The term filmstrip originates from the actual film stocks used in filmmaking.
A filmstrip project resembles the actual film frames found in a movie's film stock. It shows a long strip separated into rectangular frames that feature a series of images. These images are labeled by sequential codes to determine the order they appear in the movie. Coming up with a filmstrip project for students in a school or workshop helps students hone their storytelling skills.
Filmstrip Look and Function
A filmstrip is distinct with its rectangular frames that show related images and perforations. These perforations are more popularly called perfs in filmmaking work. They are very small identical holes that line up on the top and bottom of the film when it is placed on a horizontal position. On a vertical position, these perfs are seen on the left and right sides of the film. For a movie production, these small, rectangular perfs allow the film to attach properly to the film sprockets. Each film sprocket attaches to one perf, then the mechanical sprocket body moves to play back the film.
Image Order
The empty rectangular frames on a filmstrip project are filled with corresponding images, which may be a photo attached to each frame or a hand-drawn or computer-drawn image directly made or attached to each frame. The frames are also numbered in the order they appear. These images follow the left to right viewing order the eyes are accustomed to when reading texts. The first frame is typically labeled "1," the second is labeled "2," and so on. Once the end of the row on the paper is reached, the next frame is placed on the leftmost side of the next bottom row.
Telling a Story
The interconnected images appearing on a filmstrip project should be able to tell a story similar to a storyboard. In fact, some productions, especially short-form projects like a TV or online advertisement, would use the filmstrip look for their storyboards. In a school project, the student can think of a very short story or scene, then communicate this story visually using a filmstrip. For instance, a student may be required to make a story about his dream holiday vacation or a fantasy story about fairies and other magical beings. In such cases, each empty frame gets filled with a photo or drawing in order to tell the story's beginning, middle and end.
Making the Filmstrip
There are a variety of looks and uses for a filmstrip. Essentially, it is used as a means to tell a story. Making one typically requires a piece of paper with a printout or a drawing of the filmstrip, then photos or drawings are placed on the empty frames. Other filmstrips are entirely made using a computer, then their printouts, complete with the required images, are released after. Often, a filmstrip is made using an image-editing program. Some of these programs already have filmstrip formats that people can simply fill up with images. Yet, others prefer to create their own formats so they have better control on the actual look of their filmstrips.
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