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Topic: 16mm reel sizes
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Adrian Winchester
Film God
Posts: 2941
From: Croydon, London, UK
Registered: Aug 2004
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posted August 29, 2016 09:35 AM
I can add, although it's not relevant to features, that other common 16mm spool sizes are 50', 100' and 200'. If anyone's surprised by 50', they were commonly used in the USA for TV advertisements of up to one minute.
Daniel - I imagine you ask about 400' lengths to check if 16mm is the equivalent of a 35mm feature comprising 'one reel' lengths? I believe it was the norm for 16mm Technicolor features to be compiled from 400' sections, but that otherwise isn't the case. I'm sure I have relatively modern features that don't have a single splice during a full 1600' spool. That might be more the case with polyester prints.
Regarding features on 2000' or 2200' spools, I think you're bound to find at least one splice as it's probably a collector that has spooled them that way, in order to reduce the reel changes. I've never come across a feature that a distributor has put on spools larger than 1600', I think because certain older projectors won't take a larger size.
As for cue marks, they can vary. You can find ones printed from negatives, ones punched through using a special punch and even (if you're unlucky) ones that someone has added by scraping the emulsion with something sharp! If the feature is on 2000 spools, marks may well be in the wrong places.
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Adrian Winchester
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Mitchell Dvoskin
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 128
From: West Milford, NJ
Registered: Jun 2008
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posted September 01, 2016 10:35 AM
The common 16mm reel sizes here in the USA are:
400ft
800ft
1200ft
1600ft
2000ft
2200ft (same size as 2000 with a smaller center hub)
Features usually came on 1600 or 2000 foot reels.
At one time, there were numerous companies (plus a lot of bootleggers) who sold 16mm films to the public. Companies like Blackhawk, Niles, Castle, etc. There were also 16mm rental companies such as Modern Motion Picture, Films Inc., Swank, Union County Film Exchange (NJ local). The only studio's that briefly sold a limited number of titles direct to the public were Universal and Warner Brothers back in the 1970's.
Further, many public libraries here in New Jersey would loan out 16mm prints. I have fond memories of the early 1980's when I would check out features such as Yellow Submarine from the Bergenfield Public Library.
All gone now, except for Swank which now is mostly video rentals licensed for public showing in non theatrical venues.
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