Eternals – The Apostasy Edit

[Wakeupkeo]

Bad Movies Made Less Bad Presents:
Members of a youth missionary group begin to ask deep questions as they grow in maturity.

Disclaimer: I mean no disrespect to @lapis molari’s ITW project which I am sure will be at the very least as amazing as their past edits are, the last of which won FEOTM. But I want to take this storytelling in a different, more religious direction.

This edit focuses the narrative on the renunciation, criticism, and eventual opposition to the goals of their god Arishem. IMO this movie was a metaphor for the different ways of questioning authority - misguided soldiers, missionaries, colonizers, etc… these basic concepts are I wanted to elevate.

• I was underwhelmed by the original release of this movie. I didn’t hate it, but nothing in it made me actually get INTERESTED. It all just felt… fine. But I didn’t ever really “feel” for the characters. I mostly wrote the movie off, but after watching a youtube video about problematic third acts in Marvel movies. This, and previously thinking about the amazing @lapis molari’s ITW edit, I decided to just play around and see if I could remove the third act altogether. But this movie tries to do so much, and its so long, that the experiment wasn’t working for me. However, I started to care more about the characters while I was playing around, and started to see more of the ‘turning from religion’ similarities. And so a new experiment was born, and my first official fanedit dip into the MCU.

The story is told mostly chronologically now - we get to know the Eternals as they grow, and we keep the flashback of Icarus’s betrayal until the last possible moment, a big difference to edit plans of the amazing Lapis's ITW edit. (Phastos in Japan is still also a flashback.) There is still a big predictable third act battle, but I think the emotional connections are definitely stronger now in the end, due to better character arc grounding by watching the Eternals grow chronologically.

Pink Floyd’s “Time” was just perfect during the intro, and I was disappointed that the musical anthology aspect wasn’t continued to be used more. So for this edit, the plan is to add a bit more in this department, working off lead guitar licks as a thematic unifier, mostly to convey time changes (in principle.) Maybe early 70’s as a main time period focus for the soundtrack? I am open to any ideas in that early 70s time frame that seem perfect for certain scenes!

I plan on taking my time with this edit to do a lot of re-scoring, as there are a ton of great opportunities to increase emotional impact through better music. I told myself I wouldn’t start editing again until the Fall, and I failed there, so I am at least allowing myself a long lead time to tinker with since I clearly can’t stop.

Again, I am looking for anthology song ideas in that early 70s time frame that you think might be perfect for certain scenes. Also any religious songs or element ideas I can add in to give even more religious overtones to the story.


I have a new Intro video to share, but its getting flagged for copyright everywhere, so:

• this link will open the intro in a player from pro.panopto.com.
• Or PM me for a link to the intro.

 

[Wakeupkeo]

The current narrative edits are complete, and we are currently at 2h20m. I’m not tied to any final runtime but I would like to trim a bit more if possible.

Current Cut List

• Original introduction explanatory text removed, new production credits text added
• Arishem’s explanation of the universe used as the intro, some shots slowed with Topaz for better pacing
• Gregorian chants added to Domo introduction
• Removed Sersi first dialogue “It’s Beautiful”
• Tightened up initial fight scene to remove lingering camera shots of Eternals (we’ll get to know them all soon enough)
• Removed Ajax healing Icarus (for pacing)
• Removed Ajax allowing Sersi to reach out to humans
• Moved Babylon Scenes to right after Marvel Intro reel, continued Pink Floyd’s “Time” song
• Added “575 BC Babylon” text to beginning of Babylon fight scene
• Added more sound FX for Kingo’s fireball shots.
• Removed the original “575 BC Babylon” text with Topaz, added Eternals Title at same point
• Added Pink Floyd’s “The Great Gig in the Sky” song for Ajax’s scene with Arishem, and trimmed the dialogue a tiny bit.
• Added Angelic choir ambiance for Ajax’s scene with Arishem, and trimmed the dialogue a tiny bit.
• Added a guitar cover of “Clair de Lune” for the scene inside the Domo when Phastos introduces the steam engine.
• Moved up some shots of Icarus and Sersi interacting to before Icarus asks Ajax for permission and added score "The Epic Of Gilgamesh In Sumerian" flowing into the party scene, leaving only the admission of feelings until after. and removed Ajax telling Icarus to admit his feelings to Sersi
• Removed “I am beautiful” translation error interaction between Icarus and Sersi”, and removed their sex scene. (Their love grows slower)
• Moved Tenochtitlan scenes to right after the wedding
• Recut scene with Ajax telling the rest of the Eternals to go live their own lives for better pacing and easier transition to modern times.
• Moved Present Day London Scenes to after Tenochtitlan scene, used Pink Floyd’s “Breathe” as the transition music
• Slightly tightened when a Deviant first spots Sersi, Sprite and Dane (for pacing)
• Removed Dane introducing himself to Icarus, cuts straight to “Well, I guess you must be the pilot.”
• London scenes move straight to South Dakota, “Present Day” text removed with Topaz
• Removed Sprite and Ajax dancing, removed idea that Sprite lived with her.
• South Dakota scenes move to Mumbai, “Present Day” text removed with Topaz Upscaling to crop out text, and added "Mumbai" back in
• Sersi and Arishem scene tightened, universe origin removed from here
• Dane trying to call Sersi the first time in the Amazon removed
• Deviant dialogue removed from Amazon scene.
• Removed Sersi looking at Icarus during funeral shots
• Removed Sersi discussing Deviant consciousness with Druig
• Removed Phastos saying he was the cause of the atom bomb, instead just being disappointed by humans
• Trimmed “superman” discussion in Chicago
• Removed Ikea reference.
• Removed comment that Makkari disappeared for centuries
• Removed Makkari and Kingo discussion about DVDs
• Trimmed Sersi and Icarus discussion in the canyon
• Moved Ajax and Icarus in South Dakota scenes to after Sersi asks why Ajax didn’t choose Icarus to replace her
• Removed team suiting up in the Domo before final fight, and removed Phastos working alone just before (this movie is already too long)
• Removed shot of Druig being buried by Icarus eyebeam
• Removed Thena, Phastos and Sersi fighting debris
• Tightened interaction of Sersi and Phastos before she takes off alone
• Removed some parts of fight with Icarus
• Removed Deviant talking to Thena as she enters the cave
• Tightened dialogue with Deviant and Thena just before she kills it, removed her “I remember” line (in favor of silent reflection)
• Slightly reordered scenes when Thena leaves the cave
• Reordered of shots of Icarus remembering his times with Sersi
• Removed babysitting dialogue between Phastos and Thena
• Removed scene with Sersi and Kingo sending Sprite of to school (their ending is a mystery, until Sersi sees Kingo with here in front of Arishem)
• Removed Makkari’s “The truth will set them free” line
• Sersi and Danes dialogue about a giraffe removed.
• Swapped shots of Eternals with Arishem so that we see Phastos first, then Kingo as the second reveal is a surprise, as we have not seen him since he left the group, and that’s all the remaining Eternals on earth. Their eyes are whitened to seem like they are in robot mode, so Arishem is only talking to Sersi now.
• Arishem’s dialogue to Sersi trimmed to be more threatening.
• Dane’s reaction from the ground removed.
• “To be continued” text added (to cover any loose plotlines like Sprite’s consequences for trying to kill Sersi)
• Pink Floyd’s “Us & Them” song used for first half of credits.
• Removed Thena attributing lack of other Eternals on Arishem and saying they need to go back. It should feel like they just left earth, not that they have already exhausted their search.

 

[lapis molari]

Nice!

For adding other Pink Floyd songs, I recommend the excellent Quad mix of Dark Side of the Moon. That saves you the effort of turning stereo into surround and it sounds straight-up awesome.

 

[lifeincontext]

I totally dug this clip. I will say that for me, it felt like too many needle drops back to back to have something over Ajax's meeting with Arishem. Just my opinion. Also a little intrusive, perhaps. The other stuff was fantastic.

 

[Wakeupkeo]

I totally dug this clip. I will say that for me, it felt like too many needle drops back to back to have something over Ajax's meeting with Arishem. Just my opinion. Also a little intrusive, perhaps. The other stuff was fantastic.

Thanks for that feedback!!!
I have a slight feeling of the same, its good to have the confirmation!

And thank you for the kind words for the rest! Woo hoo!

 

[Wakeupkeo]

Lots of progress this weekend on this edit.

• Swapped Pink Floyd's "The Great Gig in the Sky" for Angelic choir ambiance for Ajax’s scene with Arishem, and now angelic choir ambiance is added to all Arishem's appearances up until he says "there is no Olymia." After that, the spell is broken, and the normal ominous tones take over as his theme.
  
  
• Added the traditional ancient song "The Epic Of Gilgamesh In Sumerian" as the score from the shots of Icarus and Sersi interacting to before Icarus asks Ajax for permission and aflowing into the party scene. More of an ambiance vibe rather than "needle drop" vibes. IMO, this was the next first "opportunity" for classic rock to be added, and I really exhausted my testing efforts, with Led Zepplin, The Who, Crosby Still and Nash being just a few whose song catalogs I tested, but nothing "felt" perfect. Then I started down the road of period-specific ambiance tracks, and really dug the Gilgamesh song and the added significance. I ended up having to change the pitch of Clair de Lune to match the Gilgemesh song so the two songs felt "related" in some way.
  
  
• Also I added applause and cheers at the wedding that change into screams of horror in Tenochtitlan.

Interestingly enough, that now means that we only use classic rock for the first Pink Floyd movie, and again on the transition to present day. I thought I would use more for the "anthology" feel, but the flashbacks are only the first 25min of the movie, so excessive mainstream songs just feel too forced.

As I review the present day part of the edit now, I will be looking for opportunities to add more religious scoring, and if there are any other great spots for a needle drop song or two. The balance of this stuff across the whole movie still seems off.

 

[ArtisDead]

Another Pink Floyd gem is the album, "Animals" I think it's among their best work. "Sheep" is about religion and how it's used to control the masses. "Dogs" is in the same vein. Give it a listen. I think you will want to use "Sheep" for sure. It even has a Bible verse in it.

Try "Roundabout" by Yes or "Tuesday Afternoon" by The Moody Blues. Maybe, "Crystal Ship" by The Doors. Almost anything by Deep Purple.

 

[addiesin]

The Doors could be used to score the Deviants. Riders on the Storm when they're introduced, People Are Strange when their leader gets a human like face, Light My Fire when he confronts Thena with truth.

 

[Wakeupkeo]

These are great ideas! I LOVE the thought of a "Deviants" audio continuity as well!!!

 

[ArtisDead]

I was sitting in my oncologists waiting room and heard "Games People Play" by the Alan Parsons Project. It made me think of their other big hit, "I Wouldn't Want to be like you". Others like "Devil Woman" by Cliff Richard or "Baker Street" by Gerry Rafferty. I was thinking The Doors right out the gate after Pink Floyd but they were primarily a sixties band. But "People are Strange", "Five to One", "Waiting for The Sun" and "Riders on The Storm" could all work. Definitely, "Sheep" and "Dogs" by Pink Floyd from Animals and even "Welcome to The Machine" or "Have a Cigar" from Wish You Were Here.

 

[addiesin]

I don't know about you but I totally forgot about Break On Through (to the Other Side).

 

[ArtisDead]

I don't know about you but I totally forgot about Break On Through (to the Other Side).

That was the one that I was trying to come up with from memory that kept bouncing me back to "Touch Me" and "The End". Yeah, that one too.

 

[Wakeupkeo]

Update... Lots of work being done on this one!

Obligitory screwing around, for the Rick and Morty Fans:

I'm progressing along faster than anticipated. Lots of minor adjustements too small to discuss, but here are the bigger narrative changes:

• Makkari and Druig's interaction in the Babylon party slightly adjusted so it feels more hidden when the guys try to steal her artifact, the original seemed just too obvious to me, trying to take it after a moment, rather than taking it while Makkari and Druig are talking and distracted.
  
  
• Sprite and Ajax dancing has returned, while still removing the time reference to how long ago Ajax sent Sprite to see Sersi. I really wanted to keep any references to how deep the family bonds are.
  
  
• The "bus to flower petals" portion of the fight in London is removed, leaving the overall fight pacing quicker and more to the point.
  
  
• The first human killed when the Deviants attack in the Amazon is removed, so there is no confusion to who they are hunting.
  
  
• The deleted scene of Sprite and Makkari has been added! I really wanted to make this one work, since it explains why Makkari steals.
  
  
• A few lines from the Deviant in the Amazon, about wanting to kill the Eternals, is moved to its cave fight with Thena.
  
  
• Ajax explaination to Icarus about why her mind has changed trimmed, and their walk through the woods to the deviants removed. Ajax asking Icarus why he doesn't kill her himself removed. Ajax landing on the ice trimmed a bad cgi shot to cut the most obvious bad part (her curved back when she lands.)
  
  
• Druig's supposed death from Icarus emphasized to feel more like a death blow.
  
  
• Makkari discussing Tiamuts role in the Unimind removed, just seems too preachy to me.
  
  
• The lack of Kingo and Sprite's closing scene still felt lacking, and after some reflection, I realized a solution. Now, when Sprite stabs Sersi, the "I'm Sorry Sersi" is removed so we begin with "I've always envied you Sersi". This allows us to move her apology to her return to the group, just before asking if Icarus is gone. For me, this gives Sprite a much more sympathetic view, and allows for better reconciliation between her and Sersi.
  
  
• South Dakota at the end, Phastos line about loving his husband trimmed, now just uncomfortable silence.

Musical Scoring:
I've been spending most of my time working in this area. I've identified the opportunities that lent themselves to additional angelic:

• Interactions with Arashim before he reveals the truth to Sersi
• Finding dead Ajax
• Gilgamesh's death

I've also added a traditional Japanese string instrument arrangement to the Hiroshima scene.

We also have the opportunities for additional pop culture score replacement - The Transition to modern times, the London fight, the Amazon fight, and the end credits. Here Is where I have been spinning my wheels the most. I have really tried to make the song choices have an anthology feel, or at least a theme. I LOVE the Pink Floyd Time intro song, but have also been unable to create a "fully Pink Floyd" soundtrack, or create a "Doors-inspired" theme for the deviants. I am so sorry to @ArtisDead and @addiesin that I have not been able to make your suggestions work... yet. I have not given up on those ideas, but first attempts were unsuccessful.

As it stands right now however, I found the correct "vibe" in following songs:

• The London introduction of the Deviants and the fight until Icarus arrives currently uses "Angel" by Massive Attack
• The Amazon fight scene until Sersi turns a Deviant into a tree uses "Schism" by Tool
• The end credits use "Send Me An Angel" by Scorpions.

The transition to modern times is the real issue for me right now though. I currently have "Breathe" by Pink Floyd, which IMO works so great. But leading with two Pink Floyd songs sets an expectation of a Pink Floyd-scored movie, and then doesn't deliver. Unless I can find the right vibe to replace the song choices above, I need to replace this song with a non- pink floyd song that still conveys the right vibe and nod to the overall themes of this edit.

In summary, this edit is moving along!

 

[addiesin]

No need to apologize, do what works for the edit, 100%

 

[Wakeupkeo]

Woo hoo! Song replacement solution found!
Pink Floyd's "Breathe" is now replaced with Pearl Jam's "Release Me"


**********


Also, I have added "Stages" to the growth of the Eternals:

• These mirror my own growth with religion - needing growth to have courage to truly ask questions, but having doubts earlier.
  
  
• I am still debating if Stage 7's "Letting Go" is the appropriate final card title, open to suggestions!
  
  
• I am also using "Apostasy" in these. Since there is no "Apostasy Cut" title card in the intro, it feels appropriate. Sprite walks in front as it appears.

**Everything on the edit is close to done, except the heavy lifting of getting audio levels right with the rescores. Hoping that won't take me too long, but lots of grinding work left.


***********


I also have been doing a little researching, and came across this reddit post by someone who also noticed the "missionary" parallels that expresses a sentiment I love:

• What I didn’t expect was that the film would lean into the idea of Eternals as missionaries. Not the kind of missionaries that we see today, but something from a century or two ago. Small groups of fervent followers of some offshoot sect huddled in meeting in small rooms a la something out of The Master, or settling across the frontier spreading the gospel, bound by a common dogma and spiritual zeal. In that environment, the religious group becomes a sort of extended family, with generations, divisions of labor, relationships, and expectations, both of oneself and others. The Eternals present as one of these ‘missionary families’ and I think the movie does a good job of illustrating the sense of loss and disorientation that happens once that religious mission has no meaning.
  
  Ajak is at the top of this family, the spiritual leader who holds the complete faith of her disciples and her directives hold the weight of God itself. (...) All of the personality traits, relationship roles and expectations that the Eternals have ever known have been tightly connected to their faith in Arishem and the mission that he gave them through Ajak. Now that that’s over, who are these people? Who are they to each other? What are they supposed to be doing? Ajak gives the directive to ‘go out and live your lives (I’m paraphrasing)’ but would any of us know what that means if all we had known is one life, one faith, and one mission? The looks on the faces of the rest of the Eternals seems to betray this sense of dislocation and disassociation.
  
  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a mainstream superhero movie take something like that on, particularly in a way that provides such murky answers. Three of the characters die in the process, one disappears before the big battle, and in the end the group splits. (...) That’s heady stuff, and to me, it’s what makes Eternals such a fascinating movie.

Really cool stuff! I love that it has struck a really religious note with more than just myself!

 

[addiesin]

Trust and Truth are a bit similar, would it have the same effect for you if you replaced Trust with Faith?

For Letting Go, it could be Release if you just want one word. Or it could be Exodus if you want to have a biblical connection. Judgement could work as well.

 

[lapis molari]

Instead of Letting Go, my thought goes to New Beginning(s). Where Apostaty is the end of the old paradigm, the final chapter is the sunrise after that darkness.

Building on @addiesin 's point that Trust and Truth are close, I suggest you try Obedience for the first one. Instead of focusing on whether they trust Arishem, that focuses on whether or not they are critical of Arishem's instructions or are blindly, uncritically, following orders.

 

[Wakeupkeo]

Love the feedback!!

Truth and Trust - I think out of the two, Trust is the keeper here - as a child being indoctrinated, it was about trusting what I was taught from the people I thought most looked out for me, my parents. I didn't have faith as a kid, not in the same sense as I needed as an adult. And I wanted to be a part of this bigger community, so it wasn't only out of obedience.

I think the Truth title can be changed though - to Revelations. Keeps the religious tones, and makes the two terms less similar. Great feedback though!!

As for Letting Go, I think New Beginnings is a great idea, but my first instinct it that its almost too final. Letting go describes a process, one that many ex-fundamentalists like myself never truly Let Go. Its like a form of PTSD, and Arishems return kind of reminds me that Sersi's decision has pending consequences and she doesn't get a new beginning, she gets judgement - in many ways, the ultimate rebuke for apostasy.

But I am loving the ideas!

 

[ArtisDead]

Trust is a great idea. Revelation is a great idea that could be used instead of Letting Go. None of New Beginnings, Letting Go or Obedience feel correct. Maybe Answers instead of Truth.

 

[Wakeupkeo]

Alternate Poster:

Thank you for the great feedback @ArtisDead! Thats exactly what I'm going for, that vibe those words have - short, simple, and to the point.

I tried looking at what replacing "Trust" with "Revelations" and the word is just not as pleasing to my eye, I prefer the shorter word ascetically.

Revelations replacing Letting Go also sounds awesome when related to the Bible, as I was a Revelations junkie as a kid - the cool sci-fi part LOL. But it doesn't quite work for the same meaning, IMO. The last stage of grief is Acceptance, and a lot of last stages of trauma recovery is also acceptance or letting go, and I still really want to capture that. Acceptance doesn't seem quite right for our Eternals, not as good as Letting Go, but along those lines. A short word, like most of the others, that conveys the same meaning. I did another search, but so far, Letting Go is most appropriate IMO.

Although I do like the angle of a "New Day" feel that @lapis molari suggested. A shorter word than "New Beginnings" and not as literal as "New Day", but there might be something there that would work too. I'll do more research there, thanks Lapis!

Audio work progressing well, sounds great in headphones. Now on to reviews on a regular TV stereo output and a 5.1 review.