Back to the Future -The Hill Valley Chronicles Miniseries

[Sinbad]

yeah kinda hard to do it without it jarring I think a sort of 'cerebal' sound effect or quick music cue before they kick in could maybe help smooth them out a bit.

 

[theryaney]

Spent some time making disc art and uploading both as a .zip for the iFDB:

Zip file: https://mega.nz/#!Bjg1GYgJ!WrIUXsKXgCDPpjbDlzs-FetGcUOCCCHN-O5ErlZ1wxw

Hope you like it.

By the way, the alternate opening is pretty cool, and looking back it'll not make sense if the rest of the show is already made before the pilot is released.

 

[Sinbad]

Fabulous work on this ryaney I will recreate a dlc and put all the new artwork in it. Super job!!

 

[Sinbad]

By the way, the alternate opening is pretty cool, and looking back it'll not make sense if the rest of the show is already made before the pilot is released.

Yeah i will push that version out with the new dlc i think...

 

[crlorent]

To celebrate it coming to iFDB, I made an alternate full cover for this edit:

What do you think?

Since the format of this is a TV Series I was thinking a banner like what thetvdb.com does would be nice. @"theryaney" Do you mind if I borrow your work and post my idea here?

I'm thinking of reformatting this so it has three distinct sections, and following the wide banner (AR: 5.4:1) style from thetvdb. Left section FE logo, middle "BTTF" logo and A FANEDIT BY SINBAD all centered, and then on the right "The Hill Valley Chronicles". I am not in anyway shape or form a professional image editor, I'd be cut and pasting onto layers in GIMP for movement, but I can make something workable which others might appreciate.

 

[Sinbad]

tried some extra deja vu for eps2 and 3

Gonna render episode 2 and 3 again with these additions

 

[The Scribbling Man]

If you're doing disc art then it would probably be a 3 disc set... Just saying

 

[Sinbad]

Vimeo streams af episodes 2 and 3 updated with the deja vu tweaks

 

[Adabisi]

I'm only one episode in, but this looks like it will be a really cool edit. A couple of notes:

If the intent was to replicate a network scifi show like Quantum Leap, then stuff like "You're going to see some serious shit" would never have made it to air. But then we get into "The Reality Cut" territory, and let's just not go down that rabbit hole.

I thought the end of the episode got into the epilogue a little too much. A perfect place to cut it for a cliffhanger would have been:

"What the hell is this?"
"Breakfast."

Roll credits.

The way you have it, the end is more of a question mark than an exclamation point. You're left wondering "What happens next?" rather than "What the hell was that!"

Of course, I haven't watched any of the other episodes yet, so I may be completely wrong about this and how it would fit  into the narrative. But I will say, really great work so far.

 

[Sinbad]

I'm only one episode in, but this looks like it will be a really cool edit. A couple of notes:

If the intent was to replicate a network scifi show like Quantum Leap, then stuff like "You're going to see some serious shit" would never have made it to air. But then we get into "The Reality Cut" territory, and let's just not go down that rabbit hole.

I thought the end of the episode got into the epilogue a little too much. A perfect place to cut it for a cliffhanger would have been:

"What the hell is this?"
"Breakfast."

Roll credits.

The way you have it, the end is more of a question mark than an exclamation point. You're left wondering "What happens next?" rather than "What the hell was that!"

Of course, I haven't watched any of the other episodes yet, so I may be completely wrong about this and how it would fit  into the narrative. But I will say, really great work so far.

Thanks Adabisi! Glad you like the first one
I like the 'Breakfast' ending it has a punchy comedic tone which fits perfectly. I did however want it to pose questions and no real answers as thats what comes later
My way of thinking from a 'first time viewer' point was to leave a lot of question marks to intrigue the viewer into watching the next one.

What happened when he hit 88mph?
Did he dream whatever that was?
If so then why have things changed?
Why is Doc still alive?

And when the project was in the early stage I did mention using netflix as a show template to get round the whole bad language thing here and there.  I also wanted Claudia Wells as Jennifer out of the series by the end of the first episode so it would seem more like an actress change after the pilot episode (admittedly i could still do that cutting at breakfast).  Not sure which version you watched of episode 1 but I have redone the opening without a title sequence so it feels more like a standalone pilot. Its post #213 on this thread.  I wanted to do that originally but I felt like i needed a snazzy opening sequence to give it the tv feel right away, I think now that its got a fair bit of positive feedback viewers will give it a chance with how I originally wanted to do it.. So thats the link I'm giving out now

If you are watching the vimeo streams I have tweaked and updated episode 2 and 3 in the last couple of days based on some feedback from neglify post #223 shows the tweaks . Can provide fresh links for them if needed as i do think the tweaks add some value.

Anyway glad to hear you are enjoying and i think the issues you highlighted are very valid.

 

[Sinbad]

Just wanna say really great to get feedback on this good and bad I am gonna make some small changes/fixes based on all the feedback and  implement anything worth incorporating.

 

[Adabisi]

Just wanna say really great to get feedback on this good and bad I am gonna make some small changes/fixes based on all the feedback and  implement anything worth incorporating.

I'm going to advise against this for a number of reasons:

- You've already released what you intended to be a finished edit. 

- Very few people will watch your edit (or any edit) in the first place.

- Of those, a very small number will give you feedback or a review

- Almost nobody will bother watching your edit more than once, even if they liked it as is

- If they didn't like it, they definitely won't bother watching Version 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, etc. Especially if they feel like they watched an unfinished version the first time.

I can applaud your dedication to improving your edit based on feedback, but for the time and energy invested in actually watching an edit, people really don't like investing time in something that turned out to be unfinished.

My advice: Release your edit to your satisfaction. Once. Let the chips fall where they may.

 

[Sinbad]

Thanks Adasibi,

I hear what you're saying I wouldnt spend an inordinate amount of time revising it but im definitely open to some small tweaks, and I certainly wouldnt expect anyone who had already watched the edit to rewatch it.  I am still getting requests for links pretty much everyday and a couple of suggestions have been things i tried but didnt quite pull off to my satisfaction at first go. as ive honed my skills a little since i wanted to have another go, I wouldnt radically change the edit but a little insert here and there or minor fix is something i will kick my self fornot doing when i no longer have the project files purely for my own satisfaction.

 

[Neglify]

I skipped Ep 3 on Sunday due to the Oscars so I watched two installments last night.

Episode 03 Back And Forthright

This is easily the smoothest episode so far. I loved the visual echo moments throughout, which is exactly what I wanted to see more of in Ep 2. It was structured quite nicely and a perfect ending. 10/10 for this one.

Episode 04 Two Heads Are Better Than None

This is where things start to get quite interesting, story-wise. The only real critique I have is that you should have made it a little more clear at the start where this takes place in the story's timeline. Yes I know that anybody who watches this will have seen these films umpteen times, but I'm a firm believer in a fanedit's narrative being able to stand up solely on its own. And this is where things get a slight bit confusing. All in all though a fun episode and I look forward to the rest of the series. 9/10 for this.

 

[Sinbad]

I skipped Ep 3 on Sunday due to the Oscars so I watched two installments last night.

Episode 03 Back And Forthright

This is easily the smoothest episode so far. I loved the visual echo moments throughout, which is exactly what I wanted to see more of in Ep 2. It was structured quite nicely and a perfect ending. 10/10 for this one.

Episode 04 Two Heads Are Better Than None

This is where things start to get quite interesting, story-wise. The only real critique I have is that you should have made it a little more clear at the start where this takes place in the story's timeline. Yes I know that anybody who watches this will have seen these films umpteen times, but I'm a firm believer in a fanedit's narrative being able to stand up solely on its own. And this is where things get a slight bit confusing. All in all though a fun episode and I look forward to the rest of the series. 9/10 for this.

Thanks for the feedback again Neglify
Regarding the start of episode 04 and where we are now in the timeline, I did my best to set that up in the last 10-15 seconds of the previously before the titles kick in (obviously it didnt work as well i thought lol ).and also showing the same date and time after Marty crashes into the farmhouse maybe it would have been better to put it right after the credits as he makes the jump.  I also thought showing Doc's murder in a dream after Marty is hit by the car again would help establish where we are in the story timeline wise as that would also be fresh in Marty 'One's mind.   Rightly or wrongly I've kind of justified the bits that might not fully make sense  to a first time viewer as giving it rewatch value. Well thats my excuse anyway 

Really appreciate the feedback its good to know what worked and what didn't (for future edits)

 

[Adabisi]

Thanks Adasibi,

I hear what you're saying I wouldnt spend an inordinate amount of time revising it but im definitely open to some small tweaks, and I certainly wouldnt expect anyone who had already watched the edit to rewatch it.  I am still getting requests for links pretty much everyday and a couple of suggestions have been things i tried but didnt quite pull off to my satisfaction at first go. as ive honed my skills a little since i wanted to have another go, I wouldnt radically change the edit but a little insert here and there or minor fix is something i will kick my self fornot doing when i no longer have the project files purely for my own satisfaction.

I can understand, but people might get weary about watching your future edits if they know the next "new & improved version" is right around the corner.

Back to the topic at hand, I watched episode two and really loved the ending - you hit the "oh shit!" chord with Biff stealing the Delorean that I felt was missing from the first episode.

The only thing I felt was off was Marty's reaction when they first get to 2015 on the highway. He should've had the same reaction as Jennifer because, from the narrative that's been presented, all that happened to him so far was that he had a weird dream, woke up and everything was strange. His only experience with time travel has been seeing Einstein disappear and then reappear. He's way too calm in that situation for it being the first time that's he's time traveled (although, I'm sure we'll eventually find out that it isn't). His whole "Doc invented a time machine, Jennifer, don't worry about" dialogue was way too casual.

Other than that, it was great and I'm looking forward to the rest of them.

 

[Sinbad]

Thanks Adasibi,

I hear what you're saying I wouldnt spend an inordinate amount of time revising it but im definitely open to some small tweaks, and I certainly wouldnt expect anyone who had already watched the edit to rewatch it.  I am still getting requests for links pretty much everyday and a couple of suggestions have been things i tried but didnt quite pull off to my satisfaction at first go. as ive honed my skills a little since i wanted to have another go, I wouldnt radically change the edit but a little insert here and there or minor fix is something i will kick my self fornot doing when i no longer have the project files purely for my own satisfaction.

I can understand, but people might get weary about watching your future edits if they know the next "new & improved version" is right around the corner.

yes with that in mind I do agree...

The only thing I felt was off was Marty's reaction when they first get to 2015 on the highway. He should've had the same reaction as Jennifer because, from the narrative that's been presented, all that happened to him so far was that he had a weird dream, woke up and everything was strange. His only experience with time travel has been seeing Einstein disappear and then reappear. He's way too calm in that situation for it being the first time that's he's time traveled (although, I'm sure we'll eventually find out that it isn't). His whole "Doc invented a time machine, Jennifer, don't worry about" dialogue was way too casual.

Other than that, it was great and I'm looking forward to the rest of them.

Yep totally agreee Martys calm reaction to Doc being alive and  jumping in a time machine doesn't really tie in with him having some strange dream which is how it plays so far. Knowing how my narrative plays out I see it sort of differently in relation to what Marty knows and we the audience don't but I would definitely agree with what you have seen so far thats a completely fair criticism. Again narratively I'm going for question marks, why is he so nonchalant about doc being alive and time travel in general? What does he know we dont? what happened exactly when he hit 88mph? I would hope it would at least keep a first time viewer invested as to why?

 

[Neglify]

Episode 05 A Date With Density

This is where thinks get really heavy, with the 1955 timelines converging. I expect to see some serious shit in the next couple episodes. 9/10 due to the Previously On and Next Time adverts being way too long.

 

[Sinbad]

yep a few people have commented on the previouslys being too long, all i can say i was trying to smooth out the complexities of mixing the timelines in the previouslys. I can promise you the shit hits the fan next episode

 

[Neglify]

yep a few people have commented on the previouslys being too long, all i can say i was trying to smooth out the complexities of mixing the timelines in the previouslys.

I do understand. It's one of those "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situations. Anybody watching this is going to be a fan of the trilogy so they already know the plot and whatnot, so they could easily get bored by the Previously On segments. But, as I've said, a fanedit should stand on its own two feet without reliance on knowing the plot already, so you should include those recaps.

My point is just that you're making them way too long. For Ep 5 really all you needed was...

Reveal message

PREVIOUSLY ON BACK TO THE FUTURE...

BTTF1 Marty in 1955 cafeteria confrontation with Biff. Old Biff going back in time. Alternate 1985. Going back to 1955 to fix things.

Bada bing bada boom let's get this party started.