Frame rate

In practice corporate video is shot at twenty five frames per second, the European standard, and it looks natural. When we want slow motion we shoot at fifty or a hundred frames and slow it to half or quarter speed in the edit. That decision is made at the camera, not in post. You cannot smoothly slow down a shot recorded at twenty five frames afterwards, it can only be interpolated and it usually looks artificial.

Why it has to be decided in advance: a higher frame rate needs more light and eats more card space, so you do not shoot everything at a hundred frames just in case. In a hall with ordinary lighting, fifty frames is often the ceiling before the image starts to get noisy. That is why the shot list marks which shots are planned for slow motion. It is the difference between a product turning majestically and turning ordinarily.

What it connects to: shutter speed is set from the frame rate, roughly double it, so movement carries natural blur. Break that and the image either stutters like an action game or smears. On a live stream the frame rate is limited by bandwidth, so fifty frames is a luxury that eats the bandwidth the picture quality needs.

Where it is overrated: slow motion is an effect that wears off. Six slow motion shots in a two minute video stop registering and the film drags. And no viewer can tell twenty five frames from thirty, which is worth addressing only for compatibility with footage you already have.

For every shot planned as slow motion we also record a version at normal speed. It costs a minute and it has rescued the pacing in the edit more than once. Try it today: watch your last video and count the slow motion shots, past three it tends to be mannerism.