What Are 35mm, 16mm, & Super 8mm Films?

Since video has been so prominent in filmmaking lately, many new filmmakers don’t get the exposure to film that they used to and often don’t know the differences in these three film formats anymore – and why they are used in the particular areas they are. Many new filmmakers want to shoot with film, because of the benefits they’ve heard film has over video, but they don’t know which size film to use, or why. I listed the three most used films, and a little about them, for your reading pleasure:

35mm film has been around since motion picture’s beginning – over a century and it still looks great! “Citizen Kane”, “Star Wars”, and almost everyone’s favorite 2006 movie “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” were all shot on 35mm. Although not as large as 65mm film (which is mostly used for IMAX, but something we will not discuss here), 35mm is still a large negative, and can allow you to get a very shallow depth of field.

Is the initial cost of 35mm too expensive? Then 16mm film should come into your radar. 16mm costs less per foot to buy and process, and can be easier to work with (in some ways at least) than the larger film formats. A 16mm camera is often more mobile and less heavy. An equivalent length 16mm load, per foot, will last more than twice as long as a load of 4-perf 35mm film, meaning less magazine changes per shoot. Several great films and television shows have been made with 16mm, including the Nicolas Cage film, “Leaving Las Vegas” released in 1995.

In case you didn’t do the math, 16mm film is less than half the width of 35mm, so the 16mm image is only a quarter the size 35mm, meaning less detail. The initial cost of shooting 16mm film is much less than shooting 35mm, although it costs the same to transfer 16mm film to a Digital Intermediate – since telecine charges are per minute of run time, not per foot of film. 16mm is often compared to the higher end High Definition Cameras (like the Sony F900, the Viper, and the ARRI D20).

The smallest format is Super 8mm film – and it’s much different than using it’s bigger brothers. No need to worry about loading film – it comes in preloaded cartridges and is so easy to load that you may forget you put the cartridge in the camera! The cartridges protect the film from sunlight and allow a person to change film cartridges without the use of a changing bag or tent. It’s become a cool trend in commercial spots to use Super 8 movie film to give the commercial a grittier look and feel, and yet still have the latitude (the range between brightness and darkness). People want their product to look good, but also want it to appeal to a different crowd, so those that don’t need the super slick looking commercial can have their cake and eat it too. Super 8mm can often be seen in commercial advertising for off-road motorcycles, skate-boards, and other extreme sports, as well as music videos, movies, and even some television programs! Super 8mm, because it is film, tends to record without the harsh tones that are often associated with video, but it’s image is less than 1/10th the size of 35mm. Super 8mm has more noticeable grain. Dust can oftentimes be seen in the picture as well, since the size of the dust particles, in relation to the film frame, are much larger. Super 8mm film has a larger depth of field and is often compared to 1/3″ CCD prosumer HD cameras.

The next step in your film journey would be to investigate the many different film stocks that Kodak & Fuji make (as well as the other film manufacturers). Understanding the differences between reversal stocks and negative stocks really helps, and how each film stock works with light, overexposing, underexposing, and push processing. There are many different film stocks available, and each has its own quirks. So it’s best to do plenty of film tests before deciding on a specific stock for your shoot…

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