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The Hobbit - Casting, Pre-production, Post-production News And Discussion

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Branduil

Member
Actually, when I think about it, Peter Jackson is probably one of the best directors for making a 3D film. I mean he loves those swooping camera shots and big closeups. And it's very likely the Hobbit films will be great storytelling as well.
 

Dead

well not really...yet
PhoenixDark said:
It's not a bad thing when it's not the only means of creating said world. Avatar relies entirely on the 3D because the actual worldbuilding is so pedestrian; Dancing With Wolves in Space is a lot more interesting when you through hundreds of millions of 3D effects into it to make people forget how shitty the actual movie is.

In short, it's a crutch. I'm sure it can be used effectively, but right now it's not much more than a distraction from bad film-making.
Uh no.

The basis of world building is in the details, in the foundation of the worldview being presented. The fiction being presented is authentic because its thoroughly researched and planned in the script writing and concept design phase, things aren't just thrown in for shits and giggles, they have to make sense and feel authentic in the world they inhabit. Relationships are established on screen that tie the world together through the visual detail. 3D has no bearing whatsoever on the creation of the world. It is simply the icing on the cake.
 
Dead said:
Uh no.

The basis of world building is in the details, in the foundation of the worldview being presented. The fiction being presented is authentic because its thoroughly researched and planned in the script writing and concept design phase, things aren't just thrown in for shits and giggles, they have to make sense and feel authentic in the world they inhabit. Relationships are established on screen that tie the world together through the visual detail. 3D has no bearing whatsoever on the creation of the world. It is simply the icing on the cake.

There is no cake to Avatar though, which is my point about the 3D crutch
 

Dead

well not really...yet
Salazar said:
Trash. Embarrassing bullshit.

A film maker thinking 'I want to use 3D' is an order of magnitude more artistically legitimate and interesting than a film maker using 3D at the commercially-minded behest of a studio.

It takes life-threatening ignorance to suppose differently.
A studio forcing a director to use the tool doesn't lessen the impact of another directors wishes to use the tool himself is what I meant.

Cool hyperbole though. Bet you felt like a real man when typing that out.
 

Dead

well not really...yet
PhoenixDark said:
There is no cake to Avatar though, which is my point about the 3D crutch
Judging from your Avatar, thats only because you weren't invited to eat the cake!
 

Salazar

Member
Dead said:
A studio forcing a director to use the tool doesn't lessen the impact of another directors wishes to use the tool himself is what I meant.

Cool hyperbole though. Bet you felt like a real man when typing that out.

This deserves no more contemplative a response than LOLWUT.

The hypothetical director choosing to use 3D for interesting and original cinematic reasons doesn't bear on the (current, actual) situation in which 3D is pressed on directors as cheesy blockbuster value-adding, and in which 3D is the fucking heaving elephant in the room of big-budget filmmaking. It is fucked up.
 
PhoenixDark said:
It's not a bad thing when it's not the only means of creating said world. Avatar relies entirely on the 3D because the actual worldbuilding is so pedestrian; Dancing With Wolves in Space is a lot more interesting when you through hundreds of millions of 3D effects into it to make people forget how shitty the actual movie is.

In short, it's a crutch. I'm sure it can be used effectively, but right now it's not much more than a distraction from bad film-making.

You speak truth. I was actually taken aback by how utterly generic Avatar's story and writing was when I first saw it. 3D should be an enjoyable extra and nothing more.
 

Dead

well not really...yet
There is no Hypothetical. There are several directors who are going to be doing 3D of their own volition, including Alfonso Cuaron, Ridley Scott, Guillermo Del Toro, Martin Scorcese, even Darren Arronofsky has recently pointed out how his feelings about 3D grew very positive after seeing Avatar. And as I said before Peter Jackson has been wanting to do 3D since 2005, if The Hobbit is 3D, he will do it his own way and most certainly the fact that he likes the format will help.

Im sorry that it bothers you so much that Micheal Bay has been coerced into making a 3D film with Transformers 3, but the fact is Directors ARE choosing to use it.
 

Dead

well not really...yet
Branduil said:
Thinking about it, the forced camera tricks they used for the hobbits in LOTR wouldn't work in 3D, would they?
They would surely find a new to do it, like they had to discover when making LOTR. But im not sure. They could possibly combine different shots with the right and left eye lenses to simulate the effect, maybe?

I recently watched the Extended Edition suplements for LOTR and was really amazed at all the tricks they used to change height. My favorite was when they shot one character by himself and then proportionately composited him next to another. It looked amazingly seamless, much more so than any of the perspective tricks. (and of course there were the tricks that were much simpler than you could ever imagine, like the actors just standing on their knees :lol )
 
I don't understand the general hatred of 3D (for movies and games). Personally I think the kind of 3D you get in Avatar is really amazing, whether you liked the movie or not. When I was a kid I would have flipped my shit if I had gotten to see something like this. Sometimes I think people on GAF and elsewhere are just extremely cynical and jaded.
 

KevinCow

Banned
Neuromancer said:
I don't understand the general hatred of 3D (for movies and games). Personally I think the kind of 3D you get in Avatar is really amazing, whether you liked the movie or not. When I was a kid I would have flipped my shit if I had gotten to see something like this. Sometimes I think people on GAF and elsewhere are just extremely cynical and jaded.

They're just grumpy old men who are afraid of change.
 
tabsina said:
So I've been pretty out of the loop for the past few months.. what is the current ETA on this movie?
Well it hasn't even officially been greenlit yet so, years is my guess. Years and years.
 

jett

D-Member
The "curse" of The Hobbit?

Now add fire to the latest list of woes which have beset Peter Jackson's pre-production on those back-to-back The Hobbit films. Flames yesterday engulfed his New Zealand workshop set which would have been used for the Tolkien movies. It took 50 firefighters three hours to quell the blaze in Wellington. All that's left now is a burned-out warehouse at Jackson's Portsmouth Miniatures Studio which had been used in the past as a specialist miniatures shooting facility, one of the few in the world, to create special effects for his The Lord of the Rings trilogy and King Kong.

uh oh

I guess Del Toro bailed out at the right time. :p
 
Count of Monte Sawed-Off said:
I think this a sign. Don't do it. Just let it go Peter. It wasn't meant to be.

Quitting is for the weak. The more shit you have to go through to taste victory the sweeter it will be.
 

Jb

Member
Can't wait for the "Lost in la Middle Earth" documentary about the nightmare the production of The Hobbit became.
 

Amir0x

Banned
you know what maybe it's for the best

RELEASE FUCKING EXTENDED EDITION OF THE LOTR TRILOGY ON BLU-RAY ALREADY GODDAMN
 

CrankyJay

Banned
Amir0x said:
you know what maybe it's for the best

RELEASE FUCKING EXTENDED EDITION OF THE LOTR TRILOGY ON BLU-RAY ALREADY GODDAMN

They need to rework the Ents fucking shit up at the end of The Two Towers...some bad pixelization going on there.
 
hobbitfire.jpg
 

Monocle

Member
Neuromancer said:
I don't understand the general hatred of 3D (for movies and games). Personally I think the kind of 3D you get in Avatar is really amazing, whether you liked the movie or not. When I was a kid I would have flipped my shit if I had gotten to see something like this. Sometimes I think people on GAF and elsewhere are just extremely cynical and jaded.
Pretty much this. I have no problem admitting that I found Avatar a transcendent experience. All the whining about its derivative script is just white noise to me when I remember how it felt to be immersed in such a vivid world. It's like people want to deaden their sense of wonder just to see if they can make cynical clucking noises louder and more obnoxiously than the person next to them.
 

Salazar

Member
Monocle said:
Pretty much this. I have no problem admitting that I found Avatar a transcendent experience. All the whining about its derivative script is just white noise to me when I remember how it felt to be immersed in such a vivid world. It's like people want to deaden their sense of wonder just to see if they can make cynical clucking noises louder and more obnoxiously than the person next to them.

Theme park experience.
 

Amir0x

Banned
Monocle said:
Pretty much this. I have no problem admitting that I found Avatar a transcendent experience. All the whining about its derivative script is just white noise to me when I remember how it felt to be immersed in such a vivid world. It's like people want to deaden their sense of wonder just to see if they can make cynical clucking noises louder and more obnoxious than the person next to them.

i have a sense of wonder bigger than most people i know and more than likely you will ever know

one, Avatar didn't transcend shit. It was a terrible movie. neither its world nor its story compelled me, and yes, that is necessary for a sense of goddamned wonder.

and second, until we get glasses-less 3D, 3D as it stands now only serves to worsen the picture. Deadens color, changes many scenes into gimmicky, pop-up shit, etc. It makes the image quality WORSE thanks to the nature of the technology in theaters right now, and that also hurts any sense of wonder.
 

Monocle

Member
Sucks about the fire. I hope it won't delay production for very long.

Salazar said:
Theme park experience.
OK?

Amir0x said:
i have a sense of wonder bigger than most people i know and more than likely you will ever know

one, Avatar didn't transcend shit. It was a terrible movie. neither its world nor its story compelled me, and yes, that is necessary for a sense of goddamned wonder.

and second, until we get glasses-less 3D, 3D as it stands now only serves to worsen the picture. Deadens color, changes many scenes into gimmicky, pop-up shit, etc. It makes the image quality WORSE thanks to the nature of the technology in theaters right now, and that also hurts any sense of wonder.
Speak for yourself.
 

Amir0x

Banned
Monocle said:
Speak for yourself.

Well you wanted to act like we were cutting off our sense of wonder, and I wanted to act like you're goddamn blind for settling for the inferior picture of 3D films.
 
Amir0x said:
Well you wanted to act like we were cutting off our sense of wonder, and I wanted to act like you're goddamn blind for settling for the inferior picture of 3D films.
Most of the issues that affect 3D, such as dimmed picture and "pop out" pictures, could be eliminated if the films were presented correctly. The pop out effect is lessened when filmed in native 3d, such as Avatar and Toy Story 3. The dimness would be a non issue if the people making the films lit the films with the loss of brightness in mind, much like Cameron did. And if theaters would actually project the films at a brightness level to compensate for the loss of brightness it would be a non issue.

The shooting the film with the right lighting for 3d in mind is something that should come with time. The theaters projecting the image at the wrong brightness is something that will unfortunately NEVER go away. For every single theater that shows things at the correct brightness, there are most likely thousands that do not.
 

JdFoX187

Banned
I saw Avatar in 3D and in 2D at the theaters. I didn't really enjoy the movie any more or any less in either screening. 3D just still seems like a gimmick to me. As someone says, it's almost like a theme park experience. That combined with the higher ticket price really turns me off the whole thing. I just wish there was an alternative. Here, I have to drive 90 miles to Oklahoma City to see a 2D screening of a movie at a respectable theater. I'll still watch a lot of movies that I wanted to see, even if they're in 3D, like The Hobbit. I've been waiting on this film for ages. But I'm going to be a lot more selective from now on.
 

jett

D-Member
PhoncipleBone said:
Most of the issues that affect 3D, such as dimmed picture and "pop out" pictures, could be eliminated if the films were presented correctly. The pop out effect is lessened when filmed in native 3d, such as Avatar and Toy Story 3. The dimness would be a non issue if the people making the films lit the films with the loss of brightness in mind, much like Cameron did. And if theaters would actually project the films at a brightness level to compensate for the loss of brightness it would be a non issue.

The shooting the film with the right lighting for 3d in mind is something that should come with time. The theaters projecting the image at the wrong brightness is something that will unfortunately NEVER go away. For every single theater that shows things at the correct brightness, there are most likely thousands that do not.

Indeed. I watched Avatar in three different theaters, only one projected it with proper brightness levels. :/
 
I will 100% agree that the holy grail is 3d that can be achieved without glasses. But for now, the current system works very well. It is just that most of the movies released are prepared for 3D so poorly and the theaters present them so dimly, it is ruining what chance 3D has for really becoming a standard.

I am also debating about even seeing Harry Potter in 3d. I know it wasnt shot in 3D, so it is the shitty post process conversion. Will WB sink enough money into it to ensure it gets a good 3d update?
 

Dead

well not really...yet
3D glasses will probably be required for cinemas for years to come, unlike home TVs where the tech already exists and will eventually be common-place.

I dont understand what exactly is bothersome about the glasses either way, then again I wear glasses every day. Its barely noticeable once you start watching the movie.
 

jett

D-Member
3D in theaters will always require glasses. There's no hope there for a glassless solution.

PhoncipleBone said:
I will 100% agree that the holy grail is 3d that can be achieved without glasses. But for now, the current system works very well. It is just that most of the movies released are prepared for 3D so poorly and the theaters present them so dimly, it is ruining what chance 3D has for really becoming a standard.

I am also debating about even seeing Harry Potter in 3d. I know it wasnt shot in 3D, so it is the shitty post process conversion. Will WB sink enough money into it to ensure it gets a good 3d update?

3D done in post is always awful, no matter how much money or time is sunk into the process. You just get different degrees of awfulness.
 

Dead

well not really...yet
We wont know how true that is until 2012 when Titanic 3D and Episode 1 3D are released.

I can't speak for George, but if Cameron thinks he can properly convert a movie with enough time and money, then I'd wager he knows what he is doing.
 
Dead said:
3D glasses will probably be required for cinemas for years to come, unlike home TVs where the tech already exists and will eventually be common-place.

I dont understand what exactly is bothersome about the glasses either way, then again I wear glasses every day. Its barely noticeable once you start watching the movie.
I wear glasse and contacts, and the only time the 3d glasses bothered me was the one IMAX showing of Avatar I went to. The glasses rode too low on the nose so they kept clasping my nostrils shut, and they hugged the sides of my head so tight it left marks after ten minutes. Also, the 3d effect there looked more cartoonish.

The RealD showings I went to were so much better. The 3D effect was more seamless and elegant, and the glasses are basically just cheap Ray Bans.
 
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