Challenges to the Concept of Cancellation

If motion picture film were perforated to ideal dimensions with no tolerance, and film equipment could position and reposition film without variability, the concept of cancellation of film dimensional variables would be academic. Neither of these conditions existed in the early history of motion picture technology, nor do they exist today. Early motion picture films had significant dimensional variability, and the concepts of cancellation of these variables were well understood although relatively undocumented. Shifts to narrower-gauge formats mandated cancellation concepts, and through their use satisfactory steadiness was and is achieved with super 8 and 16-mm films. Improvements in film structure and perforating quality allowed some departures from fundamental rules, but recent advances in printing technology to solve quality problems and improve productivity challenge the fundamental concepts of image positioning. The potential expanded use of commercial “blow ups” of 16-mm originals for entertainment programming again mandates a thorough understanding of basic image positioning and repositioning concepts. This paper reviews the fundamentals of film perforating and image positioning, and the demands that film dimensional characteristics place on motion picture hardware. In so doing, the objective is to stress the fundamental characteristics of cancellation and how they apply to modern image-capturing, printing, and presentation technology, especially stressing the need for the fundamental concepts to be applied to 16-mm special effects and blow-ups.

Print ISSN

0036-1682

Published

1981-12

Content type

Original Research

DOI

10.5594/J00375