As part of my new years resolution to see one film a week in the theater, I saw The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in 3D at 48fps (frames per second).
I am not a fan of 3D at all. With the exception of a very few films, I find 3D contribues very little to today's stories. As someone who wears glasses, I find required eyewear present an obstruction to enjoying the film and they also darken the image of an already too-dimly projected screen.
I will say that An Unexpected Journey was by far my least-annoying 3D experience so far. I was the only one in the theater, so I also managed to get "the sweet spot" of about 2/3 back and centered to the screen. I also try to center my head slightly below the center of the screen. I also wore my contact lenses. After about 20 minutes of ideal viewing conditions, my mind flattened the image and I ceased to notice both the 3D and frame rate. Occasionally I removed the glasses to make sure I need them. Unfortunately, I still did.
As the movie started, I thought to myself: "This is going to be very smooth; more so than broadcast TV. This is going to be like LIVE theater with edits and close-ups". I was right. The motion was a little unsettling at first, especially with close ups and inserts, but when it came to watching actors move and emote, it was very much like watching a stage play from the front row.
The 48fps did an excellent job in preserving motion that is becoming obscured. Somewhere in the past decade, I have noticed the motion in action-sequences have gotten faster. Historically, film-combat has been performed slower than normal; partly for safety, but also so that the motion of the combat is not lost in between frames of traditional 24fps recording. The faster motion of today's action scenes get lost at 24pfs. I think the 48fps preserved the action as well as the broad, sweeping shots of the Landscape of Middle-Earth, and made the image a lot more enjoyable.
With added fps, however, comes added clarity. When filmmakers made the switch from standard definition (SD) to High Def (HD) extra measures were necessary to tidy up all the detail that could now be seen in the added resolution. Makeup was no longer an option. HD video easily detected blemishes and other imperfections common to most actors. Likewise, the VFX also needed to be presented in a higher quality resolution.
This same is happening with this next step from 24p to 48. No longer are VFX sprites blended in through 1/48th of a second motion blur, they are now at 1/96th of a second! The motion is one step closer to that of where our eye sees in nature and digital object do not blend as well as they did with the same amount of work. If films are going be continually made in 48fps, then VFX artists are going to need to up their game to stay invisible….At least until Ultra High Def comes out.
In conclusion, I still think that 3D does not add much value to most films that are making it to the theaters these days, including The Hobbit. As for the 48fps, I do not mind so much. If I had my druthers, I would prefer to see something in 48fps but NOT in 3D.
