Hobbit Trilogy - TM2YC's Entirely Respectable Editions

[TM2YC]

I was thinking The Hobbit: A Very Respectable Journey.

I couldn't imagine a more perfect title if I was doing a one film combo edit but for three edits...

- The Hobbit: A Very Respectable Journey: An Unexpected Journey

...sounds a bit of to me. Frink/Ridiculous style titles do have a certain comedy appeal though   e.g.

- The Hobbit: A Very Respectable Desolation
- The Hobbit: A Very Respectable Battle

Nice cover. I would suggest moving the circle either up or down though. It looks too close to dead center, which always feels off to me .

Looks to me like it is dead center, if so, moving it up or down would make it literally off.

Technically off, but visually more appealing. To me anyway.

It is exactly dead center (on purpose) but I think the different text above and below give the desired un-uniformity that revstevens refers to. I like it and having a circle dead-center is not without precedent:

 

[TM2YC]

I'm watching the final(?) encode now and so far I'm very pleased .

I think I'll need a good long think before editing DOS and BOFTA. They've probably got slightly less problematic material in terms of difficult-to-fix tonal issues (for my tastes anyway) but there are some more substantial pacing and structural problems. AUJ as a simple linear narrative worked just fine (for the most part) but the other two films have many competing storylines that can be ordered in an infinite number of ways and I don't think the released versions are close to the best configuration. Either characters are left frozen in one spot while we cut away to others for ages, or characters move between disparate locations far too fast.

I'm considering moving Smaug's death to the end of DOS and in exchange moving all of Gandalf/Necromancer material to the start of BOTFA as a sort of new prologue sequence. I think it's a sound idea structure wise but I'm not sure I want Sir Ian to be absent for an hour or two... he's the best thing in these movies. Or I'll just leave it as is.

 

[Masirimso17]

I strongly recommend Smaug's laketown attack and death to the end of DoS. That was how I and @"kerr" did it in each of our edits.

 

[TM2YC]

I strongly recommend Smaug's laketown attack and death to the end of DoS. That was how I and @"kerr" did it in each of our edits.

From the cutlists, it sounds like you both ended on caged Gandalf seeing the armies marching out? I can definitely see that working beautifully and I'd like to see both your edits.

That is one of four options I've considered for the Smaug-death-in-DOS ending option (if I went with  it).

1. Your above idea.
2. Just end on Smaug's death. It's a bit boring/predictable and offers clean resolution to the story but no cliffhanger for the next part. Not my favourite.
3. Have Smaug die but then go to the Gandalf/Necromancer battle as the final scene. Cut to black just after Gandalf says "Saaauuurrrooonnn!".
4. Have Smaug die and then we see Thorin in Erebor frantically commanding everyone to search for the Arkenstone from BOTFA (ensuring that Kili and Co do not feature). Cut to black just after the revelation that Bilbo has the Arkenstone in his coat.

I'm a bit concerned that moving the Smaug scene will make the opening to BOFTA fairly unengaging and that since BOFTA is already 20-minutes shorter than DOS, it'll only unbalance them more. I will probably edit DOD and BOFTA back-to-back and then decide on how the two will link when I've got an idea of their new length and pacing.

 

[TM2YC]

In my edit I've used the guts of the Radagast talk with Gandalf as a flashback during the White Council scene (originally Funny Puzzle's idea) and I imagined it was a flashback to a meeting that took place while the Dwarfs were captured by the Trolls and Gandalf was absent.

Then I wondered if the scene could actually fit into that point in the movie? Here is a very, very rough test:

(Password: fanedit.org)

I won't be going with it because I doubt I'd be able to make the day-for-night re-grade look at all convincing but it's still an interesting idea IMO, anybody is welcome to use it.

---

If all goes to plan, the edit should be released this weekend .

 

[TM2YC]

Artwork for 'An Unexpected Journey' is complete, as well as temp covers for the other two films.

AUJ/DOS/BOFTA - Red/Green/Blue - Gandalf/Bilbo/Thorin.

 

[Masirimso17]

I won't be going with it because I doubt I'd be able to make the day-for-night re-grade look at all convincing but it's still an interesting idea IMO, anybody is welcome to use it.

You could have it before it becomes night? Radagast has his little scene, then the argument with Thorin, then Bilbo says "Is he coming back?", establishing forest shot, Radagast says "The greenwood is sick, Gandalf!" etc. And then we cut to Bilbo and the Dwarves.

BEAUTIFUL covers, by the way

 

[TM2YC]

I won't be going with it because I doubt I'd be able to make the day-for-night re-grade look at all convincing but it's still an interesting idea IMO, anybody is welcome to use it.

You could have it before it becomes night? Radagast has his little scene, then the argument with Thorin, then Bilbo says "Is he coming back?", establishing forest shot, Radagast says "The greenwood is sick, Gandalf!" etc. And then we cut to Bilbo and the Dwarves.

BEAUTIFUL covers, by the way

Thanks.

Somebody might be able to make that day concept work but I personally can't imagine how I could make a cut from Gandalf storming out, to him instantly having an unexplained meeting with Radagast feel like a natural edit. At least having it at night just after Bilbo says Gandalf has been gone for ages and Bofur is basically saying "Wizards move in mysterious ways", leaves the door open for a scene explaining exactly what he has been up to all that time.

'An Unexpected Journey: Entirely Respectable Edition'  is now available upon request (1080p 10gb mp4)

 

[TM2YC]

The weird ultra-pink clearly-was-originally-a-day-sequence opening of DOS has always bothered me. I'll probably end up just dialing back the pink but I did have a go at turning it back to day time, with limited success:

 

[addiesin]

Wow, it's almost like you used a vacuum that sucks digital grading right off the movie. Those blacks look crushed in the original, impressive amount of detail you pulled back out.

 

[hbenthow]

- Regrading, rescoring and additional soundFX

Are you regrading the entire movies, or just certain scenes?

 

[TM2YC]

Are you regrading the entire movies, or just certain scenes?

From the cutlist I'll be posting on ifdb:

- Picture regraded to tone down the excessive levels of saturation and to drain some of the bright blue from the shadows. A warmer look with some added grain to bring things closer to LoTR.

After much trial and error I found a preset that fixed 90% of the issues I had with AUJ's over saturated grade. There are a few shots and scenes that I've then done further work on but mostly it's just the preset.

DOS and BOTFA on the other hand have a very different look and closer to a natural one, so there is less to do, overall. However, many scenes are off for different reasons so will need graded separately.

 

[hbenthow]

After much trial and error I found a preset that fixed 90% of the issues I had with AUJ's over saturated grade.

Interesting. Personally, I, like @"kerr", find the saturated colors (at least how they look after the green tint is removed, anyhow) pleasant. They remind me of three-strip Technicolor, and make the movie's visuals reminiscent of many 1930s-1960s classics that had similarly rich color. That said, I'll have to judge your regrade on its own merits.

DOS and BOTFA on the other hand have a very different look and closer to a natural one, so there is less to do, overall. However, many scenes are off for different reasons so will need graded separately.

Is there any way to fix the ugly fuzzy look that much of "The Battle of Five Armies" has?

 

[TM2YC]

AUJ is now up on ifdb, with a couple of sample scene youtube clips:

Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Entirely Respectable Edition, The

Is there any way to fix the ugly fuzzy look that much of "The Battle of Five Armies" has?

Applying glow filters similar to those that dominate BOFTA is easy. Here is an exaggerated example I've made with a shot from AUJ:



Removing those filters on the other hand, would be all but impossible (as far as I'm aware).

 

[TM2YC]

A side-by-side comparison of part of the mirkwood spider sequence with the strong mint-green tint removed (the best I could do anyway):

Random thought...

Watching through DOS carefully, I suspect the "I've never been so wrong" scene that ends AUJ was originally supposed to take place (in some form) after the Bilbo barrel rescue. I wonder if the reason Thorin says so little in the first half of DOS is because they had to take out all the lines/scenes of him still being nasty to Bilbo. Even so, you can occasionally see him giving Bilbo a black look for no good reason.

 

[DigModiFicaTion]

Wow. My brain said that was Frodo in the webs simply because it looked like LotR even though I knew it wasn't. Fantastic regarding!

 

[TM2YC]

Uncompressed and unaltered frame from DOS:



(^ Click to see HD frame)

The quality control wasn't really there was it .

 

[asterixsmeagol]

This is why you don't film a major motion picture using a GoPro.

 

[hbenthow]

The quality control wasn't really there was it .

That was one of the GoPro shots. For some reason, Peter Jackson thought it would be a bright idea to include some POV GoPro shots reminiscent of those that you see in real-life stunt videos (devinsupertramp and the like). I've seen some fanedited versions that cut the GoPro shots out, and I consider the absence of said shots to be an improvement over their presence.

 

[Masirimso17]

A side-by-side comparison of part of the mirkwood spider sequence with the strong mint-green tint removed (the best I could do anyway)

I don't know. Looked a bit too grey, too bland and empty for my tastes. Maybe something in the middle would be best, a little tint but not as much as the original? But seems like DigMod likes your version. Let's see what others think.

Uncompressed and unaltered frame from DOS:



(^ Click to see HD frame)

The quality control wasn't really there was it .

Jeez, is that really uncompressed and unaltered? I never noticed they looked that bad. Those shots never bothered me before and I felt indifferent towards them, but now that I see this... Yeah, cut away!