or other action films. But in this post I want to talk about the general best setting for a non-stylized, standard drama film (non-action).

Obviously I know that 1/48 is the standard for 24fps, and 1/48 is used for film too. But we're talking about digital video here. For digital video, its possible that other shutter speeds actually work better to make Epic/Red footage look like film. For instance, I heard Knowing was shot with 1/120 shutter and in general they didn't really go for an extreme look like Saving Private Ryan or Crank (who obviously shot at a super fast shutter).

Going 1/24 shutter gives a super video look. So while 1/48 is completely different, it seems that maybe cranking a little higher, like 1/72 or 1/96 would get even a little more away from a video look. As long as it doesn't get too strobe-like, but even 1/96 seems like a pretty minimal strobe/choppy effect.

So for your STANDARD DRAMA FILM (non-action), would you shoot at maybe 1/96 to give a little more film look on the Epic/Red, or would you stick to 1/48? I'm actually thinking of going 1/72 to split the difference. Thoughts?

 

[Mark Allen]

I would suggest forgetting film vs. video look and think "slushy" vs. "crisp" or various levels of motion blur. The longer the shutter is open, the more motion blur, the shorter, the less. If you're shooting a fight scene and really want to capture the action of some moves in a detailed way - maybe a shorter shutter time. If you're stylizing something - maybe it's a dream or confusing, maybe experiment with longer shutters.

 

[Justin Tomchuk]

I used 1/48 on my recent short film with the Red One, and I worked on a feature that was shot at 1/48th with a different DOP. That seems to be the standard for emulating a film look. A shutter speed faster than 1/48 at 24fps to me at least seems aesthetically not pleasing due to the more visible choppiness. If you're trying to emulate film stick with 1/48. If you're going for a different, more 'real' like feel you could use a faster shutter speed. Then again if you're going for a more 'real' feel you should probably try a different fps as well. Just do some tests and choose what you like most, there is no right answer.

 

[Kip Kubin]

I don't know the answer but I'll say this much....my film camera's motion blur at a 180 shutter does not match that of a 180 shutter on a Red camera....hard to quantify but there's a greater clarity in the blur of my film camera.

 

[D Fuller]

I don't know the answer but I'll say this much....my film camera's motion blur at a 180 shutter does not match that of a 180 shutter on a Red camera....hard to quantify but there's a greater clarity in the blur of my film camera.

It would be interesting to see side-by-side frames that illustrate this.

 

[mikeflight]

That was the point of my post, I have heard a lot that a 180 shutter on the Red doesn't match film- that 180 shutter on the Red looks more video-ish. Obviously I know that the faster the shutter, the more crisp the image. But my question is, to match a film camera, would it be smarter to go a little higher like 1/72 or even 1/96. Again, I heard that Knowing was shot around 1/100 and they weren't trying to do anything fancy. So maybe they realized that RED's need to be cranked a little higher shutter speed to really get a good film look effect. It would be interesting to find out if other movies on Red such as Social Network, or other non-action dramas also used a higher shutter than 1/48.

If I were to give my own opinion, I'd say 1/48 seems a little video-ish still and 1/72 seems like an optimal shutter where the choppiness/strobing effect is very minimal and not distracting, but at the same time the motion is just a tad less video-ish. In contrast, putting the shutter at 1/24 would be super video-ish, and 1/48 might still be a tad videoish. I've done tons of tests so this is what I've come up with. But the point of this post was to get some other opinions. Maybe what I like (1/72) is too choppy/distracting to most people. Or maybe its not. I know there is no right answer, but I'm curious what other people out there prefer, especially when trying to achieve a film like motion.

 

[Christian Munoz D]

J.J. Abrams shot on the Red One the pick-up shots and a couple of scenes in “Super 8”. They seem very happy with the results. Will be interesting to know what shutter speed they used on the Red and what else they did to match the film stock.

 

[Marc Wielage]

I think you have to balance the compromise between motion blur, pan speed, motion artifacts, depth of field, exposure, and rolling shutter issues. All of those come into play, depending on what kind of pickup is used. The Saving Private Ryan 45-degree shutter look is not going to be appropriate for all films, and one can make an argument that 180 degrees adds a little too much blur.

I'm curious to see what the mechanical shutter in the Sony F65 will do, and if this will completely get rid of rolling shutter entirely. I don't have any experience dealing with any Alexa footage shot with the optional mechanical shutter yet, but I think both Epic and Alexa have minimized this problem quite a bit compared to earlier designs.

 

[Ramesh Jai]

I use 1/96. I like that look. Use what makes you happy.

 

[Stefan Antonescu]

I use 1/96. I like that look. Use what makes you happy.

Very interesting. Could you share some footage, Ramesh ?

 

[Will Keir]

1/48 is your average drama.

 

[Jeremiah Kuehne]

I would say go with whatever suits your fancy. 1/48 is standard for 24 fps. General rule is shutter speed should be twice the frame-rate, but rules were made to be broken. However, in my personal opinion, if you're going for that "film-look" you probably don't want to speed up your shutter too much or else the lack of motion blur might make the footage more video-esque. Maybe speed up the shutter on action shots (but this is a drama?) or any shot you wish to limit the motion blur. I guess what I'm trying to say is do what you think looks best. Worst case scenario you can pass off as "that's what I was going for" anyway.

 

[Andy Jarosz]

This might make a difference, but I've noticed on a small screen like web or TV, a smaller shutter angle looks better. On a large cinema screen, a wider shutter angle looks better--to a point, of course.