The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

[orestes]

First trailer drops. (http://trailers.apple.com/movies/wb/thehobbit1/thehobbit-tlr1_720p.mov)

[thevoid99]

Hey!! Where the fuck is it?

[eversonpoe]

it's unlisted, so you need a specific link to get to it.

[orestes]

Try the link now.

Also, OMG OMG OMG OMG!

[JessicaSarahS]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEOM13UyZ0A

Wow. I can't wait!!

[Harry Seaward]

A bit underwhelming, but I'd still like to see it nonetheless.

[orestes]

It's a teaser trailer- what else did you expect?

[JessicaSarahS]

A bit underwhelming, but I'd still like to see it nonetheless.


Well, The Hobbit was always a bit of a duller story than the others, in my opinion. But I think the movie will be beautiful.

[botley]

I just made a mess in my jeans.

[Wretchedest]

HOLY SHIT! Jackson did a much better job with the look of the things this time around, I think.
It looks much cleaner or more well composed.
This may indeed be much better than the LOTR, as the books were.

[Harry Seaward]

It's a teaser trailer- what else did you expect?

I guess the TDKR trailer from the other day spoiled me already.

[orestes]

Well, the Hobbit is still in production with a lot more to be done in post by WETA so the fact that we have a trailer a full YEAR before release is a nice surprise.

[Wretchedest]

^ Seriously, that was a full on trailer too, no weird obscure close up angles, and cryptic titles followed by nothing... we get to meet characters, get a feel for the vibe of the thing. I learned more about that movie in one trailer than I did in two TDKR trailers.

[GoodSoldier333]

Very very exciting! :)

[thevoid99]

I will definitely see this!!!!!

[marodi]

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!

I'm not kidding you: I have tears in my eyes, precious!

[heroicraptor]

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lv32dbYrLQ1qa51o3o6_250.gif

[Endlessly]

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lv32dbYrLQ1qa51o3o6_250.gif
http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lwjchcZ5VJ1qa2bzyo8_250.gif

I am so very excited for this.

[littlemonkey613]

I can't believe how much we got year ahead of time. Looks gorgeous.

[Alexandros]

Aaah...a bit of drool escaped my mouth. Good times!

[kdrcraig]

Very cool, looking good so far.

[Torgo]

holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit

[marodi]

Am I the only one to get a Pippin vibe while watching young Bilbo? Not that it's a bad thing, I love that fool of a Took.

[Elke]

God, it was so great! I may have actually screamed when I saw Galads :) It looks fantastic, especially the Dwarves! Can't wait to see more of this!

[eversonpoe]

as i haven't read the books (i know, i know), i'm not an authority on the matter, but watching the trailer, my girlfriend commented that Galadriel is not in the book (of The Hobbit). does anyone know why she was included in the film?

[eversonpoe]

as i haven't read the books (i know, i know), i'm not an authority on the matter, but watching the trailer, my girlfriend commented that Galadriel is not in the book (of The Hobbit). does anyone know why she was included in the film?

guess i should've checked IMDB first...

"Other LotR characters such as Galadriel, Saruman, etc. will be included as part of the story-line that follows Gandalf when he leaves Thorin and Company."

[marodi]

guess i should've checked IMDB first...

"Other LotR characters such as Galadriel, Saruman, etc. will be included as part of the story-line that follows Gandalf when he leaves Thorin and Company."

Although it's not in The Hobbit, PJ included them in the movie because he decided to film the White Council, which is happening at the same time as the events of the book.

In other words: more awesomeness!

[Elke]

Ooooh, I can't wait what he's going to do with those bits and pieces from Unfinished Tales!

[deathundothee]

3D!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6e-3i1ploR4

[JessicaSarahS]

Am I the only one to get a Pippin vibe while watching young Bilbo? Not that it's a bad thing, I love that fool of a Took.



I had the same feeling, that they look and act the same. But I don't mind. I loooove Pippin. :D

[Fixer808]

holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit
Yeah, what she said!

[Dinki Di]

So who is Gandalf fighting in the trailer? Thrain?

[orestes]

That seems to be the consensus so far.

[redshoewearer]

Nothing like another inviting movie to make you wish another year of your away - looks good.

[Alexandros]

And now that The Hobbit is happening, I can start wishing for a movie based on The Fall of Numenor. A man can dream...

[Fixer808]

And now that The Hobbit is happening, I can start wishing for a movie based on The Fall of Numenor. A man can dream...
I want to see Gothmog and a fuck-ton of balrogs fucking everybody's shit up.

[Self.Destructive.Pattern]

YESSSSSSS! I wasn't expecting this at all. Makes me feel like a giddy little kid waiting for the next LOTR movies to come out again. Ummm yea, i'll be seeing this for sure.

[orestes]

So who else received the LOTR blu-ray boxed set for Christmas? :D

[Torgo]

WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY

WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

WHY WOULD YOU FILM IT AT 48 FPS, PETER JACKSON? WHY?!

http://badassdigest.com/2012/04/24/cinemacon-2012-the-hobbit-underwhelms-at-48-frames-per-secon/

[Corvus T. Cosmonaut]

Because everyone's been working so hard on selling 3-D, they chose to ignore its problems with movement and action. A higher frame rate is their solution for correcting these issues, and 48 fps in particular was chosen because it's easy to scale down to 24 fps for gear unable to show at full speed.

But 48 fps is a nice option. It increases perceived picture quality, placing greater emphasis on cinematography and costumes and set and prop design and all the visual aspects of the picture.

For the most part I think most opposition stems from people simply being uncomfortable with the change after having 24 fps for a hundred years, with higher framerates being associated with...god forbid...video.

[kdrcraig]

I just read an article on IGN about that CinemCon footage, does not sound good. Will be very disappointed if this movie turns out looking like shit.

Edit: Read the article again, the footage was unfinished so I guess we shouldn't be too worried yet. I don't get why Jackson would film this differently than he did the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

[Wretchedest]

Im on the fence... i think it might be something people just arent used to yet.
The "TV like quality" is probably because tv has a higher standard framerate than film...
The way theyre running this shit, id be really surprised if it wiffed.

On the other hand i thought that lotr had a tv like quality to it, and i hated the cinematography of that one. The hobbit trailer looked fucking fantastic amd my hope were up that it was improved.

Either way 3D 5k 48p definitely means this will be the most mindblowing looking movie ever...

[Jinsai]

So who else received the LOTR blu-ray boxed set for Christmas? :D

I bought it a while ago, and I know this is a late response, but did you notice that the color balance on Fellowship is messed up?
Maybe they fixed it since, but the overall color palette shifts towards Cyan on my version. It doesn't make it unwatchable, but you can really see the issue during the scenes where they're hiking through the snow. All of the snow looks like it's tinged light blue, while in my DVD version (and in the digital version that comes with the blu ray box) the snow is white.

[kdrcraig]

Are you talking about the extended or regular edition? Cause Fellowship looks fine on the extended edition, but I want to say I read that they fixed that after people bitched about the theatrical blu-ray release.

[Jinsai]

Are you talking about the extended or regular edition? Cause Fellowship looks fine on the extended edition, but I want to say I read that they fixed that after people bitched about the theatrical blu-ray release.

No, it's the extended version, at least the original pressing. Maybe they've fixed it? If so, I'd like them to send me a corrected version of Fellowship. It doesn't look obviously flawed at first, and even then it could look right in a "that's a stylistic choice they made" kind of a way... until you compare it side by side to the dvd.

http://s1.postimage.org/895guyeaf/extended_dvd_vs_extended_blu_ray.png

My version of the Extended edition looks like the image on the right. For some parts of the movie, the greenish/blue tint isn't very obvious... but during the snow sections, where the snow is supposed to look white, it's really obvious.

The Two Towers and Return of the King look fine.

[Torgo]

But 48 fps is a nice option. It increases perceived picture quality, placing greater emphasis on cinematography and costumes and set and prop design and all the visual aspects of the picture.

For the most part I think most opposition stems from people simply being uncomfortable with the change after having 24 fps for a hundred years, with higher framerates being associated with...god forbid...video.

Sure, 48fps increases perceived picture quality - but in a weird way. Landscapes will look great. Sets, costumes, prop design, makeup - not so much. That's all going to look like shit, or as many people are saying - like it was filmed by the crew of a Spanish Novella. What I'm reading is that they compensated for this shift by going up in shutter speed, which may or may not help their case. If it looks anything like what the people who have seen it are reporting - those ridiculously retarded high refresh rate TV's at Best Buy - I will be very sad. At the very least, they can convert it down to 24fps, which I'm fine with and will probably ultimately end up seeing anyway (since so few theaters have the means to show 48fps).


As for 24fps being something that we're used to - sure, that may be the case, but I'd like to argue that it's a great frame rate for storytelling in general. Your mind is making up for the lack of frame rates per second at 24fps, whereas with higher frame rates you're given - what I think - is too much. The ultra smooth effect of 48fps is almost jarring - especially when it's perceived as something so real mixed with hard cuts between angles. Call me a purist, but I feel as if 24fps allows your mind to be able to fill in the blanks and create a more contained, emotional, cinematic experience that you can immerse yourself in.

This may be a total geezer moment on my behalf (film doesn't need sound / color ! ), but that's how I feel. I may be wrong - this may be the future of film - who knows. It could really help with the motion sickness some people get in 3D, or not. However - basing my opinion on my experience with 48fps and these few reviews that have come out, I will be skeptical until then. I really want to be wrong, but there's no fixing that look in post without converting to 24fps.

[botley]

Sorry, but that cat is OUT of the bag now. You can kiss 35mm projection goodbye, too. Enjoy it while it lasts.

[Jinsai]

Torgo, part of the problem is that you're basing your perception on incorrectly set instances. The stuff that looks like bad soap opera quality is because the fps is set higher than what is actually playing back, so it compensates with this shitty "upscaling" that looks terrible. If something is actually shot in a higher frame rate, it should look good. I'd hold off on judgment till you see the tech properly presented.

[Torgo]

Torgo, part of the problem is that you're basing your perception on incorrectly set instances. The stuff that looks like bad soap opera quality is because the fps is set higher than what is actually playing back, so it compensates with this shitty "upscaling" that looks terrible. If something is actually shot in a higher frame rate, it should look good. I'd hold off on judgment till you see the tech properly presented.

I've actually worked with 48fps footage before and in this instance, I only place that reference to "Spanish Novella" here as a comparison for the "feeling" that you get when you watch it. It's the same weird realism - maybe not dramatically so, but it's there. And it's EXACTLY the same thing that is being mentioned in all of these reviews of it...

@Botley - yeah, yeah. I know. However, I was never attached to 35mm projection. I'm actually a huge fan of digital, although film will always have a special place in my heart.

[Jinsai]

@Torgo, I'll admit I haven't seen it. Still, and maybe this is ignorance about how video tech works, but if it looks obnoxious can't it be scaled back on your tv? At this point, with 3D and everything, it seems that theaters are going for something more like a unique spectacle that can't be easily duplicated on most home systems.

[Corvus T. Cosmonaut]

Variety on the "Hobbit hubub": http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118053124

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."

Doug Trumbull (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Trumbull), who pioneered HFR movies with his Showscan process, followed Long to the mic and said his research had shown a similar jump at around 60-66 fps, leveling off at around 72. Trumbull also added that "Single-flashing is vitally important to keep continuity of motion."

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.

[kdrcraig]

My version of the Extended edition looks like the image on the right. For some parts of the movie, the greenish/blue tint isn't very obvious... but during the snow sections, where the snow is supposed to look white, it's really obvious.

The Two Towers and Return of the King look fine.

I didn't notice it when I watched it this winter, I'll have to pay more attention next time I watch it.

[Torgo]

If you guys want an example of what filmed 48fps looks like compared to 24fps - check this link out: http://maximum-attack.com/basement_red_fps.zip

This is a zip file with two videos. The second one was filmed on a Red (the same camera Jackson is using) at 48fps. If you like it, then you should like seeing the Hobbit in 3D. If not, then you're in the same sad boat as me.

[Alexandros]

If you guys want an example of what filmed 48fps looks like compared to 24fps - check this link out: http://maximum-attack.com/basement_red_fps.zip

This is a zip file with two videos. The second one was filmed on a Red (the same camera Jackson is using) at 48fps. If you like it, then you should like seeing the Hobbit in 3D. If not, then you're in the same sad boat as me.

This doesn't look as bad as I expected. I know the "soap-opera" look, I have seen it, but I do not get that feeling in this video. It's a small sample to be sure, but I could get used to it.

[owinn]

I posted this in the Prometheus thread but there's signs that Prometheus was shot for 48fps. It reminds me of when my dad got a new LG television and it had TruMotion that appears to add extra frames to pretty much everything. Sports look amazing, movies just looked odd and CGI effects looked even more superimposed.

[eversonpoe]

I posted this in the Prometheus thread but there's signs that Prometheus was shot for 48fps. It reminds me of when my dad got a new LG television and it had TruMotion that appears to add extra frames to pretty much everything. Sports look amazing, movies just looked odd and CGI effects looked even more superimposed.

i do a/v installations and whenever i put in a tv for someone and it has that feature, i turn it off without telling them, because i fucking hate the way it looks.

[bobbie solo]

you're doing them a huge favor. my friend won't turn it off in his TV. i feel like i'm on Mars when we watch a movie.