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Crew rig a Panavision film camera on a scaffold platform on a set.

Learn · Shooting on film · Budget and schedule

A 1,000 ft roll of 4-perf 35mm runs about 11 minutes.

At 24 frames a second, that arithmetic is what the whole schedule sits on.

This page gives the shape of a film budget, not prices. Prices move, and Kodak and the labs quote per job.

Which lines does a digital shoot never have?

Line What to know
Stock Bought by the foot, up front, and not reduced by working faster. Short ends and recans are real inventory; a good clapper loader saves money with them.
Processing Charged by the foot on everything exposed. A slipping ratio shows here first.
Scanning Priced by resolution and volume. Process everything, scan selectively, and decide the policy in prep.
Clapper loader A position digital does not have, and not one to economise on. See the load.
Transport and turnaround Negative goes to the lab daily and securely. Distance is a budget line and a schedule constraint.

The numbers (checked November 2026)

What Figure Source
35mm 4-perf at 24 fps 90 ft a minute; 1,000 ft about 11.1 min; 400 ft about 4.4 min Arithmetic: 16 frames a foot
35mm 3-perf at 24 fps 67.5 ft a minute; 1,000 ft about 14.8 min Arithmetic: about 21.3 frames a foot
16mm at 24 fps 36 ft a minute; 400 ft about 11.1 min Arithmetic: 40 frames a foot
Same-day processing at Kodak Film Lab London Negative delivered before 10am, Monday to Friday Kodak
Weekend and out-of-hours processing By appointment, at extra charge Kodak
A technician preps a camera package on a cart in an equipment store lined with cases.
Prepping a camera package in the kit store. On film, the mags and the loading bay are budget lines.

What does film do to the schedule?

  • Prep grows, shoot shrinks. Camera, lens, stock and lab tests, plus a day watching them. Cutting prep to protect shoot days usually costs more shoot days later.
  • Rehearsal is a line item. It controls the stock line, so schedule it, with cast availability.
  • The day has hard stops. Magazine changes set the rhythm, and the lab's morning cut-off decides when negative leaves set.

What actually goes wrong?

Not a lost roll. A ratio running quietly over, week by week, until the stock and processing lines are gone. Hold contingency against the ratio and review it weekly against the camera reports.

Talk to us about a film shootCrewed technical support, with technology from MR Helix Ltd. Rental house and technical supportWhat we can bring to a production.

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Last reviewed 9 November 2026