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Topic: 800ft s8 reel [rare?]
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Jon Byler
Film Handler
Posts: 45
From: Auburn, AL, USA
Registered: Sep 2013
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posted September 23, 2013 12:42 AM
I think the use of foot instead of feet is when referring to another object, like an 800 foot reel. I have never heard a reel refered to as a 500 feet reel. Just like with metric it would be a 240 meter reel, but the length of the film is 240 meters.
I think it has to do with referring to the meters themselves, or whether one is primarily referring to the object, whether one uses plural or singular form of distance unit, regardless of whether using the English or metric units of measure. I think this is the same in german, at least that's what sounds right in my head. No idea with other languages. Enlgish and German coming from the same historical/linguistic roots, it wouldn't surprise me if Latin based languages and others had a different way of dealing with this stuff.
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Dimitris Mpakirtzis
Film Handler
Posts: 43
From: Athens, Greece
Registered: Aug 2013
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posted September 23, 2013 02:11 AM
Jon is right about the "meter", "meters" usage...
We can say that "I have to drive 30kilometers" and this is distance, that means that someone has measured the distance in the past, no more, no less than that.
The usage of meter in "240 meter reel" has another meaning, "meter" here describes a property [capacity] of the reel, using the reel we can handle no more than 240 meters of film. That's the difference. 240 meter reel = it is possible to use film 240 meters long in this reel, no more, less yes, bur no more than 240m. if it was not possible to use less than 240m, then the "240 meters reel" could[?] be right.
"meters" is noun
"meter" is adjectival in "meter reel" ... [i used google to find the word adjectival, I hope to be right...]
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film is alive
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Mike Peckham
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1461
From: West Sussex, UK.
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted September 23, 2013 05:50 AM
I can’t claim to be an expert, so am happy to be corrected on this by more knowledgeable persons, but I think it is down to the use of foot as either qualitative or quantitative. The same confusion exists in English with the use of “fewer” and “less”, fewer being quantitative, ie; referring to numbers or countable units, and less referring to mass.
An example would be; fewer cars means less traffic, or, fewer people means less of a crowd. It is common place to see less being used when to be correct it should be fewer, as in; 10 items or less.
Feet is the quantitative plural form of foot and is used where you are dealing with countable units, ie; how many feet? or, two feet make a pair. Foot on the other hand is a qualitative measure where you are referring to the plural of foot as a whole, ie; 600 foot reel, or; this room is 22 foot long.
Has that helped, or made things even more complicated? ![[Confused]](confused.gif)
Mike ![[Cool]](cool.gif)
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Auntie Em must have stopped wondering where I am by now...
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Dominique De Bast
Film God
Posts: 4486
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jun 2013
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posted September 23, 2013 05:53 AM
An American visiting in England asked at the hotel for the elevator.The portiere looked a bit confused but smiled when he realized what the man wanted."You must mean the lift," he said."No," the American responded. "If I ask for the elevator I mean the elevator.""Well," the portiere answered, "over here we call them lifts"."Now you listen", the American said rather irritated, "someone in America invented the elevator.""Oh, right you are sir," the portiere said in a polite tone, "but someone here in England invented the language."
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Dominique
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