AD ASTRA - Cor Tenebrae Edit by Last Impressions

My next project is an Ad Astra edit that removes banal dialogue / voice overs / Moon Pirates and adds more beautiful  and under utilised Max Richter & Lorne Balfe music plus a new ending and much more....maybe i should have called it ADD ASTRA (with a lot taken away) EDIT


More details to follow but here is a trailer while you wait.

I am curious about your edit. I liked the original film, but it was missing a certain something (or perhaps had a bit too much of something).

Whatever the case, I actually like the moon pirates sequence, though mainly for its visuals. Are you removing it completely? Or perhaps repurposing it as a political attack rather than say a pirate one?

Solemn.Philosopher said:

I am curious about your edit. I liked the original film, but it was missing a certain something (or perhaps had a bit too much of something).

Whatever the case, I actually like the moon pirates sequence, though mainly for its visuals. Are you removing it completely? Or perhaps repurposing it as a political attack rather than say a pirate one?

Click to expand...

As Mark Kermode said in his review, the original (if you can call this film that) was pulling in too many directions and didn't know what it wanted to be,  on one hand serious sci-fi? well the science was far from serious and down right ridiculously inaccurate at times and on the other hand it wanted to be some kind of action flick...and to answer your question i just didn't want my version of the film vieing off in that direction.
The lunar pirate  shootout  was heavily set up in the opening text and also by announcement during boarding of Virgin space shuttle . We also get  a Space Marine chaperone to the dark side of the moon which all felt very tacked on but some may argue that the film is based on "Heart of Darkness" and you need escapade and death a long the way. I may do a second version and keep the scene in but might trim it up a bit. You'll be glad to know i kept the space monkeys in 

i'll render some scenes and will post here over the next couple of days. Vimeo don't allow too many uploads these days.

The purpose of this edit was originally just to remove the voice-over and put together a new ending as the theatrical version ending is ridiculous  but the more i dissected the film the more i realised it needed a lot of attention. The movie  is loosely based on the structure of Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" and some reviewers even call it "Apocalypse Now in Space" i was certainly calling it the latter as i left the theatre but this movie is no Apocalypse Now and those Brad Pitt voice-over's did not compare to Martin Sheen's. Pitt's thoughts were 90%  banal so they had to go.
If i could i would have made the tone of the film a lot darker but the footage is just not there for me to do so. The edit is more of a "Lighter shade of Darkness" and doesn't get too grim but really in my mind the comparison's to the novel and Copolla's masterpiece is not the journey of Roy and Capt Willard in AN but refers to the mental breakdown's of Roy's Dad, Clifford and Kurtz.

Below is a comparison scene of the opening couple of minutes: original first followed by the edited version. I've Just noticed a flash frame and the beginning of the edited scene. Please ignore this.
My project file is in 4K , so due to the compression and not having a HDR monitor/tv the colour may seem a bit off to some viewers.

CUT LIST


PASSWORD : Fanedit

I am so down for this, the tone of the trailer seems perfect, very interested in this edit!

This looks great, very nicely done.

I'm interested in seeing how this progresses.

This scene is actually the first one i worked on. The intention is to re-score and add tension and also remove the fanboy talk, photographs of Roy's Dad Clifford, the voice-over and Clifford's video message to Roy. 

Again the colour may seem off as i am working with a  4K HDR source


Password: Fanedit

Let this be a warning to any potential 4K editors out there. I ran into a few problems with my 4K file during this project . Importing the file and using a proxy to edit is no problem, however, the problem arises trying to get the edit off of your computer. My hardware is pretty decent i have an Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 -4770k CPU that utilises 16GB of RAM however, my NVIDIA GTX 770 graphics card needs upgrading. To fully render my project i was looking at around 16 hours of grafting for it to complete. I gave it a few goes but my CPU was moaning and groaning and hitting Defcon 1  so i gave up.
The good news is using using Control A > View> Window > Edit details in Vegas it is easy to swap out your files. I'll keep the project files on a spare hard drive and once i upgrade my computer in the future, i'll make a 4K edit but for now it it going to have to be good ole 1080P.
Any Vegas editors out there that have DVD/SD edits they want to upgrade to HD/4K  in the future this is they way to go...just keep your .VEG files safe.

Right onto my Ad Astra edit.

The below scene is just a simple re-score using the track 'Erbarme Dich' from the Ad Astra soundtrack. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the original track but it is overly used throughout the film and one aim of this edit is to utilise as much of the beautiful soundtrack as possible. The soundtrack's under usage gets me thinking,  was the score even completed before post production ended as so much music is omitted from the final film. The first Ad Astra trailer even had completely different music.


Password: Fanedit

As my edit is based on the novel Heart of Darkness i toyed with keeping the Moon Pirates sequence in the movie as Roy is meant to face struggle and conflict as part of his journey,  but my personal feeling is that it just felt tacked on and out of place and was set up poorly by Virgin shuttle announcements and newsreel. It looked good in the trailers to sell the product but I found it jarring and preferred the monkey scene over this one...after all cannibalism is part of the original story. I may do a version two of this edit and keep the scene in with maybe one or two of Roy's more sincere and thought provoking voice overs.

I know the scene starts with three Moon buggies but we'll have to use our imaginations and think that two of them are in the darkness behind The Colonel's and Roy's buggy as they enter the compound. I also removed the Colonel's mentioning of the big blue marble,  now they both just look at Earth as they travel across the lunar surface.

Password: Fanedit

Morning / Afternoon / Evening

I intend to edit an alternative edit of Ad Astra in the future and have steadily been gathering scenes over the last couple of years to incorporate. What i need is a few shots of a rocket / spaceship travelling to the moon. I've looked at loads of movies but can't seem to find suitable scenes. The scenes would also have to be a rear shot or from a distance in order to disguise the fact Roy is travelling in a different ship. Any help is appreciated.

I'd love to have the VFX skills to make my own and i am open to learning them but these days i barely have the time to edit (see multiple unfinished edits)...let alone learn VFX. ...one day ...one day

Thanks