Man of Steel: A Symbol of Hope (TM2YC FanFix)

[Hardbackyoyo]

There's no way to stabilize the shaky cam, is there?

 

[TM2YC]

The synch is off on Clark's closeup, "Just let him die?"

Does this feel closer?

(password: fanedit.org)

There's no way to stabilize the shaky cam, is there?

There are programs that can do that e.g.

...but none I'm familiar with and there is nothing wrong with a bit of "hand-held" from time to time IMO.

It's not strictly "shaky cam" in the way the term is mostly used. "shaky cam" is usually referring to the camera flying all over the place, while the actors are already flying all over the place, leading to a confusing visual mess. You'd have to shake that camera like crazy to make two actors sitting still on the back of a truck visually confusing. But I have heard people say they don't like the wobbly camera in this MOS scene before, so you aren't alone.

 

[addiesin]

Closer, yes. On repeat viewings it works but my first viewing it still felt little off.

 

[TM2YC]

Closer, yes. On repeat viewings it works but my first viewing it still felt little off.

That's probably about as close as it's gonna get. I don't like using edits that are less than 100% but in this case, compared to Jonathan telling Clark to let his friends die, it's an acceptable 95%(ish) that I can live with. If anybody thinks this is more of a 55% situation, let me know , otherwise I'm going with this edit (plus a little remixing on the score and soundFX).

---

I'm still working on the complicated Lois/Escape Pod rescue sequence but I finally found a nice place for the short scene of Zod arriving at the Kent farm. Because this scene originally interrupts the rescue, I needed it to move but it couldn't go with the second scene of Zod at the farm because there is an obvious time jump. So I hit upon the idea of slotting it in as we see Superman start to hear the danger, so now we actually experience his Super-Hearing powers in that moment...

(Password: fanedit.org)

- Replaced dog barking soundFX and mixed in heavy reverb at the start to create that "I'm hearing something in my head" effect. The clarity increases as Superman tunes into the dog. That's what Ihope it sounds like anyway?
- Still need to sort out what I'm going to do with the score going into this scene

 

[dangermouse]

That lip sync doesn't work, but, of course, we're all specifically looking for it. It might work in the film as a whole if you're not particularly aware of it.
Even so, you'll probably notice it, but it's not so awful that it flings you out of the movie.

 

[Canon Editor]

The synch is kind of noticeable.  Did you try pushing the audio a bit forward and cutting some frames at the beginning?

 

[TM2YC]

Did you try pushing the audio a bit forward and cutting some frames at the beginning?

Yes, cutting closer to the words makes it feel more "edited".

---

It's been a right pain to piece together but the 'Lois Rescue' sequence is finally complete. You can see from the timeline...

...that there is quite a bit going on during these 4.5 minutes .

(Password: fanedit.org)

- Replaced the majority of the score throughout and replaced many soundFX, to create some new sound mixes
- Moved forward the first part of Superman getting his powers back, so it plays as one scene
- Reordered shots of Lois' pod malfunctioning
- Rescored Superman rescuing Lois with the hero theme
- Slightly recut the pod on fire to time better with the beats of the new music
- Blended two parts of the fireball together with a small FX tweak
- Moved Zod arriving at the Kent farm and inserted it where Superman is sensing something is wrong
- Removed Superman saying "You'll be safe here" as I didn't want the landing music interrupted
- Replaced dog barking soundFX and brought it in earlier as if Superman is tuning into it (I considered adding a "Save Martha" subtitle translation for the dog  )

 

[hbenthow]

There's no way to stabilize the shaky cam, is there?

There are some programs such as Mercalli Easy and ProDRENALIN that you could try. 

I've heard of people using Avisynth to stabilize video as well.

 

[ThrowgnCpr]

There's no way to stabilize the shaky cam, is there?

There are some programs such as Mercalli Easy and ProDRENALIN that you could try. 

I've heard of people using Avisynth to stabilize video as well.

It's actually pretty straightforward in After Effects. Example:

 

[L8wrtr]

Okay, just got caught up myself.. much to respond to, but I'm happy to at least be interested in a version of MoS. For me, this movie was a major, major disappointment, it has several great aspects, some truly wonderful moments and sequences, but it is truly less than the sum of it's parts. At the end of the day I think Snyder was the worst possible directorial choice (people I'd place ahead of him; McG, Uwe Boll, Joel Schumacher, and even Michael Bay). Superman is one of my favorite characters, and being an old fart, and also of refined taste, it simply does not get any better than Christopher Reeve for me, and Donner's more quiet, noble take on Superman that was also carried on in Returns. While an HD re-edit of Son of Jor-El is still on my docket, I've often toyed with editing this thing. I'm now hoping I can stop worrying about it. 

So l8wrtr preamble out of the way..

Loving the tone and direction you're nudging this, more bright, more hopeful, more decisive.. 
- great moves with removing the truck (though it is funny and who wouldn't do that if they had Superman's powers?) 
- great job with the tornado.. its still idiotic at the core of its premise because it's a tail-wagging the dog scene where they wanted to have him carrying the guilt for 'letting him die' and then wrote in a hokey sequence that fits the guilt-narrative.. a truly clumsy way to handle the same issue that Donner and Mankiewicz handled with deft and poignancy, but you've made it as palatable as possible given the material..
- I agree that the dialog does not line-up with young Clark, but like everyone else, it's better than the alternative.. FU Snyder.

I really like the sequence of Clark after rescuing Lois and then hearing the dog.. if I may make a suggestion.. have you thought about trying to have him hear the dog.. and then just take off in a flash.. he hears the sound, we see he's concerned and he takes off.. and then we see what he's heading off to.. for me, cutting back to him after we see the Kryptonians arrive at the Farm makes it feel like it takes too long for Supes to jump into action.. I know it's not literal real time, but perceived time feels too long to me. Of course it may not be possible if you need footage to cut between his hearing the dog and then leaping up into the sky, but worth bringing up. 

I would love to see color grading as I think the palette on this movie is atrocious. You obviously have your own specific vision, but I'll cheerlead getting it out of saturationland and returning it to the world of color. 

In general, everything you can do to make Superman A) Heroic B) Not a moron and C) Not indifferent to the destruction he's causing, the more you can go towards saving this film. 

Up! Up! And away!!

 

[TM2YC]

For me, this movie was a major, major disappointment, it has several great aspects, some truly wonderful moments and sequences, but it is truly less than the sum of it's parts.

I like it more than you I think but I'm sure everybody would agree it's got some serious flaws.

Loving the tone and direction you're nudging this, more bright, more hopeful, more decisive

Exactly the intent. A few nudges here and there where the film strays away from that theme. I think Snyder probably thought it was bright and hopeful (and compared with some of his more sadist material it is ).

I really like the sequence of Clark after rescuing Lois and then hearing the dog.. if I may make a suggestion.. have you thought about trying to have him hear the dog.. and then just take off in a flash... Of course it may not be possible if you need footage to cut between his hearing the dog and then leaping up into the sky, but worth bringing up. 

I do need to have the footage there as you suggest. The first Zod scene (before he lands) needs a cutaway to Superman, before cutting back to the second Zod scene (after he has landed).

In general, everything you can do to make Superman A) Heroic B) Not a moron and C) Not indifferent to the destruction he's causing, the more you can go towards saving this film. 

I think A and B will be covered but some elements of C will have to remain for plot reasons. Any instance of Superman causing destruction will be removed if it's possible but it isn't always going to be possible... as you say FU Snyder . To take the Smallvile fight for example... I've cut Superman throwing Zod through a cooling tower but I need to keep him throwing Zod into a gas-station because that's how the Smallville fight starts. Hopefully it now plays that Clark's spark of anger at his mother being attacked, is the cause of this moment of madness.

 

[TM2YC]

It has taken a few days of frustrating editing and re-editing to recut and rescore Superman going after the world engine. Again, I wanted to use the "hero theme music" at this point but also wanted to incorporate the other "human heroes" into the musical montage as they follow Superman's lead. He takes off to save the world and then so do they. Or in other words, to visually illustrate these words...

You will give the people of Earth an ideal to strive towards. They will race behind you, they will stumble, they will fall. But in time, they will join you in the sun, Kal. In time, you will help them accomplish wonders.

To do this, I needed to move the scene of Zod deciding to head off to the crashed ship, to before the mission starts. I think I've found a nice and seamless place for it. Hans Zimmer's music needed to be recut and remixed quite a bit to fit the flow I wanted, even with trims to the footage. The music and sound has been more-or-less rebuilt from scratch for the middle two minutes of this clip...

(Password: fanedit.org)

- Brought forward scene of Zod handing over to Faora. Reworked some Metropolis destruction footage to make it work
- Removed the pointless mention of the word "Terraforming" and it needing to be explained for dummies. Plus it's not actually "Terraforming", it's "Kryptonforming", or "anti-terraforming" to be accurate
- Replaced the score between the radio call about "Superman", up until Zod choking on oxygen, with a heavily recut and remixed version of the hero theme. Created new soundFX mix throughout
- Recut footage of Superman and the plane taking off to time with the new score

This scene really brings a happy smile to my face now!   (If only one of the characters shouted "Go get 'em Superman!" at 00.29, it'd be perfect for me now )

 

[Nerdman3000]

I actually think you should bring back Doctor Emil Hamilton saying the word terraforming (which technically it is), as it actually makes the scene feel a bit awkward. If it had been like that in the theater, I can actually see certain people being confused and taking the whole about turning Earth into Krypton a bit too literal without the word terraforming. So yes I do think you need the word back at the very least.

Other than that, really good.

 

[TM2YC]

I actually think you should bring back Doctor Emil Hamilton saying the word terraforming (which technically it is)

It isn't: "terraforming" is making a planet like Earth ("terra" = Earth in Latin), which is one form of "Planetary engineering".

...but...

it actually makes the scene feel a bit awkward. If it had been like that in the theater, I can actually see some people being confused and taking the whole about turning Earth into Krypton a bit too literal without the word terraforming. So yes I do think you need the word back at the very least.

...I take your point. Anybody else think it's confusing cut this way?

 

[ssj]

not sure how the scene would play out without that dialogue, but i agree: what happens in the movie isn't terraforming (or attempted terraforming). if zod wanted to make an already earthy earth more earth-like, then he needn't have bothered.

 

[TM2YC]

Decided I wanted the scene of Zod "killing" Jor-El to play right before Superman fights back against the world engine. The first 30 seconds of this clip are unchanged but it gives you the conversation leading up to what happens...

(Password: fanedit.org)

- Removed Zod ranting about crushing Superman's corpse, or whatever. Now Jor-El mentioning his faith in Cal is the end of the dialogue. If Zod wants to rebuild Krypton, should he take delight in killing one of it's only survivors? Zod would still like to turn Superman to his way of thinking
- Zod now silently (not angrily) "kills" Jor-El, which hopefully plays as regretful and sad with the editing and new music. They used to friends
- Add piano part of the hero theme as Jor-El mentions Cal
- Replaced most of the spaceship soundFX
- Lowered the soundfx volume of Superman fighting the world engine and upped the music volume, so we can feel the power of the score a bit more

Hopefully it works? I still need to figure out where the minute of footage between these scenes is going to go but I'm sure it'll work somehow.

 

[dangermouse]

Works really, really well TM. Great job.

 

[Canon Editor]

Absolutely thrilling.

 

[addiesin]

You have such natural instincts with all of this stuff, it's difficult to provide criticism. It works great.

 

[TM2YC]

Thanks for the replies people... although I was kinda hoping somebody would tell me it was not right and the reasons why .

I've slightly remixed it anyway in this new longer clip...

(Password: fanedit.org)

- Moved establishing shot of world-engine and Rescored transition into Jor-El
- Added more soundFX
- Remixed score and soundFX after Jor-El's death
- With world engine shot gone, we get to Superman's fight quicker