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Immortal Story - Orson Welles (Extended Cut HD Reconstruction) by TM2YC

TM2YC

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I'd had the 2010 Australian Madman Entertainment DVD of Orson Welles' 1968 colour film 'The Immortal Story' for some years. It's got the English language version (60 mins) and the French version (48.5 mins).

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The image quality is quite poor, so I was delighted when Criterion finally released the film on blu-ray in 2016. It also has the film in two languages (English 58 mins / French 51 mins) but I soon thought "Hang on, the English version is shorter isn't it and the Aussie DVD is also sped up for the PAL region?!?".

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Close comparison revealed that the Madman DVD does indeed have some sort of mysterious "Extended" cut, which has an additional 4 minutes of unique shots, longer takes and extra dialogue. I've searched Google but can't find any mention of there being other versions, although I believe Welles did pre-screen the film at a film-festival, so maybe it's that? The 2010 DVD also features different opening credits, a different studio  titlecard and a framing closer to 16:9 (the blu-ray is 1.66:1).

I've been vaguely tinkering with re-creating the "Extended" cut by combining the Criterion blu-ray (framed to the DVDs aspect-ratio) with the Madman DVD for a while. So as the release of Welles' last film approaches on November 2nd, I thought it was a good time get this project finished up.

I uploaded a comparison clip last December with the DVD footage inserted and using the DVD audio mix (shots ungraded):


I've already got the blu-ray footage cut to match the DVD in a timeline, I just need to alter it all match the DVD and blend and grade the DVD footage into the HD material. This edit might only be of interest to me :D .
 

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jswert123456 said:
i will watch any edit you create.

Nice of you to say.



A few brief clips showing shot extensions:




- Blu-ray footage re-framed to match DVD
- DVD regraded to match blu-ray plus grain/sharpenin
- Manually stabilised wonky splice frames
- Fixed an audio-pop on the soundtrack
 

TM2YC

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This 'Extended Cut Reconstruction' is now finished and listed on ifdb.

I've gone for a 720p MP4 release as it blends the DVD and blu-ray material pretty smoothly, much better than it does at 1080p. Watching this 4-minute longer version again after the shorter Criterion cut it's amazing to compare how much great dialogue and Orson Welles voiceover material is omitted (mostly in the first act and some in the third too).

Here is the coverart:



(^ Click to see full res image)

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Congratulations on finishing!  I can't wait to see the original and your version once I grab it on DVD!
 

TM2YC

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Canon Editor said:
Congratulations on finishing!  I can't wait to see the original and your version once I grab it on DVD!

Thanks.



The edit is also now available on Vimeo:


(Password: fanedit.org)
 
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