Monday 27 March 2017

2017 already? Oh. Okay then.

It's been almost 8 months since my last post. Faintly ridiculously, in that time I still haven't finished Disturbing Behaviour: Aberrant Edition (because the last few bits of compositing work to hide a minor continuity issue introduced by one of my changes are really boring. Like really boring) and I also still haven't finished Max Renn: The Video Man. I also still haven't finished the extended version of The Raid 2 that I started some time ago. I haven't had a lot of time for editing generally as I started a new job and have been spending a lot of my time getting to grips with it. (Also videogames *cough*).

I have found time, somehow, to start and finish an edit of Guardians Of The Galaxy, where the main changes are:

  • Cut Quill's mother & Ravager kidnapping scene completely - barring the last few seconds, it's a dull, lumpen scene to open with. Quill's conversation with Gamora later explains its importance without trowelling on the cheese, and with the opening scene cut the later scene now provides the viewer with new information.
  • Quill retrieving the orb has been shortened and converted into a comic strip sequence. Currently, this cuts from the face-on shot of Quill leaping toward the Milano to the POV shot travelling to Xandar. This means Yondu's introduction is a bit odd, because now he is mentioned while off-screen but not named when we first see him.
  • Stan Lee's cameo has been cut, because it does nothing for the film and I'm not a fan of Stan Lee.
  • All of Ronan's scenes before he is summoned to Knowhere are cut - he is introduced as a fearsome fanatic by others, but I feel these scenes are unnecessary momentum-killers that may add to the MCU but only at the expense of the film. So now, the perp-line-up scene ends immediately after Quill is identified (and before the "What a bunch of a-holes" line), hard-cutting to the ships heading to the Kyln. Similarly, the scene where Quill persuades Drax not to kill Gamora segues to Rocket explaining his escape plan.
  • Ronan's scene telling Thanos he's coming for him next is cut (because it is no longer needed, and because it's yet another boring scene in which characters stand around and recite lumpen exposition to each other). This loses the moment where Nebula pledges herself to Ronan over Thanos, but I don't think it's a particularly important moment, tbh.
  • The Nova Corps exchange about Quill's message is cut to remove the re-use of "a-hole". Similarly, Quill's later line "they got my dick message" is cut.
  • The climactic battle between Quill & co. and Thanos is trimmed for pace.
  • Various other little trims here and there to keep things moving.
Basically, this was aiming to be a 90 minute cut. It's clocking it at 100 minutes including all credits, so I'm pretty happy with it. Compared to most MCU films there's not a lot of fat on its bones, but I still think it plays much better without the "wider MCU" bits slowing it down.

I say "finished" but I'm still pending a final watch of this edit before it's put to bed. As far as releasing it is concerned, it'll be digital-only - I can't be arsed with a DVD image for it and don't have the interest to try and put together any extras.

After that, in order:
  • Max Renn: The Video Man (also digital-only)
  • Disturbing Behaviour: Aberrant Edition (to be released jointly with Extended Edition)
  • The Raid 2: Extended Edition
When those are out of the way? Either I'll re-start Scott Pilgrim: Eleven Evil Exes Edition, or The Shadow Over Innsmouth. Or, knowing me, I'll restart both at the same time. Based on my last few posts, though, odds are good it'll be 2018 before either of those get underway again.