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Blade Runner 2049: Aerodynamik (TM2YC FanFix) Pace of editing improved

TM2YC

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bladerunner_2049_hal_hefner_by_halhefnerart-dazjkna.jpg


The 'Blade Runner 2049' blu-ray finally turned up so I've started tinkering with it.

For me, the main problem with the film is the glacial pace of the editing. It's littered with gaping chasms of nothingness, where the camera isn't moving, no music is playing, no dialogue is being spoken, no significant soundFX are be played, no changes in lighting are happening and there is no movement within the scene, or on the character's faces... to the point that you might have thought the film projector had broken down :D .

So I initially plan on making a FanFix that removes no scenes, removes no dialogue and (if feasible) removes no shots either. I will just be trimming hundreds of tiny moments from the start and end of shots/scenes, removing excessive silences between lines and re-timing lines where possible. My wild guess (based on not much) is that these removals could amount to between 15 and 30 minutes of the runtime. I still intend to retain pauses for dramatic effect and shall be giving careful thought to when these should be used. In the original, since almost every line has a pause after it, none of them are dramatic.

Here is an example of the first scene between K and Morton, with 34 seconds of excessive pauses removed:


(Password: fanedit.org)

Apart from lots of tiny trims there are a few other changes:

- FX tweak to the Spinner door, so it now closes when K holds his hand in the air (as if he has activated it). In the original it is already closing before he does this. Not sure if this was a mistake, or K is doing something else that I missed?
- Added slow zoom in on Morton's POV of the kitchen interior. To add a bit more life to the shot and to better mesh with him moving forwards in the next shot.
- Brought forward shot of Morton glancing at the table and moved K's verbal threat so he says it as he puts the gun on the table (and not after). I think this makes it a touch more menacing.
- More contrast overall to the flat looking images. I haven't tweaked any individual shots yet.



I think it still plays as the same slow paced scene, full of tension but edited at an appropriate pace.

There are other problems with the movie but I probably won't address those until I've made this faster-paced simple version and watched it back.

I have no title in mind yet, so I'm open to suggestions  :)  (probably something that describes the focus on pacing).




'Blade Runner 2049: Aerodynamik' is completed, released and on ifdb.

https://ifdb.fanedit.org/blade-runner-2049-aerodynamik/

br2049_aerodynamik_3dview.jpg


Tagline: "No scenes removed. No shots removed. No lines removed. 13 minutes shorter"

Movie Runtime: 163 Minutes
Fanedit Runtime: 150 Minutes
Time Cut: 13 Minutes
Cuts Made: 429

1920x800 / 11.7gb MKV / AC3 448


Cutlist:

General plan of changes:

- Regraded the film scene-by-scene and shot-by-shot (if needed) to tone down excessive tinting, make blacks black (not grey), make whites white (not grey), lighten up scenes that were impenetrably dark, increase saturation in some scenes, decrease saturation in other places and generally make things look more varied and contrasty.
- Removed overlayed location titles because the '82 film had none and the information isn't really important.
- Made some (hopefully invisible) VisFX tweaks t ofix continuity mistakes and combine multiple takes into single shots.
- Reordered some lines and shots, mostly to facilitate removals of dead time but these changes are rare.
Cuts and Additions:

I've made 429 tiny cuts to the length of shots which are far too numerous and small to list but here is a list of other more significant changes:

00.00.00 - TM2YC and FE.org titlecards added.
00.02.18 - Opening sequence rearranged and shortened to more closely approximate the faster pace and intercutting style of the '82 opening e.g. the eye is now in two shots in the middle and we open on a slow fade up timed to the music.
00.02.36 - Removed part of shot that had the opening location title.
00.03.47 - FX tweak to time the spinner door closing with K clicking the thing in his hand.
00.04.59 - Added slow zoom in on the kitchen to make it more of a Sapper POV and to smooth in the cut to Sapper already in motion in the next shot.
00.07.05 - Reordered shots to increase pace and to make the timing of the gun being placed on the table more menacing.
00.10.24 - Tweaked yellow flower in long shot so it's more prominent. Also added slow zoom in on tree and animated spinner window to match new camera move.
00.11.46 - Shortened flying sequence and timed the cuts to the drum beats on the soundtrack.
00.11.52 - Matted the window to adjust the grade separately in order to maintain a consistently grey sky.
00.12.34 - Matted the window to adjust the grade separately in order to maintain a consistently grey sky.
00.13.02 - FX tweak to remove the baseline onscreen title.
00.22.32 - FX tweak to fix continuity error by adding Madam's elbow to the edge of the autopsy table.
00.23.18 - Rearranged a couple of lines to aid the removal of some dead time and to make the conversation flow better.
00.23.45 - Added slow zoom in on K's face to make the shot more impactful.
00.25.12 - FX tweak to combine two halves of this shot so K reacts to Madam quicker.
00.26.09 - Adjusted grade of two shots to fix mis-match of neon lighting colour across the cut.
00.26.29 - FX tweak to remove Wallace onscreen title.
00.27.42 - FX tweak to re-time Luv and what is on her computer screen.
00.31.57 - FX tweak to combine two halves of this shot so Luv reacts quicker to K's comment.
00.43.54 - Added slow zoom onto the carving to make the shot more focused.
00.46.56 - FX tweak to combine three parts of this shot so Madam and K's conversation occurs quicker.
00.48.27 - FX tweak to make the gap between Madam's lines shorter.
00.48.43 - Added slow zoom out to the first 2 seconds of this shot to increase the menace in Madam's stare.
00.49.19 - FX tweak to re-time computer screen readout.
00.49.54 - Added slow zoom to shot of screen to make it feel more like a natural POV from K.
00.53.31 - Several shots in this sequence had to have the windows matted and colour timed differently to maintain a properly graded cockpit but keep the skies grey and overcast.
00.54.36 - Did my best to correct what I believe to be an FX error. Joy's head was partially transparent, so I've made the black of her hair black again to look more solid. It's improved but not fixed.
00.56.18 - Sped up pace of K waking up, this meant I had to carefully re-time each of the heavy bass beats of the music, so the gaps between them were all consistent to the new pace.
01.03.00 - Added slow zoom to make the shot more focused on what K is looking at.
01.04.46 - Added slow zoom to make the shot more focused on what K is looking at.
01.07.11 - Added slow zoom in on horse to make the shot a little more intense.
01.09.12 - FX tweak to combine two halves of this shot to decrease the gap between lines.
01.12.47 - Added slow zooms in on K and Ana's faces to make them a little more intense.
01.13.13 - Cropped shot of K's face tighter to be more focused on his reaction and to maintain consistency with the new earlier zoomed shot.
01.13.37 - Added slow zoom and camera tracking move to focus in much more on K flipping out.
01.18.26 - FX tweak to combine two halves of this shot to decrease the gap between lines.
01.35.26 - Added slow zoom to draw more focus to the dog.
01.42.36 - Added slow zoom in on K's face to make the shot more interesting and intense.
02.16.20 - Brought forward shot of Deckard looking down at the horse to increase pace and drama. FX tweak to re-time movement of K's arm.
02.16.35 - FX tweak to combine two halves of this shot to improve pacing.
02.18.18 - Reordered ending shots to intercut K and the snow, with Ana and the snow, timed to the existing Vangelis music.
02.19.17 - Added slow zoom out and upwards from K's body to give his last shot more finality.

'Aerodynamik' is intended as an experiment in almost purely removing dead time and leaving the rest as unaltered as possible. For those like me that felt BR2049's main fault was the extremely slow pace of the editing. I will create a new thread for a more extensive fanedit of BR2049 at some point down the road. That will feature shots, lines, scenes removed and reordered, different music etc.
 

SkywalkerFan01

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How about... Blade Runner 2049: Faster, More Intense.   ;)

Great work on that clip, no tension lost and actually elevated, moving K's threat definitely makes a difference for the better.
 

Plissken1138

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TM2YC said:
In the original it is already closing before he does this. Not sure if this was a mistake, or K is doing something else that I missed?

I think he's giving the drone some kind of a sign, like later when he says "just photograph everything".
 

TM2YC

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SkywalkerFan01 said:
How about... Blade Runner 2049: Faster, More Intense.   ;)

That crossed my mind too :D .

Plissken1138 said:
I think he's giving the drone some kind of a sign, like later when he says "just photograph everything".

Probably true but it's not very clear is it. Maybe I could add this sound... ;)

 

DigModiFicaTion

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TM2YC said:
I have no title in mind yet, so I'm open to suggestions  :)  (probably something that describes the focus on pacing).

How about Blade Runner 2049: Where Replicants Dare (TM2YC Fanfix). Has a nice familiar ring to it ;)

Love that timeline project shot!
 

The Scribbling Man

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How about "Blade Runner 2049: The Moving Picture"?
 

Plissken1138

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I'd say that year in the title has no reason to remain in the title.
 

Andreas

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I haven't seen the original Blade Runner. I haven't seen the new. I am deeply intruiged by both.

I've heard that BR 2049 is a slow-pace - and not in a good way. Is this one of those things you seek to improve to a great detail? If so, would anyone recommend me to definitely go watch 2049 at once - or should I wait and watch a better-paced version of it, and be better of having done so?

Cheers.
 

EvenSteven

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Blade Runner: Usain Bolt Edition

I love your idea for a faster edit of this movie. After watching it a few weeks ago, the slow, "deliberate" pacing stood out the most. Good luck!
 

Moe_Syzlak

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Andreas said:
I haven't seen the original Blade Runner. I haven't seen the new. I am deeply intruiged by both.

I've heard that BR 2049 is a slow-pace - and not in a good way. Is this one of those things you seek to improve to a great detail? If so, would anyone recommend me to definitely go watch 2049 at once - or should I wait and watch a better-paced version of it, and be better of having done so?

Cheers.

Well I’d watch the original first. You also have to ask yourself which original to watch.   Personally, I’d go with the Final Cut, though the Director’s Cut looks better to my eyes. If you find that movie too slow paced, you’d definitely benefit from watching a streamlined version of the sequel. I definitely think the intention of this edit is exactly what the movie most needs. I very much enjoyed the deliberate pace of the original, but feel that could be maintained in the sequel even with significant tightening. The sequel has other issues as well, but there’s more room for debate as to how to handle those.
 

Last Impressions

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Blade Runner 2049 - The Lamp Economy mode edit :)

Can we have a bluray pretty please - 2049 looked fantastic on a 120" screen - so the high bitrate is needed.

Are you thinking of maybe adding in some more Vangelis....the Zimmer soundtrack is wonderful but a few bars of the original would be immense.

Oh and the first time we see Rachel in Deckards memories need to go- the scene is much more powerful when we see Rachel catwalk out of the shadow.
 

TM2YC

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The Scribbling Man said:
How about "Blade Runner 2049: The Moving Picture"?

LOL. Editing this thing up close, I almost think some shots are literally still images. There is one shot so far where I've animated the shot a little, to give the illusion that something is happening.

Plissken1138 said:
I'd say that year in the title has no reason to remain in the title.

It's a very clunky title but I tend to think retaining the original title in some form is less confusing for people looking for a fanedit.

I did like the title of the original '95 sequel novel 'The Edge of Human' (I remember liking the story too). It's perfect for title for the sequel we did get, given the Replicant birth thing.

Last Impressions said:
Can we have a bluray pretty please

I'll probably do a blu-ray yes, although a high bitrate HD file can look great too.

Last Impressions said:
Are you thinking of maybe adding in some more Vangelis

At first I thought yes but now I'm not so sure. If it had a clean center-channel I would have rescored the whole thing but as it doesn't I'm inclined to just leave it alone. The Zimmer score is dreck compared to the beautiful Vangelis score but on it's own merits it's fine.

Last Impressions said:
Oh and the first time we see Rachel in Deckards memories need to go- the scene is much more powerful when we see Rachel catwalk out of the shadow.

I don't recall that bit right now but I may remove Rachel entirely. I have several problems with the scene but I'll decide when it comes to that point.
 

TM2YC

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It's insane how much fat there is in some of the scenes in BR2049.

Here is the Ossuary/Post-Mortem scene cut down from 03.14 to 02.36 (38 seconds trimmed). Again there are no lines removed and no shots removed, just lots of tiny trims where nothing is happening:


(Password: fanedit.org)

- FX tweak to one shot to fix a continuity error in the original film
- "Camera movement" added to a few virtually static shots
- Some lines reordered to be more "conversational"

The timeline of this scene:

 

Last Impressions

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That is pretty astonishing. I must say i wasnt that bothered by the slow pace but this really works with no detriment to the original.

I watched the extras this morning. I think the prologues Nexus dawn and nowhere to run could be nicely incorporated into the main film - Nexus Dawn before the opening credits and Nowhere to Run just after...before K goes to the protein farm. What do you think?

I love that we see more of the surface of the city in the "Nowhere to Run" prologue, which was lacking in 2049 and it gives Morton a bit of a back story.
 

TM2YC

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Last Impressions said:
this really works with no detriment to the original.

Good to know, thanks.

Last Impressions said:
I watched the extras this morning. I think the prologues Nexus dawn and nowhere to run could be nicely incorporated into the main film - Nexus Dawn before the opening credits and Nowhere to Run just after...before K goes to the protein farm. What do you think?

I haven't watched them yet. I should.

A screenshot comparison tinkering with the grade to add some badly needed contrast and to tone down the aggressive over-saturation in the library-archive scene:

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/131686

I managed to "George Lucas" one of the shots in the computer-archive. It's a very long single take which had a full 3-seconds of silent nothing, with no way to cut away. So I split the shot down the middle in the second half, trimming 3-seconds of K doing nothing at the end of the shot and 3-seconds of Luv staring into space in the middle. Lucky the Luv actress is so still for a few frames that I was able to blend the two parts seamlessly (with some minor motion tracking). I think you'd never tell:


han-solo-quotes-empire-strikes-back-epic-star-wars-to-get-you-through-life-6.jpg


:D
 

NegaScott128

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This edit seems really promising. Just a couple suggestions.
TM2YC said:
I'm sure you'll fine-tune the grade on this segment later on, but right now, the contrast is a bit too high. It's sometimes difficult to make out details in dark areas, like when Sapper first walks over to the kitchen counter and during the "you've never seen a miracle" line. I'm assuming you're using the US Blu-Ray as the source, which already has a bit of black crush compared to the theatrical presentation (the UK disc is more accurate). Since the source file has a bit more contrast already, it might be a good idea to dial the regrade back a bit.

TM2YC said:
The dialogue doesn't quite flow right around the 1:46 mark. It doesn't make sense for Coco to apologize for the skinjob remark and then immediately propose that Sapper ate the baby. Either adding a couple lines back in or removing Coco's apology would help things a bit.

Again, these are minor problems that you'd probably iron out on your own. I really like what you're doing on this overall, I just have a couple nitpicks.
 

TM2YC

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NegaScott128 said:
I'm sure you'll fine-tune the grade on this segment later on, but right now, the contrast is a bit too high. It's sometimes difficult to make out details in dark areas, like when Sapper first walks over to the kitchen counter

I haven't done any tuning on that scene yet, just a general preset over the whole movie. However, having the shadow areas in that scene be as black as possible (without being totally black) will be what I'm going for. If you mean K during that Sapper shot, then my intention will be to have him as just a menacing black silhouette.

NegaScott128 said:
I'm assuming you're using the US Blu-Ray as the source, which already has a bit of black crush compared to the theatrical presentation (the UK disc is more accurate).

No, I am using the UK blu-ray. It looks horrible to my taste in terms of lack of contrast, which judging by my theatrical viewing experience... is accurate :D .

TM2YC said:
It doesn't make sense for Coco to apologize for the skinjob remark and then immediately propose that Sapper ate the baby.

Possibly true but it's only an 8-second gap between the two lines originally. On this first pass I won't be removing any lines, just dead air, so I'll think about it when I get to that stage.
 

TM2YC

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I had the brainwave of adding some of that old Blade Runner style crooner music to the rain scene. It's the latter half of Nat King Cole's 'Because of Rain' with the reverb cranked up and mixed very low.

(Due to Joy's rain soaked dress, I'm giving this a minor NSFW warning.)


(Password: fanedit.org)

I may trim the scene some more later, so the music is just a temp overly and no fine tuning of the mix has been done. The grade is also temp. I might not even rescore this scene in the end so this is just an experiment.
 

SkywalkerFan01

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I think that it's very well executed and I like the idea, but I would personally prefer to see something like this in a more 'radical' edit of the movie. 
I'm a huge fan of the "trim and improve pacing without any actual changes" concept.

Also, a little off-topic perhaps, but do the surroundings in the scene with K and Luv looking at Rachel's Voight-Kampff test (the split screen test above) look... off to any else? Like the room is more of a special effect than an actual room. I don't think it's the test TM2YC did, as it's apparent to me on my Blu-Ray as well.
 
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