Project frame rate and frame guide

I had some questions here for other filmmakers about what project frame rate AND which frame guide on the BMPCC they use when shooting their project? I imagine that a lot of us when shooting our own film have no idea if it will ever be picked up so there is no standard the company sets before shooting.

Is there a set standard I should follow?

Standard film distribution for a theater is 1.89:1 and 2.39:1 aspect ratios. Those are 4096x2160 and 4096x1716 for 4K DCI and 2048x1080 and 2048x858 for 2K DCI.


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Oh, and most common frame rate for cinema is 24 non-drop frame. Otherwise drop frame rate of 23.976 is used for a lot of digital distribution.


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Tim, 23.976 isn't a drop-frame rate.
This only accounts for 29.97 and that can have drop frame timecode or not.

All my narrative projects have been in 2.39:1 aspect ratio. Majority were shot at 24fps and a few at 23.976fps.

On the original BMPCC, it was shot and delivered in HD at 2.39:1 framing. All shot at 24 fps.

On the BMCC 2.5K, it was shot in 2.5K and delivered in FHD at 2.39:1 framing. All shot at 24fps.

On the URSA and BMPCC 4K and 6K, it was shot in 4K DCI, 4K UHD, and 5.7K respectively. We delivered the majority in FHD and 2K, and only one was in 4K UHD. All had 2.39:1 framing. Most were 24fps, some 23.976fps including the 4K UHD.

The distributors wanted HD and FHD, and 2K only. Just one production company asked for 4K UHD. Final package were mostly DCP Jpeg2000.

I had some questions here for other filmmakers about what project frame rate AND which frame guide on the BMPCC they use when shooting their project? I imagine that a lot of us when shooting our own film have no idea if it will ever be picked up so there is no standard the company sets before shooting.

Is there a set standard I should follow?

Umm, last I recall BM only provides frame guides and still recorded the full frame anyway - even if you wanted to shoot spherical widescreen at 2:39:1 but I don't own any G2 gear so no idea whats there - if you plan to screen your movie in the theaters I'd go with 24.00 and tell this to your sound dept as well -

If you think it will end up on TV do 23.976 and obviously change the guides to fit ATSC or EBU standards. For safety it's much easier to add black box to a 16:9 for a 1.85 for delivery in 2K - than it is to go the other way in terms of framing. But that is a discussion you should have with your Post people, unless you are post.

There is also this concept called frame safe and title safe and etc.. you might want to google those, so 2.35 is originating ration for wide, while 2.39 is the gated projection ratio - so you can have issues if something is close to frame edge using certain tech, online streaming not being one of them.

And you can always shoot Academy or Square if your project needs it, and track the raw frames about if you care. - My typical setup is to shoot 16:9 where the final is 2.39:1 - so I can scale or stabilize or reframe.