EXPERT: Filmmaking Technique Takes Story Telling Out Of Movie
By Technology Editor Ian Bush
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – The Hobbit is expected to draw big crowds when it's released next month, but a filmmaking technique might make moviegoers give the thumbs-down.
Some theatres are showing The Hobbit as director Peter Jackson shot it and intends it to be seen.
"Actually doubling the frame rate to 48 frames per second, so viewers are going to see much more motion on the screen. It's going to look something similar to when you watch the news, for example," says Chip Murphy, Drexel University's Cinema and TV editing facility manager.
He says having 48 frames (or consecutive images) per second will be jarring to many; we're used to 24fps on the big screen.
"That's our language; that's what we use to tell our stories. If you change it and double it, it loses that effect. It feels like you're in real life, and not like you're trying to get lost inside a movie," Murphy explains.
Director Jackson says his way of doing things is more realistic and reduces eye strain when you see The Hobbit in 3D. Some who've seen a preview complain of a "soap opera" effect.
