James Cameron doesn’t believe high frame rate is the next big thing for film

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

James Cameron is never one to shy away from ground-breaking technological innovation in his movies, and although he's still a fan of 3D technology, Cameron told a group of reporters during an interview for TERMINATOR: DARK FATE that he doesn't feel the same about about high frame rates, which we've seen put to use most recently in GEMINI MAN. The Ang Lee film was shot at 120fps, and while some praised the technical achievement, others were less impressed by the immersive effect.

Although James Cameron hasn't seen GEMINI MAN in 120fps for himself just yet, he explained that he views the method of more of a tool for certain shots rather than something to use throughout an entire film.

I’ve seen some clips from Gemini Man. I haven’t seen the picture yet because I’m down here in New Zealand. I’m interested to see it. I mean, I have a personal philosophy around high frame rate, which is that it is a specific solution to specific problems having to do with 3D. And when you get the strobing and the jutter of certain shots that pan or certain lateral movement across frame, it’s distracting in 3D. And to me, it’s just a solution for those shots. I don’t think it’s a format. That’s just me personally. I know Ang doesn’t see it that way. I don’t think it’s like the next 70 millimeter or the next big thing. I think it’s a tool to be used to solve problems in 3D projection. And I’ll be using it sparingly throughout the Avatar films, but they won’t be in high frame rate. But I am curious to see what they came up with.

"To me, the more mundane the subject, two people talking in the kitchen, the worse it works, because you feel like you’re in a set of a kitchen with actors in makeup," Cameron continued. "That’s how real it is, you know? But I think when you’ve got extraordinary subjects that are being shot for real, or even through CG, that hyper-reality actually works in your favor. So to me, it’s a wand that you wave in certain moments and use when you need it. It’s an authoring tool." I've never been able to catch anything in theaters shot in HFR, and considering how few theaters across the country even screened GEMINI MAN in 120fps, I'm probably not alone in that respect. Those of you you have seen an HFR screening, do you agree with James Cameron or do you think that HFR is destined for bigger things?

James Cameron's next project, TERMINATOR: DARK DATE, is set to hit theaters on November 1, 2019 (check out a review from our own JimmyO), but he's also got four AVATAR films on the way as well, with AVATAR 2 slated to hit theaters on December 17, 2021, followed by AVATAR 3 on December 22, 2023, and AVATAR 4 and AVATAR 5 on December 19, 2025 and December 17, 2027 respectively.