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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Can Hobbits really live in High Frame Rate 3D?

By: Staff Writer

Posted: 12/5/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Ian McKellen as the Wizard Gandalf the Grey in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. (TRIBUNE MEDIA MCT)

TORONTO -- There's a hearty debate brewing among the lucky few who have already seen Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey about the look of the much-anticipated epic.

Jackson shot the film using a new technology called High Frame Rate 3D, which captures action at 48 frames-per-second, double the Hollywood standard.

It's said to create a more convincing 3D effect and also adds a vivid, natural look to scenes that are startlingly clear. Reminiscent of the TV world's switch to high definition, the technology offers a radically new look that is impossible to ignore.

Some have said that ultra-real style may not suit The Hobbit and will distract viewers from J. R. R. Tolkien's story.

You can count star Richard Armitage, who plays the dwarf king Thorin Oakenshield, among those who think the new technology is a game changer, even though he understands the reservations of film traditionalists.

"Takes a bit of getting used to, doesn't it?" Armitage asked a reporter during a round of press in Toronto on Monday, ahead of the film's premiere on Dec. 14.

Not everyone will get to experience the film in High Frame Rate 3D. Some theatres aren't equipped for it and will instead screen the movie in regular 2D and 3D and IMAX. But Armitage believes filmgoers will go out of their way to find The Hobbit playing in the new format, which is good for the industry.

-- The Canadian Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 5, 2012 C2

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