Frame Rate Question

[sdeming]

In most movies for action sequences, do they normally film in 1/48 shutter speed, or do they go faster to catch more of the action? I'm storyboarding a short film (20 pages of script-so probably 20min long) I'm planing on using 24p the whole time. Should I speed or slow down the shutter speed for any reason?

[musicjunky]

I don't have an answer but I am also curious about this. Would be nice to hear from someone that knows.

I did try filming something that was moving fast with 24p but with a 1/2000 speed and I got a lot of rolling shutter distortion. it was outdoors and had plenty of light. Looked good, just stretched back and forth a lot.

[Erik Bien]

At 24fps, 1/48th of a second is the "normal" shutter speed, emulating a 180-degree shutter in a film camera. Higher shutter speeds (or in movie camera terms, narrow shutter angles) have less motion blur and have a more "nervous" feeling, like the Normandy landing scenes in Saving Private Ryan, the combat scenes in Gladiator, or this HV20 clip (http://www.hv20.com/showthread.php?t=5722).

High shutter speeds can also help if you're going to deinterlace 60i for poor man's overcrank slow-motion (http://www.hv20.com/showthread.php?t=6081).

And yes, musicjunky, as you found out, there's definitely a limit as to how far you can push it before things turn into jello; for hand-held, I'd be very careful going above about 1/500th or so.

[sdeming]

Wow, that is really great, thanks for your help here. The first link made me think that shooting certain action sequences would look more intense if shot with a faster shutter speed. Thoughts?

Do you know if there's a way (or a link to a way) to do the 60i to 24p slowmo in Sony Vegas 8 pro?

thanks again for your help

[Erik Bien]

Do you know if there's a way (or a link to a way) to do the 60i to 24p slowmo in Sony Vegas 8 pro?

Yes (http://www.hv20.com/showthread.php?t=1974) ... :hv20-smilie81:

(And yes, tense action scenes are the classic place to use a high shutter speed, as when the infected are attacking in 28 Days Later).

[lordtangent]

Or the action sequences in Saving Private Ryan and Gladiator. The effect of seeing all little clumps of dirt and blood drops frozen in the air... that's the fast shutter speed.

But it is actually a newish convention for "action". It seems like it's been used only in the last 15 years or so. I think it works really well and honestly I'm surprised it hasn't been used more in the past...

It would be really distracting if you were to shoot an entire film that way though, so use it judiciously.