Peter Jackson Talks About Shooting The Hobbit In 48FPS

Now that the first reviews for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey have hit the web, a large chunk of criticism has fallen on Peter Jackson‘s decision to shoot Middle-Earth in the extremely-realistic 48FPS format (that’s double the frame rate that regular films run on, normal people). With many critics saying that 48FPS makes the CGI look unrealistic, and that the film itself looks like a strange TV movie, Jackson has taken the opportunity to tell you why you’re wrong, laying most of the blame on people over 20 for having a stupid opinion. How dare you be over 20, what with your preferences for films to look like films.

Here’s what Jackson said:

“I’m fascinated by reactions. I’m tending to see that anyone under the age of 20 or so doesn’t really care and thinks it looks cool. I think 3D at 24 frames is interesting, but it’s the 48 that actually allows 3D to almost achieve the potential that it can achieve because it’s less eye strain and you have a sharper picture.”

“Warner Bros were very supportive. They just wanted us to prove that the 24 frame version would look normal, which it does, but once they were happy with that, on first day, when we had to press that button that said ’48 frames’ even though on that first day we started shooting at 48 FPS, you could probably say there wasn’t a single cinema in the world that would project the movie in that format. It was a big leap of faith.”

“The big thing to realize is that it’s not an attempt to change the film industry. It’s another choice. The projectors that can run at 48 frames can run at 24 frames – it doesn’t have to be one thing or another. You can shoot a movie at 24 frames and have sequences at 48 or 60 frames within the body of the film.” 

“You can still do all the shutter-angle and strobing effects. It doesn’t necessarily change how films are going to be made. It’s just another choice that filmmakers have got and for me, it gives that sense of reality that I love in cinema.”

What do you think? How will you choose to see the film? 24FPS or 48FPS? 2D or 3D? Standing up or sitting down?

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey hits theatres in 347 formats on December 14th worldwide.

Source: Total Film