being made, the financing available to support the
project, and the overall visual look that the film-
maker wants to achieve. For example, a low-key,
fairly low-budget, and intimate narrative film (such
as Phil Morrison’s Junebug[2005]) might be shot in
16mm or 35mm format, but an action-filled, broad,
and expensive nonfiction film (such as Luc Jacquet’s
March of the Penguins[2005]) might require a
70mm or IMAX format. The film-stock lengthis
the number of feet (or meters) or the number of
reels being used in a particular film. The film-stock
speed(or exposure index), the degree to which it is
light-sensitive, ranges from very fast, at which it
requires little light, to very slow, at which it requires
a lot of light. Film is also categorized into black-
and-white and color stock.
In traditional film production, cinematographers
control the photographic image with their choice of
stock; the amount and color of the lighting of each
shot, the exposure(the length of time that the film
is exposed to light), and the opening of the lens
aperture (this regulates the amount of light that488 CHAPTER 11FILMMAKING TECHNOLOGIES AND PRODUCTION SYSTEMS
The most common variations on standard motion-picture film gauges.FIGURE 11.2 Standard Film Gauges70mmsound track35mm 16mm Super 8mm 8mmsound track sound track