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Video Blog: WB's CinemaCon Footage: 'TDKR', 'Hobbit', 'Great Gatsby'

by Alex Billington
April 24, 2012

This is why I love CinemaCon (formerly known as ShoWest). Warner Bros always rocks Las Vegas with a presentation looking at their upcoming movies that leaves me giddy (honestly) with excitement. Of course I'm incredibly excited for Chris Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises already, but we got to watch a totally new sizzle reel of ~5 minutes of footage, and it took me to levels of pure cinematic exhilaration. Beyond that, we were treated to ~10 minutes of fresh footage from Peter Jackson's The Hobbit shown in 48FPS 3D, and raw footage from Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby in 3D. Immediately after we recorded a video blog.

Our focus in this video blog included footage from Warner Bros' upcoming movies: Chris Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises, where we saw a special phenomenal CinemaCon extended trailer; Jay Roach's The Campaign, a hilarious political comedy with Will Ferrell; Baz Luhrmann'z The Great Gatsby, his visually spectacular new take on F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel; and finally Peter Jackson's The Hobbit, the first movie shot at 48FPS, which has now become a huge point of debate following this screening. Watch our video blog with Peter Sciretta from SlashFilm and Steve Weintraub from Collider (listen to the end, we discuss a lot):

Suffice it to say, The Dark Knight Rises footage was absolutely breathtaking. I was literally holding my breath throughout much of it, and couldn't even move at the end I was so blown away by this new glimpse we got. I know it was only another 5 minutes of footage, on top of the two trailers we've seen so far, but the more I see, the more confident I am that Nolan has not only topped The Dark Knight, but made something possibly even more phenomenal. It's the conclusion we didn't know he could pull off, but possibly has. The shots, the story, the epicness, the characters, there's nothing that can top my anticipation for this movie.

As for the other footage, all of it was impressive, but the 48FPS demo, well, it has some issues. The entirety of CinemaCon has been buzzing since seeing The Hobbit about how bad, or how awkward, it looked. 48FPS is a big change, a drastic change from the 80 years of 24FPS footage, that we're used to, and it will take a while to get into it. But I noticed problems where it seemed like movement was running at double the speed as the rest of the footage, even though it was all in sync. It was odd, even awkward, and a bit weird to see, and a bit weird to get into. But was it just unfinished, raw footage? Will it look better finished by December?

Only time will tell, but it's certain the debate is on regarding 48FPS. Some will hate it, some will be unsure, some may love it, others will think it is the future but will take time to be perfected. I wasn't as impressed as I thought I would be by 48FPS (though The Hobbit content did look fantastic, of course) but I'm hoping that with the seven months they have until release, they'll make sure it looks as spectacular as Cameron/Jackson have claimed it should. Besides that, Warner Bros has one hell of an awesome slate of movies coming up.

Filed under CinemaCon, Feat, Hype, Video Blog

From around the web:

http://shoxty.com Will

Thanks for the updates!
Dangerous Don Danger

And... here... we... go! The great internet war between the 48 framers vs. the 24 framers is set to begin.
- son_et_lumiere
  
  not just that. this year we've got Dark Knight Rises 2D 24fps vs Prometheus 3D 24fps vs Hobbit 3D 48fps! wonder which will rule in 10 years time?
jillkennedy

Very excited about Dark Knight - looks great. I think the problem with "The Hobbit" is not the frame speed or splitting it into 2 movies, the problem is that fanboys would prefer that a "fat Peter Jackson" direct it instead of the less successful "skinny Peter Jackson"... http://mankabros.com/blogs/onmedea/2010/10/28/fanboys-would-like-fat-peter-jackson-to-direct-the-hobbit/
- O.k. then
  
  Whuh? Seriously?So fat makes you succesful?Gotta get me some burgers and fries then..
Roc

Reading that paragraph alone about TDKR gave me goosebumps O.O... that's how excited I am for this. I have no doubt I will be blown away.
Andy43

So you think Peter Jackson and special James Cameron are so dump to destroy there movies because of the frame?? I think the footage what was the saw was not finish!(correction in Color and contrast!) Sure the theater doesn't want 48 or 60 frames because this cost a lot of money to update the theater! I read things like look like a old BBC tape and stuff like this!? This gives the peoble out there a hole wrong imagination what the material was looking. The truth is the material looks always clear special in action scenes and this is really .....strange in the beginning but special in 3D great!
- peloquin
  
  I have no idea what you just said, but I'm glad FS.net is getting more of an international presence lately.
  - Andy43
    
    I'am pretty sure you understand what i said. I know my grammar is bad, really bad, but i'am working on it!
    - peloquin
      
      Trust me, if I tried to comment in another language I would do a much worse job.
      - Another foreigner
        
        Hi there
      - O.k. then
        
        ..forgot to add ..I'm a foreigner too..
Stuballs

Thanks for the updates
http://the72pins.com DaftBot

the way you've described the change is the same thing that happens when you watch a regular blu-ray at 120hz. People seem to be moving too fast and it feels like you have the movie playing at 1.5x speed. It does take a while to get used to and you totally have to light it differently. I hope they add some post processing to make it look a bit more like the previous films. I don't want such a drastic change in style.
- son_et_lumiere
  
  maybe this is the future, who knows? but you're right, that sudden and drastic change is what will throw people. i once accidentally set my tv sharpness to 100% and i felt like i was watching a tv soap opera, or a stage play, instead of a disc. the 'cinema' experience a lifetime of 24fps has ingrained in me just would not accept the 'window on the world' look, whereas my eyes seem quite happy with HD and IMAX.
BeepBeepRichie

Peter and Alex are rock stars...they need to distance themselves from that tool. He needs a slap for interrupting Alex.
Jalts4

I love when you guys do these video blogs about movies their so good and the discussion you guys had about the 48FPS was interesting I really had't heard about this yet before. Good video blog
Lebowski

The only reason I can see that movies should move to 48fps is so that theaters and studios have a new bullshit marketing buzzword to slap onto their unappealing 3D tinsel. Two dimensions, 24 frames per second, 35 millimeter stock = flawless colour, true depth and ultra smooth movement. WHY WOULD YOU FUCK THAT UP?
DAVIDPD

WHY THE HOBBIT?! WHY!?
Rickvanr

pardon my ignorance, but can 48 fps be converted to 24 fps if it indeed does look terrible?
Ehsan Davodi

Hobbit eat them all Peter Jackson know what we want He make movies naturally Hobbit become greater event and blockbuster of 2012
LosZombies

Wow...idk how to feel about 48fps anymore lol At this point Im just worried that the change will take away from the movie itself, but the way you guys described the landscape shots makes me eager to watch it @ the same time... :l I really wish I could see the difference between 24 and 48fps...
mubzymalone

Regarding Hobbit: Seems like certain parts of the movie had you feeling 'weird' but other scenes such as the landscape showed 48fps' real potential? My only concern is that 90% of the discussion you had after watching the 10 minute clip was about the technology - whereas you spoke very little about the movie scenes itself. My worry is that this will happen with the actual product. The movie itself will be awesome in 2D. Hope the 3D 48FPS projection doesn't take anything away from the content itself.
http://www.facebook.com/dpramroop Darrin Ramroop

any shots of juno temple in the dark knight rises reel
Michael Stat

Alex: Why did you love James Cameron's 48/60 fps presentation last year so much, but dislike The Hobbit footage?
germss

One of my big issues with Peter Jackson and the 48fps debate is that he's using The Hobbit as a launching point to push this new form. All these theaters/industry types that are unsure about using 48fps are basically having their hands forced. The Hobbit is a HUGE movie, both in terms of fan presence and money, so they will feel the pressure to upgrade projectors and equipment in order to meet that demand. It's the same thing we saw after Avatar; know one really cared whether or not the audience liked 3D, they only knew that it was being pushed HARD because it had Cameron's name attached to it, so in order not to be left behind, they jumped on board the ship. It reminds me of politicians who enact laws, but never stop to ask: is this what people want? I guess it doesn't really matter, because they could release the Hobbit in whatever form they want and people will still go see it. Thank god for people like Chris Nolan who actually put thought into these things. When I saw Inception I had a moment during the film where I just knew that I'd never seen anything as clean and crisp as how that movie looked, and that was done on film.
TDKRazystoked

ATTN ALEX: How is the sound mix on Bane's voice? As someone who is hearing impaired, I don't want that to impede my full TDKR experience.
Chsox203

Alex, I agree with you about it possibly toping TDK & Avengers!!! (=
Jonnyb61

i think john blake is going to wear the costume because bruce wayne is gona be paralyzed.