Cougar Keegan

Nice work but unfortunately you have just re-invented "virtual reality." ;) It's already applied to video games and you can play a couple good examples of them at DisneyQuest in Orlando. Keep up the work though, maybe you will have a true breakthrough in time!

Thanks! Keep me posted. I am especially interested to discern between shutter backlash flicker and flicker from poor and/or aged prints. Yep, thanks!

Thanks... after pointing me in that direction I have done some more research and to augment your point, I believe the effect is caused by a shutter closed narrow and 'backlash' movement between the fixed and moving shutter blades. (found in Hands-On Manual for Cinematographers by David Samuelson, pg. 142.)

Thanks.. mostly I see it on DVDs. After a quick search I found an example... this is from Hiroshima Mon Amour, 1959: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aV5UFQMlnM...feature=related The very first shot has a good, obvious example of what I'm referring to. The way the exposure kind of pulsates a bit from frame to frame. I see this in a lot of movies from the 40's, 50's, 60's and probably into the 70's and beyond if I looked for it. Sometimes I notice it a slight bit on TV, even, like on some law and order episodes that were shot on 16mm.

First off, looks like a great community here, kudos.. hope I'm asking this in the right forum.. (this was my best guess, of course :) ). What causes the flicker effect in old, specifically 1940s-60s motion pictures? I have heard it's a symptom of deterioration. Maybe that's partly true.. But to me, it has always looked 99% like an exposure issue. My best guess has always been that these cameras did not have precise motors and occassionally the shutter would stick for a microsecond, thus creating uneven exposure. (and I'm not even talking about the extreme issues found in crude, early/hand-crank stuff). I see this happening all the time in films... becoming less common as the films get closer to the era of modern cameras. Seems more noticeable in B&W. So... here's my REAL questions: 1) am I even right? 2) if so, what brought an end to the previously common flicker in films? like, what technological development? did manufacturing and electronics just perfect film motors enough that it ceased to be an issue? I am just curious because I would love to know, if I went looking for a working vintage camera, what model/era/type of camera would have this effect and why.