Director Peter Jackson is facing criticism for the style of filming he used for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. A preview of the highly anticipated film was unveiled at Cinemacon last week and despite the excitement, many of the viewers were displeased. Some of the viewers who saw the preview for the unfinished movie stated they were unimpressed with the footage. The film was shot in a “hyper-realistic” style at a rate of 48 frames per second, instead of the standard 24.
Jackson recently took on the criticism of his hyper-realtistic film during an interview with TheWrap.
He spoke about his reasons why he decided to film the movie using the 48 frames per second stating that it would “improve the film’s 3D imagery and better immerse audiences in the action.”
The director plans to continue with his original format despite audience protests.
I can’t say anything, just like you can’t say anything to someone who doesn’t like fish,” Jackson said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. “You can’t explain why fish tastes great and why they should enjoy it.”
Jackson also said he feels that people will get used to the film style, and prefers that they enjoy other aspects of the movie.
“I just wonder if they were getting into the dialogue, the characters and the story,” Jackson said. “That’s what happens in the movie. You settle into it.”
Though audience members may be able to “settle into it,” Jackson may run into more problems when getting movie theaters to screen the film. Because of the style used, most theaters will have to upgrade their technology to show the film. While this may not be an issue for large chain theaters, smaller operations may turn The Hobbit down.
One theater owner said “he was unimpressed by the high frame rate footage and unsure if it was worth the investment,” according to an article by Brent Lang. “He noted that he had already made a substantial investment to convert his theaters from film to digital in recent years, spending roughly $150,000 per screen. He said that he estimated updating his projectors would cost $8,000 apiece.”
Jackson, however, said he feels higher film rates are in many directors’ future.
Nobody is going to stop,” he said. “This technology is going to keep evolving.”
An executive from New Line told TheWrap that they almost didn’t preview with film with the high frame rate but that Jackson had pushed very hard for the preview and ended up winning the debate. The executive also assured that the film would look even better once the finalized coloring and special effects were included.
Despite the lackluster response to the look of his film, there was a strong positive reaction to the overall tone and story of the film with MSN calling it “chilling and absorbing.”
The Hobbit will be released Dec. 14, and will also be available at the standard film rate of 24 frames per second. It’s sequel, The Hobbit: There and Back Again will be released on December 13, 2013.
