Hello fellow travelers to Pandora! If you’re here, you’ve likely just gotten back from your trip to another galaxy far from our own and have some questions. DoesJames Cameronstill have a fascination with underwater worlds? Oh, yes. IsAvatar: The Way of Watergoing to wash away most anything else at the box office this month?Most likely. Okay, but why did the film look like that, and why do I feel like I may be about to throw up? Well, that requires a bit of a longer answer and a lot of background. However, don’t fret, there are no spoilers in this piece.
What Is High Frame Rate?
The basics are that, when seeing the film in 3D, it often actually runs at what is known as a high frame rate (HFR) which can have a pretty significant impact on the visuals. What is a frame rate you ask? Well, that is the amount of frames per second (fps) that we see when watching a film. This is the basic magic of movies, as it makes our mind think that we are seeing a moving image when it is actually just a bunch of still images that are shown in rapid succession. With a higher frame rate, the visuals can take on a quality that looks way smoother than what we may be used to. Getting into the weeds of this most recent film to do this,Avatar: The Way of Wateroften runs at 48 fps instead of the common 24 fps that most films of the past century have run at. With that being said, Cameron is not the first to experiment with a different frame rate in a blockbuster.Peter Jackson’sThe Hobbitwasreleased in both standard and high frame rateback in 2012. Then there wasAng Lee’s recentGemini Manthatthe director said came out better than prior instancessuch as his 2016 filmBilly Lynn’s Long Halftime Walkthat was at 120 fps andwas met with more mixed responses at the time.
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This then brings us back to Cameron’s latest, but it is important to note that he wasn’t always set on how much the film would make use of HFR. In 2014, he said that he hadn’t“made a final decision yet”about “whether the entire film will be made at high frame rate or parts of it.” Then, in 2019,he had saidthat he would “be using it sparingly throughout theAvatarfilms.” The reason for his use of it was that, in his own words, “when you’ve got extraordinary subjects that are being shot for real, or even through CG, that hyper-reality actually works in your favor. So to me, it’s a wand that you wave in certain moments and use when you need it. It’s an authoring tool.” As such, the film will actually shift between 24 and 48 depending on the scene for those who are seeing it in 3D. Which scenes in particular? Well, as Cameronrecently told Yahoo News, “the rule was that whenever they’re underwater, it’s 48 frames. Boom. Don’t even think about it. Some of the flying scenes and some of the broad vistas benefit from 48 frames.” Notably, Cameron said he doesn’t use it for the scenes that are more grounded as this would be “counter-productive because it looks a little too glassy-smooth.”
So What Does This All Mean?
That quote is a crucial one, as it establishes how, even with all the explaining about the technical aspects, the only way to truly express what it looks like is to describe the way it comes out. In that regard, it is certainly noticeable and something that viewers should be aware of going in. Part of this comes down to how we are accustomed to seeing movies a certain way and this is much different than that. Further, as expressed above, from scene to scene you may notice yourself observing that the picture looks vastly different depending on what is happening. Once you begin to pick up on it and your brain is able to process it, you may be able to get used to it. However, there are still moments that can be quite a bit jarring no matter how long you’ve had the chance to sit with them. The common point of reference is that it can look more like a video game than it does a movie. If you want a good example,take a look at this clipfrom the aforementionedGemini Manthat was at 60 fps. Obviously,Avatar: The Way of Wateris less drastic than this at only 48 fps, but it does provide a good visual reference point about how directors can create a vastly different viewing experience with HFR. Whether that is something that will bother you is in the eye of the beholder. After all, each of us is different in how we both perceive and prefer to experience movies on the big screen.
If you are curious about seeing a film that is promoted as being more of a photorealistic and smoother picture quality, then there is likely to be much of this that taps into that as a lot of it does take place with characters exploring underwater. It won’t be as noticeable as something likeGemini Man, but it is a component of the presentation that is still very much present. Without comparing any other elements of the films themselves,Avatar: The Way of Waterfeels like it has much more of a handle on how to use HFR strategically. Some of the fight sequences at the end certainly seemed to be in 48 fps, but it was hard to tell for certain. Perhaps this was just a product of being used to it by that point. On the other hand, if you are less enamored with it asbeing the future of cinema, and you would prefer just to see your movies as they’ve been before, you’re probably going to be taken out of the experience at some key moments. Though such is the process of experimentation as filmmakers test out various tools then gauge how they connect with audiences. However it ends up panning out,Avatar: The Way of Wateris shaping up to be one of the bolder experiments to date.
