Shooting “Open Gate” is a game changer for productivity, but what is it?
The term originates from shooting on film and refers to the “Gate” of a cine camera.
The gate in a cine camera is where the film is held for a fraction of a second, whilst the image is captured.
In a cine camera this could be changed to match the desired aspect ratio of the final film.
So if the production is 16:9, the film gate aspect ratio will match that and effectively crop part of the film.
An “Open Gate” has no crop, and the entire possible frame is captured as it passes through the camera.
Video cameras replicate the gate by not recording data from part of the sensor, cropping to the intended aspect ratio and binning pixels to reduce resolution.
For a UHD 4k video it will shoot 3840 x 2160 pixels, but with “Open Gate” cameras, it shoots 6240 x 4160, a 3:2 aspect ratio.
Instead of cropping and binning, we record the entire 26MP sensor.
A better description is Full Sensor Recording.
The effect is we can produce almost any aspect ratio from the video, without having to shoot specifically for that.
We shoot once and can output 16:9, letterbox, square and most importantly vertical.
Plus we have a better ability to recompose in post, not just due to the increase in resolution, but also the change in aspect ratio.
These factors combined mean we massively increase the flexibility of your video, and as a consequence its productivity and value.
Instead of having to shoot specifically for vertical, we can now get vertical content straight from the original shoot.
“Open Gate” means no longer picking an aspect ratio in advance, or shooting multiple takes to embrace different aspect ratios.
And that’s a game changer, cutting costs and time, as well as future proofing output.
If you want to talk about how we could help you with your next open gate production, Contact Us!
For more top video production tips, keep an eye on our insights!
