Doctor Strange and the Book of Dreams

[souljaboogie]

ooo this looks so exciting! love to see where this goes

 

[Editzilla]

an update here,
apologies for not updating this topic as regularly as I usually do. This edit has been a joint effort between myself and Mnkykungfu so most of the conversation has been a two person affair. We've been pretty productive though and we have a good draft. I need to go over it all doing some checks and we may put this out to the community with requests for previewers ^^

I'll try to outline what we've got here. Is this an edit log? hmm...

• It starts with an interview with Stephen and Christine, outlining Stephen's need for control.
• The intro plays and shifts between various multiverses that we have featured in the movie. The one with the illuminati has x-men so the 20th century logo is used for that. the animated dream sequences are supposedly in the spiderverse so there is an animated sony/columbia clip, the dark broken world can be linked to the Hulk universe so we have the Universal logo too.
• The first dream starts, This shows a Stephen who lost something very dear to him and decides to stop at nothing to get her back. This will link into Wanda's actions.
• As he wakes up, we see a brief flash of the symbol of Vishanti and hear some shimmering sound and a watch ticking.
  We hear the watch ticking sound every time we see Stephen's watch from Christine to suggest that this is a link with the other Stephen in the dream and it is a symbol for his regret and his need for control.
• As Stephen attends the wedding the shots are reframed to hide some bad acting of one of the extras.
• Christine's asking Stephen if he is happy is removed.
• Since the original dream sequence featuring America is removed, all references to it are also removed.
• The world that Wanda dreams of, the Illuminati world is regraded to take on a golden shimmer.
• Stephen cuts off Wanda when she is reaching for 'understanding' about Westview. The evil magic garden bit is completely removed.
• As Wong calls Kamar-Taj into action, we cut back to Wanda and see she is using her spectral body to use the Darkhold. or is that her real body? It's the scene from the very end of Wandavision.
• all the shots during Wanda x Stephen conversation above Kamar-Taj are reframed to enhance emotional resonance.
• Wanda's attack on Kamar-Taj is made less horrific. We need her to be a sympathetic character. She isn't evil.
• Wanda does not get drawn into the mirror dimension. It seemed unreasonably overpowered for her to so easily escape from that.
• removed her line "I'm not a monster, I'm a mother" as it was just really bad.
• recoloured one of the mutiverses as they fly through a whole host of them, it was way too normal looking.
• Bruce Campbell is removed.
• Inserted Wanda's dreamwalking partway through Mordo's scene rather than after it, to make way for the second dream.
• removed Wanda looking directly at the camera. It was an obvious cut so some erratice editing was introduced that hides the cut and also elevates the distress that other Wanda is feeling.
• As Stephen is sent to sleep by the tea, the second dream begins. The symbol of Vishanti is seen of course, as it is at every transition into the dream and out of it (except the final one)
• The second dream shows animated Stephen going to the library of Cagliostro to find a way to break an absolute point. He goes to great lengths and starts absorbing the power of other beings to enable him to bring back his lost loved one. This mirror's Wanda's quest very closely and gives Stephen some perspective on that. It also further pushes this idea that Stephen needs to control everything.
• At the end of the dream, this Stephen looks toward the camera and says "hello?" suggesting he is aware of our Stephen watching.
• "The Illumi-what-i?" is removed.
• As Stephen is taken before the Illuminati, they are all introduced immediately, including Charles Xavier, with no special fanfare and no fanservice. No musical motifs. No extended shots, no silly comedy.
• removed Captain Carter and Captain Marvel's confrontational remarks.
• As Wanda talks to Wong about how this chamber is meant for her, Shots are adjusted using dutch tilts, slow zooms, Wanda's voice is altered and a red glow is added to Wanda's eyes to suggest she is being influenced by the Darkhold. Music is also switched out to be more tense and creepy.
• Blackbolt's voice is heavily altered to feel more like a deafening explosion of sound,
• Wanda's attack on the Illuminati HQ is rearranged so that America and Christine are about to escape before Wanda even reaches their room. Stephen's fight with Mordo is removed. It is hinted that Xavier releases Stephen and Wanda's fight with the Illuminati is removed.
• Removed weird spooky creepy stuff as Wanda is chasing after them under the river.
• When the book of Vishanti opens up and starts to burn, The symbol of Vishanti now flashes onto the screen and a shimmer noise is heard, identical to the noise when a dream happens.
• In the corrupted universe that Stephen and Christine end up in, the entire video frame rocks very slowly like a ship. it's very very slow to ensure no viewers get motion sickness. It is meant to symbolise how this universe is like a shipwreck and this evil Stephen is the storm that caused it. When he dies, the rocking stops. It is very subtle, so nobody should experience motion sickness from it.
• Evil Stephen's voice is altered when he asks how our Stephen got here. To make him sound a little more intimidating.
• Evil Stephen no longer asks our Stephen if he is happy.
• Evil Stephen no longer claims outright to have killed other Stephens in dreams. He just sort of implies he did something.
• We no longer see that third eye open after evil Stephen has died.
• As Stephen is beset by souls of the damned after posessing his own corpse, he is drawn into darkness, the third dream starts here.
• The third dream shows this corrupted Stephen absorbing the last being and traveling to the spot of the car crash where Christine died. He reincarnates Christine and she is scared by what she sees. we cut back to live action Christine defendeing our Stephen's body and fending off the souls of the damned, saving our Stephen.
• We cut back to the dream where corrupted Stephen has saved Christine and she is scared. The world starts to fall apart due to Stephen's actions. As the world collapses, we see our Stephen's eyes watching the events. Corrupted Stephen is aware of this and pleads with him to help. As the world implodes and fades to black, we hear Xavier's line from earlier "We shall see what kind of Doctor Strange you are", We see the live action zombie Strange's eye as it opens. (in realisation)
• We cut straight to Wong on the mountain getting rocks thrown at him as zombie Stephen swoops in to the rescue.
• The fight here is trimmed down, removing some awkward bits with Wanda acting all campy. Wong does not tell Stephen to take America's power.
• Stephen trusts America and relinquishes control of the situation to her. America does the same for Wanda. Wanda does the same for her alternate self.
• The movie ends on Stephen fixing and putting away the watch. He does not manifest a third eye.
• In the end credits scene, the shots are rearranged and reframed to hide that third eye.
• The Bruce Campbell end credits scene is removed.

OK, after reading the change list, I'm much more interested in the edit now. Though I do wonder how you're going to deal with the Illuminati basically disappearing since their fight with Wanda is removed. Also, I miss Bruce Campbell LOL.

 

[tremault]

I think it's the same as all the ultron sentries, we don't need to see them defeated, just the fact that Wanda is now here, means she has taken them out somehow. It's left to the imagination. I don't think that's an unusual occurrence in movies, right?
the only alternative of course, is showing them getting literally slaughtered, and that's not the Wanda we're trying to portray.

 

[mnkykungfu]

OK, after reading the change list, I'm much more interested in the edit now.

Great to hear! We would love more previewers after a few more key edits are made.

Also, I miss Bruce Campbell LOL.

Aw...I know. I love the guy, too, but he's just on a totally different like 3 Stooges rhythm here compared to the rest of the film. We did look at trying to save a line or two of his...

Though I do wonder how you're going to deal with the Illuminati basically disappearing since their fight with Wanda is removed.

This is going to be a sticky one, I know. The problem is that (aside from the callousness and brutality that Wanda shows during the fight, a bridge too far) the Illuminati in the film are really just glorified cameos, chum for the shark. The film would need a quite a bit more screen time to serve them well, and we can't do that, so better to go the opposite direction. The focus in this edit is beefing up Stephen and Wanda's stories, and the Illuminati is really just a distraction from that. So they truly are cameos now, about 5+ minutes in the current edit.

For me, this puts the edit in some good company... in No Country For Old Men for example (spoilers?) the death of a major character happens off screen. We just see the body after. In Mad Max: Fury Road, Max has a whole huge fight scene that we don't see... we just see him coming back covered in blood and with those guys' gear. We know Max is a badass, and we know what happened. And of course in Predator, we see Billy with his big F-off knife out, ready to make a last stand on the bridge. We never see the fight, but we hear a scream and we see the Predator come down the same path after Dutch. These are all fights that were somewhat of foregone conclusions (well...maybe not in No Country) and so it almost makes the victor more badass that we don't even need to show it. The audience can probably imagine something even better than what we'd show.

 

[tremault]

Since there were some issues with how well the dreams were landing, we have been working on the second dream to try and guide the viewer better.
By using this clip of the ancient one, we are attempting to provide a bit of exposition on who is causing these dreams and how.

My feeling though is... there needs to be something in the waking world that points to his dreams being remarkable, so there's something to work on.

 

[almightycutie]

Since there were some issues with how well the dreams were landing, we have been working on the second dream to try and guide the viewer better.
By using this clip of the ancient one, we are attempting to provide a bit of exposition on who is causing these dreams and how.

My feeling though is... there needs to be something in the waking world that points to his dreams being remarkable, so there's something to work on.

I know you said there is still more to work on but this is such a huge improvement! This is wonderful!

 

[mnkykungfu]

I'm wondering if this explanation from The Ancient One is clear enough for anyone else just watching the clip above?
There's a longer version where she explains more, and my thought was that those few extra lines would be better, both for clarity and pacing. But maybe this is already a super clear explanation for viewers?
(btw Tremault, I think that transition is working much better now!)

 

[tremault]

good stuff.

here's a thing I just put at the start after the interview and the marvel intro, leading into the first dream. I'm thinking I should make this more obfuscated, maybe make it bright or dark or something. or maybe it serves the purpose as is. not sure yet.

that means I can do this

and restore Stephen saying "you were in my dream", firmly tying the dreams into the narrative of the movie. hopefully.

 

[tremault]

It seemed the sequence with The Ancient One talking to Stephen in animation was confusing so that had to be removed, but I have inserted some cutaways to the book of Vishanti that work pretty well and many other things and I feel this is really come together.

I'm satisfied to call this a final draft.
I really do need some fresh eyes on this though so I would really appreciate if there is anyone wiling to give this a watch and give some feedback on it!
Thanks!

updated edit list :

• It starts with an interview with Stephen and Christine, outlining Stephen's need for control. "I'm the one you want holding the knife"
• The 'marvel' intro titles plays and shifts between various multiverses that we have featured in the movie. The one with the illuminati has x-men so the 20th century logo is used for that. the animated dream sequences are supposedly in the spiderverse so there is an animated sony/columbia clip, the dark broken world can be linked to the Hulk universe so we have the Universal logo too.
• The first dream starts, a shot of stephen approaching the book of vishanti saying "give me what i need, then a shot of America,then Christine, then...
• animated section shows a Stephen who lost Christine and decides to stop at nothing to get her back. This will link into Wanda's actions.
• As he wakes up, we see a brief flash of the symbol of Vishanti and hear some shimmering sound and a watch ticking.
  We hear the watch ticking sound every time we see Stephen's watch from Christine to suggest that this is a link with the other Stephen in the dream and it is a symbol for his regret and his need for control.
• As Stephen attends the wedding the shots are reframed to hide some bad acting of one of the extras.
• Christine's asking Stephen if he is happy is removed.
• Cutaway of Dream America is replaced with the shot that I used, that is not from the original dream sequence.
• removed America saying "that wasn't adream"
• reframed some shots in the diner to accentuate Stephen's feelings about Christine.
• insert shot of the book of vishanti when America mentions it.
• several edits to rooftop scene to remove "that wasn't a dream" and "all dreams are multiverses" stuff.
• The world that Wanda dreams of, the Illuminati world is regraded to take on a golden shimmer.
• Stephen cuts off Wanda when she is reaching for 'understanding' about Westview. The evil magic garden bit is completely removed with an edge wipe to kamar taj.
• As Wong calls Kamar-Taj into action, we cut back to Wanda and see she is using her spectral body to use the Darkhold. or is that her real body? It's the scene from the very end of Wandavision.
• all the shots during Wanda x Stephen conversation above Kamar-Taj are reframed to enhance emotional resonance.
• Wanda's attack on Kamar-Taj is made less horrific. We need her to be a sympathetic character. She isn't evil.
• Wanda does not get drawn into the mirror dimension. It seemed unreasonably overpowered for her to so easily escape from that.
• removed her line "I'm not a monster, I'm a mother" as it was just really bad.
• inserted reaction shots of Stephen as Wanda talks about dreaming of her boys. This resonates with him due to his own mysterious dream.
• recoloured one of the mutiverses as they fly through a whole host of them, it was way too normal looking.
• removed the part where America says she doesn't exist in other universes, because her justification is "I don't dream" a plot element that has been removed.
• Bruce Campbell is removed.
• Inserted Wanda's dreamwalking partway through Mordo's scene rather than after it, to make way for the second dream.
• removed Wanda looking directly at the camera. It was an obvious cut so some erratice editing was introduced that hides the cut and also elevates the distress that other Wanda is feeling.
• As Stephen is sent to sleep by the tea, the second dream begins. The symbol of Vishanti is seen, and an insert of Stephen picking up the book of Vishanti.
• The second dream shows animated Stephen going to the library of Cagliostro to find a way to break an absolute point. He goes to great lengths and starts absorbing the power of other beings to enable him to bring back his lost loved one. This mirror's Wanda's quest very closely and gives Stephen some perspective on that. It also further pushes this idea that Stephen needs to control everything.
• At the end of the dream, this Stephen looks toward the camera and says "hello?" suggesting he is aware of our Stephen watching.
• after waking up in the glass cubes, several edits and reframes are done to accentuate Stephen's feelings for Christine.
• "The Illumi-what-i?" is removed.
• As Stephen is taken before the Illuminati, they are all introduced immediately, including Charles Xavier, with no special fanfare and no fanservice. No musical motifs. No extended shots, no silly comedy.
• removed Captain Carter and Captain Marvel's confrontational remarks.
• As Wanda talks to Wong about how this chamber is meant for her, Shots are adjusted using dutch tilts, slow zooms, Wanda's voice is altered and a red glow is added to Wanda's eyes to suggest she is being influenced by the Darkhold. Music is also switched out to be more tense and creepy.
• Blackbolt's voice is heavily altered to feel more like a deafening explosion of sound,
• Wanda's attack on the Illuminati HQ is heavily rearranged so that America and Christine are about to escape before Wanda even reaches their room. Stephen's fight with Mordo is removed. It is hinted that Xavier releases Stephen and Wanda's fight with the Illuminati is removed.
• reframed some shots in the corridor when Stephen reunites with America and Christine, to accentuate his emotions.
• Removed weird spooky creepy stuff as Wanda is chasing after them under the river.
• When the book of Vishanti opens up and starts to burn, The symbol of Vishanti now flashes onto the screen and a shimmer noise is heard, identical to the noise when a dream happens.
• In the corrupted universe that Stephen and Christine end up in, the entire video frame rocks very slowly like a ship. it's very very slow to ensure no viewers get motion sickness. It is meant to symbolise how this universe is like a shipwreck and this evil Stephen is the storm that caused it. When he dies, the rocking stops. It is very subtle, so nobody should experience motion sickness from it.
• The corrupted universe is regraded to differentiate it from the snowy environment of Wundagore.
• Evil Stephen no longer asks our Stephen if he is happy.
• Evil Stephen no longer claims outright to have killed other Stephens in dreams. He just sort of implies he did something.
• We no longer see that third eye open after evil Stephen has died.
• As stephen says he needs Christine's help, one shot is reframed to accentuate the emotion.
• As Stephen is beset by souls of the damned after posessing his own corpse, he is drawn into darkness, the third dream starts here.
• The third dream shows this corrupted Stephen absorbing the last being and travelling to the spot of the car crash where Christine died. He reincarnates Christine and she is scared by what she sees.
• we cut back to live action Christine defending our Stephen's body and fending off the souls of the damned, saving our Stephen.
• We cut back to the dream where corrupted Stephen has saved Christine and she is scared. The world starts to fall apart due to Stephen's actions. As the world collapses, we see our Stephen's eyes watching the events. Corrupted Stephen is aware of this and pleads with him to help.
• As the dream world implodes and fades to black, we hear a few lines recounting how Dangerous other dr strange's are and his tendency to always 'hold the knife', then Xavier's line from earlier "We shall see what kind of Doctor Strange you are", We see the live action zombie Strange's eye as it opens. (in realisation)
• We cut straight to Wong on the mountain getting rocks thrown at him as zombie Stephen swoops in to the rescue.
• The fight here is trimmed down, removing some awkward bits with Wanda acting all campy. Wong does not tell Stephen to take America's power.
• Stephen trusts America and relinquishes control of the situation to her. America does the same for Wanda. Wanda does the same for her alternate self.
• The movie ends on Stephen fixing and putting away the watch. He does not manifest a third eye.
• In the end credits scene, the shots are rearranged and reframed to hide that third eye.
• The Bruce Campbell end credits scene is removed.

 

[Prism_Skywalker]

Awh you removed Papa Pizza? That was the best part!!

 

[tremault]

I did a poster/cover design.

 

[tremault]

oh also, somebody else did a really nice design with the previous title and before we removed the good animated Stephen, but I don't know who it was or if they would have been happy to update it.

I forgot to say, feedback for the final draft has been good and I'm now in the process of producing a high quality master for this and also making edits to the end credits.

 

[tremault]

Cover design is a reversible design to showcase my own design and the other very nice design I mentioned which is made by @Wakeupkeo to fit @mnkykungfu 's design brief.

 

[tremault]

Thank you so much @mnkykungfu for working on this with me. Your contributions to this project have been essential and invaluable and this edit would not exist without you. I'm sorry I could not produce the perfect result for you, but I hope you are at least satisfied with what has been accomplished thanks to your dedication.

Thank you everyone for visiting and your valuable contributions.

This is submitted to the IFDb and the work is done.

 

[mnkykungfu]

^Cheers, tremault. I'm glad we could reach a result you're happy with, and I hope others enjoy it, too!

 

[Commandercool]

I have nothing of import to add to the discussion other than I like what you guys are doing