Hoping for Hobbit of magic

Peter Jackson hopes the new technology he used on his Hobbit movie trilogy will create a magical experience that will get people into cinemas.

Speaking at a news conference in Wellington before the premiere of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which drew 100,000 fans to the red carpet event, Jackson said the films were shot at 48 frames per second instead of the traditional 24 to give them greater clarity.

The director likened the technology to the leap from vinyl records to CDs.

He said we live in an age when many younger people were happy to watch films on their iPads. “We just have to make the cinema-going experience more magical and more spectacular to get people coming back to the movies again,” he said.

At the Cinema Con event in April, Jackson got a mixed reception for preview footage of The Hobbit shown at 48 frames per second.

Some observers thought the images were too clear and the result so realistic that it took away from the magic of the film medium.

Jackson said yesterday that when the movie opens worldwide next month in 25,000 cinemas, only about 1,000 of them will be equipped to show the movie in 48 frames, so most people will see it in the more traditional format. The movie has also been shot in 3D.

“You are dipping your toe in the water, and it’s this new way of shooting and projecting a film,” said Jackson.

Jackson and most of the stars of the trilogy, including Martin Freeman, who plays hobbit Bilbo Baggins, held a relaxed, joking news conference at the Te Papa museum. Nearby, sunny weather encouraged fans to later gather around the 450m-long red carpet leading to the Embassy Theatre hosting the premiere.

British actor Freeman, who brings comedic timing to the lead role of Bilbo, said he thought that director Jackson had done an amazing job on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

“He’s done it again,” said Freeman.

“If it’s possible, it’s probably even better than The Lord of the Rings. I think he’s surpassed it.”