Peter shot The Hobbit at 48 frames per second, when 24 fps is the norm, as we know. The reaction within the industry and from audiences was sceptical. What’s your take?
Peter and I were real pioneers of high frame rate. We were really trying to create this new approach together. He was the first one out of the gate, so we get to analyse the public reaction. I think the mistake is one of expectation. It’s not the same as 3D. 3D is fundamentally different from 2D, whereas high frame rate is an improvement. Now, I happen to think it’s important and I happen to think we need to pursue this. I see this all the time, especially in big animated films - Pixar films, DreamWorks films - where they have the time to do this sort of thing. There’ll be some gorgeously conceived shot that just strobes like a motherfucker. You don’t notice the strobing when you’re at a previz stage because at that point everything strobes. You haven’t baked in the motion blur yet. You get all the motion blur on the shot and all of a sudden your big, spectacular shot that you worked so hard on looks like crap and it’s too late to change it. And it looks like crap because it’s at 24 frames per second. What they’re bumping up against is the limitation of the projection medium, that’s been like that for almost a hundred years. Forty-eight is not going to look fundamentally different, but it will definitely clean up those problems and allow people to do those kinds of shots. When I was making Avatar, I consciously restrained myself from doing those kinds of wide landscape shots with pans in them because I knew they’d strobe, and strobing is more apparent in 3D. I’m still a proponent of it. I also think I might use it a little differently than Peter. I don’t think I’ll apply it to the entire film any more than I would put music all the way through the film. I’ll use it where I need to use it. If I have panning shots like that I’ll use it on those shots, but I won’t use it on everything. I don’t think it’s needed on everything. And I actually think there’s a slight negative impact at times, where things look a little too hyper-real and you no longer feel like you’re watching a movie, but you feel like you’re watching reality. And that reality is that you’re on a soundstage with a bunch of people in make-up. Peter and I have talked about this and we have our theories. I’m going to try mine out and see if that works, and if that doesn’t work, then it’ll probably all fade away