There are a lot more 16mm films made than there are either features
produced in the "H" place or for TV.  In the fields of documentaria,
especially scientific and nature programing, 16mm is the prefered media.
If you are spending 3 months on an ice flow in antarctica filming
penguins or in the Gobi desert documenting archaelogical excavations,
or even in a lab doing timelapse of developing embryos 16mm is the
better way.  The main problem with electronic media is that they have
a constant demand for electricity which is not always available or of
good enough quality.  A 16mm clockwork drive can run just about
everywhere.  This is one of the reasons that clockwork edison cylinder
audio recorders were in wide use until the late 1970s by anthropologists.
It was only with the introduction a cheap solar and small portable
generating sets that the cassette recorder became more popular.  If you
are in the middle of Borneo you do not want to have to carry 600 lbs of
batteries.  The same principles apply to movie making.  Also the quality
of the image is much better than you can ever get on video.
 
 
Mark Ritchie                      | Tel: (519) 888-4070
Media Librarian                   | Fax: (519) 888-6197
Audio-Visual Centre               |
University of Waterloo            | NetNorth: [log in to unmask]
 
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