Digitized Reality: The Trouble with Motion

Abstract

Although motion is a defining feature of moving images, it is also one of their most problematic aspects due to blurred or partially stuttering images (strobe effect) at the standard frame rate of 24 frames per second (fps). This research was conducted to test the aesthetic and perceptual consequences of higher frame rates in narrative films. In a first step, typical camera movements were recorded at different frame rates and shutter angles to compare assumptions about production aesthetics. Film sequences were then tested using questionnaires and eye-tracking measurements in a cinema experiment involving 69 participants. The results showed that while participants valued the enhanced image quality of higher frame rates, they rated the standard frame rate as more realistic. Movements recorded with higher frame rates seem slower. In general, high frame rates produced more perceptual exploration (e.g. higher number of fixations). Second, a complete short film was shot at 96 fps and finished in different versions (96 fps, 48 fps, 24 fps, and a variable frame rate). All frame rate conversions were carried out in postproduction. The version with a variable frame rate was produced to assess its aesthetic potential. Several presentations and subsequent discussions with film professionals, experts, and students revealed an initial preference for the “cinematic look” of the standard frame rate of 24 fps. Some film professionals believe that both staging and editing need to be adapted to higher frame rates. This paper discusses the aesthetic, perceptual, and artistic consequences of higher frame rates.