Framerates, DCPs and other deliverables.

[Will0]

Hello all!

I worked on a project recently that saw me tasked with creating a DCP to submit to film festivals. I had never heard of DCP before this, so I took great pleasure in learning something new.

This project in question was shot at 23.976 fps, so if I understand correctly, converting it to a 24 fps DCP playable on theatrical projection systems means the performances captured will be displayed at something like 100.1% of their true pace.

Then I came across a behind-the-scenes shot from the set of Sicario, which showed a monitor that indicated the camera was set to 23.976 fps.

My question to Roger or anyone who can shed some wisdom is: Why not always shoot at 24 fps, if that is what’s mandated for a DCP?

Topic

[dmullenasc]

It’s fairly easy to convert a 23.976 project to 24 for a DCP — the main issue is resolving the sound to be in sync with the change. Image-wise, there is no difference, you are shooting whole frames and just playing them back at 24 fps instead of 23.976 fps.

Since HD broadcast is 59.94i, any true 24 fps material is shown at 23.976 fps. Any film shot at 24 fps is transferred to video for dailies at 23.976 fps as well. The main issue, as I said, is a sound sync issue, the speed of the recording and the speed of the playback, the sound mix, the mastering, etc. Someone has to keep track of that.

I made this mistake, or post did, on my first HD feature back in 2001 on the Sony F900, which had the option for either 23.976 or 24 fps. Since we were planning a film-out for projection, I shot at 24 fps. Later I asked the editor how the final mix was going and she said fine except that the sound was drifting on every reel and they were manually syncing it back. I realized that this was because I shot 24 but sound had been posted using a 23.976 video copies.

[dmullenasc]

For twenty years it seems, sound was edited to a tape copy of the offline edit from the Avid, so was 23.976 with a pulldown for NTSC even if shot at 24 fps. In the sound mix, they resolved the audio speed back to 24 fps to match the image. Once Quicktime files replaced tape copies, true 24P editing and post was possible, assuming the film was scanned and stayed at 24P, but because HD and UHD video is 23.976 to stay backwards compatible with SD broadcast, most post work is still 23.976 which means it is easier to just shoot at 23.976.  Doesn’t have to be that way but if you shoot at 24P, you just have to make sure someone is keeping track through post.

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