It’s a leap forward in technology.

Something weird is happening, though.  The negative reaction to the 48 FPS is because it is “too realistic.”  But since when has that been a problem for people?  People to want their video game graphics to be as realistic as possible.  I’m one that doesn’t care what the game looks like, as long as it’s fun to play.  I love a beautiful looking video game, but I think that the SNES and up is fine as far as graphics quality.  But more often than not, people talk about how great the graphics look, and that’s what they’re looking for in a video game.  People also buy the latest and greatest in HD TVs, Blu-ray Discs, and even Apple is touting the graphical display capabilities of the new iPad (3rd Generation).

And when our movies look better, we’re suddenly against it?

“Indeed, the footage was vivid, with grass blades, facial lines and soaring mountains appearing luminous and pronounced. The actors looked almost touchable, as if they were performing live on stage.” (CBS)

That sounds FANTASTIC to me.  I want to see that.  That sounds magical.  That sounds like what movies should be.  Completely immersive.

Now, an article in Variety sheds a very positive light on it:

Ten days before the “Hobbit” footage debuted, James Cameron told me about the high-frame-rate (HFR) look, “I think there will be people that love it. And there will be people that say it looks like video, because video is the only way they can process something that looks too real. But it’s really quite magical.”

It goes on from there, but here’s another highlight:

First, HFR solves a couple of problems, especially for 3D. At 24 fps, when the camera pans or an object moves quickly across the screen, the image smears with “judder” or “strobing,” which is annoying in 2D but infuriating in 3D. Higher frame rates reduce or banish strobing.

Higher frame rates also let projection get brighter. With brighter light comes more flicker. If the frame rate goes up, flicker goes down, so brightness can go up, too.

In fact, movies would flicker at even today’s standard light levels, but each frame is flashed two or three times, depending on the projector, to prevent flicker. So in that sense, projectors have been delivering a sort of ersatz version of HFR (48 or 72 fps) all along.

But frame rates do change the look of the picture radically. While movies were at 24, standard-def TV was 30 frames per second. The difference between 24 and 30 may not sound like a lot, but it is.

During the High Frame Rates panel at the recent SMPTE Summit on Cinema, Northrop Grumman Aerospace’s Stephen Long took to a microphone to discuss research his company had done on frame rates a decade ago.

“We learned very quickly that the ‘film look’ was all about 24 (fps), it’s not about film,” Long said. “As soon as we rotated the variable speed to 30 it looked like television. When we cranked it up above 50, it started to look different than anything.”

Long’s team found a “jump” at around 54-60 fps.

“Wow, something changed,” he said. “It looked better. That’s not a scientific description. It changed the perception, the sense of reality.”

Now, you might be looking at this and thinking that it’s weird that The Hobbit is shooting in 48 FPS and not 60 FPS, then.  There’s actually a good reason for that, and it’s not just something Peter Jackson said.  He did say that the leap between 24 and 48 was incredible but 48 to 60 FPS wasn’t that great a difference.  However, it seems that technology also had something to do with that decision.

Asked why “The Hobbit” is being made at 48 instead of 60, which seems to be “better,” Phil Oatley, head of technology for Park Road Post, said “Because we can’t show it (60) yet. … It came down to how can we get a high frame rate film made by the end of the year?”

That’s why I don’t think 48 fps is going to be the new standard: It’s an only an interim step.

HDTVs are already capable of 60 fps or more, and some broadcasts use a version of 60 fps. In fact, TV is the elephant in the room in this conversation, because it’s pushing the entertainment world toward 60 fps.

Cool, so when the Hobbit comes out on Blu-ray, I’ll be able to watch it as Peter Jackson intended on my TV at home… in 48 FPS video.  That is a very good thing.

People want better graphics in their video games, they want HD TVs and they want Blu-ray Discs and High Def streaming, and they want HD iPads, and even Apple markets it as more magical and more incredible… and yet our movies can’t ever get better?

Related Posts

• December 16, 2011 -- Lego The Lord of the Rings is coming! (Lego The Hobbit, too!)
• April 27, 2011 -- On the Etiquette of Movie Spoilers
• April 15, 2011 -- The Hobbit – Start of Production Video Blog
• April 17, 2009 -- The Hobbit to be Two Films

Walter, the new Muppet from the first film, will also appear in the cast.  Jason Segel may cameo but his character’s story arc is complete so it’s not likely that he’ll be returning in a leading role.

I’m very hopeful that the sequel will continue what the first film started, having recaptured the magic of the early Muppet films in a way that we haven’t seen in many years, and many attempts by the Henson studios.

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1) Begins and Ends with Transformers. Humans are supporting roles. We’re talking 80% Transformer driven.

We’ve had enough human drama in the Transformers series.  It’s time to take a chance on a character driven movie.  People going to see a movie called Transformers should go into it expecting to see giant robots for the majority of the movie.  I understand they are on earth and have to deal with humans.  That’s why I’m being generous with the 20% human screentime.  And that’s 20% humans alone if you find it necessary.  Humans can appear in scenes with the Transformers, but only as background or supporting characters.

2) Bumblebee was given his voice back at the end of Transformers 1, and promptly lost it again in a battle in one of the comics. Funny, none of the other Transformers had the same problem. Fix him.

We need more Autobots and Decepticons that the audience can relate to and get to know.  We know Optimus, Megatron, Sentinel, Starscream and Bumblebee pretty well.  The rest of the Autobots and Decepticons have gone fairly undeveloped or destroyed.  Giving Bumblebee his voice back would be a great start.

3) Give the Autobots a homebase of operations that THEY run.

Like the Ark from the original animated series, the Autobots need a place that they live that isn’t run by humans.  Kind of like an Area 51, but only for Transformers.

4) Give the Decepticons a homebase as well.

The original animated series placed this in an ocean or lake.  It would lift out of the water to release Decepticons.  Make it happen.

5) The Decepticons are evil, make us hate them, but LOVE to hate them.

The third movie did a pretty great job of this, but we need something new from them.  Give them personalities that make us really enjoy their screentime.  Show them plotting and make them entertaining enough.  Perhaps put them into a situation where they are earning the trust of humanity with the plan to turn on all of them.  That’s been set up a bit by the third film, and wasn’t a bad twist.  Might even set up a really great Autobot that people are sure to love, only to have him be destroyed by the Decepticons.  (Think Darth Vader’s style of leadership.)

6) The Autobots are awesome, make us want them to destroy the Decepticons. (Kind of like TF3, but even moreso. Make the audience celebrate when the Autobots finally uncover the dastardly plot of the Decepticons and start to fight back.)

When the Autobots finally uncover whatever it is the Decepticons are doing in the film, they should go about their retaliation in a way that is fitting of the Autobots.  It should be a plan that is run with tactics that use the variety of skills that each Autobot has in very interesting and unexpected ways.  A lot of espionage and teamwork.   Have Mirage (aka Dino) use his whip like weapons to toss an Autobot toward things like rooftops or Decepticons, and also use them to swing across things.  He could even destroy a few Decepticon Jets by fighting with these weapons and then swinging from the falling wreck of one Decepticon to the next, using these weapons like a Spider-Man or Indiana Jones style whip, to launch himself from place to place.

7) Grimlock and the rest of the Dinobots.

It’s their time to shine.  There have been three movies, and so far the Dinobots haven’t fit.  To fit them in, the story might have to be about them.  That said, it could be, or we could just have the Dinobots because they’re awesome.  Perhaps they’re necessary because the Decepticons have something huge and the Autobots need more help that can’t come fast enough, so they build their own new group of Autobots.

Bonus: Use the Autobot and Decepticon logos to show when you’re switching scenes between the two sides.

This was a classic part of the cartoon and let us know, as the audience, which group of Transformers we were watching.  Not a must have, but it would be really fun.

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• June 24, 2009 -- Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Review, and my TF2 Wish List
• March 25, 2009 -- Frank Welker to voice Soundwave in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

“Even longer,” Pooh answered.

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Here’s the press release:

Warner Bros. Consumer Products and The LEGO Group announced today a partnership that awards the world’s leading construction toy brand exclusive rights to develop build-and-play construction sets based on THE LORD OF THE RINGS™ trilogy and the two films based on THE HOBBIT™.  The multi-year licensing agreement grants access to the library of characters, settings, and stories for THE LORD OF THE RINGS property, as well as films The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again.  LEGO® THE LORD OF THE RINGS construction sets are slated for a rolling global launch beginning in June 2012 in the United States, with LEGO THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY scheduled for later in the year.

“Only LEGO, with their expertise in the construction category, is capable of doing justice to the incredibly imaginative environments depicted in the world of THE LORD OF THE RINGS and the two films based on THE HOBBIT,” said Karen McTier, executive vice president, domestic licensing and worldwide marketing, Warner Bros. Consumer Products. “These films give life to amazing worlds and characters and we are thrilled to bring fans these products that deliver an imaginative play experience befitting of these beloved properties.”

The LEGO THE LORD OF THE RINGS collection will translate into LEGO form the epic locations, scenes and characters of Middle-earth as depicted in all three films, including The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

In late 2012, LEGO THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY will give fans of all ages a chance to build and play out the fantastical story and new characters of the legendary Middle-earth adventures depicted in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journeyfrom Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson, slated to premiere December 14, 2012.

“Our collaboration with Warner Bros. Consumer Products has delivered numerous worldwide successes in the construction toy aisle with lines like LEGO HARRY POTTER and LEGO BATMAN, introducing us to loyal audiences who love great stories, strong characters and the toys that they inspire,” said Jill Wilfert, vice president, licensing and entertainment for The LEGO Group. “It’s particularly exciting to now be able to create sets based on the fantasy worlds and characters from THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy and the two films based on THE HOBBIT, not only because we know they will foster collectability and creative play, but also because these are two properties that our fans have been asking us to create for years.”

Information about the sets and collectible minifigures from both collections will be unveiled at a later date at TheLordoftheRings.LEGO.com.

About The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again
From Academy Award^®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson comes The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the first of two films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit.  The second film will be The Hobbit: There and Back Again.  Both films are set in Middle-earth 60 years before The Lord of the Rings, which Jackson and his filmmaking team brought to the big screen in the blockbuster trilogy that culminated with the Oscar^®-winning The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be released beginning December 14, 2012.  The second film, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, is slated for release the following year, beginning December 13, 2013.

Ian McKellen returns as Gandalf the Grey, the character he played in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, and Martin Freeman in the central role of Bilbo Baggins.  Also reprising their roles from “The Lord of the Rings” movies are: Cate Blanchett as Galadriel; Ian Holm as the elder Bilbo; Christopher Lee as Saruman; Hugo Weaving as Elrond; Elijah Wood as Frodo; Orlando Bloom as Legolas; and Andy Serkis as Gollum.  The ensemble cast also includes (in alphabetical order) Richard Armitage, John Bell, Jed Brophy, Adam Brown, John Callen, Luke Evans, Stephen Fry, Ryan Gage, Mark Hadlow, Peter Hambleton, Barry Humphries,Stephen Hunter, William Kircher, Evangeline Lilly, Sylvester McCoy, Bret McKenzie, Graham McTavish, Mike Mizrahi, James Nesbitt, Dean O’Gorman, Lee Pace, Mikael Persbrandt, Conan Stevens, Ken Stott, Jeffrey Thomas, and Aidan Turner.

The screenplays for both The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again are by Fran Walsh,Philippa Boyens, Guillermo del Toro and Peter Jackson.  Jackson is also producing the films, together with Fran Walsh andCarolynne Cunningham.  The executive producers are Alan Horn, Ken Kamins, Toby Emmerich and Zane Weiner, with Boyens serving as co-producer.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again are being co-produced by New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. with New Line managing production.

Warner Bros Pictures will be handling theatrical distribution for most of the world and MGM will handle all international television licensing and theatrical distribution for certain international territories for the films.

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• February 23, 2010 -- Is Lego Lord of the Rings possible?
• April 25, 2012 -- The Hobbit – What’s wrong with 48 FPS?
• April 27, 2011 -- On the Etiquette of Movie Spoilers
• April 17, 2009 -- The Hobbit to be Two Films

Having seen the film three times, each time getting something new out of the movie, I found the music and characters began to resonate with me more and more.  Perhaps it’s because my childhood was somewhat similar, but for whatever reason, the themes that the film contained touched me.

The music, masterfully composed by Giacchino, is both reminiscent of the music of John Williams and entirely original.  The first time you hear the music in the film is with the studio logos, before the movie even begins, and I can remember feeling that music already transporting me back to my childhood.

It is then that the film begins, with a loss that hangs over the whole film: an accident at a plant that takes the life of Joe Lamb’s mother.  It is this beat that sets up the emotional journey of Joe, as he sets off through the summer, trying to be a kid while also trying to deal with the loss of his mother and a father that doesn’t know how to be there for him.  Joe holds tightly to a locket that had belonged to his mother and finds it difficult to move on.  He finds himself on a journey of discovery as an alien is loose in his small town.  The culmination of his journey is in the moment that he confronts the alien face to face.

“Bad things happen,” he says, “but you can still live.”

He is speaking to himself just as much as to the alien.  He’s lost his mother, and has had this amazing adventure while helping his friend to work on a movie.  It is this moment that he knows that life can still move on after you’ve lost someone.  When you lose someone, sometimes it seems like it isn’t fair to still be alive without them, to live your life.  This leads to the final letting go, as Joe knows his mother will always be with him, but he is able to let go of her locket, letting her move on.  He then takes the hand of Alice Dainard, a simple gesture that tells us a couple of things.  He’s ready to really live and his life has a direction after the credits roll.

The film also brings about the innocence of childhood in the way that the children interact with their parents and with one another.  The kids in the film are all very real personalities and were perfectly cast.  While each one may display one stereotype or another, that really reflects real life for a lot of us.  The kids each display distinct personalities and traits and these are definitely kids that would have hung out with each other.  They definitely swore more than my friends and I did (rarely, if ever), but they were also dealing with their lives being turned upside down.

While all of this was happening, one of the characters was working very hard on a short film, speaking highly of production values.  These are kids that are making a movie for the shear love of creating something for yourself and others to enjoy.  Writer / director J.J. Abrams, producer Steven Spielberg and composer Michael Giacchino all created films when they were children, and this film was a way for them to celebrate that childhood hobby.

The film also features the journey of Joe’s father Jackson, as he deals with the loss of his wife and the need to be a father on his own while also taking care of the town as the Deputy during this crisis.  In the end, when he says the line “I got you” he isn’t saying it because he feels that he’s rescued his son.  He hasn’t done that, so that would be illogical.  He says it because he finally gets his son.  He doesn’t yet know the extent of the adventure that his son has been on, but that doesn’t matter now.  He knows that his son had been at the school, he knows that Alice Dainard had been taken by the alien, and he saw them both together.  It is obvious to him that his son had something to do with her rescue.  But now he understands his son’s need for him to be there for him.  He understands and has also learned something from his son – that bad things happen, but you can still live.

In Super 8, J.J. Abrams has captured the footprints of real characters dealing with supernatural situations, and has managed to give the audience stories to focus on that keep the film grounded in ways that we may not perceive at first, but bring more depth the more that you look.

Abrams actually mentioned something during a talk he gave at TED back in 2007, that the film E.T. was actually about a family that was going through the loss of their father, in much the same way that Super 8 touches on the similar theme, with the loss of a mother.

I highly recommend Super 8, and I wonder what you will learn from it.  I hope that it effects you in the same way that it effected me.  I also hope that this film isn’t just a final farewell to films like this, but the beginning of another renaissance of films shot in the old Amblin style.  But if it is, there could be no better sendoff than to end where it really seemed to begin – a hopeful look upward, toward the open sky.

It might not be the best written piece I’ve done, but in trying to capture my thoughts for this movie, words escaped me. There are so many themes to talk about, and so many thoughts, that to capture them all, I would need to write a short novel.

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Justice League #1

Featuring the major characters of the DC universe: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman and Cyborg (?), this is the title that starts it all.  I really enjoy seeing multiple heroes working together.

Justice League International #1

This team also features Batman, lending more credibility to my theory that Batman has likely become the most popular character in the DC universe.  It also features a Green Lantern from the looks of things.  It appears that they don’t get along very well, based on this summary from DC: “A team of internationally-drafted superheroes fight each other and their bureaucratic supervisors as much as they do global crime.”

Legion Lost #1

I’ve always been intrigued by the team of heroes from the 31st century, and this is as good a time as any to see if I’ve been missing something that I might really enjoy.  The DC comics summary reads: “Seven heroes from the 31st century have traveled back to the present day. Their mission: Save their future from total annihilation. When the future tech they brought with them fails, they find themselves trapped in a nightmarish world and an ultimate struggle to survive.”

Legion of Superheroes #1

This appears to be the rest of the team that had traveled back in time.  At first I was put off by the artistic style of the cover art shown here, but then I read the summary, which seems to place it hand-in-hand with the Legion Lost series: “In the 31st century, the Legion of Superheroes is reeling from the loss of seven of their finest — and trying desperately to keep their youngest recruits alive against a series of terrible new threats.”

Teen Titans #1

This is a title that I am very excited about.  Not only is it reminiscent of Young Justice in the line-up which features Superboy, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash and Red Robin among others.  It is also written by Scott Lobdell, who wrote a favorite X-Men comic of mine: Generation X.  I think that, of the titles above, I may be more likely to continue reading this one, if not Justice League as well.

-via DC part 1 and part 2

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Green Lantern #1

Green Lantern has very little details about it, but it is only one of a number of new Green Lantern related titles that are being released this September.  All DC says about it is: “Change is coming. But set aside your fear. It’ll be worth the wait.” (more)

Wonder Woman #1

I was happy to see Wonder Woman appears to be keeping her new costume.  It’s good to see they’re sticking with the look.  The old one was definitely not practical, and while this one isn’t much more, it’s a much better costume to me.  Besides, Wonder Woman’s costume has changed so many times over the years that adding pants to it is relatively minor.  It still has the overall look, and no one will question whether or not this is her.

-via DC

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Batgirl #1

I used to watch the Adam West Batman tv show, and that was where I was first introduced to the Batgirl character.  Later on, she reappeared  in Batman: The Animated Series and Barbara Gordan was again in the role.  In the comics, DC had her paralyzed at some point and she went under the name Oracle in the series Birds of Prey. That series is also being rebooted, and it appears that Oracle is no longer going to be part of that team as Barbara Gordon is re-taking the Batgirl mantle.  I had read a Batgirl series that featured one who was mute, and have been following the latest Batgirl, but this puts a monkeywrench into all of that.  In the new series, she’s “going to have to face the city’s most horrifying new villains as well as dark secrets from her past.”

Batwing #1

This character is a complete unknown to me, and for this reason is very intriguing to me.  Batwing is “the first black character to wear the Batman mantle and will be the first to star in his own ongoing series.”

Catwoman #1

Now that we know she’s going to appear in Chris Nolan’s next Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises, it makes me wonder if they’re basing any of this character’s reboot on that, or the look of Anne Hathaway in the film.  We’ve not yet seen her in the film, though, so that remains to be seen.  This is a title that I’ve never read, so it is a complete unknown to me, apart from what I know of the character from animation.

Nightwing #1

Dick Grayson, the first Robin, returns to the role of Nightwing after a brief stint as the caped crusader himself.  Here is DC’s summary of the starting point for the new series: “As Dick embraces his identity, Haley’s Circus, the big top where he once performed with his family, returns to Gotham – bringing with it a history of murder, mystery and superhuman evil. Nightwing must confront friends and enemies from his past as he searches for the source of an even greater evil.”  This is one that, like Catwoman, I’m not terribly excited about.

The Red Hood and the Outlaws #1

Here’s another former Robin, one that in recent years made a return to the DC comics world: Jason Todd.  He will be The Red Hood as he had been in the past.  He will be joined by Arsenal and Starfire on this team of anti-heroes.  This is another title written by Scott Lobdell.

Suicide Squad #1

The title of this, I do not like, but in my research I found that it is actually a much older title that I had never heard of.  Harley Quinn appears to be the leading character in the series, and is a character that I really liked in Batman: The Animated Series.  I just don’t like where her costume has gone since then.  Ah well, such is the audience that they’re catering to, unfortunately.  Here’s the summary from DC: “Harley Quinn! Deadshot! King Shark! They’re a team of death-row super villains recruited by the government to take on missions so dangerous – they’re sheer suicide! Who will be the first to crack under the pressure?”

-via DC part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, and part 5

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In this entry I’m going to only feature the primary Batman titles.  The next post will be about the Batman family titles, featuring characters that are spinoffs of the Batman universe.

Batman #1

As with Action Comics #1 being the first restart since 1938, this is the first Batman #1 since 1930. In the series, Bruce Wayne once again becomes the only character taking on the Batman name.

Detective Comics #1

This is the title that DC took its’ name from.  This is also the first restart of the Detective Comics line since it first started. Not only that, but it’s the first time that Batman will appear in a debut issue of Detective Comics.  The series will find Bruce Wayne on the trail of a dangerous serial killer known only as the Gotham Ripper.

Batman and Robin #1

Batman and Robin is a series that I had collected most of, and this reboot takes things back to square one.  It teams up Bruce Wayne’s Batman with the latest Robin – Damien.  This series will follow the family dynamic of the superhero duo, as Damien is Bruce’s son.

Batman: The Dark Knight #1

This series appears to be the darkest of the Batman titles, which DC says is “a twisted adventure that pulls Bruce Wayne deep into the halls of the famed Arkham Asylum, a jail for Gotham City’s most dangerous and criminally deranged.”  It reminds me a bit of the Arkham Asylum video game.

-via DC part 1 and part 2

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