Ben-Hur: Prince of Jerusalem by ranger613

[ranger613]

If you really want to make your run time, maybe there are parts of the rowing that can go with little effect. It's been a while since I've seen it, I just remember it's one of my favorite scenes.

No I totally agree with you, the rowing scene is great, I'm leaving it intact. 144 is a good time I think... down from 222 min (78 min cut).. Only things left are to smooth over some audio transitions.. Toying with adding a soft glow to the last scene, but don't know if it'll ruin it... I'll post some test shots soon..

 

[DominicCobb]

144 sounds great to me.

 

[ranger613]

Hi guys, need opinion on this video effect in the clip below. I wanted this scene to have a dream-like atmosphere, so added a bit of color correction, glare, etc but not sure if it works. Is it too distracting, etc.

On left: With effect. On right: Original

Please let me know what you think. Thanks !!

 

[Vultural]

I always prefer the more saturated, Technicolor look.
Modern films, especially digital, seldom appear like that, however.

It is orangy.
Isn't this by candle light or torch light?
Can you post an exterior or daylight scene for comparison?

 

[ranger613]

I've completed the initial render and am very happy with the final product. Again, I need a Name for this movie...
The original was Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ. I'm not sure what to name it...
A few which came to mind.. none are good:

Ben Hur: Revenge and Redemption
Ben Hur: Arena Edition
Ben Hur: Blood and Sand
Ben Hur: The Prince of Hur
Ben Hur De-Jesused

Any thoughts? Vultural, thanks for the feedback. I agree it makes the scene look unnatural, and differs too much from the rest that it appears as if I'm trying too hard to make a point (that the final scene may be a fantasy). I'm using the original color palette but am going to add an additional fade in there that shouldn't belong.

 

[Vultural]

Ben Hur: De-Jesused - Much too provocative, you will likely regret that.
Ben Hur: Blood and Sand - Sounds like the famous bullfight movie. Valentino and Power.
Ben Hur: Revenge and Redemption - Not enough cold blooded vengeance to live up to that title.

 

[ranger613]

Lol. I was joking with the djesused, like the snl skit. I can't think of anything good

 

[Vultural]

Just to be flip -

Ben Hur: The Cross And The Whip

 

[TM2YC]

Ben Hur: Chariots of Fire
Ben Hur Vs The Romans
Ben Hur: Prince of Judia

Even I don't know if I'm serious.

 

[ranger613]

Thanks for the suggestions! I don't know if these titles would work tho.. maybe "something" edition? Arena edition, chariot edition??

Prince of Jerusalem or Prince of Judea sound good though.. which one sounds better?

 

[bionicbob]

Prince of Jerusalem, sounds better to me.

And then give an edition subtitle it you want. The chariot race is one of the most famous scenes in film history, and since this edit will be shorter/faster, something with Chariot in it could be appropriate.

 

[kellenpure]

--Ben Hur: The Secular Cut
or
--Ben Hur, Done That
--Ben Hur Before

 

[TM2YC]

something with Chariot in it could be appropriate.

Ben Hur: Chariot of Vengeance
Ben Hur: Chariot at the River Styx
Ben Hur: Chariot to Hades
Ben Hur: Chariot in Peril
Ben Hur: Chariot in the Land of Demons
Ben Hur: White Chariot in Hell
Ben Hur: Lightning Chariots of Death

?

 

[ranger613]

--Ben Hur: The Secular Cut
or
--Ben Hur, Done That
--Ben Hur Before

Lol nice! The secular cut haha. Ben Hur, or, I'm Back B*tch [emoji16]

Prince of Jerusalem, sounds better to me.

And then give an edition subtitle it you want. The chariot race is one of the most famous scenes in film history, and since this edit will be shorter/faster, something with Chariot in it could be appropriate.

[MENTION=4677]bionicbob[/MENTION] , Thanks man, it has a good ring to it. At first I thought it didn't sound catchy and felt too grand, but then, you wouldn't be watching Ben Hur anyway if you weren't expecting something grand [emoji6] Sold! (PS if only he'd been in Jericho. Prince of Jericho sounds sweet)

And yup, watching the chariot race again, undoubtedly the highlight of the whole thing. It's incredible how they accomplished this in 1958/9, without cgi/miniatures. Didn't edit the race at all, but edited extensively all around it to get you there faster, and finish the film 20 mins after. Even though I cut over an hour out, the movie still has such an epic feel that for some reason hundreds of millions of dollars today can't replicate (although I read a few years ago that adjusted for inflation the contemporary production cost would have been 200 million). And for such a long film, it really is far more memorable to ME than other contemporary epics like Ten Commandments or even Lawrence of Arabia. A different age and a different audience I suppose.

Pps. My buddies are flaking out of watching Dawn of the Apes again tonight [emoji19]

 

[TM2YC]

the movie still has such an epic feel that for some reason hundreds of millions of dollars today can't replicate (although I read a few years ago that adjusted for inflation the contemporary production cost would have been 200 million).

I'm too OCD to not work that one out...

Ben Hur 1958: Cost $15,175,000 / Made $146,900,000

Ben Hur 2014: Would cost $124,059,536 / Would make $1,200,945,360

A profit of over a billion dollars in todays money. Nice!

Mind you factoring in todays inflated ticket prices, if the same ammount of people saw it the profit would actually be something like $19 billion dollars... that's about the same as the GDP of Nepal :-D. As you said a different age of movies indeed.

 

[ranger613]

I'm too OCD to not work that one out...

Ben Hur 1958: Cost $15,175,000 / Made $146,900,000

Ben Hur 2014: Would cost $124,059,536 / Would make $1,200,945,360

A profit of over a billion dollars in todays money. Nice!

Mind you factoring in todays inflated ticket prices, if the same ammount of people saw it the profit would actually be something like $19 billion dollars... that's about the same as the GDP of Nepal :-D. As you said a different age of movies indeed.

Damn!! Wow.. that's crazy. So it's the kind of big like the Avengers is today back in the 50's.. only Avengers had 5 films running up to it.
Also, I guess the competition in the 50s factors in-- it was going up against things like Anatomy of a Murder and the Nuns story, good but not outstanding. Competition today is much stiffer I feel, like there's almost two good movies (in general) to shell out the dough for at any time..

 

[TM2YC]

No wait sorry, after further thought, my maths was way off on the $19billion. It would actually be $2.5billion as ticket prices in the USA have almost exactly doubled since 1959 (Adjusted for inflation). Making it twice as profitable as The Avengers.

 

[ranger613]

No wait sorry, after further thought, my maths was way off on the $19billion. It would actually be $2.5billion as ticket prices in the USA have almost exactly doubled since 1959 (Adjusted for inflation). Making it twice as profitable as The Avengers.

Incredible man[emoji15]

 

[bionicbob]

Movies were released differently back then too.
A nation wide same day release was still very rare. Movies moved from city to city, to town to town, thus played longer in theaters. Also no multiplexs to compete against. Today, a movie's fate is decided on the opening day weekend. Movies back then had more time to build an audience and sell tickets.

 

[kellenpure]

I like Ben Hur: Prince of Jerusalem. In hearing you guys talking about the chariot race, I'm thinking how a similar scene would be done today, undoubtedly CGI all over the place. Product would not be nearly as cool. CGI has it's uses, but seems like now it's just the easy way out to minimize construction and make-up.