A
film chain or
film island is a
televisionTelevision is a widely used telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images, either monochromatic or color, usually accompanied by sound. "Television" may also refer specifically to a television set, television programming or television transmission...
- TV camera with one or more projectors aligned into the
lensA photographic lens is an optical lens or assembly of lenses used in conjunction with a camera body and mechanism to make images of objects either on photographic film or on other media capable of storing an image chemically or electronically.While in principle a simple convex lens will suffice,...
of the camera. With two or more projectors a system of front-surface mirrors that can pop-up are used in a multiplexer. These mirrors switch different projectors into the camera lens. The camera could be fed live to air for
broadcastingBroadcasting is the distribution of audio and/or video signals which transmit programs to an audience. The audience may be the general public or a relatively large sub-audience, such as children or young adults....
through a
vision mixerA vision mixer is a device used to select between several different video sources and in some cases composite video sources together and add special effects...
or recorded to a VTR for
post-productionPost-production is part of the filmmaking process. It occurs in the making of motion pictures, television programs, radio programs, videos, audio recordings, photography and digital art...
or later broadcast.
A
film chain or
film island is a
televisionTelevision is a widely used telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images, either monochromatic or color, usually accompanied by sound. "Television" may also refer specifically to a television set, television programming or television transmission...
- TV camera with one or more projectors aligned into the
lensA photographic lens is an optical lens or assembly of lenses used in conjunction with a camera body and mechanism to make images of objects either on photographic film or on other media capable of storing an image chemically or electronically.While in principle a simple convex lens will suffice,...
of the camera. With two or more projectors a system of front-surface mirrors that can pop-up are used in a multiplexer. These mirrors switch different projectors into the camera lens. The camera could be fed live to air for
broadcastingBroadcasting is the distribution of audio and/or video signals which transmit programs to an audience. The audience may be the general public or a relatively large sub-audience, such as children or young adults....
through a
vision mixerA vision mixer is a device used to select between several different video sources and in some cases composite video sources together and add special effects...
or recorded to a VTR for
post-productionPost-production is part of the filmmaking process. It occurs in the making of motion pictures, television programs, radio programs, videos, audio recordings, photography and digital art...
or later broadcast. In most TV use this has been replaced by a
telecineTelecine is the process of transferring motion picture film into video form. The term is also used to refer to the equipment used in the process....
Projectors
The projectors often are: 16 mm film
movie projectorA movie projector is an opto-mechanical device for displaying moving pictures by projecting them on a projection screen. Most of the optical and mechanical elements, except for the illumination and sound devices, are present in movie cameras.-Physiology:...
, a 35 mm
slide projectorA slide projector is an opto-mechanical device to view photographic slides. It has four main elements: a fan-cooled electric incandescent light bulb or other light source, a reflector and "condensing" lens to direct the light to the slide, a holder for the slide and a focusing lens...
and a
35 mm film35 mm film is the basic film gauge most commonly used for both still photography and motion pictures, and remains relatively unchanged since its introduction in 1892 by William Dickson and Thomas Edison, using film stock supplied by George Eastman. The photographic film is cut into strips...
movie projector. In low-end use the
motion pictureFilm encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects....
35 mm projector would be replaced by a second 16 mm projector or
8 mm film8 mm film is a motion picture film format in which the filmstrip is eight millimeters wide. It exists in two main versions: the original standard 8mm film, also known as regular 8 mm or Double 8 mm, and Super 8...
, or
Super 8 mm filmSuper 8 mm film, also simply called Super 8, is a motion picture film format released in 1965 by Eastman Kodak as an improvement of the older 8 mm home movie format, and the Cine 8 format....
or
Single-8Single-8 is a motion picture film format introduced by Fujifilm of Japan in 1965 as an alternative to the Kodak Super 8 format. The company Konan claims in its to have developed the Single-8 system in 1959....
projector. The multiplexer with the camera and projectors surrounding it would often be called a
film island.
The optical or
mag or magnetic stripMagnetic tape is a medium for magnetic recording generally consisting of a thin magnetizable coating on a long and narrow strip of plastic. Nearly all recording tape is of this type, whether used for recording audio or video or for computer data storage. It was originally developed in Germany,...
sound track on the motion picture would be picked up by the projector and would be fed to an
audioSound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
soundSound is a travelling wave which is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas, composed of frequencies within the range of hearing and of a level sufficiently strong to be heard, or the sensation stimulated in organs of hearing by such vibrations.- Perception of sound...
mixing consoleIn professional audio, a mixing console, or audio mixer, also called a sound board or soundboard, is an electronic device for combining , routing, and changing the level, timbre and/or dynamics of audio signals. A mixer can mix analog or digital signals, depending on the type of mixer...
or to the VTR. See:
Sound-on-filmSound-on-film refers to a class of sound film processes where the sound accompanying picture is physically recorded onto photographic film, usually, but not always, the same strip of film carrying the picture. Sound-on-film processes can either record an analog sound track or digital sound track,...
, Film Sound and 35 mm Sound.
The slide projector at a TV station would be used for the TV station’s logo, the famous “Please Stand By” slide and some test patterns. Some used a dual-rotating drum slide projector that would have its own mirrors to switch between the drums.
The film projectors used in a film chain are not standard. A special five-blade shutter is used to convert the film’s 24 frames per second into
NTSCNTSC, named for the National Television System Committee is the analog television system used in most of the Americas, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Burma, and some Pacific island nations and territories . is also the name of the U.S. standardization body that developed the broadcast standard...
’s 30 frame per second video. If this was not used the video would have major flicker problems. This process is called a "3:2" pull down. Modern telecines use the same process, but it is done electronically, not with a five-blade shutter. "3:2" pull down means that a film frame is shown for three TV fields. The next film frame is shown for 2 TV fields. The add field in the “3” is used to convert the 24 frames per second to 30 frames per second. A normal projector has a 2 bladed shutter that shows the same frame twice. Before modern continuous motion telecines, film chains were sometime referred to as telecines.
All film projectors use
sprocketThe intermittent mechanism or intermittent movement is the device by which film is regularly advanced and then held in place for a brief duration of time in a movie camera or movie projector. This is in contrast to a continuous mechanism, whereby the film is constantly in motion and the image is...
rollers to move the film and a pull-down claws to move and stop the film in the gate. The film is moved in the gate while the shutter blocks the light.
In
PALPAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television encoding system used in broadcast television systems in large parts of the world. Other common analogue television systems are SECAM and NTSC. This page primarily discusses the colour encoding system...
,
SECAMSECAM, also written SÉCAM , is an analog color television system first used in France....
and other 25 frames per systems the film projector is speeded up one frame per second to 25 frame/s. This gives a one-to-one film to video frame transfer ratio. Thus a standard 2 bladed shutter can be used.
See frame rate differences for more information.
The Camera
A film chain usually used a
video camera tubeIn older video cameras, before the mid to late 1980s, a video camera tube or pickup tube was used instead of a charge-coupled device for converting a video image into an electrical signal. Several types were in use from the 1930s to the 1980s...
as this reduced flicker. vidicon image pick up tube were the preferred pick up for film chains as these gave the least amount of flicker. When CCD-
charge-coupled deviceA charge-coupled device is a device for the movement of electrical charge, usually from within the device to an area where the charge can be manipulated, for example conversion into a digital value. This is achieved by "shifting" the signals between stages within the device one at a time...
cameras were introduced these were also used in a film chain. CCD cameras often gave a sharper picture, but with more flicker.
Early film chains had black and white (B&W) cameras and many were later replaced with color.
The camera could be a standard studio camera, but most often was a camera designed for the purpose of film transfer.
Originally only print positive film was used. Later cameras that could invert and color correct color negative film were used.
Professional video cameraA professional video camera is a high-end device for recording electronic moving images...
s made for film chains were used for broadcast use.
A scene-by-scene color correction option was later added to film chains. This was first done by notching the edge of the film where a color change was wanted. Later, machines that counted the sprocket holes were used. At the mark (the notch or the electronic sprocket-count number) the next stored color correction would occur. See
color gradingColor grading is the process of altering and enhancing the color of a motion picture or television image, either electronically, photo-chemically or digitally. The photo-chemical process is also referred to as color timing and is typically performed at a photographic laboratory...
for more information.
Products
- RCA
RCA Corporation, founded as Radio Corporation of America, was an electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. Currently, the RCA trademark is owned by the French conglomerate Thomson SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Thomson...
was by far the largest maker of film chains with the high end TK-26, TK-27 and TK28. RCA made both the cameras and projectors like the early TP6.
- General Electric
The General Electric Company, or GE , is a multinational American technology and services conglomerate incorporated in the State of New York. In 2009, Forbes ranked GE as the world's largest company...
also made film chains, both in B&W and color; among its color film cameras were the PE-24 and PE-240, both of which used four vidiconIn older video cameras, before the mid to late 1980s, a video camera tube or pickup tube was used instead of a charge-coupled device for converting a video image into an electrical signal. Several types were in use from the 1930s to the 1980s...
tubes (designated as "4-V"). GE film chains were also prevalent in many television stations; one of its largest clients was ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. It first broadcast on television in 1948...
.
- TeleMation Inc. made B&W and color film chains like the TMM-203 Multiplexer and TMU-100 Uniplexers. TeleMation cameras and later film chain camera rack were used for the pick up. These often used Bell & Howell projectors, like the B&H 379. Bell & Howell later purchased Telemation.
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