Why 48 Frames Per Second Is the Future of Filmmaking

"The Most Outrageous Thing

Before we start, I recommend you listen to this excerpt from the “Musical Language” episode of Radiolab that examines the arc of Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring from “being the most outrageous thing that literally maddens people, to a triumph, to kids music.”

A brief recap: Stravinsky premiered The Rite of Spring as a ballet in Paris in May 1913.  Stravinsky’s composition sounded different than the traditionally beautiful music of Wagner that this audience was used to.  In particular, Stravinsky relied on one dissonant chord, pounding it over and over throughout the entire piece.  The audience hated it.  They grew restless, started shouting and fighting each other, and this eventually escalated into a full-fledged riot.  Rioting cannot be a mere expression of disapproval for this crowd.  Something else must be going on here.

Neuroscientist Jonah Lehrer explains, “There are groups of neurons whose sole job it is to turn that dissonant note, dissect it, take it apart, and try to understand it.” Radiolab proposes that on that night, in the face of the repetitive dissonance of The Rite of Spring, those neurons failed to make sense of what they heard.  This failure to recognize the pattern changed the brain chemistry (specifically dopamine levels) in such a way that the audience temporarily went a bit crazy.

However, by the second run of shows in April 1914, audiences came out in droves—partly to see what this music was that caused a riot no doubt—and loved it.  They gave it a standing ovation.  The Rite of Spring became a part of the classic cannon, and just two decades later was palatable enough to feature in the Disney kids movie Fantasia.  Lehrer calls this “the perfect evidence of the brain’s astonishing plasticity.”

Our brains were presented with new information.  It was jarring at first.  We hated it.  Then, with context, we accepted the new information and learned to value it.  I believe 48fps can follow the same path, from controversy to natural innovation.  But we do have a say in this."

Read the full article via Collider