Jackson has shot the movies using 48 frames per second, rather than the usual 24 frames per second, which has been the standard rate of images projected since 1927.
Critics who have reviewed the film have dismissed the increased number of frames as “kitch” and “fake”, but Jackson is adamant filmmaking has to move forward to prevent movies from looking outdated.
He tells the BBC, “Twenty four frames is jarring to me now. It looks primitive. Change is good, it takes people some time to get used to it. Ultimately, it’s not critics who are going to decide if this (the new format) is going to be adopted or not, it’s the audience.
“(There will always be) people who have a particular strong feeling that film should be unchanged and that we got it right in 1927, just like there are people who play vinyl records still, whereas most of the world has moved to CDs and we got used to that.”
Only a small proportion of cinemas carrying the first instalment in the trilogy, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, will be able to use the 48 frames version, which is designed to improve picture quality.
