Dick Tracy - Trueheart Edition

I like Dick Tracy. Always have. Being a young lad, when it hit theaters and seeing Madonna's outfits... Plus - Tommy Guns. And that watch!

So, I bought it on Blu-Ray. 

Man, does that movie drag. And there are some character choices that bother me.

So, I decided to cut it down. 

Main Goals - 
1. Tracy should not be moved by Breathless Mahoney's advances. He can be flustered by them. But not moved. Tracy is a man of honor and integrity, and he's with Tess.
2. Tess shouldn't try to "tie" Tracy down. She respects herself, and him, too much for that. And, she shouldn't be worried about Breathless. Tess is a confident woman, that doesn't get bent out of shape just because some floozy wants her man. He's her man. And she knows that.
3. Tighten the pacing. Where possible, cut shots / scenes that are repetitive, or just aren't needed, so that this thing can move a bit faster.

So, I've done that. There's still one scene that I'm not happy with. When Tracy first encounters The Blank, there just isn't enough footage to correct him being covered in cement out of, seemingly, nowhere.

Anybody interested in watching it and giving me some feedback?

*** EDIT ***

All video / audio work done in Premiere CC. All Disc / Cover art created in Photoshop CC.
Original Run Time: 105 min
Edit Run Time: 88 min


Cuts and Additions:

- Added Fanedit Warning.
- Swapped Touchstone Logo for modern Walt Disney Logo. I just think it works better as a Disney movie.
- Moved first few title cards to be over picture instead of over black. (Pacing)
- Cut some small talk from the gambling scene. (Pacing)
- Cut Opera House transition. All it does is introduce Tracy's watch. (Pacing)
- Cut Opera House transition two. It just shows that Tracy is no-nonsense. Something we just saw in the warehouse. (Pacing)
- Cut Tess's slip about how Tracy could get married if he took a desk job. (Plot point removal)
- Cut a pointless beat before the Kid runs out of the diner. (Pacing)
- Cut a few pieces here and there from the Kid interacting with the Chicken Eating Guy Whose Name Escapes Me. (Pacing)
- Also, trimmed said guy's fight with Tracy. (Pacing)
- Trimmed Tracy's hesitation in responding to Sam telling him to come to the Southside Warehouse. (Pacing)
- Trimmed "I Want More" / Mumbles Interview. I hate losing anything with Pacino, but that sequence is just so long. (Pacing)
- Trimmed Tracy's walk to Mahoney's dressing room. (Pacing)
- Trimmed Tracy's talk with Mahoney to remove any rise she may have gotten out of Dick. (Plot point removal, Pacing, and an excuse to make a lame joke here)
- Trimmed Sam telling Tracy that Tess says the Kid's clothes stink. (Pacing)
- Cut Tess's line "Just don't ask me to like it." (Plot point removal)
- Trimmed some of Tracy's longing looks at Tess. (Pacing)
- Trimmed Mahoney's station visit. (Plot point removal and Pacing)
- Removed 88 Keys "I Always Get My Man" reprise. (Pacing)
- Trimmed the Big Meeting. (Pacing)
- Trimmed the Steam Room Shakedown. (Pacing)
- Cut Big Boy Threatening Fletcher. (Pacing)
- Trimmed Mahoney's visit to Tracy's apartment and Tess's return. (Plot point removal and Pacing)
- Trimmed 88 Keys's arrival at the City Car Park. (Pacing)
- Trimmed "Sooner or Later" montage. (Pacing)
- Cut Tess leaving town. (Plot point removal and Pacing)
- Trimmed Tracy saving Bug. (Pacing)
- Trimmed Big Boy's rant. (Pacing)
- Cut the Chief telling Tracy that Tess left town. (Plot point removal and Pacing)
- Trimmed "What Can You Lose" montage. (Plot point removal and Pacing)
- Cut Mahoney and Tracy meeting on the dock. (Plot point removal and Pacing)
- Moved Tess's kidnapping earlier. (Plot point removal and Pacing)
- Removed Tracy getting the fake note from Tess about meeting to talk. Now, he just goes to the flower shop to see if she's there. (Plot point removal and Pacing)
- Cut Tracy's arrival at the flower Shop. (Pacing)
- Trimmed "Back in Business" montage. (Pacing)
- Cut the Kid telling the Chief that Tracy is innocent. (Pacing)
- From the moment Tracy gets out of jail there are so many cuts and trims that it's almost impossible to list them all. And I'm too lazy to try. (Plot point removal and Pacing)
- Added faneditor credit to closing credits. (Vanity)
- Removed Touchstone Pictures credits and replaced them with Walt Disney Pictures credits.
- Removed closing Touchstone logo and replaced it with 90's Disney logo.

Here are the cover options that will come with it: Covers!

I've changed the thread title to "Dick Tracy (revstevens edit)" because just "Dick Tracy" was confusing. Change it to something else if you like by editing the first post of the thread.

revstevens said:

There's still one scene that I'm not happy with. When Tracy first encounters The Blank, there just isn't enough footage to correct him being covered in cement out of, seemingly, nowhere.

Anybody interested in watching it and giving me some feedback?

Click to expand...

Upload a clip to youtube or vimeo of the bit you are unsure about and share it in this thread. A problem shared is a problem halved.

TM2YC said:

I've changed the thread title to "Dick Tracy (revstevens edit)" because just "Dick Tracy" was confusing. Change it to something else if you like by editing the first post of the thread.

revstevens said:

There's still one scene that I'm not happy with. When Tracy first encounters The Blank, there just isn't enough footage to correct him being covered in cement out of, seemingly, nowhere.

Anybody interested in watching it and giving me some feedback?

Click to expand...

Upload a clip to youtube or vimeo of the bit you are unsure about and share it in this thread. A problem shared is a problem halved.

Click to expand...

Eh... I'm good with your title. It has a ring to it.

Your other suggestion... I like it. Not sure how long before Vimeo has them all converted and ready to watch though.

Here's the clip that I'm not happy with.

This is a clip that I have shortened, so that everyone can get an idea of what I'm doing. The original was almost 4 minutes of footage, that I cut down to two minutes.

Also, here's the cover and disc art that I'm working on:
Sleeve

Disc

Dick Tracy: Honor and Integrity Cut?

jswert123456 said:

Dick Tracy: Honor and Integrity Cut?

Click to expand...

That's not bad... I might have to use that.

dick tracy- cover version 1- work in progress

jswert123456 said:

dick tracy- cover version 1- work in progress

Click to expand...

I thought about using that, too. Nice work.

jswert123456 said:

dick tracy- cover version 1- work in progress

Click to expand...

Love the layout!  Rear white text  on yellow is difficult to read though....  what if you but the text in a comic strip word bubble?

revstevens said:

Here's the clip that I'm not happy with.

Click to expand...

What if you cut Tracy out in cement all together.... at the 57sec mark, cut from the badguys spinning around to the Blank shooting both dead?
The only issue then Tracy does not see who kills the gangsters.   Will that affect the plot?  Its been years since I watched this so I don't remember lol.  Also it will require some audio blending, but it shouldn't be too difficult.

Second clip... good cut work.   That was originally an agonizingly long scene, much better now. 

bionicbob said:

What if you cut Tracy out in cement all together.... at the 57sec mark, cut from the badguys spinning around to the Blank shooting both dead?
The only issue then Tracy does not see who kills the gangsters.   Will that affect the plot?  Its been years since I watched this so I don't remember lol.  Also it will require some audio blending, but it shouldn't be too difficult.

Click to expand...

That's my concern. I feel like it would affect the plot enough that it makes me hesitant to do it. But, I may be overreacting. The movie is just do logically plotted out that I'm afraid to mess it up. 

bionicbob said:

Second clip... good cut work.   That was originally an agonizingly long scene, much better now. 

Click to expand...

 Thank you!

revstevens said:

bionicbob said:

What if you cut Tracy out in cement all together.... at the 57sec mark, cut from the badguys spinning around to the Blank shooting both dead?
The only issue then Tracy does not see who kills the gangsters.   Will that affect the plot?  Its been years since I watched this so I don't remember lol.  Also it will require some audio blending, but it shouldn't be too difficult.

Click to expand...

That's my concern. I feel like it would affect the plot enough that it makes me hesitant to do it. But, I may be overreacting. The movie is just do logically plotted out that I'm afraid to mess it up. 

Click to expand...

No risk.  No reward.   lol
Try it with the cut and see how it plays out.  If it still bothers you, re-insert it later.
Editing is all about experimenting.   Sometimes you have to keep something you don't like to make new narrative work.  Just as, many times you have to cut something you love to shape a new story.  It is a fun, but tricky, balancing act.

P.S.  Forgot to mention, I love you disc sleeve art too!  Well done!

Very true. I'll muck about with it some. 

Glad you like the sleeve!

I finally got to watch the edit all the way through (instead of scrubbing through and looking at individual scenes). I think I did OK. Even my wife (who hates the movie) said she found it 'watchable'. Which is a pretty big compliment, coming from her. 

I did notice a few more things that I wanted to tweak. I went ahead and did that, and am reexporting the whole thing now. I also figured the concrete scene can stay as-is. If Warren Effing Beatty wasn't bothered by it...

So, 'Dick Tracy - Trueheart Edition' will be ready for review in a few hours, for anybody that wants to check it out and give me some feedback, before I officially submit it to the Academy.

*EDIT* - Here's a few clips to show what I'm going for here.

Well, I'm done. Cut list added to OP for anyone interested. And if anyone wants to watch it, just PM me.

Do you plan to submit this to the academy?

DigModiFicaTion said:

Do you plan to submit this to the academy?

Click to expand...

Yup. Already pm'd DominicCobb. Just waiting to hear back.

Great! Just wanted to make sure you had theinfo you needed. Good luck on the process!

DigModiFicaTion said:

Great! Just wanted to make sure you had theinfo you needed. Good luck on the process!

Click to expand...

Much appreciated!

cover version 2

jswert123456 said:

cover version 2

Click to expand...

Nice. I'll add it to the folder.