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Apocalypto: The Legend of Jaguar Paw (V.1.0 Available)

Sinbad

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Synopsis
[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Set in the Mayan civilization, when a man's idyllic presence is brutally disrupted by a violent invading force, he is taken on a perilous journey to a world ruled by fear and oppression where a harrowing end awaits him. Through a twist of fate and spurred by the power of his love for his woman and his family he will make a desperate break to return home and to ultimately save his way of life.[/font]

Purpose of the edit
The original movie is pretty perfect in my eyes but I was curious to see if I could cut the dialogue from the film and it still retain its power and narrative.  While it wasn't possible to completely remove dialogue I have trimmed about 60% of it and subtitled the dialogue where I felt it was necessary.  The removal of a lot of dialogue and a faster pace now means the movie runtime is 111 minutes cut down 28 minutes from the original 139 minute version. 

Cut list
There are numerous edits to remove dialogue throughout the movie but these are the significant cuts

Ball cutting scene trimmed
Soanzo leaf discussion cut
Jaguar Paws wife first introduction cut
Evening Tribal ceremony partially cut
Village raid trimmed
Cliffhanger partially cut
First night captured cut
Encounter with diseased prophet girl partially cut
Trip to the pyramid partially cut
Sacrificial Ceremony trimmed
Run to the corn trimmed
Final Chase sequence numerous trims throughout
Epilogue cut



Mel Gibson's Apocalypto
Ive been looking for an excuse to do an edit of this film for a while,  it's easily my favourite film of the last 20 years or so.

I 've always thought this film could work completely without dialogue on a purely primal level. 

Edit
Considered going the silent route with this but gonna go for a more streamlined version of the original film now without any descriptive dialogue or the need for subtitles. I want the edit to work purely on its visuals, music and ambient sound. Edit2 As I'm progressing through it I'm finding  I will have to leave small amounts of dialogue in,managed to do it though so far when only a handful of words are uttered and its simple to interpet whats being said So no need for subs.  I am going to subtitle the priest at the sacrificial ceremony though.
 

Sinbad

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Zamros said:
I wouldn't make the film Black and White


NOOOOOOO
I can't get rid of that gorgeous technicolour Jungle! :)

I wouldn't be attempting to make it in the style of the old silent movies, its the complete absence of dialogue I'm interested in experimenting with, I wouldn't have any title cards for dialogue at all.
 

maniac

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HUBUNKEY asked me to do a shorter cut of Apocalypto a while ago
I have it on ice but the idea's you have is interesting 
So I see first what you do with it
Alternative soundtracks you can use is (for example) of Tangerine Dream, Cliff Martinez (a magnificent composer) or maybe some Goblin tracks
But that is personal taste, but the idea behind this project is great
 

Sinbad

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Thanks Maniac, Im wavering a little on the approach at the moment as I think about it more. The definitive rule will definitely be zero dialogue though. I'm convinced its possible to do it with this film.
 

Sinbad

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First draft i think I will work with the film 'as is (with original audio intact)' cutting all dialogue from it and see if what i end up with works. I think I may probably end up with two very different versions of this edit (albeit both without dialogue).
 

ssj

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this project sounds interesting.
color me intree. . . intestin. . . dammit, intrigonometried.
 

Plissken1138

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Somehow Todd Boekelheide's score (or parts of it) for The Blood of Heroes aka. The Salute of the Jugger feels appropriate. 

 

Sinbad

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I'll have to check that out, this is the sort of vibe Im thinking of.

 

Sinbad

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Tonight been checking out the feasibility of doing this with the original audio whilst removing dialogue, I think it's definitely doable there's a few problematic areas but hopefully I can strip the channels I need in those scenes. Gonna give it a go with one of the more tricky scenes first and post results. The re-scored/silent version will take a back seat for a while, The film doesn't have a great deal of dialogue in it anyway but having none and seeing if it still works well should be really interesting.. 
I am considering cheating a little though with one particular scene  :D
 

Sinbad

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I cut the first 20 minutes of this together without dialogue last night, I've let one or two very short lines remain as a) iit's easy to more or less interpet whats being said and b) trying to exclude them will make the scene look odd. (The opening half hour is the most dialogue heavy so the signs are good) To all intents and purposes though its dialogue free and seems to be working well. I will do a first draft and then decide if the project is a go, the biggest hurdle will be the sacrificial temple at the midpoint of the movie I expect.  I think it will be around 15 minutes shorter than the orginal version the way its panning out and  the original film is an absolute rollercoaster as it is so at a brisk 2 hours this should really belt along.
 

ssj

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gibson is batshit kweizi, but he did craft one of the finest chase films ever.

interested in seeing how this project turns out, father of son of sinbad.
 

Sinbad

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ssj said:
gibson is batshit kweizi, but he did craft one of the finest chase films ever.

Agreed SSJ it's his best work in my opinion.  I've persuaded a few people who 'don't do subtitles' to watch the original and they have all thanked me.  It's a shame Gibson's 'issues' overshadowed it on initial release, I think it would have generated Oscar buzz that year had it been made by anyone else.
 

Sinbad

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About an hour into the rough first draft still seems to be working well though I think I will need to subtitle the high priests dialogue at the sacrifial temple I cant really cut that and everything still make sense, its not been too difficult to keep the main protagonists mute so far though and still feels like it working narratively without any exposition. it makes me wonder if Gibson might have stripped the dialogue to the bare minimum had he not been tied by mainstream studio constraints...
 

ssj

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I know this might not conform with your editing intentions, but it would be totally sweet if the priest could utter something bonkers.
 

Sinbad

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ssj said:
I know this might not conform with your editing intentions, but it would be totally sweet if the priest could utter something bonkers.

Thats always tempting when working with subs :D an alternate 'ssj inspired' cut featuring them wacky Mayan dudes.

Possible titles???
Whooops Apocalypto
Carry On Decapitating
Some Like it Tropical
Im sure you can think of some better ones sir
 

ssj

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haha, i think you're doing a great job all by yourselfziez.

but because i can't help myself:
• where's the beef?
• move over, bacon.
• pardon me, but do you have any grey poupon?
• what happens on pyramids stays on. . . oh.
 

Sinbad

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Rough cut done 114 minutes (105 minus credits)

Can I move this to ITW and mothball my BTTF edit please guys :)
 
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