Early criticism of Peter Jackson's big Hobbit prequel has focused on its look and feel, prompted by his decision to film the movie entirely in 48 frames per second — double the 24 frames per second shots you're used to seeing in every other movie nowadays.
Jackson's response? "Deal with it."
Alright, so it would be an Ent-sized lie to say that Jackson specifically phrased it just like that, but the gist is pretty spot-on. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter's Carolyn Giardina, Jackson suggests that his method for filming The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey — shot in 48 frames per second using an army of 5120-by-2700 resolution RED EPIC cameras — is but the tip of the cinematic iceberg going forward.
And audiences, suggests Jackson, will just have to catch up.
"It does take you a while to get used to," Jackson said. "Ten minutes is sort of marginal, it probably needed a little bit more. Another thing that I think is a factor is it's different to look at a bunch of clips and some were fast-cutting, montage-style clips. This is different experience than watching a character and story unfold."
"A lot of the critical response I was reading was people saying it's different. Well, yes, it certainly is," said Jackson in a different portion of the interview. "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."
That said, Jackson has decided to save the movie's unique look for its big, final presentation. According to Giardina, there won't be any 48 frames per second trailers creeping around for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
Those lucky enough to view a 10-minute preview of the movie's 48 frames per second footage at this year's CinemaCon 2012 convention in Las Vegas were blunt in their critiques of the film's appearance. BadAssDigest's Devin Faraci described the footage as, "a hi-def version of the 1970s I, Claudius."
"It is drenched in a TV-like — specifically '70s-era BBC — video look. People on Twitter have asked if it has that soap opera look you get from badly calibrated TVs at Best Buy, and the answer is an emphatic YES," he added.
Others were a bit more measured in their critique, like Variety film editor Josh Dickey who tweeted that the look of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was, "a thing to behold," but added that, "not all will like the change."
Jackson originally took to Facebook to respond to the early criticisms and offer an additional explanation about what it means for audiences to shoot in 48 frames per second.
"Film purists will criticize the lack of blur and strobing artifacts, but all of our crew--many of whom are film purists--are now converts. You get used to this new look very quickly and it becomes a much more lifelike and comfortable viewing experience," Jackson wrote.
"It's similar to the moment when vinyl records were supplanted by digital CDs. There's no doubt in my mind that we're heading towards movies being shot and projected at higher frame rates."
And just in case audiences are still a bit leery about movie's look come its December release, they'll be able to pick and choose from a number of different versions of the film to enjoy: 2D, 3D, and IMAX 3D, each running at a standard 24 frames per second or the new 48 frames per second display.
For more tech tidbits from David Murphy, follow him on Facebook or Twitter (@thedavidmurphy).
