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Prometheus: Giftbearer

Severian

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Fanedit Title: Prometheus: Giftbearer
Faneditor Name: Severian

Original Movie Title:
Prometheus
Genre:
Science Fiction
Franchise: Alien
Fanedit Type:
FanFix

Original Release Date:
2012
Original Running Time:
124
Fanedit Release Date:
February 2013
Fanedit Running Time (Min):
138
Time Cut (Min):
10
Time Added (Min):
24
Available in HD? Yes

Brief Synopsis:
Incorporated deleted, alternate and supplementary footage and made numerous edits made to original scenes to strengthen story, clarify character motivation, and address some often-mentioned issues viewers had with the original theatrical release.

Intention:
Watching the excellent deleted and alternate scenes in the Blu-Ray extras convinced me Prometheus could be a better movie with those scenes included, and then making my own changes followed naturally from there.

Cuts and Additions:
- Instead of starting with the engineers, we begin with the two human drivers of the mission: Weyland (his TED talk) and Shaw (her call to Weyland). New title card. Shaw's call scaled and cropped to fit film's aspect ratio, new background (generated + line animation from 'Prometheus transmission') fills sides of frame
- David watching Shaw's dream now happens in the middle of the David-alone-on-the-ship sequence instead of at the beginning
- Included extra dialogue in Vickers and Janek's first conversation
- During the briefing, cut Weyland's "what happens when we die" line - nothing in what Shaw and Holloway have found on Earth has to do with the afterlife (Shaws says mentions afterlife in her call, but Weyland's stress should be different)
- In theatrical release, during the briefing, Shaw states that the engineers created humans as if it's a fact, and then when asked by a fellow scientist to back that up, then gives her "what I choose to believe" line, which renders this important aspect of her character ridiculous. Here, she makes it as a direct statement of belief straight up, which then gets mocked by Fifield.
- Cut a couple of Vickers lines that were redundantly underlining bitchiness
- A few small edits to Holloway dialogue to make him a bit less douche-y
- Trimmed a few bits of exploration scenes to increase pace (includes removing silly "it's minus 12 in here" line - they'd all be putting their helmets back on in that case)
- Included Millburn discovering (non-dangerous) alien lifeform scene
- Included Shaw's "not alone" speech to crew
- Shaw and Ford no longer pump the engineer head with electricity until it explodes
- Stitched together new line for Fifield to explain why the keeper of the "pups" gets lost: "I can't connect us to my pups' map"
- Tightened up "probe picking up life form" scene
- Millburn no longer treats the alien worm as if it's a cute animal at a petting zoo
- David now spikes Holloway's drink just before handing it to him, instead of *right* in front of his face
- After Holloway's death, while out on the table, Shaw remembers the dig in Scotland with him (archeological site scene) and has a vision of the engineers on earth (the engineer-sacrifice scene)
- Included Janek's talk with Vickers, which gives him a much better reason for sacrificing himself at the end. It intercuts the scene of David talking to Shaw about her pregnancy. Added music.
- Additional music to second half of David talking to Shaw about her pregnancy scene
- Included alternate Fifield return scene, which I think is far superior in the way he looks and moves (including a hint of xenomorphism with the head elongation)
- Included extended conversation between Vickers and Weyland, a good character moment for both of them, especially giving some nuance to Vickers, and also has acknowledgement that Weyland's circle is aware of Shaw's "child" on the ship, via Vicker's "thing squealing next door" line. Added music and sfx.
- Included the extended conversation between the humans and the engineer. Mix of theatrical and alternate footage. Added music.
- Removed Shaw's long leap across the widening plates. She's already been asked to do so much in her post-operation state
- The co-pilots no longer crack a joke right before making the ultimate sacrifice
- Shortened juggernaut-rolling sequence, to try to mitigate this issue: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2012/06/13 (safe to say I liked the film more than they did, but they make a good point )
- Included Shaw's melee with the engineer
- Included alternate end conversation between Shaw and David, which is *so* much more fitting in tone given what Shaw has been through. Some theatrical footage mixed with alternate
- Added bit of 'space jockey' music from original Alien and callback to the xenomorph-mural to very last scene
- Small adjustments at various other places- Made color-corrections in all added footage to try to match it with theatrical

Special Thanks:
njvc, white43, and darth_xenu for invaluable advice on improving important edits/scenes, Neglify for sheperding me through the submission process, and njvc again for making an awesome motion menu that will be used for an upcoming DVD version.

Release Information

Standard Def MP4
High Def MP4 (720)

Artwork
promethus_giftbearer_3Dview.jpg
 

havok1977

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Awesome news to hear about this release! Nice going Severian!

I look forward to watching your version, perhaps an AVCHD release can be made? I'd love to help out with making it available, let me know if you'd take me up :D
 

white43

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This version is so worth the watch. I'm a "Prometheus hater", but this version made so much better viewing. I recommend.
 

Severian

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Thanks again, white43! :D

havok1977 said:
Awesome news to hear about this release! Nice going Severian!

I look forward to watching your version, perhaps an AVCHD release can be made? I'd love to help out with making it available, let me know if you'd take me up :D

Thanks, havok1977! Yes, if Encore ever stops crashing on me, I want to make a DVD version (and possibly a BD), but if not, I would like help in how to make a MP4 (or whatever container) version that is properly AVCHD, because I'm still unclear on how to do that.
 

havok1977

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Severian

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havok1977

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Severian said:
Thanks, havok1977. Somewhere else it was suggested that the MP4 file (or whatever non-DVD/non-BD file) I release also be in AVCHD format - does that involve taking the video and audio files outputted by MultiAVCHD (or similar program) and muxing them? And if so, is there a best way to do that?


I figure you have to encode your mp4 following the AVCHD specs, for reference you can check info here:

http://www.videohelp.com/hd - go down the page to the AVCHD section

or:

http://www.avchd-info.org/format/index.html

How to apply the proper settings for the specs varies according to the program you are using to encode, I dont have much experience with HD encoding but perhaps if you post what software you are using to create the MP4 someone here might be able to help some more.
 

Severian

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havok1977 said:
I figure you have to encode your mp4 following the AVCHD specs, for reference you can check info here:

http://www.videohelp.com/hd - go down the page to the AVCHD section

or:

http://www.avchd-info.org/format/index.html

How to apply the proper settings for the specs varies according to the program you are using to encode, I dont have much experience with HD encoding but perhaps if you post what software you are using to create the MP4 someone here might be able to help some more.

Ah, thanks, I'll take a look at all that.

I've mostly used Compressor, with some experiments with Adobe Encoder, on a Mac. Also tried out MediaCoder on Windows -- using this guy's settings, it produced awesome quality at much smaller file sizes than Compressor or Encoder, but I had a bad time with crashing and color-drift using it, so I couldn't get a good final file from it. But I imagine the AVCHD settings will need to be different anyway.
 

njvc

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Review left at ifdb:

This edit is a perfect example of why i love fanedits so much. Severian's take on Prometheus is the film I wished we had seen in cinemas. The film is dramatically improved thanks to the inclusion of the excellent deleted/extended material, but there are many other editing choices that also enhance the experience.

The characters are better fleshed out, the pacing is stronger, the most offensive and idiotic moments have been either removed or fixed (only two moments come to mind where the seams were visible, but nothing too major), and the film feels more assured as a result.

A couple of the newly included scenes contain slightly unfinished effects shots, but in comparison to the original scenes, those included in this edit are superior.

The film still retains a good level of mystery, but now feels more satisfying and complete. There are fewer loose ends, and the encounter with the Engineer is much better handled than in the original.

Highly recommended. This will be a fanedit I show to many people to try and get them interested in our particular craft.
Congrats Severian, and thanks for making this. Looking forward to the Bluray release whenever you get around to it!
 

Severian

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Thanks, njvc, especially for adding that as a review! :rockon:

(EDIT: fanedit.info nzb link fixed!)
 

Neglify

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Anybody can search for it on Binsearch and make their own NZB. Pretty simple really.
 

That One Guy

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Just finished watching this, and left the following as a review:

Scores:
A/V Quality: 10
Video editing: 9
Audio editing: 9
Narrative: 8
Enjoyment: 8


Before I say anything else, I want to clarify the scores I've given: I've assigned Severian's edit a score of 8/10 for both Narrative and Enjoyment. These should be taken in the context of the scores I would assign the theatrical release (5/10 for Narrative and 6/10 for Enjoyment). Severian has done an excellent job in using the available material to make the best presentation possible of a promising but substantially flawed film, and I want to stress that while I think flaws remain in the film, they remain despite his efforts rather than as a result of them.

I'm very impressed at the new opening sequence; while it doesn't have the breathtaking visuals of the theatrical release, it introduces the film's narrative in a much more cohesive fashion and crucially gives us an introduction to Peter Weyland's character. Given that we're talking about a home viewing, the visual impact of the theatrical opening sequence is limited (at least in contrast with the experience of seeing it at eg an IMAX screen in 3D), so I applaud the decision to focus on the narrative.

I haven't watched the theatrical release since it was at the cinema, but I still recall its numerous distressing faults. Severian has done as good a job as I believe is possible, given the material, to address these issues - the somewhat clunky pacing is improved, the number of instances of Idiot Ball Behaviour is substantially reduced (though sadly the phenomenon is not eliminated entirely), and some of the action sequences are improved through the use of additional material.

I would be lying if I didn't say that there are a couple of moments where the editing leads to abrupt transitions, but these are abrupt in narrative terms and cannot be helped given the available footage.

All in all, there's only one thing I'd change about Severian's edit - personally, I would have removed the epilogue scene with the proto-xenomorph. That tiny issue aside, this is now my preferred cut of the film and I highly doubt I'll ever watch the theatrical release again.

I thought I should also note that I watched this with my OH who generally pays no attention to the fanedit scene outside of what I explicitly bring to her attention; her opinion was that the edit was substantially better than the theatrical release.
 

LastSurvivor

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Hey Severian... just literally finished watching this great debut fanedit and felt I had to write a review... here it is, as posted on IFDB...

Now, this is an interesting one for me. I'll be right up front here. I genuinely think Scott's cut of Prometheus is excellent. Sure, it has a few problems, not least of which lies in the varying quality of the script, but visually I have fallen in love with this film more and more since I've seen it on blu ray a couple of times. Plus, the thing which seems to bug most people about the film - too many questions left unanswered and the like, I think add to the mix even more. So we as an audience have to do some work for once? Good, I say!

However, despite this, the prospect of a fanedit is still an enticing one and the fact that this is debut edit for new faneditor Severian makes it all the more intriguing. So, as I settled down into bed to watch this edit with the lights down and my headphones on, I was excited for a tweaked, more in-depth version of one of my favourite movies of last year.

Straight away Severian makes an impression by starting the film with a much younger Peter Weyland and his speech about taking the next step forward in human evolution. Sure, the breathtaking landscape shots which opened Scott's cut are missed, but it was great to see Guy Pearce without a ton of latex over his face and makes for a gripping, albeit wordy opening. Indeed, the extra character scenes scattered throughout this edit do lend the film a more stable base to build the story upon. More impressive than the inclusion of deleted scenes such as these though, is the way in which Severian trims some of the more awkward or ill-fitting dialogue. For example, Charlie does not come over quite so much of a smug arsehole, meaning you certainly care more for his fate here. Best of all, I must thank you for trimming the scene where Millburn meets and then gets attacked by the white alien worm. Expertly edited and no longer is he treating it as if it's a long lost pet. That was always one of the worst scenes in the original, so brilliant work there!

It was also cool to see the alternate CGI version of the Fifield creature. I'm kinda with Scott on that one, in that I slightly prefered the more human version, but the CGI was nowhere near as bad as I feared it might be, and the scene works perfectly well either way for me.

The only scene which I wasn't too sure upon, was the inclusion of a flashback just after Charlie has been torched. I understand the reasons to do it and I certainly felt more for his plight and certainly for Elizabeth's loss, but it felt a little off for me. Plus, during the initial fade into the flashback the audio editing could have been smoother, as it appears to be very quiet.

On the whole however, editing is very good - particularly for a first time faneditor. There are a couple of transitions which are not as clean as they might be - perhaps more audio work of the crossfade variety may have been needed - but there are certainly no hard cuts to speak of. It's just you do notice something is not quite right on a couple of transitions. But, as I say, it's not enough to worry about and I've seen a hell of a lot worse!

The 1080p MP4 version I watched looked gorgeous, and sonically my ears were very pleased for the most part. I too would very much look forward to a blu ray release of this one.

By the time the end comes around I was suitably impressed with Prometheus Giftbearer. It's a fascinating glimpse of a slightly easier to grasp version of the film, even if at the end of the day it still leaves lots of questions to be answered. Is it any better than Scott's theatrical cut? For me, not really. There's something about the ambiguity of the original Prometheus which makes me love it all the more - sorry, I can't help myself! But, this is to take nothing away from Severian's work on his first edit. It's an excellent debut and I for one look forward to see more of his edits in the future.

Oh, and great audio work on adding a bit more of an "Alien" feel to the last shot. Definitely a must see edit in my eyes.
 

Severian

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Thanks so much for those fantastic reviews, guys - greatly appreciated!!

Neglify said:
Anybody can search for it on Binsearch and make their own NZB. Pretty simple really.
EDIT: fanedit.info nzb link now fixed! :bounce: (The Binsearch results for this edit are kind of messy, so if interested, please try fanedit.info instead).
 

JohnR

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Severian, thank you so much for creating this incredible fan edit. Like many others, I was disappointed by the theatrical version of this movie. Your edit not only makes the characters more realistic and likeable, it also acheives the impossible by actually bringing some clarity and sense to the proceedings! My one and only complaint is that I feel the prehistory sequence is misplaced. Personally I think that sequence belongs at (or near) the beginning of the film, and perhaps could be better utilized by including a caption of some kind ("Earth: 100,000,000 BC" or something like that). Then when David spikes Charley's drink, maybe we could see some brief flashbacks to that sequence.

Anyway, steller job! And thank you so much for making it available to us.
 

Severian

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You're welcome, JohnR!

JohnR said:
My one and only complaint is that I feel the prehistory sequence is misplaced. Personally I think that sequence belongs at (or near) the beginning of the film, and perhaps could be better utilized by including a caption of some kind ("Earth: 100,000,000 BC" or something like that). Then when David spikes Charley's drink, maybe we could see some brief flashbacks to that sequence.

Well, I didn't want to have it at the beginning because a) I wanted a viewer to discover the Engineers along with the crew, e.g. the opening of the helmet to reveal the Engineer head has more impact when you havent seen any Engineers yet b) I wanted the human drivers of the mission, Weyland through his TED talk and Shaw through her call, to start the film -- and that's two introductory scenes before the main story begins, and I felt adding one more intro would be too much. And since it was not going to be at the beginning, I felt the only non-jarring place for the Engineer sequence would be in Elizabeth's dream-vision. But the idea of flashbacks to the Engineer's ritual-sacrifice cup from David's offered spiked drink is an interesting one! Though it would heavily telegraph what would happen to Charlie, so that would need to be considered.

Related to that flashback:

LastSurvivor said:
The only scene which I wasn't too sure upon, was the inclusion of a flashback just after Charlie has been torched. I understand the reasons to do it and I certainly felt more for his plight and certainly for Elizabeth's loss, but it felt a little off for me.

Yes, another viewer gave this same feedback - I feel it works, but not as well as most of the rest of the edit. As you said, it's there to show some additional processing of Charlie's death on Elizabeth's part, which I felt was lacking in the original, and as a hopeful scene about discovering the Engineer's presence it a) underlines how this hopeful discovery ultimately led to Charlie's death b) its Engineer-content allows a seque to the her vision of the Engineers. All that being said, if there had been some more personal, more intimate scene between Charlie and Elizabeth that could've been used as the flashback, I would have used that instead. So that was the compromise.

Regardless, glad you both liked the edit!
 

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Finished watching this edit a few days ago and I have to say that was FANTASTIC!

I actually found the original film to be quite enjoyable despite it's numerous flaws, a solid 7.5/10 IMO, yet your edit managed to fix every single one of these key issues. I wasn't looking forward to the new opening at first, but it actually gives the film a much more interesting and powerful philosophical, thoughtful tone. The alternative and extended scenes added in improve character development a lot, and they also manage to more directly answer the mysteries that constantly drive Prometheus forward and are very key to it's plot and mythology. The small cuts you made here and there to the stupid character deaths made them all completely satisfying, a far cry from the silly original versions. The scene where they try and communicate with the engineer again is much more satisfying than having him quiet before
he abruptly rips off David's head.
The final fight scene is similarly more satisfying, even if the audio levels were a little questionable (the grunts sounded MUCH louder than the sound effects though I assume this was partially a source problem), and the alternative closing scenes were much more fitting in tone.

Overall the edit raised the movie to a solid 8.5/10 for me, and it's now one of my favorite sci-fis of the last few years. Your editing was a solid 9/10 as well, but there were a handful of jarring transitions and difficult audio work as mentioned before. Nonetheless, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS EDIT. Really shows how underneath it all Prometheus could have been a great film, but Ridley Scott decided to butcher it a little while editing just to make it more "mysterious" for his planned sequel.
 

DominicCobb

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I posted my review to IFDb a few days ago, but I forgot to post it here as well. This is it, for people to see:

First, thanks Severian. I'm glad I have this version of Prometheus to watch now.

I'm one of those people who really liked the theatrical Prometheus. But I knew it wasn't perfect. And I knew that an edit, especially one that added deleted scenes, could be something great. This is that. Is it the best possible Prometheus? I don't know. My gut says it's not, but who knows.

I love the added scenes. I've had the movie for a number of months now, but I made a conscious decision to hold off on the scenes until I saw them in a fan edit. I think they all work here. Everything that people are saying these scenes add - they do. I especially love the final scene with Shaw and David. Great line in there.

Editing's good, nothing too noticeable. Some minor annoying stuff was taken out, and I think that's good. Putting the TED Talk at the start was, I think, a good idea, but it definitely gave the movie a different vibe. This is a more straightforward science fiction film I think. And that's okay. But the movie, as a whole, is a lot less mysterious. This is a byproduct of practically every single change. And that's okay. This is a different beast. This fact has actually made me appreciate the original more. The mystery of the original is one of the things I loved about it, and now I'm finally understanding why the film was cut the way it was. Putting the engineer scene at the start of the original was one biggest ways that it solidified it's mysterious tone. Interestingly, the engineer scene here seems to almost answer questions, instead of raise them. Due to its placement, we know what the engineer is, what Shaw thinks it did, and now the scene is almost an endorsement of Shaw's belief that the engineers created the humans. By actually seeing what she's, possibly, imagining, we have no choice but to assume that we're seeing the truth. Thinking on it more this placement is rather brilliant. Whilst imagining this engineer conceiving the human race, Shaw is pregnant, with what could be the beginning of a new race.

Anyway, yeah, I love this edit. I love this new version of Prometheus. And I love the old version of Prometheus. I love the additions (I just wish you could have included "David 8"). I like the cuts. Great work, great edit.
 

geminigod

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DominicCobb said:
But the movie, as a whole, is a lot less mysterious.

Funny, I thought this edit made things more mysterious, but maybe my opinion is tainted because of interviews with Ridley Scott that I have seen.

Is there a difference between mysterious and confusing? I think so...

The dream of the engineer, for example, makes it less likely IMO that we are seeing actual history vs. just something in her imagination.
 
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