Reason film stayed at 24fps?

[mmm]

I have big doubts the "aesthetics" were in question (back then) when the decision was taken for 24fps. Now,... (as we have learned a lot more watching other than 24... including TV with 25, 30, 60i, back to 24P from interlaced and slow mo at any rates) yes!

The answer is very simple my friends, Hybrid C had the right idea, 24 FPS is the lowest #
of frames that produce an image that appears not to FLICKER.
That is why PAL Television is 50 Hz Interlaced (2 fields per Frame of 25)
Your TV NTSC is 60 Hz which gives you 2x 30 Fields.

Hear endeth the Lesson!!

Before we endeth the lesson we should look at the original question:

Why is film still shot at 24fps? Why haven't they changed it to 48 or something? The only problem I can think of is bigger film rolls.

...and I believe that it has STAYED at 24fps because that is the look people want. Sure projectors may only play 24fps but that is about to change, but I doubt the frame rate will (unless we start to see 25p PAL HD features). If the industry wanted to change, it could be using faster frame rates, but it looks "wrong" for fictional drama. 24fps is now what people expect to see at the cinema.

I also stand by my idea that 24 was choosen instead of 23 or 25 because it has more interger factors. 100 years ago, this was pretty important to people. However to say 24 fps is the lowest framerate to produce smooth motion is not really true (a 24Hz refresh rate does also flicker). 24 fps is not "smooth," it was a compromise of smoothness and practicality. The juddery look has now become the norm for a certain type of storytelling.

When television standards were being developed, they wanted smoother motion rendering. They were unable to broadcast 50/60fps, so interlacing was used as another compromise.

 

[surf]

24 is just a cool number. just enough to see motion.
and...
24=8*3=6*4=2*12

 

[mmm]

24 is just a cool number. just enough to see motion.
and...
24=8*3=6*4=2*12

Exactly. People like to use "cool" numbers.

I know A LOT of people do not leave their volume controls set to an odd number. Does anyone ever use 13 frame transitions when editing instead of 12 frame?

People are more decimal now than they were when 24fps was adopted, but it is all the same principle.

BTW, I'm not suggesting this is the reason 24fps has remained in use, but I guess it was a factor why it was adopted.

 

[setarcos]

However to say 24 fps is the lowest framerate to produce smooth motion is not really true (a 24Hz refresh rate does also flicker)

No one said it is!
Any fluorescent light (at 50 or 60 Hz) DOES produce a strobing motion and is very annoying (flicker free ballasts at 20KHZ is beyond that but only in the recent years we saw that happen), but that does not mean we could "burn film" at the best rate.....
24 was the nearest they could "get away with" (as main reason imo). Let's not forget they did not start with 24. They've tried around 16 (or so) hand cranked, then 18 and when that was PROVEN not to be "good enough", well we all know what happened....
Prince “Price” (son of a...budget) RULES! If you want to prove me wrong, drop your video camera and shoot your next project in 16mm. No pun intended (I would love to do that myself).

 

[Joe_Kras]

Changing the film frame rate is like asking "why do cars still run on gasoline?" Yes there are other fuels, but -- come on, would any reasonable customer buy a corn-oil-fueled car, when there are hundreds of thousands of gasoline stations in the country?

Don't look now, Barry...

http://tinyurl.com/bbelx

 

[mmm]

No one said it is!

24 FPS is the lowest #
of frames that produce an image that appears not to FLICKER.

24 was the nearest they could "get away with" (as main reason imo). Let's not forget they did not start with 24. They've tried around 16 (or so) hand cranked, then 18 and when that was PROVEN not to be "good enough", well we all know what happened....
Prince “Price” (son of a...budget) RULES! If you want to prove me wrong, drop your video camera and shoot your next project in 16mm. No pun intended (I would love to do that myself).

Surely we are in complete agreement!?

 

[setarcos]

Of course we are! Otherwise the kitty gets it! I've shoot Felix many times and he still purrs. (nine lives...)

 

[Petrus]

And 50i and 60i for TV were chosen not because of better quality, but because old TV:s needed some reference clock to sync to. Wall plug AC! (50 Hz in Europe, 60 Hz in US).