Peter Jackson Responds to ‘Hobbit’ Footage Critics, Explains 48-Frames Strategy
...“A lot of the critical response I was reading was people saying it’s different. Well, yes, it certainly is,” Jackson, speaking by phone from New Zealand, said. “But I think, ultimately, it is different in a positive way, especially for 3D, especially for epic films and films that are trying to immerse the viewer in the experience of a story.”
Jackson’s epic, which Warners will release Dec. 14, will be the first major motion picture to be made in 48 fps – a different aesthetic look that Jackson believes can result in smoother, more lifelike pictures.
While many at the crowded showroom at Caesars Palace applauded the depth and detail in the large-scale battle sequences, some found more intimate daylight sequences too crisp and bright, complaining that they looked more like HD video and that the new process sacrificed a traditional “cinematic” feeling.
A number of bloggers, whose opinions quickly ricocheted across the web, found fault with the 48 fps footage. ...
Jackson acknowledged that the short, ten-minute clip package -- ranging from action sequences to quieter moments between Martin Freeman’s Bilbo Baggins and Andy Serkis‘ Gollum – may have been too brief for viewers to acclimate to the new process.
“It does take you a while to get used to,” he said. ...
Because of that, he isn’t planning to release a 48 fps trailer for the movie. ...
"You get used to it reasonably quickly,” he said, commenting that now when he views traditional 24 frames footage, “I’m very aware of the strobing, the flicker and the artifacts."...
Because production is not scheduled to wrap until July, the customary postproduction that affects the overall look of a film has not yet been done, so the clips were unfinished. They were not yet color corrected, nor had the visual effects been completed. (In various scenes the actors were shown performing in front of a greenscreen.)
Jackson explained that his original The Lord of the Rings used various postproduction techniques to create a certain look for the movies, including “extensive” digital color grading, “added texture, and we took out highlights."
“We’ll do the same with The Hobbit, to make it consistent and give it the feeling of otherworldliness – to get the mood, the tone, the feel of the different scenes,” he said. “We are certainly going to experiment with different finishing techniques to give the 48 frames a look that is more organic. But that work isn’t due to start until we wrap photography in July (both Hobbit films are being shot simultaneously)."
Jackson is also lensing the movie – which is being shot in 3D, a first for the franchise – using Red Epic cameras with 3Ality Technica 3D rigs.
The Red Epic, Jackson explained, allowed him to shoot in 5K resolution. (5K refers to the number of horizontal pixels that compose a frame.) Today, movies are generally lensed and projected at 2K, though the industry is moving in the direction of 4K.
“It is very clean. On a 5K camera you are seeing very crisp pictures,” he said. ...
In contrast to the first wave of skeptical tweets, a sampling of reaction from exhibitors, studio executives and producers at Cinemacon found many saying that 48 fps represents the wave of the future.
At one panel, Regal CEO Amy Miles said her circuit is committed to 48 frame rates, and that technological advances are key to a thriving in the exhibition business. ...
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