Moviegoers are getting yet another choice this weekend.
Not a choice of films, but of format, as select theaters offer Peter Jackson’s new The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in HFR.
HFR stands for high frame rate, and refers to the number of frames that pass through a movie camera in a second to create a moving image for your eyes and brain. Ephraim Katz’s The Film Encylopedia notes that the early silent-movie speed was as low as 12 frames per second because cameras were hand-cranked. Silent films later settled in at 16 to 18. The sound era brought that up to 24, where it has stayed for decades.
Jackson has raised the rate to 48 — at least for some 3D showings.
In an interview on the movie’s website, Jackson says HFR will bring the audience even more into his film while avoiding 24 fps issues of “movement artifacts, like strobing, flicker and motion blur.”
He said the new format only became viable in the last couple of years, but that it should take over moviemaking; Jackson has made the next two Hobbit films in HFR, and Avatar director James Cameron has reportedly said he will use HFR for planned Avatar sequels — possibly with a frame rate of 60.
The HFR in The Hobbit does provide a sharper image, reminiscent of what you would see on a top-shelf high-definition TV. The picture is crisper, and with more of a live feel — again, not unlike what you might see watching live TV in HD.
Not that everyone is a fan. Some have complained about HFR having a “soap opera effect,” with an image that is closer to what you might expect in a shot-on-video daytime drama than in a big-screen film. Much the way CDs were seen by some as lacking the warmth of the sound on a vinyl record, so HFR doesn’t look cinematic to some critics.
There have also been a few reports of viewers being made nauseous by the process. But I sat through almost three hours of The Hobbit without ill effect, nor did I see or hear any hurling by other moviegoers.
Warner Bros., which is distributing The Hobbit, issued a statement saying in part: “We have been screening the full-length HFR 3D presentation of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey extensively and feedback has been extremely positive, with none of thousands who have seen the film projected in this format expressing any of the issues described by two anonymous sources in media reports.”
At the same time, with the new format untested on audiences, and theaters needing new equipment to handle HFR, The Hobbit will be available at many theaters in 2D or regular 3D. The only Northeast Ohio venues with the HFR 3D are Cinemark Valley View and the Tinseltown USA in Jackson Township.
But you will need to pay close attention to the movie listings when you buy tickets, because the different formats — as well as the IMAX and XD versions — vary in price as well. Valley View, for example, offers the movie in 2D, regular 3D, HFR 3D and in HFR 3D formatted for its extra-large XD screens offering an experience like that from IMAX.
The Regal Cinemas in Crocker Park is offering the movie in 3D IMAX, but the IMAX website does not list any theaters in Ohio with the 3D IMAX in HFR.
Perhaps as an incentive to sample HFR, local showings of The Hobbit have not added a premium beyond the usual add-on for 3D. At Tinseltown, for example, an adult ticket for a Friday evening show is $9 for 2D, $11.75 for 3D or HFR 3D and $13 for XD HFR 3D. At Valley View, the comparable prices are $9.75, $13.25 and $14. As for theaters without the HFR versions, Regal Montrose for one is charging an adult $10 for 2D and $13.50 for regular 3D on Friday night.
Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and Ohio.com, including in the HeldenFiles Online blog, www.ohio.com/blogs/heldenfiles. He is also on Facebook and Twitter. You can contact him at 330-996-3582 or rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.
