common shooting settings fps/shutter
 

hey all, this is gonna sound very newbie-ish

i plan on making rap videos, and eletronic music videos where people are dancing, lots of flashing lights, the usual(with my personal twist on it of course)[maybe some action scenes in the clip where people are fighting])

i was wondering how most new video clips are shot? at 24p or 30p? and those slow motion takes are 60p slowed down right?

and okay so they are shooting at 24p and filming a slow moving subject, would the recommended shutter always be 1/60?*edit i meant to say 1/50th thanks bill pryor*

what if for example we are filming a car, while in another car, or even still... would we still shoot at 1/60th?

is there any special recommended speed for green screens?(wow that sounds dumb)

also i noticed in phillip blooms dvd there was no use of a light meter... or did he use one(now im not sure).. anyways, are they really needed, or can i just trust my eyes and the cameras bottom left-hand meter...(canon 7d)



i would appreciate any and all comments, thanks

If you're shooting 24 fps then your shutter speed should be 1/50. If you're shooting 30fps, it should be 1/60.
If you're shooting slomo, and the only choice is 60 fps, then the shutter speed should be 1/120.
Green screen is all about proper lighting. Whether you're shooting normal speed or slomo, is irrelevant.

i noticed you said should... i hear everyone saying that about 24p 1/50th, 30p 1/60th, but i want to know if it is to make it look more real like "film" and less like "video"?

Yes. Those are the "180 degree shutter" settings that look most like "normal" film. That said, some films use fast shutter settings for a more intense look, like the Saving Private Ryan Normandy scene, or much of the Bourne movies.

The other thing to look out for is fluorescent lights. Shoot 1/50 in 50Hz countries and 1/60 in 60 Hz countries to eliminate flicker.

Not as such. 24 and 30P make it look more filmic, the shutter speed affects the amount of motion blur, so with no shutter it'll pretty blurry, too fast and it'll strobe, so a 180 degree shutter seems like the best compromise between too blurry and too stroby.
Steve

If you use different shutter speeds you'll get some weird effects...blurring, strobing, etc. You can even make fan blades look as if they're spinning backwards. There are times you might want a blurred effect. For instance, I had a shot one time where I wanted two people to walk by as if in a big hurry. I shot at a 1/8 shutter speed, camera locked down. So the brick wall of a building in the back ground was sharp, but the couple walking buy blurred and streaked. Nice effect, but for normal shooting it's 1/50 for 24fps. Technically it should be 1/48, but the camera only does 1/50 and that's close enough.

Bill, not sure what the situation is with cameras like the Varicam that have 180 degree or Half settings for the shutter, but I assume that it will give you 1/48th sec at 24P. Might be mistaken and maybe is does just go to the closest setting (ie 1/50th).
Steve

I don't know about the Varicam, but I know some film cameras, especially 16mm and 8mm, didn't use precisely 180 degree shutters - they had variations of a few degrees, but were still classed as a 180 degree shutter.

Also back to Bill's first response, does that mean I'm the only one here who uses a faster shutter speed when filming fast-movement scenes in front of a green screen? In these situations I normally try to do everything I can to make sure I pull a clean key, including using a faster shutter speed and a smaller aperture so everything is nice and sharp.

A faster shutter speed makes sense on a greenscreen. Reducing motion blur reduces the amount a "almost green" in the scene. Some software can blend well with motion blur. Most can't. So, unless you have great keying software, a faster shutter speed makes sense.

Similarly, when using "tweening" software, like Twixtor to create smooth slow motion, use a fast shutter. Tweening software does best with well-defined edges.