Fant4stic: the unaired TV pilot

[ironman23]

I think most can agree that the fantastic four haven't had the best treatment when it comes to film, at least in live action. From the so bad it's good 1994 Roger Corman/Oley Sassone attempt, two comedy sitcom films with Jessica Alba and cloud Galactus, and more recently the bore fest that was Josh Tranks hat in the ring.

There really isn't much of an actual film that can be seen, at least after a certain point where FOX clearly took over and frankensteined the editing with re shoots. So, I believe with some re ordering, more trims that one can count and a faster pacing a decent TV pilot can be created. I'll have a proposed cut list and a clip shortly, but I wanna hear what anyone has to say/offer in terms of suggestions!

• Color correction throughout for a brighter and more pleasing look.
• The entire opening with young Reed Richards and Ben Grimm needs to go, instead replace it with the first trip to Planet Zero that actually has relevance, something to kick start the whole thing and grab your attention. 
• Add in some TV style cast and crew credits over the first minute of the new opening.
• Grab the F4 logo from the finale to then use it after the opening 5 minutes.
• Cut to 4 months earlier, to the science fair with Reed and Ben showing off there teleporter prototype.
• Replace the static, lifeless shot of New York from a distance, to a more dynamic fly over with a neat little easter egg.
• Once Reed is settled in the Baxter Building, cut out his first encounter with Sue and instead go to the board room meeting with Franklin Storm.
• Create a better joke by retiming the "Is he giving the speech?" line and almost interrupting Franklin.
• The entire car conversation between Johnny and Franklin needs to go, after the street race he was in.
  
  More will definitely be on the way, but for now I think this should give a good idea of where I wanna go

 

[ironman23]

And as promised I bring the first 5 ish minutes of the new opening, with our four characters on Planet Zero. I did some trimming around to cut out any filler (instagram anyone?), poorly delivered dialogue and give it a quicker and energetic pacing. Also, some color grading was used to bring a reddish, harsh overtone into a previously dull palette.

Enjoy!

 

[addiesin]

And as promised I bring the first 5 ish minutes of the new opening, with our four characters on Planet Zero. I did some trimming around to cut out any filler (instagram anyone?), poorly delivered dialogue and give it a quicker and energetic pacing. Also, some color grading was used to bring a reddish, harsh overtone into a previously dull palette.

Enjoy!

[video]

Already blocked by Fox. Try Vimeo.

 

[ironman23]

Alright, so after re exporting and uploading to Vimeo here is the opening clip for all to see

 

[ZBMP]

Dang. How did you get it to look like the Planet Zero in the original trailer?

 

[ironman23]

Dang. How did you get it to look like the Planet Zero in the original trailer?

Color grading, ha ha messing mainly with both highlights and shadows emphasizing on a reddish/ orange push.

 

[Zarius]

That's great, love hearing about the rendering process. Keep at it.

 

[Canon Editor]

Looks good.  Please do be careful with how you spell each actor’s name in the credits.

 

[ironman23]

Thank you, @"Canon Editor" and @"Zarius" for the positive feedback yes, I will definitely be sure to get spellings right.

 

[ironman23]

I never understood why superhero flicks that wanna be dark and gritty feel they have to have a bland color palette. Especially having most of the entire thing looking a dark room, so here are a few screenshots comparing a color corrected version vs. the original:

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/205790/picture:3

 

[bionicbob]

While I LOVE the colour grading you did, I think for this scene you might want to go a bit to the extreme side, to make it feel like an alien world.   To me, when it goes to the first wide shot, it just looks like any desert landscape, it could be Arizona or Utah.  

Yes, they are wearing suits and stepping out of a strange pod, but I think a bit more is needed if this is the opening sequence with no previous set up.

There is nothing that immediately says to the audience we are in an alien environment.
I would play with the colours, maybe try making the sky a weird purple or other outlandish colour.  

 

[ironman23]

While LOVE the colour grading you did, I think for this scene you might want to go a bit to the extreme side, to make it feel like an alien world.   To me, when it goes to the first wide shot, it just looks like any desert landscape, it could be Arizona or Utah.  

Yes, they are wearing suits and stepping out of a strange pod, but I think a bit more is needed if this is the opening sequence with no previous set up.

There is nothing that immediately says to the audience we are in an alien environment.
I would play with the colours, maybe try making the sky a weird purple or other outlandish colour.  

Hmm, alright not a bad idea I'll see what can be done here

 

[bionicbob]

While LOVE the colour grading you did, I think for this scene you might want to go a bit to the extreme side, to make it feel like an alien world.   To me, when it goes to the first wide shot, it just looks like any desert landscape, it could be Arizona or Utah.  

Yes, they are wearing suits and stepping out of a strange pod, but I think a bit more is needed if this is the opening sequence with no previous set up.

There is nothing that immediately says to the audience we are in an alien environment.
I would play with the colours, maybe try making the sky a weird purple or other outlandish colour.  

Hmm, alright not a bad idea I'll see what can be done here

It is often what many low budget tv shows (and movies) will do to "sell" an alien planet, throw on some sort of colour filter on the camera to create the illusion of an alternate world.

 

[ironman23]

While LOVE the colour grading you did, I think for this scene you might want to go a bit to the extreme side, to make it feel like an alien world.   To me, when it goes to the first wide shot, it just looks like any desert landscape, it could be Arizona or Utah.  

Yes, they are wearing suits and stepping out of a strange pod, but I think a bit more is needed if this is the opening sequence with no previous set up.

There is nothing that immediately says to the audience we are in an alien environment.
I would play with the colours, maybe try making the sky a weird purple or other outlandish colour.  

Hmm, alright not a bad idea I'll see what can be done here

It is often what many low budget tv shows (and movies) will do to "sell" an alien planet, throw on some sort of colour filter on the camera to create the illusion of an alternate world.

Exactly, in fact I believe Fant4stic throws a pretty similar filter on the entire film.

 

[bionicbob]

So true.  Except imo they went the wrong way.... dark and depressing..."yawn".

It should be rich in colour, popping primaries, deep saturation... it should look "fantastic" not dingy and dull lol.

 

[ironman23]

So true.  Except imo they went the wrong way.... dark and depressing..."yawn".

It should be rich in colour, popping primaries, deep saturation... it should look "fantastic" not dingy and dull lol.

And jumping off of that statement, I have here two re grades for the Planet Zero (Negative Zone) opening sequence

I would like for everyone here to decide which one looks best, and possibly offer an even better option!

                      (original)

                    (1st regrade)

                   (2nd regrade)

 

[Canon Editor]

Probably the second grade with a little more light.  Seems good though

 

[bionicbob]

hhmmm... tough call, like both.  While I like that you can see more detail in the first, I think the richness of the colour is better in the second, particularly the greens.

 

[ThrowgnCpr]

I never understood why superhero flicks that wanna be dark and gritty feel they have to have a bland color palette. Especially having most of the entire thing looking a dark room, so here are a few screenshots comparing a color corrected version vs. the original:

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/205790/picture:3

nice job on the color correction regrade

 

[ironman23]

Thank you everyone for the positive feedback/suggestions 
Glad to see the project gaining some traction, as for the final look of planet zero I've begun to apply the look of the second grade.