‘The Hobbit’ Visual Effects Caused Nausea to Some Movie-Goers
Some movie viewers reportedly felt woozy and nauseous after watching the world premiere of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" in New Zealand.
Director Peter Jackson filmed "The Hobbit" at a frame rate of 48 frames per second, which is double the normal frame rate, in order to enhance the on-screen effect of the movie. However, Peter Jackson never knew about the negative effect of his filming technique to some of the viewers.
One fan complained of a migraine and the other compared the movie experience close to a rollercoaster ride. "You have to hold your stomach down and let your eyes pop at first to adjust. This is not for wimps," one unnamed viewer told United Kingdom's The Sunday Times.
"My eyes cannot take everything in. It's dizzying, now I have a migraine," another unnamed viewer revealed.
"This works for the big snowy mountains but in close-ups, the picture strobes. I left loving the movie but feeling sick," another fan posted on Twitter after the movie experience.
"Watching a film means your eye combines long and fast horizontal sweeps with short and slower vertical movements to process the picture," Adrian Bejan, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Duke University in the United States, declared.
At a double rate, the eye is required to catch up faster than the usual in close-ups to absorb the details on a big screen. Therefore, it can lead to eye strain, headaches and nausea.
"It made the film look like a made-for-television BBC movie, so uncompromisingly real and slightly sped up that it looked fake. It was jarring," film critic Peter Sciretta stated.
There are approximately 1000 cinemas worldwide that will show doubled frame rate of "The Hobbit." Luckily, most people can watch the latest movie adaptation of author J.R.R. Tolkien's novel with the normal film format when it officially hits theaters in December.