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ND filters vs high shutter in ext. shots
  • AlbertZAlbertZ

    I' m fond of mid-60's film with B/N , close shot and shallow DOF...every time I want to shoot something referring to this style, I generally use ND filter in ext. shots. However, yesterday I have left my ND and I was forced to shoot with my GH1 using HIGH SHUTTER and WIDE Aperture (50mm 1.7/ 2.8) with sunlight -about 5 PM, Italy is a very sunny land;)..I was struck by the results: they were closer to the 60's aesthetic than my shots with ND filter...I was wandering if high shutter was employed in cinema in the 60's...or shutter HAS ALWAYS EVER BEEN 50?

  • 8 Replies sorted by
  • BurnetRhoadesBurnetRhoades

    It was 1/48th as standard for film, most places. British DPs have been known to shoot 1/50th due to their power cycling and flicker.

    You may have been reacting to the extra crispy nature of high shutter footage. Perhaps it has to do with less motion blur in those older, slower stocks (just guessing). But I can't think of a single older film, much less a trend, where shooting at high shutter speeds was any sort of standard.

    Motion of figures can be quite distracting, to me, when shot this way. I'll pick it out very quickly when I see some modern drama where the DP shutters for flicker on location. Looks great for sports though.

  • AlbertZAlbertZ

    @BurnetRhoades thanks for your reply :)

  • majoraxismajoraxis

    I have experienced the same thing with my GH1 using the Sopelem 20-100 zoom (it vignettes a bit - fine on the Nikon 1, so it will work on the BMPCC). Shooting outside with the high shutter speeds it looked really good even though I felt like I was breaking some fundament cinema law. I was shooting an action scene with someone climbing on moving car and it stayed clear without much motion blur which was ideal.

  • vicharrisvicharris

    Actually guys the motion blur is what you want unless you like the look of video.

  • mrbillmrbill

    Standard film speed is 1/24th. Shooting at 1/25th is more to do with PAL television frame rates

  • AlbertZAlbertZ

    thanks for your reply! :)

  • BurnetRhoadesBurnetRhoades

    @mrbill he's discussing shutter speed, not frame speed. Shutter speed is nominally twice your frame speed.

  • mrbillmrbill

    @BurnetRhoades - sorry, my bad

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