Scorsese's Hugo scoring high marks with critics

With a 3 day weekend gross of $11,364,505, Hugo is no blockbuster competition for the likes of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1, with its 2nd weekend gross of $41,683,574. What is actually "gross" about those numbers is the fact that you have a movie like Hugo, with an acclaimed director who decides to take a gamble on a new genre. The movie scores high with critics, getting a 96% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Next you have a movie like Twilight, which scores as low as 26% likes on RT, but still somehow manages to keep the series alive and well. Anyway, it looks like both critics and the audience can agree on The Muppets, which took the #2 spot over the weekend with a $29,239,026 domestic gross and a whopping 98% approval. Sometimes the good guy wins.

 Now I have not yet seen Hugo, as my little mountain town theater somehow refuses to often book good movies. I'll have a review up as soon as I get a chance to catch the flick. Until then, here is some media for you:

The first Red Scarlet cam goes on sale

What looks to be the best studio-quality, medium budget, digital motion picture camera ever, and little brother to the Red Epic (Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Hobbit), The Red Scarlet has just gone on sale today. Rental service owner Tonaci Tran (middle) is the lucky recipient. At $9,750, this is one serious studio quality 4K entry-level camera. It is fully customizable and highly upgradable.

Source: Red

35mm projection on its way out, presumed dead by 2015

In what is both a sad moment for the ending of an era and a wondrous one for a new frontier, classic 35mm projection is slated to go the way of the dinosaur. While 35mm has been the standard for many years, its days are clearly numbered. Digital projection has come in on the wave of supporters like George Lucas and more recently, James Cameron, who's feature Avatar has been seen as the tipping point. With more theaters looking to 3D for added revenue, it only strengthens digital's foothold. The folks at IHS Screen Digest Cinema Intelligence Service have stated that the beginning of 2012 will "mark the crossover point when digital technology overtakes 35mm." If that is the case, then look out for December of 2012, when potential blockbusters like The Hobbit: An unexpected Journey and Man of Steel hit theaters. With The Hobbit movies, you have perhaps an even even more significant advancement, that being the first commercial motion picture to be displayed at 48fps (frames per second) as opposed to the 24fps standard that his been with us since the talkies. Add 3D to the mix, and you can see that the world of cinema is changing forever. For good or for bad, we are on a path away from the old 35MM print standard.

IHS estimates that: "By the end of 2012, the share of 35mm will decline to 37 percent of global cinema screens, with digital accounting for the remaining 63 percent. This represents a dramatic decline for 35mm, which was used in 68 percent of global cinema screens in 2010. In 2015, 35mm will be used in just 17 percent of global movie screens, relegating it to a niche projection format."

35MM film won't go away totally... for now. You do still have movie directors who love to shoot on film. Steven Spielberg and Quentin Tarantino seem to much prefer film, but then you have a director like Martin Scorsese, who seems to be changing hist tune. Scorsese, a once outspoken artist against both 3D and digital has decided to embrace both for the filming of his upcoming picture Hugo. Still, as we get farther away from 35mm, I'm sure the warmth of its old fashioned film look will bring artists back, even if it's only for a concept piece here and there. Most likely though, it will be converted for digital projection. The trend, even before digital projection fully caught on, has been to transfer to digital to do editing, grading, and compositing of visual effects, so many have been comfortable with that stage for quite a while.

So enjoy 35mm projection while you can... if you can find it, because pretty soon, it will be time to say fin.

soruce: Technology.CNBC

Set reports 1-3 for the Hobbit are up at Aintitcool News

Update: Set report Part 5 added on 11/28/11

Ah, I remember these reports from LOTR like it was yesterday. Thanks to Quint over at Aintitcool for well, making us all so jealous.

An Unexpected Journey: Quint on the set of The Hobbit! Part 1 - Concerning Hobbiton: Link

An Unexpected Journey: Quint on the set of The Hobbit! Part 2 - They Call Me Mr. Chubb: Link

An Unexpected Journey: Quint on the set of The Hobbit Part 3 – Beginnings and Endings: Link

An Unexpected Journey: Quint on the set of The Hobbit Part 4 – A Palaver of Istari: Link

An Unexpected Journey: Quint on the set of The Hobbit Part 5 – Thorin's Dilemma: Link

Ridley Scott to direct Blade Runner sequel

First a prequel to his own movie Alien, in Prometheus, due June 2012. Now Ridley Scott has confirmed in a blog called Speakeasy from Wall Street Journal that the new project is “liable to be a sequel.” to his 1982 sci-fi / nior flick Blade Runner.

Earlier this year, Alcon Entertainment said it was planning a new Blade Runner project with Scott set to direct. It however, was not known whether the movie would be a prequel, sequel, or remake. “I think I’m close to finding a writer that might be able to help me deliver,” Scott says, “we’re quite a long way in, actually”.

It'll be interesting to see if original material can be a worthy companion piece to the '82 film, which is an adaptation of the novel by Philip K. Dick called Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?.

The Hobbit- Production Diary Video #4

Not much to say but I love these teases. This one seems to be the most full of juicy information about the inner workings of the 3D process, as well as confirmation that the movies are indeed captured at 5K resolution. A total of 48 Red Epic cameras, all with names. Also good to see Elijah Wood and Hugo Weaving back in their parts as Frodo and Elrond, although some of that was in video #2.


For more on the new 48 fps and 60 fps high speed frame rate technique, check out my article over at About-Interface.

In case you missed the other production diaries, here is 1-3, here they are, right after the jump.