I was gonna say that I’ve been having trouble finding a projector which can do both 16 and 24 speeds. I *think* some of the (earlier!) Bell + Howell projectors with electronic adjustable speed controls run at 16 at the low end and 24 at the fastest.
I’ve been using a B+H model 273 which has no sound capabilities because it seems more accurate in comparison to the silent switch on the Pageant. I think the pageants i’ve used are specced to run at the Bolex’s 18 frame speed… Anyways, the only problem with the B+H is that there are absolutely no markings on the speed knob. The knob lacks detents which doesn’t instill much confidence. The Bell and Howell model 273 is fairly easy to work on and has a single framing capability which has been very useful. It’s just sort of loud and doesn’t support more than 400 ft reels. Are there non invasive adjustment for the more contemporary 16mm projectors so that they can run 16 frames silent speed (perhaps with a slightly more tensioned belt…?) Brandon > On Jan 4, 2025, at 1:38 PM, Dave Tetzlaff <[email protected]> wrote: > > > "Official" silent speed for 16mm is 16fps, and for many (of the few) > experimental films intended to be shown at silent speed, getting the correct > speed matters, even if the work is abstract. That is, there may be no obvious > issue like a keystone cops speed-up on human motion, so the projection looks > OK to new viewers of the piece. But the overall effect and aesthetic gets > transformed. The classic example, I suppose, is Serene Velocity, which is > anything BUT serene at 24fps or even 18fps. > > Not that the resulting product of "wrong" speed is un-interesting, or somehow > invalid as a piece of art. It's just different, and a deviation from canon > which might matter in terms of discussions of a maker e.g. I could even see a > value in showing students a short work at different speeds and discussing the > difference: > fps in camera and projection being among the fundamental elements of the film > medium, the fiddling with said elements broadly being a defining feature of > "experimental film". > > I have an old B+H silent-only 16mm projector I found at a thrift store, > mainly for display as an object de arte. But you might be able to acquire a > projector specifically for silents on the cheap, rather than trying to find > one ideal do-it-all machine. (?? YMMV) > > > -- > Frameworks mailing list > [email protected] > https://mail.film-gallery.org/mailman/listinfo/frameworks_film-gallery.org -- Frameworks mailing list [email protected] https://mail.film-gallery.org/mailman/listinfo/frameworks_film-gallery.org
