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Dune 1984 - Part 1

Wakeupkeo

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Disclaimer: Admittedly for a small audience.

Bad Movies Made Less Bad Presents:
A Villeneuve-ian Approach to Lynch's Bastard Attempt.

I have always had a love/hate relationship with the original Lynch production - as much as I want to love it, there are so many reasons its not what it should be. I have thought about my own edits before, but the wild third act was, IMO, always beyond saving. Too rushed. So I watch Spicediver's edit whenever I need to calm my ambitions.

But...
After playing with a de-greened Baron Intro scene, I couldn't help but start diving into a more modern retelling of the 1984 movie, with Villeneuve's sensibilities: telling only a part one while avoiding the third act altogether, and leaving the weirder parts for the possible future Part 2 and avoid the audience-distancing elements until they would have better bought into the Dune Universe. Hell, even Lynch initially wanted to make two movies.

So I'm ending my cut when Paul meets Stilgar and the Freemen in the desert for the first time.

Using the extended edition as a source, I have rebuilt a new intro, with text explaining the movie universe a bit better for the themes I am trying to convey:
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From there, we jump right into Paul studying.

I am also:
  1. Using new planet animations

  2. Removing most voiceovers, leaving a few of Paul's when it helps the narrative and seems appropriate to be in his head (while his hand is in the box)

  3. Rebuilding the five dreams Paul has before they meet Stilgar and the Freemen, adding footage to his dreams of the future slaughter that awaits the jihad, in clips of growing indiscriminate violence and genocide

  4. Tightening dialogue to remove extra exposition, leaving some of the mystery when possible

  5. Leaving Navigators navigating out, (too weird) and all the Emperor scenes out, except until the mid-credit scene of the Guild visiting and threatening the Emperor over developments on Arrakis

  6. Adding in the Dune 2021 Spacefolder ships, and of course the de-greened Baron Scene:


Open to input! (I'm sure my intro text can be refined!)

I initially wasn't going to announce it until Villeneuve's Part 2 came out so see what he does, but I have been enjoying myself so much with this edit, I couldn't wait.
 

Dwight Fry

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Intriguing approach indeed. I'm a pretty big fan of the Lynch film, but because I see it more as a Lynch film than as an adaptation of the book. In part I agree that Lynch was not the best suited director for the material, he's too... spiritual for it, and it comes across as a House Atreides-commissioned propaganda piece, but then there's the visual design and atmosphere, and the Lynchness of it, that grabs me and doesn't let me go... so other than my personal preference of deeply disliking having digital effects added to older films, I'd like to see where this goes.
 

Wakeupkeo

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I would like to see an inverted edit of Dune. Making Dune 2021 more Lynchian :)

So much to accentuate if you took that reverse route!

For instance:
Just before Leto bites his tooth, the Baron pulled back and Piter gets close. Then, when Piter dies, the Baron drops his plate.

Did the Baron really just go start eating in that tiny amount of time? LOL what the hell
 

Wakeupkeo

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Just a bit of an update here, been spending at least a few hours a day on this, a lot of time wasted of course.
Wanted to max out this edit so I bought the Arrow 2021 release, beautiful but heavy film grain.
  • "The film is newly remastered from the camera negative and has never looked better on home video. Audiophiles can choose from a new DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround track, or the original uncompressed stereo, which still sounds great. For any other film, the remastering team might have been tempted to dial the grain back a little bit, but by choosing not to, every bit of fine detail that’s visible in the negative has been preserved. "

Old
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Arrow

Since I am using the expanded edition scenes as well though, I've had to tweak and adjust (leveraging Topaz a ton) to try and get shots to blend well with the Arrow footage.

I also wanted to take advantage of a better dialogue center channel from the Arrow release, so I am mixing better dialogue clarity with the more full soundtrack of the extended version. Needless to say, wasting a ton of time to make this little passion project as great as possible. But I am pleased with the results so far.

Other notes:
Pulling the Duncan in Caladan with Paul scene. as it does nothing but cause questions. How much sooner than Paul could he have arrived, and how much spy infiltration could he really have done in that time? Instead, he is has already been on Arrakis a while. He is still mentioned by Gurney and Leto so he is still relevant to Paul in the details. But Paul and Duncan making the religious oath (I tried but failed to find a way to remove just that part) so there is nothing really to gain from this interaction but fan service.
 
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Wakeupkeo

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So close on this one.

I ended up sending my edit through topaz to get rid of the heavy film grain from the Arrow release, and imo its gorgeous. (Wasted two weeks on bad Topaz render attempts, but lessons learned!) Been working to make the Smithee shots that are intermixed to blend better - not perfect but less distracting.

I also went through each line of dialogue to get the audio balance better - the originals are all over the pace with clarity levels, but I think I have done my best.

I also felt my posters weren't epic enough for my final product, so here's my final one:

wJEiX0r.png


And just for fun, I've been playing with a trailer for a Part 2, for the rest of the movie after Paul joins the Fremen. It would never be released of course (the idea is better than the execution IMO) I've used the original "Epic Voice Guy" dialogue from the original trailer. It admittedly sounds like crap, but I think it gets my point across. I haven's been able to extract the dialogue from the original stereo trailer any better, but hopefully its not so annoying that the idea is ruined.

Subtitles next, then I'll be ready if anyone wants to preview it!
 

Wakeupkeo

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Sending out preview links now! I *think* I am ready for constructive criticisms!
 

Wakeupkeo

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After some great feedback and notes from @Dwight Fry and a positive first look from @ArtisDead , I've been fine tuning and polishing!

The Arrow release has a less yellow vibe than some of the classic editions, and at first I tried to mimic those classic versions. But the loss of color was noticeable and when I went to the side of making the Smithee footage match the Arrow colors, the scene differences were less noticable. So I went that route.

I also have been adding back in some of the original film grain of the Arrow footage that I initially removed with topaz, and adding film grain to the smithee versions for better transitions between the two, hopefully.

I also added silly extra "trailer to a Part 2 that of course won't happen". Here's that for now! The final edit will probably release this weekend, thanks for the interest everyone!

 

Wakeupkeo

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Final Change List:

  • Mixing theatrical release with some Smithee footage.
  • Audio levels throughout adjusted for better dialogue clarity.
  • Replaced intro credits background with black background.
  • Built new intro text with lettering pulled from intro and end credits
  • Skipped Prologue and Emperor scene, replacing with Intro Summary Text
  • Added new CG planet Caladan establishing shot
  • Removed initial Caladan waves shot.
  • Rebuilt tablet display to fix stretched planet shot, reversed shot so carryall is lifting harvester, added picture of desert mouse, added some voiceover from 2021 lesson scene.
  • Removed most “thoughts” dialogue from intro scene.
  • Tightened Paul and Gurney’s shield fight.
  • Tightened some of the interaction between Paul and Yueh
  • Tightened fighter training, removing Paul igniting the metal.
  • Removed Paul’s interaction with Duncan. Now Duncan is mentioned but only seen once on Arrakis
  • Tightened dialogue with Paul and Leto
  • Edited dream sequence for first Paul Dream
  • Added shot of Reverend Mother Mohiam's spacecraft coming to Caladan from 2021
  • Removed thought dialogue from Jessica in rain
  • Tightened dialogue with Jessica and Reverend Mother Mohiam in her chambers to avoid the worst quality visual shots
  • Removed most thought dialogue from Paul and Reverend Mother Mohiamr’s scene, leaving only during the pain sequence
  • Tightened dialogue with Paul and Reverend Mother Mohiam
  • New planet establishing shot for Giedi Prime.
  • Removed green from Baron scene on Giedi Prime. Tightened dialogue and reordered sequence of events.
  • Added shot of ship leaving Caladan from 2021, added FX to add clouds
  • Added new Spacefolder ship for trip to Caladan, removing the Navigator sequence
  • New planet establishing shot for Arrakis
  • “Binocular view” effect used on Paul’s arrival, removed Fremen in the hills shots.
  • Some exterior and internal Palace shots on Arrakis removed.
  • Thought dialogue removed from Yueh and Jessica scene.
  • Paul eating Spice is removed. Paul now just feels effects upon his arrival to Arrakis
  • Paul’s second dream sequence edited
  • Hunter Seeker scene trimmed and thought dialogue removed.
  • Yueh looking out his room at alarm removed.
  • Military meeting scene trimmed.
  • Yueh examining Harkonan bodies removed
  • Thought dialogue removed from Leto and Pauls introduction to Dr. Kynes
  • Group leaving palace trimmed.
  • Third dream sequence added when Paul smells pure spice.
  • New music added for Gurney’s baliset scene. Blue eyes added to Dr. Kynes
  • Leto and Paul dialogue in Paul’s room removed
  • Yueh and Leto’s dialogue trimmed
  • Sound FX added for Feyd’s patch rip and Yueh getting stabbed
  • Baron and Leto’s scene trimmed, more gas added when Piter dies.
  • Baron found alive scene removed
  • New shot of the sand dunes outside the crashed ship.
  • New dream sequence for Paul in the desert
  • Jessica and Paul interaction in dessert adds dialogue from deleted scenes so Paul recognizes a dark path ahead.
  • Tightened Rabban’s dialogue with Dr. Kynes
  • Baron and Rabban scene edited to add Baron’s happiness at still being alive
  • Paul and Jessica’s worm chase tightened
  • Paul’s fall from cliffs tightened, and dust clouds added to when he is sitting watching the worm.
  • New sequence when Paul and Jessica meet the Fremen. Cut to credits.
  • Credits rebuilt for text over black background
  • Mid credits scene with Reverend Mother Mohiam, Emperor and Navigator.
  • Post Credits Trailer for Part 2 using original “epic voice guy” voiceover narration from original DUNE trailer.
 

Fran_Garcia

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Aargh, caught an error last night and so I'm gonna delay the release by a week to address it!

Releasing next week hopefully! Quality comes first!
It is by will alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the juice of Sapho that thoughts acquire speed, the lips acquire stains, the stains become a warning. It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.
 
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Wakeupkeo

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Due to me not updating my submission notes in time for release this week, I had to sit on this edit a little longer. A blessing in disguise. While giving it a few more tiny edits for polish and continuing to review until release, a big new annoyance reared its ugly head at my OCD...

In the following scene, when Duke Leto is saving the workers from the sandworm, one of the workers looks right into the camera almost the whole time. The better quality footage only seemed to make his beady little eyes even more obvious.


Thank goodness there was 44 frames of him NOT looking at the camera! He now looks out the window like a normal actor.



At first I thought I wasn't going to be able to pull it off, but all your Dune quotes inspired me to not give up!!
 
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Wakeupkeo

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Inspired by 15Maf's FX work in their Dune edit, I did one more fix. This one to Gurney's face articulating too much before saying “Soon we leave...”


It's not perfect, but it's less distracting than before.

 
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Wakeupkeo

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Thank you everyone for the amazing support, this edit is finally finished! Releasing this weekend! I'm very proud of this overgrown "little experiment" I embarked on.

Wow, I can't believe this is my first official IFDB release this year. When I am in the midst of a edit, I can think of nothing else. I am very linear in my thinking, sometimes an asset, sometimes a curse. Life is clearly starting to pick up again, and I really need to contribute a little to planning my wedding this summer so its nice to clear my plate for a while.

In the meantime, I'll be trying to watch and review all the great edits I have amassed for the great editors here, I owe a ton of reviews. And in the fall, I'll probably get back to editing. My Transformers edit constantly turns in the back recesses of my mind, maybe by then I'll make some progress.

Thanks again everyone!
 

Wakeupkeo

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Thanks for the review @bionicbob ! Yes, the Leto and Jessica relationship was somewhat sacrificed in this edit, going for more of a cold war type political intrigue focus.

Jessica and Leto's relationship was really only more fleshed out at two points - Jessica's discussion with Reverend Mother where Mother discusses more of the nature of their relationship, and the bedroom scene with Leto and Jessica. I thought about keeping that scene, but the dialogue is all about "the baby-making they need to get to" if Jessica's vision of conceiving a girl on Caladan is to come true, and overall I felt that the added storyline detracted focus from this Paul-centric story. Jessica's story was heavily cut partly due to the audio (audio quality on the scene with Reverend Mother and Jessica was terrible and needed a ton of work already,) and visual quality (cris knife extended scene) of those moments or that there wasn't enough left to tell a compelling story through her. (If the full scene of Shadout Mapes and the cris knife is ever released in HQ, i would reconsider all the Jessica bits LOL)
 
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