Shooting in 3 Perf

Recently several of you have had questions regarding shooting in 3 perf.  We hope that this write up is helpful to you in making the decision if shooting in 3 perf is right for you.  Here are some critical considerations to take into account:

1. Although it is true that there is about a 25% savings in film stock over filming with conventional 4 perf cameras, please understand that in shooting with 3 perf cameras you are very limited in what aspect ratio you can use.  These aspect ratios are:  a mini version of TV/1.33 (which is way smaller than Super 35 Big TV and also smaller than Normal 35 TV safe), 1.66, 1.78, 1.85 and 2.35 centric.  Another way to look at it is that all these formats with the exception of TV/1.33 have the letterbox look.
   
2. Almost all current commercial productions are shot in the Super 35 Big TV format (Super 1.33) which use 4 perf cameras.  Why?  There are two main reasons:  1. Your DP and post house know that with this format you are using close to the full negative area which will give you the greatest amount of image clarity and resolution, and 2. Since most people in the U.S. still have the conventional square (1.33) television set, to shoot in the 1.33 format still makes sense.  As mentioned in the first consideration, you CANNOT use the Super 35 Big TV format in 3 perf. 
   
3. Deciding whether or not to shoot 3 or 4 perf is NOT something that should be left for the day before or day of prep.  Depending on the camera desired, to convert it to run 3 perf can take anywhere from several hours to a couple of days to do.  In addition, since these types of cameras are not extremely plentiful throughout the country, it is likely that one will have to be hunted down and shipped in.  Everyone from the client to the agency, producer, director, DP, and editor must be on board from the very beginning with which aspect ratio they want the production to be shot in.   If one cannot make this decision with absolute certainty, it is better to shoot with a 4 perf camera and have the full 35mm frame available to work with in post.
   
4. Finally, depending on how much film is shot, the savings may only be minimal.  The savings that three perf cameras offer usually come into play on productions such as episodic television and feature films where tens of thousands of feet of film are shot.

           We hope that this information is helpful to all of you as you plan your next production.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call us at (312)243-3400.

Sincerely,
James Pope & Mike Acuña