30 Apr – A special 10-minute preview for Peter Jackson's much anticipated "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey", screened for fans at the CinemaCon 2012 event this past week, however it was met by negative criticism over its visual quality, according to a report on MovieWeb.
The "Lord Of The Rings" prequel is filmed at 48 fps (frames per second) which was touted by filmmaker Jackson to be a new wave of cinematic technology, however, those present at the screening said that the technology made the movie look cheap and the sets look fake; matching the quality to that of a TV's soap operas.
Jackson responded to the press regarding the backlash and said, "Nobody is going to stop. This technology is going to keep evolving. At first it's unusual because you've never seen a movie like this before. It's literally a new experience, but you know, that doesn't last the entire experience of the film-not by any stretch, [just] 10 minutes or so. That's a different experience than if you see a fast-cutting montage at a technical presentation."
He then added on his Facebook page, "The key thing to understand is that this process requires both shooting and projecting at 48 fps, rather than the usual 24 fps (films have been shot at 24 frames per second since the late 1920's). So the result looks like normal speed, but the image has hugely enhanced clarity and smoothness. Looking at 24 frames every second may seem ok- and we've all seen thousands of films like this over the last 90 years -but there is often quite a lot of blur in each frame, during fast movements, and if the camera is moving around quickly, the image can judder or "strobe."
Jackson also added that the higher rate allows images to seem more lifelike and will be easier to watch in 3D.
Based on J.R.R Tolkien's "The Hobbit", the two part movie with the first; "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" hitting cinemas this December 2012 will follow a young Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) as his encounter with Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) will lead him to a great adventure that forms the basis of "The Lord Of The Rings" story.
The movie also stars Andy Serkis, Hugo Weaving, Lee Pace, Stephen Fry, Luke Evans, Christopher Lee, Cate Blanchett, Elijah Wood, Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lily and more.