Anyone else absolutely psyched for this movie? I know I cant wait. However, recently its sparked some rather unusual controversy, on the technical side of movie making...
Ever heard of fps? That is= Frames per second. I'm not a huge techie, but from what I know, frames per second can be explained exactly as it sounds: In a form of streaming media, it is a measurement of how many frames, are linked together to create motion, in a single second.
I guess its easy to visualize a flipbook... remember those? You draw an image on each page, and you flip through the book to create motion. Fps then, would be a count of how many of those frames processed by your brain on a secondly basis. Now that the jargon is explained, what does any of that have to do with The Hobbit movie?
In short, there is an issue involving how the movie is being made, from an FPS standpoint. Traditionally, since the 1920's, movies have been using an fps rate of 24. Our eyes can visually detect differences in FPS, between 1-30 FPS. As the movie is being filmed and produced, Peter Jackson and James Cameron, are choosing a more dynamic approach, to FPS, by using a rate of 48, double what is currently used.
So the true question is, why should anyone care? I sure as hell don't..., but we should. For one, if this becomes the new standard in filming, movie theatres would have to spend thousands of dollars upgrading their equipment, to project this new rate. This would mean... yet another increase in ticket prices. Although, in most senses, I doubt this will happen any time soon. For now, this 48 FPS thing, seems reserved for hardcore tech-filmers such as James Cameron, who is no stranger to this sort of thing.
But why film in 48 FPS any-ways? To be honest I dont know. One of the websites I was browsing however, had this clever little simulation, between the differences of 15 FPS, 30 FPS and 60. Check it out!
So I suppose that the difference is just how smooth the motion looks. This makes sense from a technical standpoint, and It looks good on paper, but is the difference between 30 FPS and 60, really worth thousands of dollars?
What do you guys think?
That FPS simulator was very helpful. I can see a clear difference between the different speeds. So, while I agree that increasing the number of frames per second is a good thing I am scared that the movie theaters are going to pass the cost of this upgrade onto us, the movie goers. Movies are already so expensive as it is. It costs more than $50 to pay for two people and to get a popcorn & drink combo. In the age of Netflix, I think that movie theaters need to find a way to decrease the price of a movie tickets. What if movie theaters sold annual passes?
ReplyDeleteWithout doubt, technology is advancing but at the same time with the advance of technology follows a price. Over the passed serval years movie theatres have introduced new technology and different ways in watching movies and prices have increase along with it. Like for a simple general movie ticket before tax costing at $12.99, 3D and Ultra AVX at $15.99, and IMAX at $19.99. So with the new 60 FPS technology, this might even increase admission prices
ReplyDeleteI am DEFINITELY psyched for the Hobbit to come out. Counting down the days...
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting post. Going to the movie theatre is ridiculously expensive. First you pay the fee to get in, and pay extra if it's 3D or "special" in some way, and then if you want to get snacks and a drink, you're looking at a pretty expensive night of simple entertainment! If they make us pay even MORE to simply see a bit clearer of a picture, that would be really silly. There's always something new to waste money on...
You can't expect to make a highly anticipated film like the Hobbit and not have some drama right? People are going be looking at the making/releasing of the film from every angle to find something to talk about!
ReplyDeleteI actually just bought my pre-sale tickets for this last night, so I am with you when I say I am STOKED. And now I guess I am going to be able to see if 48fps actually does make a difference. But I agree, thousands of dollars is not worth it. I can't even imagine what the DVD is going to end up costing.
Thanks for posting this, for geeks like me!
Margo