24p in a Doc?

S

stidle

Active member
One more question for this forum. Has anyone shot a doc in 24p?

I've seen a lot of people say it's a bad idea because of strobing, etc...but what I don't understand is: How, then, did people ever shoot docs in 16 or 35mm? Wouldn't the same strobing effects happen? Isn't this just something that you can work with/around?

I like the cinematic look of the 24p so much that I'd like to stick with it unless there are any really jarring reasons not to.

Thanks!
-matt
 
I think it's possible and I've done a few short tests with it. Like you, I was also after the cinematic look but as you may well have read, it's not just the 24p that contributes to that look. Having done a few tests, it would seem to me that DoF and good camerawork probably contribute as much. Even in shots where there is a lot of action, it should not be too much of a problem if you know how to compensate through motion tracking etc.

What I did find, however, that more often than not, the strength of a good documentary weighs more heavily with the content, and the story, than just the so-called "film" look. It's pretty hard to get all the right conditions to produce that look in many real live situations where you may be shooting. People won't always sit around for you to set the dolly up, or for you to get just the right angle. A lot of the speech is spontaneous and you can't always do a re-take to get a variety of angles. What I'm saying is that once you start doing the documentary stuff, especially when dealing with unscripted interviews etc., you'll just want to focus on getting the basic shot right, and in these conditions, the 24p will work just fine.

You can look at some tests I've done here:-

http://blog.tsebi.com

Unfortunately, in the one on "Keeping Singapore Clean", I blew many of the highlights. It was hard exposing for the dark-skin. All three of the clips there were all shot in 25p (PAL here).

Daniel Wee
 
Nice clips Daniel! Also your joomla format is great for your blog.

We are shooting our doc in 24 now and really like the look it gives us. Also if you hope to do a film transfer for theatrical 24P is a better route I think...

good luck!
 
i believe 4 little girls was shot on film. you may want to take a look at it. i love the look. when i make my doc it will be 24p all the way.
 
Before the advent of portable video cameras, of course, all docs were shot on film at 24 fps (examples of great ones; "Harlan County USA," "Gimme Shelter," "Night and Fog"). Even though a lot of doc material is shot on video at 60i, there are still great doc films being produced on film, like "Crumb" and "American Movie," plus many being shot at 24p on HD or DV. It's a wonderful look, and helps distinguish your material from 60i tv news-type footage, though as Daniel said, with a documentary, I think the subject matter/content and story are more important in creating a compelling doc than what format or frame rate you choose. There are examples of great and bad work done in both 24p and 60i.

There's the argument that 60i, because it captures more temporal information, also creates a greater sense of immediacy, a "you are there" look a la tv news. But if you want to shoot 24p, there's no reason you shouldn't. You'll be in good company (all the other documentarians who've shot either film or 24P video).
 
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