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Movies

For the grown-up beside a child who loves movies.

The sideline card

Three numbers to notice

  1. Film runs at 24 frames each second; slow motion films more frames and plays them back at the usual speed.
  2. The start time plus the running time gives the time a film ends.
  3. Screen shapes: a cinema screen is much wider for its height than an old television picture.

On the way home, ask: “Which scene would you watch again in slow motion?”

Ask because you are curious, and let any answer stand. Print this page for a half-page card.

Understand it

A short course for you

Where it came from

A little history, and what nobody knows

Twenty-four

Silent films were shot and shown at varying speeds. When sound arrived in the late 1920s, film settled on 24 frames a second.

Why 24 and not a nearby number is not settled; accounts differ.

Source: Frame rate (Wikipedia)

Your child's ladder · on Spark & Anvil

The same idea at every age

  1. Ages 3–5Make It Grow
  2. Ages 6–8When Does the Film End?
  3. Ages 9–14Not made yet
  4. Ages 15–18Ease In, Ease Out

Your child will meet this idea again at every age. The tools and courses here are the part for you.