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Motion Impossible: Tom Cruise Declares War on TV Frame Interpolation (theguardian.com)
An anonymous reader shares a report: At 9:46 last night, Tom tweeted an 87-second video in which he and his go-to director Christopher McQuarrie explained the concept of video interpolation and why it is the death of all good things. Video interpolation, they explained, is a digital video effect used to improve the quality of high-definition sport. "The unfortunate effect is that it makes most movies look like they were shot on high-speed video rather than film," said Cruise. "This is sometimes referred to as the 'soap-opera effect'." They explained that most HD televisions come with video interpolation switched on by default, they explained how to switch it off, and then they both nodded with total sincerity.
Now, it's worth noting that Tom Cruise is by no means the first film-maker to rail against motion smoothing. Back when he was still the Guardians of the Galaxy director, James Gunn tweeted that he, Edgar Wright, Rian Johnson and Matt Reeves were also peeved about the default nature of video interpolation, to which Reed Morano replied that she started a petition to fix the issue a number of years ago, to little avail.
Why did it fail? Possibly because none of these people are Tom Cruise. Because Tom Cruise has made a career of total commitment. Take him to a premiere and he'll spend hours on the red carpet, shaking every single hand until everyone's happy. Put him in a movie with helicopters in it and he'll teach himself to fly a helicopter to the level of a veteran stunt coordinator. Break his ankle on the side of a building, and he'll stagger out of frame on his ruined legs rather than blow a shot.
Now, it's worth noting that Tom Cruise is by no means the first film-maker to rail against motion smoothing. Back when he was still the Guardians of the Galaxy director, James Gunn tweeted that he, Edgar Wright, Rian Johnson and Matt Reeves were also peeved about the default nature of video interpolation, to which Reed Morano replied that she started a petition to fix the issue a number of years ago, to little avail.
Why did it fail? Possibly because none of these people are Tom Cruise. Because Tom Cruise has made a career of total commitment. Take him to a premiere and he'll spend hours on the red carpet, shaking every single hand until everyone's happy. Put him in a movie with helicopters in it and he'll teach himself to fly a helicopter to the level of a veteran stunt coordinator. Break his ankle on the side of a building, and he'll stagger out of frame on his ruined legs rather than blow a shot.
quality? Comcast is compressed to shit!
Motion interpolation isn't great. But when they say "soap opera effect" that tells me that they aren't against motion interpolation, they are against high frame rates in general. This is analogous analogous to saying that 640x480 is the *best* resolution, and going higher makes things worse. I notice the article doesn't even mention the term frame rate. So this isn't a technical discussion, this is an aesthetic one.
Decades of watching movies has trained us to accept 24fps as "cinematic" motion, but in reality it just looks bad. 24fps is just barely on the cusp of fluid motion, and it gives some of us headaches. That's part of why video games consider 24fps unacceptable, as well as VR, and IMAX. Some people will say that it "takes getting used to" but it really takes getting "un-used" to the bad quality they shoot in today.
Motion interpolation should die. But the fact that people love it is signaling these directors that shooting in 24fps sucks and they need to move on.
How could motion interpolation ruin the lighting?
Oh please. Scientology for the celebrities is a business proposition. The celebrity gets to hide their wealth or taxable income, and the church gets to use the celebrity's membership as a marketing gimmick.
There are more moral ways to hide your wealth than give it to a cult that causes financial, societal, and family pain to those most in trouble. Scientology isn't a religion- its a business that preys on the weak and helpless. I can't really respect anyone who puts millions into financing such an operation. Or helps such an operation stay afloat.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
Apparently the 24 FPS rate chosen for movies is an important psychological trick. It somehow tells the brain "this is fake", which makes the viewer fine with sets and costumes that would be cringeworthy when seen live. At 48 FPS, you lose that all-important filter, and everything is cringeworthy.
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
it screws up the shadows. folded clothing has dark and light regions and when someting moves by it the interpolation just makes up weird new folds. It's a very hard to see artifact that is totally bizare when you do see it.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
Wow. Yeah, Forget the sex trafficking and slavery stuff the "church" arranges. Forget the threats of violence and intimidation. Forget that he is a principle financial backer for these scum bags -as long as he does his own stunts and "seems nice" (in fucking interviews? what a moron) it's all A-OK.
Meh, if Tom Cruise thinks TV Frame Interpolation is a bad thing- then I'm all for it. Put it in everything I say! Even cheeseburgers.
I believe that is called "cutting off your nose to spite your face."
"The unfortunate effect is that it makes most movies look like they were shot on high-speed video rather than film,"
That is easy to explain it's because they were shot on high-speed video rather than film.