Frst real short film - slow motion debate

Evan Luchkow · January 22, 2006

so i have set out to make my first semi professional short film. i am a high school student, and i have made sevral shorts before using a sony handycam and windows movie maker, but i want to make a more professional effort on my next project.

my project involves a lot of slow motion, which is somewhat of a problem. i am a member of a local film and video co-op group thing, and i have access to a lot of professional cameras (film and video) and equipment. my goal was to use a panasonic agdvx100a to capture varous shots. some would be at 24p and others at 30p. i have heard about software that can "interpolate" the frames, and create extra frames in between. this would allow me to make some of my shots have as many as 60 frames which i could play back at 24 frames a second. this would give me a good slow motion effect.

my question is will that work? if so, how do i do it, and what do i need?

if this doesnt work, my other option is to shoot on super 16, or super 8. i originally wanted to shoot on super 8, but i dont know what the quality would be after telecine, or where i could have super 8 telecine done. and i have a feeling that shooting on super 16 might be a little expensive for me. i also dont have a whole bunch of experience with film movie cameras so it could be really hit or miss.

i should also point out that my project has no sound. i will add music in post so slowing down sound is not an issue.

Daniel Rheaume · January 23, 2006

Hi Evan,

Just curious...

It seems like your co-op might have a non-linear editing suite of some sort. Is there a particular reason why you wouldn't use a slow motion effect from a plug in, or built into the NLE software? Windows Movie Maker is pretty basic. But something like Premier or Vegas should be able to make a really nice slow motion effect...especially using some kind of 3rd part plug-in.

I'm interested to see what everyone else has to say.

Thanks!

-Daniel

Evan Luchkow · January 23, 2006

Hi Evan,
Just curious...

It seems like your co-op might have a non-linear editing suite of some sort. Is there a particular reason why you wouldn't use a slow motion effect from a plug in, or built into the NLE software? Windows Movie Maker is pretty basic. But something like Premier or Vegas should be able to make a really nice slow motion effect...especially using some kind of 3rd part plug-in.

I'm interested to see what everyone else has to say.

Thanks!

-Daniel

well they definately do, i can use final cut pro hd, and they also have avid adrenaline.. i dont know what they have as far as 3rd party plugins... and i have absolutely no experience working with stuff that is that advanced...to be honest i never thought of using the editing stuff they have...i joined mainly for discounts on rentals and for discounts from kodak, but its probably a good idea. thanks

Brian Wells · January 23, 2006

In Final Cut Pro, you can convert 60i -> 24p for slow motion with Graeme Nattress Standards Conversion Plug-In ($99, Nattress.com).

Another, higher quality method is the Re:Vision Twixtor plug-in ($330 to $800, RevisionFX.com).

In any case, be sure to use a 120th or faster shutter speed on the camera for the best results -- slower speeds than this can result in blurry images.

Hope this helps.

Robert Edge · January 23, 2006

i originally wanted to shoot on super 8, but i dont know what the quality would be after telecine, or where i could have super 8 telecine done. and i have a feeling that shooting on super 16 might be a little expensive for me. i also dont have a whole bunch of experience with film movie cameras so it could be really hit or miss.

Have you decided that you want to do this project on video or would you still prefer to shoot it on film depending on the answers to the above questions and cost?

If you haven't decided:

How long is the film going to be and how many minutes do you think that you have to shoot before editing?

Do you feel comfortable using a still camera? Analog or digital or both?

Does the film co-op run instructional classes and/or are there full-time staff who are there to help?

What kind of super 8 and 16mm cameras does the co-op have?

How do you want to show this film?

Robert Hughes · January 23, 2006

One of the big reasons to use film in the modern world is its ability to change film speeds. Overcranking at 48 or 64fps provides a very convincing slow motion effect without the need for NLE plugins. Film shooting is not too hard to comprehend; you have to load a roll of film and expose it at the right f/stop, but if you can figure out how to drive a car it's not beyond your capabilities.

Evan Luchkow · January 23, 2006

Have you decided that you want to do this project on video or would you still prefer to shoot it on film depending on the answers to the above questions and cost?

If you haven't decided:

How long is the film going to be and how many minutes do you think that you have to shoot before editing?

Do you feel comfortable using a still camera? Analog or digital or both?

Does the film co-op run instructional classes and/or are there full-time staff who are there to help?

What kind of super 8 and 16mm cameras does the co-op have?

How do you want to show this film?

i would much prefer to do it on video, i dont really have enough money to shoot all on film.... i figured that out a long time ago. i havnt ruled it out, but i would much much rather shoot video for the time being.

Evan Luchkow · January 23, 2006

i was checking around on here and i found a way to get slow motion footage out of 60i and i am testing it now with fairly good results... i was staring to think that i wouldnt be able to make this project a reality.. i still hope to work more with film in the future, but for now this is working alright. thanks