One of the most basic mechanisms of the motion picture is frame rate — how fast those frames of still images flicker past your eye to produce the magical effect of cinema. This video traces the history of why such values as 24, 30 or 60 frames per second came to be standard.
The 15-minute video by Filmmaker IQ goes all the way back to the birth of cinema with inventors like Thomas Edison coming up with rules that would be followed for decades. The lesson curves through the advent of sound, television broadcasting, and finally, digital video. Each new technology had to take into account this humble value known as frame rate.
These numbers still have huge implications for how motion pictures are made and perceived by audiences. We took a dive into this very topic not long ago! As technology continues to change, it’s anyone’s guess how future frame rate standards will evolve, and what effect it will have on the movies and videos we love. [ISO 1200]