First, since it sounds like you're actually acquiring your images electronically, it's important that you NOT use the word "film." Standard frame rate for FILM is 24fps.

VIDEO, on the other hand, as you already know, is acquired at various frame rates that are based on a host of factors.

In many cases, you will want to acquire your footage at the frame rate that your project will ultimately deliver on. This was very much the case prior to High Definition when the choices really were to shoot in NTSC at 29.97fps or PAL at 25fps.

Now, you can make choices based on "look" rather than being constrained by broadcast standards. I'm going to guess that you prefer a "film look" more than a "tv look," so your best option in that case is to shoot at 23.98fps. Notice that I did NOT say 24P. In the majority of cases, you will not want to shoot at straight 24fps video UNLESS you plan a direct "filmout," meaning that you will scan your final edit onto filmstock for projection. If that is NOT the case, then 23.98fps IS the best choice for a number of technical reasons. (here's a link to just one explanation for why this is: http://www.2-popforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=99460 and http://www.2-popforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73883 )

So, the point is that to get a more "filmic" look, you'll want to shoot closer to 24fps and in the case of HD, that number is ACTUALLY 23.98fps. Many prosumer cameras "cheat" and round up their frame rates to 24, 30, and 60, when in fact, they are actually shooting at 23.98, 29.97, and 59.94. When it comes to acquiring your footage and post-production, it is VITAL that you know precisely what your cameras are recording so that you won't end up with a very expensive problem later in the pipeline.

To help stave off any problems, it is HIGHLY recommended that you shoot tests with the camera(s) you plan to use and then send that footage all the way through the post-production chain for picture and sound. And by all means, before any decisions are made regarding frame-rates and other acquisition issues, get your post-production personnel involved from the start. If they know what they are doing, they'll be able to guide your acquisition choices so that the editing process goes smoothly on a technical level and that you are able to make the distribution conversions you'll want/need for various markets.

You might also want to post this question at http://www.cinematography.com/ and http://www.cinematography.net/ where many working internationally experienced professionals participate in the forums.

Brian Dzyak
Cameraman/Author
IATSE Local 600, SOC
http://www.whatireallywanttodo.com
http://www.realfilmcareer.com

I have a feeling that the original poster wouldn't ask the question if there were a post-production crew behind him. What I could deduct from his post is:

1. It is an indie (and, likely, amateur) documentary;
2. The author lives in a PAL country, but plans to shoot in a NTSC country;
3. The author hopes to show the final product in NTSC, as well as PAL countries;
4. The author seems to imply he wants to shoot in SD, and possibly with consumer cameras, both PAL, as well as NTSC.

If the above four are true, the post work will likely be a nightmare. No consumer SD camcorder has choice of different frame rates. NTSC models shoot at 60i, PAL at 50i, and that's that. HD models are a bit better, many of them offering progressive frame rates. Regardless, embarking on a moviemaking project with a consumer camcorder will make it extremely challenging to get the good enough material for it to show reasonably well at its final destination (broadcast TV, DVD, online video, etc). HD consumer camcorders are much better, but still nowhere near the quality that would make cinematographer's life easier (not to mention the post work).

I have a feeling the original poster is planning (hoping) to shoot this by himself, or with a helper or two. Such work would really demand very good camera.

In my own opinion (nowhere near as professional as Brians, though), the lease amount of headache for the post would be to get an American model of any of the popular semi-pro HD cameras (something along the lines of Panasonic HMC-150), shoot 24p and edit it in the true 24p timeline. EU models usually don't have 24p (they only do 25p). For distribution in NTSC (SD), insertion of pulldown frames is simple and easy; if it needs to go out to PAL (SD), speeding up the track to 25p is fairly trivial (just the way it's done with analogue film transfer to PAL). If this is to be distributed in countries such as Brazil (PAL/60i), considerations will have to be made regarding video standards and frame rates.

Editing a melange of standard-def framerates, plus two flavours (and image sizes) of PAL and NTSC (720x586, vs. 720x480) will be a nightmare. To convert PAL (SD) into NTSC (SD) for editing the entire movie in the same timeline requires proper deinterlacing, then non-proportionately down-scaling the image, then duplicating some frames/fields to match the frame rates. The final result will be quite noticeably different from native footage in NTSC. Same goes for the opposite direction (NTSC to PAL, for editing in a PAL timeline).

The only reasonable way to deal with the requirements for output in various SD standards is to shoot and edit in HD (preferably at 24p, but any progressive rate will do, if 24p isn't available) and transcode to SD at the final stage.

Thank you both for the strong advice. It has helped alot!

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