RSSFilm
Feb 17
The film on which images are made is a strip of cellulose acetate that is coated with a light-sensitive emulsion that retains images. It is generally classified by its width. Most theatrical motion pictures are photographed in 35-millimeter or 70-millimeter (wide-screen) film. Virtually all commercial production is done in 16-millimeter film. Amateur and experimental filmmakers often use 8-millimeter or 16-millimeter film. The larger the size of the film, the better the quality of the image obtained. Film raw stock is also graded according to its sensitivity to light. A fast, or high-speed, film requires less light to retain an image than a slow, or low-speed, film. Since the grains of emulsion on fast film are larger than that on slow film, fast film generally has a grainier appearance when projected. Fast film provides a low degree of contrast between black and white tones; slow film provides a greater range of brightness and darkness. In early Technicolor process used three separate films in the camera, each recording the image of a primary color. After development, the three negatives were printed together on a composite color print. All color film production today, however, is done with integral-tripack emulsions, for which only one film is needed.