L O S T - The Abridged Film Series

[v2david]

It is indeed a great scene. I don't think including it will hinder the plot. So the real question is does it slow down the pace too much? Since this is a tv show, and they have planned commercial breaks, you probably already have several scenes that take place right before and after a commercial that may not flow as well without the break. This is probably a similar situation. I would probably keep the scene cause it doesn't hinder the plot and it is a great scene. If it hindered the plot, then there would have been no choice but to excise it.

 

[sgp1428]

it's one of about 5 scenes in a row of someone talking to Henry Gale in the armory. I think having that many of those conversations so close together kind of gets stale after a while.

Hi Radzinsky, You say that of the 5 scenes or so in a row,the scene in question is the one your edit could kinda do without. So short of loosing one of the 5 other scenes with Henry and keeping the one in question,to keep faithful to the spirit of your edit i guess it has to go...Tough love........Looking forward to watching whatever you eventually decide upon......Cheers.

 

[jerick]

I would lose the scene. It's a nice moment for Ben and Locke but doesn't add anything you won't find out later. There are plenty of other nice moments between these two characters along the way.

 

[theslime]

I think it should be kept. It's the seed of John's doubt about the button, which increases when he sees the Pearl orientation film, and then culminates in the explosion and the turning of the failsafe key. The Pearl film alone would not be enough IMO, so removing this scene might make John seem like an easily-fooled doofus.

 

[seciors]

But all that considered, I still really love the scene (and I'm leaning towards keeping it);

IMO, this is your answer. Cutting 3 minutes from a 3 hour edit isn't going to have much of an effect, and if you love the scene, I think you should keep it. This is your edit after all, and presumably it's what you'd want to watch again. When watching it again in the future, would you say to yourself I wish I kept that scene I really love? Since so far no one has vehemently made an argument against keeping it (yes, it may not be *needed* for the plot, but it doesn't sound like it does any real damage either, other than maybe extending a series of similar scenes by a bit more time), I think go with your gut and keep it.

 

[Radzinsky]

Thanks everyone for your input. I've decided to keep the scene, not only because of how good it is on its own, but also because as theslime (and others) mentioned, it lays the seeds of doubt in Locke's mind about the legitimacy of the button.

Having said that, I would argue that the whole point of LOST is that Locke is an easily-fooled doofus. If he wasn't so quick to believe, things might have worked out a lot better for everyone.

I'll probably have the film ready to download the day after tomorrow. I've got a list of people who I usually PM with the links when my releases are ready, but if you don't get a message from me then just give me a PM and I'll hand out the links to you too.

Again, thanks for the input.
Radzinsky.

 

[Radzinsky]

I've just begun rendering the third film (Acts), and it should be ready tomorrow (16th August, 2013).

This movie covers the second half of Season 2, and clocks in at 171 minutes. This represents a savings of about 373 minutes (or over six full hours of television).

I'll let you all know when it's ready to download.
Radzinsky.

 

[theslime]

Having said that, I would argue that the whole point of LOST is that Locke is an easily-fooled doofus. If he wasn't so quick to believe, things might have worked out a lot better for everyone.

Not sure I entirely agree with this one. Letting the numbers count down was obviously wrong in that context. That said, the failsafe did work as intended and removed the Swan for good. The other stuff, still not sure. Ben plays everyone, not just John. In fact, Ben fools Jack a lot more easily. Also, John's sense that he wouldn't be killed by the Smoke Monster was, in fact, correct, just like his sense that Charles Widmore would kill those left on the Island was correct at that time. Not to mention that his reaching out to the Others instead of participating in a pointless war was the right thing to do, even if the Others were mostly nasty and mean. His downfall was being conned by the MiB and Ben, and it was hard to foresee given the extreme circumstances, and the fact that he was given the thankless job of trying to get people who never should have left in the first place back to the island. While he was conned early on into believing the Smoke Monster to be a neutral entity, his belief in the island and in Jacob (and in the Hatch and even that the Others were more than just evil) was correct. I think less people would have died if people had followed him.

 

[Radzinsky]

Not sure I entirely agree with this one. Letting the numbers count down was obviously wrong in that context. That said, the failsafe did work as intended and removed the Swan for good. The other stuff, still not sure. Ben plays everyone, not just John. In fact, Ben fools Jack a lot more easily. Also, John's sense that he wouldn't be killed by the Smoke Monster was, in fact, correct, just like his sense that Charles Widmore would kill those left on the Island was correct at that time. Not to mention that his reaching out to the Others instead of participating in a pointless war was the right thing to do, even if the Others were mostly nasty and mean. His downfall was being conned by the MiB and Ben, and it was hard to foresee given the extreme circumstances, and the fact that he was given the thankless job of trying to get people who never should have left in the first place back to the island. While he was conned early on into believing the Smoke Monster to be a neutral entity, his belief in the island and in Jacob (and in the Hatch and even that the Others were more than just evil) was correct. I think less people would have died if people had followed him.

Locke's desire for affection and purpose lead to him losing a kidney, the ability to walk, and eventually his life. Based on nothing more than faith in "a bright white light," he pursued his mistaken belief in his own importance to the point that he endangered not only himself but everyone else on the entire planet.

I would argue that Locke's only saving grace was that his sacrifice convinced Jack of the importance of the Island. Time and time again, Locke was fooled by anyone perceptive enough to play on his insecurities. His mother, his father, Ben Linus, the DHARMA Initiative, Richard, Jacob and of course the Man in Black all used Locke to fulfill their own ends; and more than any other character in the series, Locke let it all happen.

He was a deeply flawed individual, and though I love him as a character he is probably one of the most tragic figures in the history of western television.

 

[theslime]

Well, I agree with most of that. But I still stand by my post.

He is - like almost all the other characters on the show - thrust into something he has no way of understanding, yet he grasps it better than most. I think, on the whole, following him would have been a better option than following the Leader types like Jack and Ana Lucia, who both got a lot of people killed. I think that's what I was getting at. Sure, they're not taken advantage of like Locke is, but they still acted on a kind of blind faith of their own, a faith that they knew what was best when in fact they fumbled around in the dark.

 

[Radzinsky]

Hello again everyone. It's Radzinsky here.

The third film in my series (entitled Acts) is now online. It clocks in at 171 minutes, and covers the second half of Season 2 (that's a savings of about 373 minutes, when compared to the TV series). If you'd like to see it, just PM me for the details.

So that's 3 down, 7 to go.

 

[Sunarep]

wow, there needs to be a special achievement award for [MENTION=25019]Radzinsky[/MENTION] for so many edits within this time!

 

[seciors]

wow, there needs to be a special achievement award for [MENTION=25019]Radzinsky[/MENTION] for so many edits within this time!

I wonder who will have more released edits this year, Radzinsky or TM2YC.

 

[Muffy]

Radzinsky Job well done ;-)

I've just finished watching Lost - Genesis with my girlfriend and it was very good. I personally gave up on Lost about mid series after watching up to a point and feeling that the plot really is lost and the audiance was being strung along but yet still wanted to some day finished watching it as I still dont really know how it all ended, always telling mates to not mention Losts ending in hopes that one day Id try and bother to rewatch it .

After watching Lost - Genesis I think Ive found a good way to cut through the tedious filler story and can now soon put the Lost on my watched list

Edit: forgot to say the credits at start of episodes really arnt worth thinking about and are a very small thing that does not detract and for me is a good way of knowing just how much each episode held in regards to important story plots with surprisingly little in some cases

 

[Radzinsky]

Hello again everyone. Radzinsky here.

I just thought I'd give you a little update on the progress of the fourth film.

Out of all the films, this one is probably the toughest to do. It's got a lot of terrible dialogue and pointless soap-opera crap in it (escape from Hydra Island, anyone?). For that reason, this edit will take a little longer than the others. I'm aiming for an end-of-September release for this one, but after that it should be pretty smooth sailing until the final couple of films (which will also require some tricky editing and will probably take a little while to do as well).

Bad News: This film won't be out until the end of September.
Good News: The other films won't take nearly as long.

Oops! I think I hear that stupid alarm again! Gotta run!

Radzinsky

 

[Sunarep]

Hello again everyone. Radzinsky here.

I just thought I'd give you a little update on the progress of the fourth film.

Out of all the films, this one is probably the toughest to do. It's got a lot of terrible dialogue and pointless soap-opera crap in it (escape from Hydra Island, anyone?). For that reason, this edit will take a little longer than the others. I'm aiming for an end-of-September release for this one, but after that it should be pretty smooth sailing until the final couple of films (which will also require some tricky editing and will probably take a little while to do as well).

Bad News: This film won't be out until the end of September.
Good News: The other films won't take nearly as long.

Oops! I think I hear that stupid alarm again! Gotta run!

Radzinsky

being used to adywan bad news this pretty much sounds like this:

Hey guys!
Great news. Working on part 4 so it will get released very soon. Around the end of September the edit should be available!

joking aside I can see why part IV is such a pain. bearcagesex... soapy manipulation that goes nowhere... oh my, this really might be the edit that improves upon the source the most (until we get to season 6 that is)

 

[Neglify]

Don't forget to submit LOST III Acts to IFDB.

 

[Radzinsky]

Don't forget to submit LOST III Acts to IFDB.

Oh yeah. Thanks. Will do.

 

[herowoac]

Will the films be available in DVD format as well at some point? So far it seems only part 1 is, and AFAIK DVD is still the de facto preferred format around here. I prefer it anyway.

 

[Radzinsky]

From what I've heard on this thread, most people were more interested in an HD version. With that in mind, I decided to release my films initially in mkv format only. After the series has been finished, I'll definitely go back and release DVD versions.

But until then I'll just be concentrating on completing the edits and releasing them in (what appears to be) the most-desired format of the people who post on this thread.