UPDATE:
FILM 2
Current run time for FILM 2 is 5 hrs 25 min 50 secs (with both end credit rolls), the Intermission is placed at 2hrs 32 min (1 min earlier than FILM 1). This time will drop by a couple of mins when I create a consolidated credit. We are definitively looking at 10 hours plus abit for FILMS 1 and 2 combined.
There are a total of 8 transitions for FILM 2, the Hyman Roth cake continuity issue, the bridge to Part III and end credit roll left. 6 of the 8 transitions are now completed.
Today, I have been fine tuning the scene rejigging above.
Getting the music to transition appropriately has been a real big pain. I just was not happy with the timing. It is VERY close, but not good enough. There is a change of musical phrasing on both pieces (the one going into the transition and the one coming out). Switching cues at that point is ideal since the music is in the same key. They miss by about 2.5 secs, which creates a quite gap and that is with two small audio stretches. I couldn't change the visual action speed, since it would mean speeding it up, and that would look terrible. Trimming it is a real issue too, since both sections are made of long takes...so I have ended up going with the James Cameron "Frame F***ing"...taking out 3 frames from both ends of the 8 shots...this equals 2 sec (3x2x8) and is imperceptible. I just hate the idea of removing material when I am trying to make a "longest version". Another half second came from Michael coming thru the doorway, and a half sec more from trimming the longer boat shot (which is still longer than its shortest second use in all versions). So what was the overall impact of this resequencing?
Since yesterdays post might be a tad confusing, here are the scenes as they played out originally and re-arranged:
BEFORE:
MICHAEL CHECKS TIME
PENTANGELI DRINKS
KAY AND MICHAEL DANCE
*BOOM SCENE
*MICHEAL AND KAY BEDROOM INCIDENT
POST INCIDENT SCENE
MICHAEL AND TOM
MICHAEL VIISTS ANTHONY
Note that two major events above occur in consecutive scenes*
NEW SEQUENCING: Per SAGA and EPIC cuts (therefore not a change but a reconstruction that has been polished
)
MICHAEL CHECKS TIME
*BOOM SCENE (more immediate to time checking)
PENTANGELI DRINKS (had time to get to table)
KAY AND MICHAEL DANCE (appears callous)
MICHAEL VIISTS ANTHONY (continuity of Michaels look and demeanor fixed)
*MICHEAL AND KAY BEDROOM INCIDENT (viewer is calmer due to gap)
POST INCIDENT SCENE
MICHAEL AND TOM
Note now that the major events* above have a significant gap, which is a good thing, and may have been one of the reasons that EPIC and SAGA have this sequencing albeit with a very clunky transition when Michael leaves Anthony's room.
So, what else was hard about this? Well, given that I chose to retain the audio from the Theatrical transition (which is just music for about 45 secs), and the scene segues originally to young Vito watching his son, the music was perfect for the mood. It is also an excellent musical throwback to Michael doing what his father did in FILM 1... The downside, is that there is no ambient audio. So I had to rebuild it all (see video for the clean NEW audio). To do that I sourced, a boat engine sound at night for the transition, a wooden door slowly closing (Michael enters room), slow footsteps on a carpet (as Michael walks across the room), the sound of a Jacket being taken off (which Michael does), the picking up of a sheet of paper (Anthony's drawing) and muffled night ambience sound. The last time I had to do this was for The Hobbit, where the opening scene of Bilbo Striking the match, walking down the hall and opening his book, needed all new sounds (from match strike, footsteps, getting the map, page turning, ink well and quill writing) due to a similar music issue. No-one who has viewed it has ever commented. Below is the comparison after the Michael piece plays. Note the sounds in the Michael piece are deliberately louder for demonstration and are appropriately adjusted in the final mix. I would point out, that each footstep is individually placed and the sound must be the left and right foot alternating. People do not walk symmetrically .... and any audio of walking will show you that. If you just used the sound of one footstep throughout, it sounds like a one legged pirate hopping across the room....The Hobbit was easier because the sound mix of the original was a modern mix, and dialogue was in the center channel and easily isolated from the music. With The Godfather the mix is blended, so impossible to it that way. I would add that the audio work of this type, stretching music, cannot be done well in most editing software. They lack the precision required for a clean result. I use a separate audio suite which does not introduce warble effects and other unwanted audio artefacts and issues (just a heads up for any newbies reading).
Finally on this scene of tortuous detail, I ended up swapping the two freed up establishing shots. The first was the boat, the second the dancers. The dancers is now used first, effectively swapping their order of appearance. The dancers are the break between the party and Michael entering Anthony's room. When he leaves we now get the boat, which is more sedate and indicative that the night is winding down (which is why it was used a second time in this spot in all versions; so I ended up putting it there, which also helped on the issue above. Having those appear the other way round gave the impression that the part was not winding down.
The final transitions to be tackled are the last and Michael's appearance before Congress which in all but one version, is missing the beginning of his audio due to a poor crossfade. One of the versions however DOES have the audio. More on that, once done. I should note, that the scene of Kay driving to the gates and being turned back by Tom (which is unique to the EPIC and in SD only) is dropped from FILM 2 and not FILM 1 as I previously stated.
"Films Are Not Released,
They Escape"
(2002) Ben Burtt (Sound Mixing genius)