Do any of you WATCH your own fanedits?

[Type12point]

This is a first time post from a de-lurker.

I finally got off my butt and I'm about twenty minutes (footage-wise) into my first ever fan-edit (yes, it's Star Wars, and no, I wont apologize for that) when it struck me: will I actually ever WATCH the thing?

My concern isn't that the resulting DVD will be technically unsound. I'm confident enough with my Final Cut Pro skill. But no matter how good you are, nothing is ever seemless. And after slaving away on minute details, will I actually be able to watch the thing without being constantly flooded with recognition points? "Oh, that's where there's a nanosecond of sound fallout", "Oh, that's the flopped frame", etc., etc.

Don't get me wrong. The process itself is (fairly) rewarding. But it made me curious. After you folks hammered "The Phantom Menace" into something you called "The Absotlute Badass Rise Of Evil Sith With No Jokes Whatsoever" or "Batman Begins" into "Batman As Bernie Goetz: Special Edition", whatever, if the mood ever strikes you to watch the film, do you folks reach for the original or your own?

Like I said, just curius. I still think I've got three prequels, three Spidermans, and two Indiana Joneses to fix over the next year.

 

[ThrowgnCpr]

I think that this should always be the goal. Why make something that you still dont want to watch. Of course you should try to make it as professional as possible with the utmost quality so that you can watch it. i think a lot of editors do not take this care, however if I put the time into something, it is surely going to be so I can at least watch it. So to answer your question... YES

 

[NexPhr3ak0r]

I typically go for the fanedit over the original. Except in the rare occasions when i disagree with the editor's cuts.

I still watch my nightmare before lateralus edit every now and then.

 

[Heinrich]

I still watch my nightmare before lateralus edit every now and then.

me too!

 

[Remixed by Jorge]

For me, its like a permanent state of dating.
I try to not to date the community hoe (Star Wars, Spiderman, Superman, Star Trek)
I am always in search of that special someone that i can groove with but that hasnt been around the block so much.
Once I find it, (and believe me there are many rejects: http://www.faneditforum.com/viewtopic.p ... highlight=)
I said once I find it, then its like the sparks of love. and it is consumated and several weeks later we deliver a brand new fanedit.
But sadly, once that new dvd is in my hands, its time to move on.
So maybe its more like I am The Lone Ranger and someone always needs my help and I have to move on.
As far as watching it, well the process of fanediting involves watching the film again and again, to make sure its good. so after a while, I kinda get sick of it.
maybe thats why i edit more than 1 at a time.

 

[Horace The Butcher]

I have always assumed the the point of fanediting was to take a movie that may have some flaws and turn it into what is, in the opinion of the editor, a more watchable movie.
Although I do agree with KillBillMe, after watching a film so many times during the course of a fanedit it is easy to become sick of that particular movie.

 

[boon23]

Well, after some time has passed I do actually enjoy watching my fanedits.

 

[T-HOPE]

Actually, I haven't watch my own T3 fanedit. I just have taken a look at the cuts and they were good, but never a complete viewing. Same goes for my T23D with which I'm still struggling. I think my problems are that after a while working on it, I bump into so many frustrating errors that take a away the pleasure to work on it again or view it completely.

RIght now, I'm still very frustrated with my T23D DVD because of I can't finish the first disc because of such an annoying error in the program. So many people seemed to have complained about it by the author, but he just doesn't fix it, and now many people have trouble with making more "special" DVD's with a lot of materials.

I am able to finish my first T23D disc, but then I have to remove 4 complete sections, and that's something I am not planning to do at the moment.

So because of the issue of bumping into serious problems that kinda hold me back, I actually am already tired with my own fanedit when it's finished and don't watch it anymore. At least not in the first 6 months after finishing it.

 

[TheLazenby]

Well, I'm sure many people watch their own; I mean, you're making the movie that YOU personally wanted to see.

 

[FatherMerrin]

For me it depends on the edit.

For edits that corrects flaws to make it into the film "It should of been" then I'll watch the Fanedit. Occasionally I'll watch the original... which only then reminds me why I edited it in the first place!!! :lol:

But then there's edits like ADM's Superman Reedemed or my Exorcist III which are more experimental movies & are just having fun with the editing process. These movies I'll watch now & again but I'm more likely to watch the originals.

Regarding being sick of an edit by the time you finish it, I definitely had that experience with my original SW Edits. I hated the movies so much by the time I'd finished them it got to the point that I actually questioned why I bothered in the first place.

But, I must say my experience of re-editing The Phantom Menace has been a joy. I've managed to correct all the things that bothered me in my first edit & I've also managed to improve on the edit too, which was a pleasent suprise. So I'm actually looking forward to watch my EP I & share it with everyone at Fanedit.org, which is something I didn't think I'd ever say.

 

[boon23]

you didn't think you would ever say that you were happy to share it with everyone at FE?

 

[voodl]

I even havent watch movies that I edited.

 

[FatherMerrin]

you didn't think you would ever say that you were happy to share it with everyone at FE?

Yep.

I think I've come along way since my first edit, so looking back on my work now on my SW Edits is just painful. Just everything about them makes me cringe, the fact I used Magfan's names, the piss poor opening crawls, the dodgy widescreens & those tacky transitions.

I know a fine wine gets better with age but my SW Edits just got worse & worse & quite frankly I was embaressed to admit I made them. :-(

So I set out to re-edit them as a damage limitation excercise, I wasn't expecting the end result to be anything much more than what I first did. 8)

But, I've managed to make some changes that have suprised even myself, so now I'm actually quite excited about it. I think the pod race is now really exciting in my new edit & I've even managed to make Jar Jar look heroic (Not sure if it's an original cut, but hopefully it is).

So now I can't wait to share it with FE

 

[LeoneNut]

Ultimately I make fanedits for only one person, me
Having said that, I struggle to watch something in one go after being so close to it for weeks or months. When I do a QA I end up just checking the final DVD in small chunks at a time.

It took me about six months before I could watch my Legend Extended edit in one sitting. Was still frustrating knowing where I subtely repeated some music or moved some shots around. Even worse when you notice some errors and you want to go back and fix them :x

 

[DoctorM]

Watch my own fan edits?
Why would I waste my time with that garbage?

Lol. Of course I watch my own edits.
I always have a full sit down watching of anything I've done before releasing.

It usually takes me a few months before I can look at it again from sheer overexposure, but after that it's the version I exclusively watch of that film.

If you aren't in love with what you're creating, scrap the project.

 

[HorrorFan82]

I LOVE watching my own edits. Usually there is a faze for each film that lasts for about 2-4 immediate viewings then I move on. I always think Horror films get better with repeated viewings anyways. Sometimes, it's good to watch your edit 2 or 3 times after incase you missed a little cut or frame or sound, etc. that you missed the first 30 times you watched the scene because you were focused on something else. Plus, the film ALWAYS looks better finished and on the TV than in choppy segments on the computer.

-Retro Horror Remix

 

[T-HOPE]

you didn't think you would ever say that you were happy to share it with everyone at FE?

Oh, I consider this the best part of fanediting: releasing the movie and hearing everybody's reaction. That's the best thing of the whole thing for me. Hopefully many people will like the fanproject that I have put so many hours into. I only wish that those annoying problems did not exist.

 

[Type12point]

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to reply!

Like I said, I'm digging the fanediting process, so there's no doubt I'll be continuing. I've very pleased to find I'm having little to no noticeable technical trouble. It took me a while to master audio techniques (and I'm still completely ignorant about how or if I'll be able to make a 5.1 version of the final product out of FCP) but still I'm pretty confident, even a little cocky, about what kind of finished product I'll end up with.

The main reason I brought the whole thing up is because I'm trying to figure out where I want to draw the line in terms of making the movie "mine". Do I just want to take out stuff that annoys me outright, so I have a version of the original with just the worst of the "cringes" removed? Or do I really want to start mucking around with things? (For example, using replacement audio for aliens so I can subtitle them. If the replacement audio is troubling--such as I've found backwards audio to be in other fanedits--then the project becomes a vain cerebral exercise, rather than a replacement copy).

That's where I'm at now, so I'm just waffling about which direction to take.

 

[Type12point]

Oh, I consider this the best part of fanediting: releasing the movie and hearing everybody's reaction. That's the best thing of the whole thing for me. Hopefully many people will like the fanproject that I have put so many hours into. I only wish that those annoying problems did not exist.

I don't expect anyone to see mt finished results except maybe my wife (she likes to indulge her geek husband). This board does NOT need more Star Wars reedits, and I will not be subjecting you to it. What's more, I doubt many people I know in personal life and in my family will appreciate the subtleties of a re-edit. I MIGHT put these things up as bittorrents, but I wouldn't expect much feedback that way.

If I were to jump to my Spider-man edits right away, I would post those up here, because there's not too many of those here--plus, all three of those films are DYING to have their needless and sappiest bits excised--but I'm dying to do SW, and so there I am.

 

[Remixed by Jorge]

Star Wars and Spiderman? hmmm could Superman and Star trek be far behind? welcome Type12point to the wonderful world of fanediting.
You'll fit right in.
But you'll never be a true fanditor until you put your work out there for everyone to enjoy or ignore. i mean, why join a faneditng community and make fanedits if you're not gonna share them.
Have you seen how many Star Wars related items fanedit.org has? there is a reason for that. And with the right kind of promotion and a kickass cover your fanedit will be noticed.