8mm Forum: 18fps sound running at 24fps

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Posted by Jason Schmidt (Member # 4526) on March 10, 2016, 06:18 PM:

Is there such a thing as a sound film that is supposed to run at 18fps? Or are all sounds films 24fps?

If there are 18fps sound films, what happens if you play them at 24fps? Does the sound play at all?

Posted by Zechariah Sporre (Member # 2358) on March 10, 2016, 06:46 PM:

Yes there is. They aren't very common. The only ones i've had are a couple early 1900 blackhawk films with a music track and one homemade movie. They play but everything is a little fast and high pitched.

Posted by Clinton Hunt (Member # 2072) on March 11, 2016, 12:18 AM:

In all of my large collection of Super 8 films I have only 2 that run at 18fps.
One is an official theme park film for Knots Berry Farm - it is silent.
The other is a demo film with sound for Sankyo super 8mm sound projectors,I was surprised when I first screened it as the sound was fast and high-pitched,and that's when i realized I had to change the speed from 24fps to 18fps.
They are around but quite rare I'm thinking!

Posted by Dominique De Bast (Member # 3798) on March 11, 2016, 01:04 AM:

Jason, there is a thread titled : "Sound fps in Super 8" that contains some messages about the 18/24 fps speeds.

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on March 11, 2016, 01:55 AM:

Of course it depends very much on the preference of the filmmaker, but all of my sound home made films were produced at 18fps.

At 18fps, from a standard 50ft cartridge, you got a little over 3mins from each, to go to 24fps, the cartridge would only last 2.5 minutes.

Therefore, given these were over £15 each even in the 90's when I last shot sound film, it was expensive enough to produce anything worthwhile without further reducing the footage duration from each cartridge by shooting at 24fps!

Posted by Brian Fretwell (Member # 4302) on March 11, 2016, 04:34 AM:

Weren't those Americom sound on flexidisc films adapted for 18 fps so they could be used with silent speed only projectors. Anyone who transferred the sound to stripe on those would have an 18 fps sound film.

Posted by Adrian Winchester (Member # 248) on March 11, 2016, 06:02 AM:

Brian, you're correct, although I believe there are some very rare Amricom releases sold with (stripe) sound copies, so presumably these were 24 fps. It's unfortunate that the discs had sound 'slowed down' to match 18fps. Presumably the reason was because some silent projectors were only 18fps, although some must have also had 24fps?

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