Grease Live, 1/24 shutter speed... at DVinfo.net

Jack Zhang · January 31st, 2016, 09:20 PM

STOP. STOP DOING THIS.

The steadicam operator for this production left their shutter speed on 1/24 (360 degrees) when they have to capture TONS of high motion content going from set to set...

The footage is so blurry it's pretty much unwatchable. NEVER use 1/24 or 360 degree shutter speeds on a Steadicam shot that requires high motion...

This is absolutely disgusting.

John Nantz · February 1st, 2016, 01:31 PM

Jack - didn’t know what “Grease Live” was and since I’ve got the Grease DVD, I did a quick search and found out that it was a TV program. We don’t watch much TV so missed it.

For those not getting “our” TV programs just do a youtube search for “Grease: Live” and there are a number of performances. One of the tunes “Rock ’n Roll is Here to Stay” really shows the bad effects of their 1/24 shutter speed. It’s almost like watching an early circa 1900 Thomas Edison movie. After watching a few of these one can almost feel a headache coming on.

Give ‘em a Razzie Award?

Jack Zhang · February 1st, 2016, 04:10 PM

This aired on broadcast TV on the FOX network in the US. Full 1080psf24 workflow with Sony servers, switchers, F55s, and HDC-4300s... and they used 1/24 shutter speed on select cameras on a live broadcast...

How could you overlook such a simple thing as turning on the "shutter" function to ensure all cameras were 1/48 or 180 degrees?

Here's the video in question from John:

David Aronson · February 2nd, 2016, 05:28 PM

Wasn't the Steadicam op's fault. Their job was to operate steadicam. Depending on how this was run, either the 1st AC or Video op had the shutter set wrong.

Charles Papert · February 3rd, 2016, 10:40 AM

It appeared to me that all of the cameras were set this way, so that must have been a choice (perhaps to gain a stop?). I didn't agree with it either. I could imagine a scenario where there was some debate on whether to shoot 24p or not (because traditionally that doesn't feel "live") and someone suggested the no-shutter look as a halfway compromise.

Overall I was impressed with the production, but this would have been amongst my nitpicks. Others would include: some odd coverage angles that felt not as well thought out as they could be (the occasional handheld shot was distracting), some overly wide angles on the Steadicam in hallway scenes, visible tracing paper on windows that weren't blown out enough (I would chalk that up to broadcast engineers being traditionally nervous about clipping), and more that I've already forgotten about.

January 31st, 2016, 09:20 PM	#1
Jack Zhang Inner Circle Join Date: May 2005 Location: Burnaby, BC, Canada Posts: 3,053	Grease Live, 1/24 shutter speed... STOP. STOP DOING THIS. The steadicam operator for this production left their shutter speed on 1/24 (360 degrees) when they have to capture TONS of high motion content going from set to set... The footage is so blurry it's pretty much unwatchable. NEVER use 1/24 or 360 degree shutter speeds on a Steadicam shot that requires high motion... This is absolutely disgusting.

February 1st, 2016, 01:31 PM	#2
John Nantz Trustee Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Seattle WA Posts: 1,256	Re: Grease Live, 1/24 shutter speed... Jack - didn’t know what “Grease Live” was and since I’ve got the Grease DVD, I did a quick search and found out that it was a TV program. We don’t watch much TV so missed it. For those not getting “our” TV programs just do a youtube search for “Grease: Live” and there are a number of performances. One of the tunes “Rock ’n Roll is Here to Stay” really shows the bad effects of their 1/24 shutter speed. It’s almost like watching an early circa 1900 Thomas Edison movie. After watching a few of these one can almost feel a headache coming on. Give ‘em a Razzie Award?

February 1st, 2016, 04:10 PM	#3
Jack Zhang Inner Circle Join Date: May 2005 Location: Burnaby, BC, Canada Posts: 3,053	Re: Grease Live, 1/24 shutter speed... This aired on broadcast TV on the FOX network in the US. Full 1080psf24 workflow with Sony servers, switchers, F55s, and HDC-4300s... and they used 1/24 shutter speed on select cameras on a live broadcast... How could you overlook such a simple thing as turning on the "shutter" function to ensure all cameras were 1/48 or 180 degrees? Here's the video in question from John: GREASE: LIVE \| "Rock 'n Roll is Here to Stay" \| FOX BROADCASTING - YouTube

February 2nd, 2016, 05:28 PM	#4
David Aronson Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Arlington VA Posts: 84	Re: Grease Live, 1/24 shutter speed... Wasn't the Steadicam op's fault. Their job was to operate steadicam. Depending on how this was run, either the 1st AC or Video op had the shutter set wrong.

February 3rd, 2016, 10:40 AM	#5
Charles Papert Wrangler Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 6,810	Re: Grease Live, 1/24 shutter speed... It appeared to me that all of the cameras were set this way, so that must have been a choice (perhaps to gain a stop?). I didn't agree with it either. I could imagine a scenario where there was some debate on whether to shoot 24p or not (because traditionally that doesn't feel "live") and someone suggested the no-shutter look as a halfway compromise. Overall I was impressed with the production, but this would have been amongst my nitpicks. Others would include: some odd coverage angles that felt not as well thought out as they could be (the occasional handheld shot was distracting), some overly wide angles on the Steadicam in hallway scenes, visible tracing paper on windows that weren't blown out enough (I would chalk that up to broadcast engineers being traditionally nervous about clipping), and more that I've already forgotten about. __________________ Charles Papert www.charlespapert.com