After some rumors it has been confirmed that Flight of the Conchords star Bret McKenzie has taken an elf role in Peter Jackson‘s The Hobbit. He will play Lindir, an Elf of Rivendell. If you blinked during Fellowship of the Ring and/or Return of the King, you may have missed him in his extra role, known through his internet following as Figwit. [Variety]
Here, he will have a much bigger part as he joined the cast that includes (wait for it) Andy Serkis, Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Rob Kazinsky, Aidan Turner, Graham McTavish, John Callen, Stephen Hunter, Mark Hadlow, Peter Hambleton, James Nesbitt, Adam Brown, Cate Blanchett, Ken Stott, Sylvester McCoy, Mikael Persbrandt, Ryan Gage, Jed Brophy, William Kircher, and Elijah Wood.
In much more interesting news, Oscar-winning cinematographer Andrew Lesnie has revealed to Australian site IF his shootings plans. We already knew they were shooting with the new 30 RED EPIC cameras, but he has revealed they will shoot in 47.96 frames per second. Rounding up to 48 frames per second, you may wonder what the big deal is with this revelation. Right now, 35mm films are shot with 24 frames per second. Upping this frame rate allows a much, much smoother image to be displayed. Do you ever notice during shots with heavy camera movement (tracking, bird’s eye shots), a blur/strobing effect? With this new framerate, that is gone and we are given ultra-realistic quality.
James Cameron, a pioneer/spokesman in this revolution shared his thoughts at a CinemaCon panel. I encourage you to read the full write-up at /Film, but he spoke about The Hobbit saying “Peter Jackson was exploring shooting at 48fps, and was even shooting tests on the film’s sets. But the story as Cameron relayed it: Jackson suffered illness before he could complete the tests and convince studio brass to shoot the films at a higher speed.” I want to trust Cameron, but with word from the director of photography himself, it looks like have indeed made the decision. If that isn’t the case, Cameron has promised he will shoot Avatar 2 & 3 in 48, possibly 60, frames per second.
The Hobbit began its 14-month production on March 21st and part one will see a release in late 2012, with part two a year later.
What do you think of McKenzie joining the film? Are higher framerates indeed the way of the future…the way of the future…the way of the future?