Cinematic Realism Considered - Part 2

Cinematic Realism Considered - Part 2

In Part 1 of CinematicRealism Considered, I discussed both ultra high definition (UHD) and high frame rate (HFR) as signaling the latest and most radical revolution in cinema technology in the last half century. These two recent advances in movie making and theatrical exhibition together with the advent of digital 3D can create a movie going experience that blurs the separation between fantasy and reality, fiction from non-fiction. Indeed the expressed purpose of these three technologies in combination is to simulate reality as closely as possible... creating cinematic realism.

To be clear, none of these advances would have been possible without the introduction and current ubiquitous status of digital filmmaking and exhibition. Digital Cinema became a disruptive technology only during the last decade, completely changing the way we think about moviemaking and removing most of the constraints that have been inherent in the use of physical film for almost a century. 

As a result, filmmakers like Peter Jackson have begun pushing the boundaries of this new medium in an attempt to dramatically change the movie going experience, proclaiming cinematic realism the future of cinema. However, to some, these changes call into question the very heart and definition of the cinematic experience.

Is There an Ideal Cinematic Experience?

Why do we go to the theater in the first place? I believe that most of us go to the theater to escape reality via visuals and audio that depict a story. But as camera, cinematic projection and screen technology continue to advance one has to wonder whether the movie going experience will continue to offer an escape from reality or is it destined to become an accurate simulation of reality framed within a story. This is an important distinction because we know from recent HFR releases that there are some movie goers who consider cinematic realism a radical if not uncomfortable departure from the familiar cinematic experience. 

The Digital Revolution in Cinema:

But lets back up a bit and put HFR in historical perspective.  In the absence of significant advances in digital camera and digital projection technology over the last decade this blog on cinematic realism would have little relevance.

Today the majority of movie theaters around the world are fully digital. In fact, digital technology has for the most part completely eliminated analog film for theatrical exhibition. This has had a profound effect on film printing and film distribution, which was the cash cow of the major film labs. Today, filmmaking and exhibition has entered a whole new era in which postproduction houses must compete with smaller, more agile finishing houses and VFX facilities must gear up with software and capex requirements to handle higher resolutions and higher frames rates. 

The 24 Frame Rate Standard:

Prior to the introduction of digital cinema and for nearly the past 90 years, the standard frame rate in the U.S. for exhibiting feature films has been 24 frames per second (fps). To the theater going audience today and in the past, the 24 fps experience is what cinema has been and what it's supposed to be.

So what is it about 24 fps that makes it so unique?  Nothing really. The 24 fps standard was an arbitrary number introduced to feature films in 1926 because it was considered the slowest film speed that could produce the illusion of smooth movement when coupled with audio while at the same time conserving the cost of film.  While 24 frames remains the current standard in digital cinema today, both analog film and digital projectors are typically double flashed or triple flashed meaning that each frame is shown twice or three times as they are projected. This is done to reduce the transition time between frames thereby mitigating flicker. So while we've always experienced 48 or 72 frames per second in the theater, only 24 frames of actual visual information has been displayed each second. I believe audiences tend to perceive today’s feature film experience as something other than reality because of the relatively low resolution that we get from 24 fps delivered in HD or 2K. This is true whether or not 3D is part of the equation. 

Deviating From The Norm:

To deviate from 24 fps can impose a different experience on the audience that may not be considered an enhancement for some films. Both HFR and UHD dramatically increase the amount of visual data delivered to our eyes and brain. High frame rate delivers more images per second, which increases the amount of visual information hitting our retinas per unit of time.  This is called 'temporal resolution' or time based resolution. Ultra high definition on the other hand increases the pixel resolution of each frame. It's going from HD at 1920 by 1080 to UHD at 3840 by 2160, which is 4 times the resolution.  It's basically the difference between a 2.07 megapixel image and an 8.29 megapixel image. This is called 'spatial resolution’.

It's our persistence of vision or the amount of time an image remains on the retina after removal of that image that melds 48 fps into a continuous visual experience with high data rate.  So if you combine higher temporal resolution with higher spatial resolution the amount of data reaching the retina goes up geometrically and when shot correctly, the screen literally appears to be approaching reality. Add quality 3D to this mix and you have a unique cinematic experience that appears to be an extension of reality.  

So it's easy to understand that 24 fps at 1920 x 1080 or 2K is, by comparison a low-resolution experience that delivers a 'dreamy' state clearly separate from reality. Some filmmakers and moviegoers will undoubtedly prefer lower resolution over UHD and HFR for some films and/or genre.  On the other hand, a variable frame rate approach might satisfy both desired experiences. HFR is most effective for wide shots and vista panoramas whereas a lower frame rate might be used for close ups and other tighter shots. Regardless of the genre of a movie, if a filmmaker uses variable frame rate creatively the movie going audience will likely to be more accepting of the enhanced visuals. 

Whether it's cinematic storytelling or cinematic realism I believe both have legitimacy in filmmaking and exhibition. It really comes down to a creative call for the filmmaker and a budgetary call for the studio.

In Part 3 of Cinematic Realism Considered we'll look at the relative contribution of 3D to the UHD and HFR equation and discuss cinematic realism within the context of the 'uncanny valley'.

Cinematic Realism Considered - Part 1

Cinematic Realism Considered - Part 1

There are some directors in Hollywood who have declared, a priori that the end game of feature filmmaking is to create an experience for the audience that is as close to reality as possible.  Toward that end, there has been a great deal of talk recently about the introduction of high frame rates (HFR), ultra high resolution (UHR) and more effective 3D, preferably without glasses to create an experience so close to reality that the lines between cinema and real life become not just blurred but invisible.

The Hobbit:

When people were exposed to Peter Jackson’s 48 frames per second (fps) 3D release of The Hobbit there was a fairly significant negative reaction. Exhibited at twice the normal rate of 24 fps, the lack of motion blur was unsettling to many moviegoers as was the enhanced clarity of the image.   The increased frame rate delivered more visual information to the audience per unit time but it also exposed a good deal of the movie making magic to the moviegoers, particularly the makeup and consumes.  Indeed, the heightened visuals apparently even influenced some audience members' reaction to the acting in a negative way.

Does this mean that HFR is something to avoid in filmmaking and theatrical exhibition?  Of course it doesn’t, it simply means that Peter Jackson pioneered a new paradigm in filmmaking that will over time achieve greater maturity and acceptance for both the filmmaker and the audience.

Several weeks ago I was at the International Broadcast Conference (IBC) in Amsterdam and went to a special 48 fps screening of the new trailer from the next Hobbit, Desolation of Smaug. I must admit that it was a unique visual experience for me but certainly not one that I would consider negative. In fact I was very impressed.  The only time that my suspended disbelief was disrupted is when a foreground character rapidly traversed the screen from left to right in front of the subject of focus. That character appeared to have no motion blur so it seemed to me part of the production crew walking by… and there in lies the problem. We, as moviegoers have a set of expectations that have been established since the first movie we ever sat through and much of those expectations are violated when watching a feature film at twice the speed that we consider normal. Is that bad? Well yes and no. Yes, in that it can take you out of the moment if you're not used to it. No, in that once the movie going audience is acclimated to this uniquely different cinematic experience they undoubtedly will learn to accept it.

Variable Frame Rates Will Likely Be The Norm:

Today most 3D converted films are of exceptional quality but the Industry has regrettably not explored or experimented with more diverse genre for the medium.  Instead we seem to have settled on a narrow sample that many creative and production people in the Industry consider ‘appropriate’ for 3D. Unfortunately the same fate could happen to HFR in that it might be considered appropriate for a subclass of films. Fortunately, the effectiveness of HFR appears to be  shot specific rather than genre specific. Consequently selected shots like wide-angle vistas will be sped up to 48, 60, or even 120 fps while close-ups might be exhibited at slower frame rates, etc.  I'm hopeful that variable frame rates will make the HFR applicable to a wide range of genres.

I’m not going to make a case for or against the latest trend toward cinematic realism nor would I ever criticize advances in film production and/or projection technology regardless of the stated end goal. However, there are questions that this movement toward realism evokes that go to the very heart and definition of cinema.

What exactly is the ideal cinematic experience? That question will be addressed in:

Cinematic Realism Considered – Part 2.

NHK testing 8K transmissions in

Brazil for 2014 World Cup

Originally published in 3DFocus

Things are so much clearer now

It has been reported that NHK will be testing the transmission of Super Hi-Vision World Cup coverage from Brazil to Japan next year

Japan's public service broadcaster (the equivalent of the BBC in the UK and PBS in America) are working with Brazil's TV Globo to test how robust Internet delivery of 8K content can be, in time for next year's World Cup coverage and the 2016 Olympic Games.

According to Advanced Television (via Brazilian newspaper O Globo) the initiative is being backed by Brazil’s National Network of Education & Research (RNP), and uses two parallel high-speed connections to deliver the 7680 x 4320 images.

Yesterday it was reveiled that Saturday’s Premier League match between West Ham and Stoke City was the first-ever live UK event to be broadcast in 4K. BSkyB filmed the match and transmitted it over a Eutelsat satellite to a £25,000 Ultra-HD display at its studio facility in West London.

Mobile is also set to incorporate 4K technology. At this week's IFA show in Berlin, Acer will be showing its forthcoming Liquid S2 smartphone, a 6-inch device capable of recording 4K video.

Click here to watch and listen to Jonathan Tustain interview NHK regarding Super High Definition.

THE WORLD'S FIRST STEREOSCOPIC 8K 60 FPS MOVIE

Originally published in Stereoscopy News.
Sky-Skan’s educational, 25-minute documentary, “To Space & Back,” which first opened in March to critical and public acclaim at the Fels Planetarium (The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia), will be re-released in September 2013 in a new version that, at 8K resolution, stereoscopic 3D and high frame rate 60 frames per second (60fps), pushes the technical boundaries of digital cinema to an extreme as yet unrivaled by any commercial movie exhibition.

To Space & Back is a joint production of Sky-Skan and The Franklin Institute. To Space & Back was created specifically for digital dome cinema (“fulldome”). The new release will deliver hyper-real, scientific visualizations in acute detail, clarity and depth without picture stutter or motion blur. It will premiere to the industry in 4K/60 fps/stereo 3D on September 5-7, 2013 at the Fulldome Film Festival of Imiloa Astronomy Center (Hawaii), and subsequently to the public in 8K/60 fps/3D at Macao Science Center (Macao is a special administrative region of China, more or less like Hong-Kong).

Intel Says "Depth-Sensing" Camera Will Reach Ultrabooks, Laptops in Second Half of 2014

By Agam Shah, IDG News Service
August 26, 2013 12:21 AM ET

IDG News Service - From mundane 2D devices, integrated cameras in laptops and tablets in the future will change into powerful 3D tools that can sense movement, track emotion, and even monitor reading habits of children, according to Intel.

Intel is developing a "depth sensing" camera, which is an enhanced version of a 3D camera that can go deeper inside images to "bridge the gap between the real and virtual world," said Anil Nanduri , director of perceptual products & solutions at Intel.

The webcam enhancements will help the computer understand a human better, bring new levels of interactivity to 3D games, and make webconferencing fun by blanking out the background and adding a green screen, Nanduri said. "You'll add the ability to sense your excitement, emotion -- whether you are happy or smiling. The algorithms and technologies are there, but they are getting more refined, and as they get more robust, you'll see them," Nanduri said.

Such depth cameras will be integrated into laptops and ultrabooks in the second half of 2014. The technology will initially appear in external webcams such as Senz3D external webcam, which was jointly developed by Logitech and Intel, and will become available in the coming quarters. The camera technology will ultimately trickle down to tablets and smartphones, Nanduri said.

The camera will also be able to identify characteristics, contours and shapes of items in view. For example, the camera's ability to sense distance, size, depth, color, contours and other parameters of structures could also help in the growing area of 3D printing. A depth sensing picture of a model can be extracted to reveal exact specifications and other details of a design, which can then be printed. "You are not going to look for a case [for a device] anymore, you'll just point that device, and the cameras will recognize what you have. It'll know the model number...and it'll print [the case] for you, or you go to the store, they will print it for you," Nanduri said.

With the help of eye tracking, it could also track how well somebody is reading and use that information as an evaluation tool. For example, it could track reading, and tell if kids are stuck on words, how much they read, or whether they need help with specific words. "Having the capabilities to say -- they read about 80 percent of the lines, they had difficulty with these words -- that kind of intelligence for educational tools is phenomenal," Nanduri said.

Other small enhancements also include using a motion-sensing game where hands can be followed to pick up objects in the wider dimension of 3D games. The data collected by the camera could be combined with other modalities like voice recognition to improve human-computer interaction.

There are already 3D cameras out there, but Intel is trying to tack on the algorithm and hardware features that make images more meaningful.

"Kinect was a good initial version of a depth camera more from a long range perspective. When Intel started looking at it, we were primarily looking at it primarily as more personal interaction, short range, which is probably a meter or meter-and-a-half range of interaction," Nanduri said.

Integration in the thin ultrabook display panels may be a challenge. Intel is addressing the challenges with a high resolution short-range camera that focuses on a small area, and what Nanduri called "finger-level articulation."

"You need to have a lot more resolution for that zone. To really scale it to volumes, you need to get to the right form factor from the optics perspective, you need to get to the right power levels and you need to have the right cost structure to help scale it into integration," Nanduri said.

When the technology reaches devices, users may progressively forget the keyboard and mouse when interacting with computers.

"When you have depth information, what you can do with it is pretty phenomenal," Nanduri said.