Audio Video News

Cruise: Defeat Motion Smoothing to Watch ‘M:I Fallout’

SV Staff  |  Dec 6, 2018

It’s not every day a Hollywood A-lister talks TV tech but Tom Cruise took to Twitter on Tuesday with a message home theater enthusiasts can relate to: Defeat video interpolation, a.k.a. motion smoothing or the “soap opera effect.”

“I’m taking a quick break from filming to tell you the best way to watch Mission: Impossible Fallout (or any movie you love) at home,” Cruise wrote in a tweet that included a short video he appears in with director Christopher McQuarrie.

In the video, timed to coincide with the Blu-ray release of M:I Fallout, Cruise and McQuarrie offer a brief tutorial on video interpolation and encourage viewers to defeat the digital effect, which is “intended to reduce motion blur in sporting events and other high-definition programs.”

The exchange goes like this:

Cruise: The unfortunate side effect is that it makes most movies look like they were shot on high-speed video rather than film. Now this is sometimes referred to as the soap-opera effect.

McQuarrie: Without a side-by-side comparison, many people can’t quite put their finger on why the movie they’re watching looks strange.

Cruise: Most HDTVs come with this feature already on by default and turning it off requires navigating a set of menus with interpolation often referred to by another brand name.

McQuarrie: If you own a modern high-definition television, there’s a good chance you’re not watching movies the way the filmmakers intended and your ability to do so is not simple for you to access.

Cruise: Filmmakers are working with manufacturers to change the way video interpolation is activated on your television, giving you easier access and greater choice on when to use this feature.

McQuarrie: Meanwhile, a quick internet search should provide you with step-by-step instructions on how to quickly disable the feature so that you can enjoy the movie you’re about to see exactly as the filmmakers intended.

Watch the video here.

COMMENTS
Decibel's picture
Submitted by Decibel on December 6, 2018 - 11:39am

I understand what they're saying, but the jitter and stuttering when movies pan from side to side drives me crazy. I'll take mine with a little smoothing please.

drny's picture
Submitted by drny on December 6, 2018 - 2:29pm

McQuarrie is an excellent screen writer and story teller.
Unfortunately in Fallout his choice on the use of Film for 80% of the Cinematography results in an overdone grain appearance.
I saw Fallout in a Dolby Cinema Theater and now own the UHD Bluray.
In a large Screen the appearance for most of the film was good not great. However in UHD I was indeed tempted to use film interpolation or noise reduction in the TV menu. The grain appearance looks more like aliasing than normal Film grain.
The magnificent climatic ending was shot in Digital on IMAX format, and it looks fantastic.
I own Blade Runner Final Cut UHD (tons of grain), Saving Private Ryan UHD even more grain, and other new releases of great classics shot on film. These are masterpieces as the Cinematography, lighting was already masterfully shot.
Unfortunately Fallout being shot on mostly on film resulted in mediocre results for the Home small display Experience.

Tom Cruise and McQuarrie advocacy for skipping frame interpolation (smoothing by any name) is indeed generally great advice, but unfortunately not so much for their movie Fallout.

pw's picture
Submitted by pw on December 6, 2018 - 6:08pm

As I understand it TC is a Audio buff and runs Magico..

X