Tweet FPS of a 1907 Vitagraph film- is there a correct one?

I thought I'd run this question by the many [varied] enthusiasts here who have more expertise than I do on the subject of frame rates...

I'm currently working on a 1907 Vitagraph lightning sketch film similar to Humorous Phases of Funny Faces but is shorter and relies much more on live action than animation. Obviously, the thing runs much too fast at sound speed.

In your collective opinions, what might a proper rate for a film of this vintage and studio be? Is it suitable to slow it down to the point where action goes at the 'normal' speed that it would in real-life, or is there a more popular and slightly faster standard that one might adopt such as 16fps, 18, etc...I'm just not sure myself, and I'm not particularly a fan of comedy, novelty, or animated films that have been slowed down to a great extent. Video Yesteryear's old AccuSpeed (was that the name?) comes to mind...blech!

[Christopher Jacobs]

An average rate for most films made before 1919 is often considered to be about 16-18 fps, but quite a few late teens films (and even some mid-teens films) still look good at 20-24 fps. Pre-1910 films, however (with certain exceptions), generally look best around 16 fps if not a few fps slower. Basically, the frame rate is what looks "right" to the person projecting (admittedly a subjective opinion). A motion picture guidebook published in 1913 (David Hulfish, "Motion-Picture Work") declared that the normal speed for most black-and-white silent films should be about 14 frames per second.

The slowest speed at which it has been found practicable to project a series of images having ordinary motion, as of actors walking, and to smooth out the jerkiness which would be expected by the step-by-step nature of the projection when the persistence-of-vision method is used, is about fourteen pictures per second. Fourteen pictures are to be projected each second, and with uniformity.

The running time of a full 1000-foot reel he says is about 20 minutes. He also describes early sound film processes and Kinemacolor projection, which were run faster -- almost 18 fps (for 15 minutes per reel) and 32 fps (for about 8 minutes per reel), which he notes require specially-built projectors that can handle the speed without damaging the film, as well as electric motors because it would be too much work for an operator to hand-crank an entire reel at that rate.

Of course shooting rates and projection rates gradually increased every year, especially the next few years following that book's publication, but a 1907 live-action film should probably be run somewhere between 12 and 18 fps, with 15 fps being a good compromise rate to start with. Comedies would probably be better to run at a slightly faster rate than serious dramas or newsreels. Early animated films, I've noticed, tend to look better between 18 and 24 fps, probably because it was too much work to draw all the individual fractions of a second and the drawings were each filmed for two or three frames with six to twelve drawings per second.

I can't speak from practical experience, but I have seen a couple of interesting contemporary discussions of correct projection speed in old film journals. This one comes from the Moving Picture World of May 9, 1908:

Lessons for Operators

By F.H. Richardson, Operator, Chicago (1908)

Chapter IX. - The Picture

Speed

There is no hard and fast rule that can be laid down governing speed, it depending largely on the subject. It may, however, be said that 70 feet per minute is about as fast as any film should be run under any circumstances with 45 as the limit the other way, this latter being available only with heavily colored films in which there are so fast moving figures.

Slower than 40 feet would not be very safe and with a very powerful light the writer would not like to risk even that speed.

Dark or colored films may be run at much lower speed than may light ones since the flicker does not show in them nearly so much.

In general the film should be run at the speed that will produce a minimum of flicker combines with lifelike, nature motion of the figures, the latter being of prime importance.

In a scene in which a man jumps from a window, if the film be run too slow a ridiculous effect is produced, while, on the other hand, if the figure of a man walking is run at too high a speed an equally grotesque effect is produced. Watch the curtain closely and govern speed to suit the action in the picture. It is as likely as not that speed should be changed several times in different portions of the same film. It all depends on the density of the film and the action of the figures.

With the Powers, Edison and most standard machines, one turn of the crank runs off exactly one foot of film, so that normal speed is about 66 turns of the crank per minute and by counting turns you know just how fast you are running.

I thought I'd run this question by the many [varied] enthusiasts here who have more expertise than I do on the subject of frame rates...

I'm currently working on a 1907 Vitagraph lightning sketch film similar to Humorous Phases of Funny Faces but is shorter and relies much more on live action than animation. Obviously, the thing runs much too fast at sound speed.

In your collective opinions, what might a proper rate for a film of this vintage and studio be? Is it suitable to slow it down to the point where action goes at the 'normal' speed that it would in real-life, or is there a more popular and slightly faster standard that one might adopt such as 16fps, 18, etc...I'm just not sure myself, and I'm not particularly a fan of comedy, novelty, or animated films that have been slowed down to a great extent. Video Yesteryear's old AccuSpeed (was that the name?) comes to mind...blech!

With HUMOROUS PHASES, you're fine around 20 fps. I'd say go with that.


RICHARD M ROBERTS

You're a very brave and foolish man to ask a question about projection rates around here, Tom.

Bob

Thank you all for your insight, I appreciate the various suggestions and historical references. I'll play around with the film accordingly to see what looks good.