The End of 35 mm Films, Bad 3D and 24 Frames Per Second

April 25, 2012

Some really interesting news coming out of the cinema world:

·         20^th Century Fox formally announced at CinemaCon it will only distribute digitally from this point forward around the entire world. No more 35 mm prints from the studio ever. The other major US studios will likely soon follow suit
·         Peter Jackson officially unveiled 48 FPS film with unfinished clips from The Hobbit and universal reaction is that it is the cinematic equivalent of what you see on HDTVs playing at Best Buy: it makes movies no longer look like “film” but like a live HDTV sports broadcast. i.e. it looks better on the screen than it actually does live with crystal clear clarity and super saturated color to the point of actually being disturbing. There have been some reactions saying that it completely breaks the illusion standard 24 FPS film provides but you have to remember that it will take filmmakers a while to adjust sets, props, makeup, etc. to compensate for this. I fully expect this to become the new standard for filming
·         Jackson also unveiled a 3D test using 48 FPS film and the difference is reported to be astonishing, completely resolving every complaint about current 3D film whether it is upconverted or natively filmed

The future is here, cinemagoers. Film has finally bit the big one.