Director James Cameron’s “Avatar 2: The Way of Water” is set to hit theaters this weekend, and it’s bringing with it a new twist on the traditional cinematic experience. For virtually the entire history of film, movies have been shot and displayed at 24 frames per second, meaning that 24 still images are displayed on the screen every second to create the illusion of motion. While there have been previous attempts to bring higher frame rate films to theaters, such as Peter Jackson’s “Hobbit” films and Ang Lee’s “Gemini Man,” both faced backlash from critics and audiences for the way they looked.
James Cameron’s ‘Avatar 2: The Way of Water’ Brings a New Twist to Cinematic Experience with 48 FPS and Motion Grading
The issue with higher frame rate films is that they can often appear too realistic and take viewers out of the story. “It kind of disengages that storytelling zone,” explains Richard Miller, executive vice president of technology at Pixelworks. “When filmmakers make a movie, they try to instill a suspense of disbelief. You can only really get there with the 24 frames per second look. If you try a high frame rate look, you ruin the suspense of disbelief.”
However, James Cameron and his team at Lightstorm Entertainment have found a way to overcome this issue with the release of “Avatar 2: The Way of Water.” The film has been shot and displayed at 48 frames per second, and has been adjusted with motion grading to maintain its cinematic look. This allows the images to appear crisp and detailed on bigger and better displays without the distracting motion that can take viewers out of the story.
The action and underwater sequences in “Avatar 2: The Way of Water” will be shown at a higher frame rate to make the motion look more realistic, while the dramatic scenes have been adjusted to the traditional 24 frames per second standard.
The end goal is to create a seamless visual experience that maximizes the aesthetic and cinematic appeal of each shot in the film, while still allowing audiences to fully immerse themselves in the story and suspend their disbelief.
Overall, the motion grading adjustments in “Avatar 2: The Way of Water” allow for a more realistic and visually stunning cinematic experience, while still maintaining the traditional storytelling techniques that have defined the film industry for decades.
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