I once lent a 35mm print to a festival on reels, and it came back on cores with the reels shipped separately because somewhere along the lines there was a miscommunication about the terms bobbins, spools, and reels. I think there was something weird with their spindle size too. An amusing mixup.
In 35mm (at least in the Midwest US): Spool = Nobody here says spool unless they're talking about cameras, like a daylight spool. I would consider spool synonymous with reel because I've heard people in england say "spool box" which I would call a "reel bin" (or they could also mean) "magazine" (as on a projector, not a camera). Reels = The thing that holds the film (shipping reel, split reel, house reel), but also the film itself (West Side Story reel 5 of 12). If a reel of a feature film is on a core, it's still a reel, even if it's not a reel. Roll = The only time I would say roll is "camera roll" or "AB rolls" - Now that I think of it a 2000' "unit" of raw stock might be called a roll, but when it is printed and processed to become West Side Story Reel 5 it is suddenly a "reel." A fascinating question! I could think about this all day! Also, I *load* a camera but *thread* a projector. On Thu, Apr 23, 2020 at 3:08 PM Dave Tetzlaff <[email protected]> wrote: > I would say that “roll” refers to the film itself, “spool” and “reel” > refer to objects the film is wound onto, each of which have sides — as > opposed to “cores” which do not — and are sized by their capacity, rather > than diameter as is the case with audiotape reels. E.g. a standard small > audio reel is 5”, and standard small film reel 400’. While “spool" and > “reel” are sometimes used interchangeably, I would say a spool generally > denotes both a smaller object, and one on which camera original is wound, > while a reel contains a finished copy for projection. Film reel generally > have open sides while spools have solid sides. > > Examples: > 16mm > > A 100’ load for a Bolex 16mm comes on a solid metal daylight spool, and is > wound onto another 100’ daylight spool form take-up. > > The lab might send the footage back on a 100’ plastic spool that’s no good > for in-camera use because it’s translucent. > > When you edit your workprint, the film is wound between cores, either on a > flatbed, or, if you’re on an upright bench with a syncronizer, the cores > are mounted into split-reels. (I’ve never heard them called split-spools, > but YMMV) > > After you send the materials for your edited short film off to the lab, > the answer print comes back on a 400’ (e.g.) projection reel. > > Super 8 > > A 50’ load comes in a cartridge. After you exposeit, you send it to the > lab and they send the film back on a white plastic 50’ spool. You thread > that through your projector onto a 200’ take-up reel. > > IDK about 35mm > > > Is there a difference in standard measurements of lengths of film on > spools, reels and rolls? > > > > A roll of film is for shorter lengths while a reel is for longer ones? > for example, 100 foot roll and 1000 foot reel > > > > Can you say a spool of film - or have i confused things? Are these terms > different for super 8, 16 and 35mm? > > > > Any help in untangling and defining this will be much appreciated! > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > FrameWorks mailing list > > [email protected] > > https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks > > _______________________________________________ > FrameWorks mailing list > [email protected] > https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks > -- Julian Antos Chicago Film Society www.chicagofilmsociety.org <http://www.northwestchicagofilmsociety.org/> 773 827 8991 <(773)%20827-8991>
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