It’s not easy being a genius – no one truly appreciates the splendour of your art until you’ve carked it. Just ask Peter Jackson, the auteur behind the Lord of The Rings movies, that pyramid scheme King Kong and the contentious adaptation of JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit, which is already making people sick with how artistically brilliant it is.
According to a report on news.com.au, the film’s 3D format and heightened FPS rate (frames per second) left audiences from early screenings of the movie stumbling out of the dark covered in their own art-induced sick – a shimmering, splendid coat punctuated by flecks of popcorn that shine like a diamond in the bright of day like an undershirt made of chain mail, light as a feather and hard as dragon’s scales, wrought of mithril by dwarves in the mines of Khazad-dum and gifted to them by Cate Blanchett. Not really, but people are reportedly leaving the cinema telling fearsome tales of nausea, dizzy spells and migraines:
“You have to hold your stomach down and let your eyes pop at first to adjust. This is not for wimps,” said one of Jackson’s unwitting victims.
“My eyes cannot take everything in, it’s dizzying, now I have a migraine,” said another who had been there and back again.
“It works for the big snowy mountains but in close-ups the picture strobes. I left loving the movie but feeling sick,” said another, who regaled reporters with tales of an unexpected journey that had left them desolated by what they saw*.
*These are the titles of Jackson’s Hobbit Trilogy films.
Ever since the project’s inception, Jackson has wanted to shoot the film in a 48 FPS ratio, which is double the usual rate of frames that we’re used to (24 FPS). It’s supposed to make the 3D experience smoother, but what it’s actually doing is making your eyes work harder than they’ve ever had to before.
Basically your eyes are just too lazy.
The Hobbit is screening in 48 FPS in around 1000 cinemas worldwide, meaning your chances of seeing the movie in 48 FPS have been considerably reduced/increased, depending on where you’re seeing it. Sorry, New Zealand, for once it’s not looking good for you.
The Hobbit opens in Australian cinemas December 26th.
