'The Hobbit': High frame rate showings will be limited

'The Hobbit' director Peter Jackson originally planned for movie to be shown at a higher frame rate, but the film will now be seen at a normal rate in most theaters.

|
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
'The Hobbit' cast and crew members attend Comic-Con.

For those who are not well-versed in the vocabulary of film technology: Peter Jackson’s upcoming adaptation of The Hobbit (which is now, officially, a trilogy) has garnered some early controversy, due to Jackson’s decision to film at 48 frames-per-second – or double the rate of standard films, which typically run at 24 fps. The higher frame rate is supposed to make a movie look more “realistic,” by smoothing out motion and cleaning up images, so that events onscreen seem to look and move more in the vein of how the eye perceives real life.

With The Hobbit showing in both 48 fps and 3D, there has been much interest in Jackson potentially ushering in a new era of film tech; however, early screenings of The Hobbit received more negative press than Warner Bros. would have liked. As such, the studio is limiting the number of locations that will show the film in 48 fps.

Variety has the exclusive news that WB is going to release The Hobbit high frame rate (HFR) theatrical cuts only in select locations – and not necessarily nationwide. One might assume that this move comes under the weight of continued bad press – but to the contrary, Variety‘s sources claim that more recent screenings of the film in 48 fps have yielded much more positive results, now that Jackson has had a chance to add some post-production polish. The limited release is therefore rationalized as a prudent step to test the market for HFR movies, while still ensuring that viewers will be satisfied with their Hobbit experience, by offering a wide release at the safe and familiar normal frame rate.

HFR movie-making is poised to be the “next big thing” in cinema, following the IMAX, digital, and 3D advances in filmmaking that we have seen in the last decade. In fact, in film tech circles, preparation for the shift to HFR (48 fps up to 120 fps) has been going on for some time, with 3D camera and projection manufacturers already fitting their products with HFR native and conversion capabilities. The Hobbit will indeed be the guinea pig for the movement, and by early 2013, we should have a pretty good idea if HFR will become a new standard, or another failed experiment laid to rest next to Laserdiscs and Aroma Vision (safe bet is on the former).

If you’ve never seen HFR footage; some TV sets (like those made by rising company, Vizio) offer a “smooth-effect” that works like a bastardized version of HFR. Those who have seen the real deal report that it is a slightly unnerving experience at first, as it is somewhat like watching a stage play (especially in 3D), rather than a film. Standard film contains all the imperfections and graininess that tell the mind it’s watching a filmed image – which, for some (like myself), is a main component of an enjoyable viewing experience. HFR filming is not going to be an easy sell for those types – even when crafted by a talented and ambitious director like Jackson.

Kofi Outlaw blogs at Screen Rant.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to 'The Hobbit': High frame rate showings will be limited
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Culture-Cafe/2012/0809/The-Hobbit-High-frame-rate-showings-will-be-limited
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe