Page 1 of Hobbit To Shoot At 48fps

Peter Jackson has announced his intention on his Facebook page to shoot his long-awaited Lord Of The Rings prequel The Hobbit in the digital domain at 48 frames per second rather than the traditional 24. According to the director, there will be 10,000 screens worldwide capable of showing the movie at the new refresh rate (and of course in 3D).

The higher frame rate has been utilised in the past, but the increased cost of prints (twice the footage) has limited its adoption. As Hobbit will be distributed digitally, that will no longer be an issue. The increased frame rate will reduce flicker in the image to a minimum, making for a much less headache-inducing 3D experience. Audiences should find the increased frame rate makes the screen image more realistic and immersive.

J Mark Oates

It`s not because the Hobbits are half the size is it & have to be shot at twice the speed.



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Smooth panoramic scans.. :)

Ste

Quote:
sj says...
Smooth panoramic scans.. Happy
The first thing I learnt when I bought an 8mm camera, was when you pan, always pan at least twice as slow as you think you should, holds the same today with video cameras & even a film with 48 fps will make people feel sick or dizzy if it is panned too fast.

This is preparation for the successor to Blu-ray, Green-ray, which will be double the storage space and require all new kit to enjoy. It will also feature Overbit audio technology from Dolby Digital which is twice the resolution that the human ear can discern.

The final feature it will have is 4D, where time is actually encoded into the disc itself so you can watch the entire film without actually using a single second from your busy day. This will also feature heavily in the cinema releases, so actual showings will be every 5 minutes throughout the day, putting more bums on seats than ever before.


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At what point are we then plugged into The Matrix. I think that went over my head somewhat.

24fps is a hangover from the early days of cinema.  1927 to be precise.  It was introduced as a standard for synchronised sound projectors.  Up to then, projectors had been either hand-cranked (like the cameras) or run at any arbitrary rate between 12 and 30fps depending on the Heath Robinson setup in the projection booth.  With The Jazz Singer, the audio was carried on lacquer discs sent out with the prints, so both the film and the disc had to run at a set, precise rate to remain in synchronisation.  That rate, with only a handful of experimental exceptions, has stayed the same for all formats of film to the present day.

24fps is just fast enough to avoid flicker which can give the viewer eye strain.  It`s still not quite fast enough - if you turn your head so you`re not looking directly at the screen you`ll see the flicker more pronounced as your peripheral vision - the "corner of your eye" - is more sensitive to flicker.  That`s why tv set manufacturers try to sell you these 100,200 and 600 Hz tv sets as they smooth out flicker by refreshing the screen or zones of the screen between frames.

The BBC research boffins have done experiments in genuine high frame rates of up to 300fps, although it`s generally believed you don`t perceive much improvement in the image above 75fps.  While The Hobbit`s 48fps rate isn`t quite up there, it should make for a smoother picture experience (although it could look more videoey than film).

J Mark Oates

For those interested
Hobbit Blogging

Snaps

Every Third Car

Announcement trailer...

I expected to have goosebumps, but I`m looking forward to it anyway. I guess the problem is LotR is such an epic story and The Hobbit really isn`t. It`s a good fun story (and the trailer does look like they have included much of the fun in it) but not in anyway remotely on the scale of the LotR.

They should have made it first!

But it`s great to see all the same cast back in their respective roles and Freeman looks a great choice for Bilbo.

Can`t really tell what the dwarves are like in that, they all seem a bit anonymous in the trailer.


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