16 mm film
Eastman Kodak released the first 16 mm "outfit" in 1923, consisting of a Ciné-Kodak camera, Kodascope projector, tripod, screen and splicer, for US$335 (equivalent to US$5,991 in 2023).
In addition to making home movies, people could buy or rent films from the library, a key selling aspect of the format.
The silent 16 mm format was initially aimed at the home enthusiast, but by the 1930s it had begun to make inroads into the educational market.
The format was used extensively during World War II, and there was a huge expansion of 16 mm professional filmmaking in the post-war years.
Throughout much of the 1960s–1990s period, these crews made use of cameras such as the Arriflex ST and Eclair NPR in combination with quarter-inch sound recorders, such as the Nagra III.
Using these professional tools, film department crews would work on some of the most significant programmes produced by the BBC, including Man Alive, Panorama and Chronicle.
Usually made up of five people, these small crews were able to work incredibly efficiently and, even in hostile environments, were able to film an entire programme with a shooting ratio of less than 5:1.
[3] Beginning in the 1950s, news organizations and documentarians in the United States frequently shot on portable Auricon and, later, CP-16 cameras that were self-blimped and had the ability to record sound directly on film.
One specification, known as "long pitch", has a spacing of 7.62 mm (0.300 in) and is used primarily for print and reversal film stocks.
Because the resulting, new, Super 16 aspect ratio takes up the space originally reserved for the 16mm soundtrack, films shot in this format must be enlarged by optical printing to 35 mm for sound-projection, and, in order to preserve the proper 1.66:1, or (slightly cropped) 1.85:1 theatrical aspect ratios which this format was designed to provide.
Cinematographer Frank G. DeMarco is credited with inventing Ultra 16 in 1996 while shooting tests for Darren Aronofsky's Pi.
[citation needed] 16 mm film is used in television, such as for the Hallmark Hall of Fame anthology (it has since been produced in 16:9 high definition) and Friday Night Lights and The O.C.
It worked extensively with Kodak during the 1950s and 1960s to bring 16 mm to a professional level, since the BBC needed cheaper, more portable production solutions while maintaining a higher quality than was offered at the time, when the format was mostly for home display of theatrical shorts, newsreels, and cartoons, documentary capture and display for various purposes (including education), and limited "high end" amateur use.
Many drama shows and documentaries were made entirely on 16 mm, notably Brideshead Revisited, The Jewel in the Crown, The Ascent of Man, Life on Earth, and the early seasons of Poirot.
John Inwood, the cinematographer of the series, believed that footage from his Aaton XTR Prod camera was not only sufficient to air in high definition, it "looked terrific".
Peter Jackson's 1992 zombie comedy Braindead was shot on Super 16mm, so that more of its $3 million budget could be spent on its extensive gore effects.
Catherine Hardwicke's 2003 teen drama Thirteen (2003 film) was shot on Super 16mm, due to low budget of $2 million.
The cost savings over 35 mm allowed the production to utilize multiple cameras for many shots, exposing over one million feet of film.
The Insider reports that Netflix was "initially concerned about having the movie's flashback scenes shot on grainy 16 mm film ...
[23] 16mm film was also used to produce early Full-Motion Video arcade games, such as Nintendo's Wild Gunman (1974) and Kasco's The Driver (1979).
Aaton also released the A-Minima, which is about the size of a video camcorder and is used for specialized filming requiring smaller, more versatile cameras.
For amateur, hobbyist, and student use, it is more economical to use older models from Arri, Aaton, Auricon, Beaulieu, Bell and Howell, Bolex, Canon, Cinema Products, Eclair, Keystone, Krasnogorsk, Mitchell, and others.
Over time, the cyan, magenta and yellow dyes that form the image in color 16 mm film inevitably fade.
The dyes degrade at different rates, with magenta being the longest-lasting, eventually resulting in a pale reddish image with little if any other color discernible.
A digital intermediate scanned from the original negative (if it was processed and stored correctly) can often fully restore colors.
