A Newsreel in 1903 Was Smoother Than Newsreels in 1915. Why?
Oct. 24, 2009
This YouTube video of London in 1903 is excellent. The people seem to walk normally. Yet this is not what we are used to. Old newsreels are usually sped up.
My guess is that the later-model newsreel cameras were designed to reduce film usage. The frames per second were reduced deliberately. When played in a theater, the number of frames per second increased, speeding up the movies on-screen. The Wiki entry on "Silent Film" says:
Until the standardization of the projection speed of 24 frames per second (fps) for sound films in 1926, silent films were shot at variable speeds (or "frame rates"), typically anywhere from 16 to 23 frames per second or faster, depending on the year and studio. Unless carefully shown at their original speeds they can appear unnaturally fast and jerky, which reinforces their alien appearance to modern viewers.
Sometimes, we get fooled about old technology. Older can be better. (I say this as a user of 1984 PC/AT keyboards -- clickety-clack.)
