48fps The Hobbit - First Review

[Alexander Ibrahim]

I was not comparing Lawless to the Hobbit, I was comparing it to Public Enemies. Sorry if I did not make that clear. Both Lawless and Public Enemies use digital cameras to shoot films about gangsters during the depression. One opts for a more traditional 180 degree shutter (Lawless) while the other tries to shake things up with a 360 degree shutter (Public Enemies) which produces very ugly digital looking images. Lawless looks normal and quite pretty in my opinion while Public Enemies looked like crap, so much so that it ruined my enjoyment of the film. The example was designed to illustrate the fact that making a big change to the way a film appears to the audience can have a negative effect on the film if the audience hates the look. The 360 degree shutter did nothing for Public Enemies except make it look ugly and it sounds like 48fps has done the same thing with The Hobbit. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Oh, that couldn't have anything to do with Public Enemies being shot on an early F900 and Lawless being shot on an Alexa?

Those are two radically different cameras!

It couldn't have to do with anything else about the image ... for example the low light, noise and grain levels on Public Enemies? Nope its got to be the shutter.

Also ... I think that despite the image flaws (which I am not a fan of for 24p) Public Enemies looks better and more interesting. I actually fell asleep during the Lawless trailer. In fact, I'm pretty damn sure I'd rather watch Public Enemies on VHS "full screen" than Lawless on Red Laser.

[Alexander Ibrahim]

I have to say I am surprised at the vitriol on the net about all of this.

This is about creative options for filmmakers.

The nice thing about cinemas getting upgraded to project 48fps is... it's a fun new look and definitely helps 3D. And you can still play 24fps fine too.

You can easily mix stuff too - have the film at 24fps... but maybe you have ONE MOMENT of the film that you think looks better or achieves a certain creative effect at 48fps: you now have the creative option to show that the way you want to.

The internet seems to be filled with a bunch of whiny jerks who think that Mr Jackson or Mr Cameron should make movies the way they want them to.

What a nerve! Jackson and Cameron can do whatever the hell they want. And guys who like 24fps 2D film can keep doing it. Nobody's stopping them. In fact, now 24fps becomes an artistic choice.

The whiny jerks are free to get off their asses and make movies the way they want. But they'll never do that, of course. Too much work.

Bruce Allen
www.boacinema.com

Yeah! What that guy said!

[Alexander Ibrahim]

Even film shot at 48fps looks like video. Terrible terrible terrible idea for narrative motion pictures!!!!!

That statement is an oxymoron.

Film shot at any frame rate looks like film.

You know ... because it actually is film.

You don't like high frame rates? Cool ... but lets not get overboard here.

[Ryan Farnes]

Other advancements in motion picture history that met with mixed reaction:

Sound.
Color.
Digital.
3D.

Why should a frame rate change be any different?

Because those changes happened immediately after their absence. Higher frame rates have existed for decades and have been universally shunned in the cinema world. Only now with 3D is it becoming a discussion point.

[Scott Crawley]

Because those changes happened immediately after their absence. Higher frame rates have existed for decades and have been universally shunned in the cinema world. Only now with 3D is it becoming a discussion point.

3D has also been around for decades. It may have fallen out of the mainstream and come back, but it hasn't been new for a long time. The reason those technologies met with mixed reactions was they were both unfamiliar, and unrefined. IMHO.

[Drew Baird]

Really? So, what do you say about Hugo or the most recent post converted 24fps Titanic?

I really enjoyed Hugo. I watched it in both 2D and 3D in the theaters. The 3D had constant strobing. I have only seen the trailer for Titanic in 3D, but it had the same issue. Same with DoF. Good movies, not made better by 3D. Avatar is on the same list; there were great things about it, but the 3D was flawed. Just because they are good movies done in 3D, it doesn't mean that the 3D was done well.

[Joe G.]

Well somebody has to say it:

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy was gorgeous +1. I'd kill to be able to shoot like that.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[Joe G.]

I also dispute this assumption, which has been made repeatedly with an accompanying assumption that faster is better:

"and that the only reason I like 24 fps is because I'm more accustomed to it. "

Different frequencies affect the mind differently. The mind operates at pulsing frequencies (alpha, beta). This flickering 24fps has a way of regimenting the mind and tuning it into a kind of trance state. It is not at all clear that higher frequencies affect the mind the same way.

[Scott Crawley]

I also dispute this assumption, which has been made repeatedly with an accompanying assumption that faster is better:

"and that the only reason I like 24 fps is because I'm more accustomed to it. "

Different frequencies affect the mind differently. The mind operates at pulsing frequencies (alpha, beta). This flickering 24fps has a way of regimenting the mind and tuning it into a kind of trance state. It is not at all clear that higher frequencies affect the mind the same way.

In this interview http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpZd-UoYWCY (link provided by Erich Ocean) Trumbull says that his research showed peak emotional and physical response in the neighborhood of 72 FPS. Take it as you like it.

[Ryan Farnes]

I predict a bit of a kerfuffle ensues when The Hobbit gets released. If people at an event called CinemaCon are so conspicuously divided, I cannot imagine what the public reaction will be before, during and after December.

Square peg, round hole? Sure, you can jam it in there, the landscapes look awesome, the strobing is gone, but the texture of the motion might be a step backwards.