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Robots VS Kung Fu: The Matrix Grindhouse Edition: Analog Demaster Released!

matrixgrindhouse said:
I absolutely loved TMBTM's Grindhouse edit of the original Star Wars - so much so that it's inspired me to make my first very fan edit, one of a similar nature. My intent is to take The Matrix (and its sequels, eventually), and diminish it to the level of a shot-on-video endeavor, with the use of video filters, behind the scenes footage, new music, and plenty of editing. I'm still very early into this, but I should have a half hour or so's worth of a workprint available in the near future. I look forward to all the help and advice the FE community has for me.
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It's not really a grindhouse. not really a low budget feature with no production values and poor print quality
THE MATRIX can't help but look expensive. with all those dollies and lighting and fast cut editing that represents plenty of coverage.
You have to remember that the makers of grindhouse films were not out to create some meta-concept self-aware film.
All of them were out to make the most Hollywood-like film they could because that meant money.
so here's were you lose me a bit. watching your workprint i never sense your sincere effort in trying to sell me this as a true hollywood film.
the music cues you used didn't make me think "well i guess they couldnt afford John Williams", the behind-the-scenes shots might have been fun if they had been more consistant. but there are huge stretches were you don't have any to use and then it doesn't become a style.
the distressing of the film left me ambivalent.

And the other challenge is that THE MATRIX is not A NEW HOPE. THE MATRIX is a dark, somber, mainly humourless apocalyptic tale.
It has none of the charm, sweetness and innocence of ANH. And that may have contribute to the unexplained success of TWOTS.
TMBTM genius was in amping up the humour and the silliness of the film.
There's very little of that here.

But I will not leave you with merely negative comments. If anything your workprint did remind me off is an Arthouse film.
Like something directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky. Did you ever see THE HOLY MOUNTAIN?
Maybe it should be more like that. like an acid trip without acid.

Finally, don't be discouraged if you think this is all bad. This is what I wrote of THE WAR OF THE STARS:

This fanedit is headache-inducing bad. The poster child of style over substance.
I started by writing copious notes when it dawned on me that it was getting painfully tedious, it was not very funny or entertaining and I was the wrong audience for it.
So I turned it off. After the cantina scene.

Have you ever had a need to sneeze and had some one stop you just as you were about to?
And do you remember that feeling of emptiness? like something missing, unfulfilled?
That's how I felt after watching this fanedit.
A lot of promise that to these eyes remain just that: a promise.

There were some mildly amusing spots but too few to maintain the kind of energy this "Grindhouse" release deserves.
Would i recommended to a general audience? probably not.
But my little nephew would probably think it was "cool".

And it ended being a huge success.
cheers!
 
killbillme said:
And it ended up beating THE DARK KNIGHT: Remixed by Jorge as fanedit of the year.
So who's laughing now?
cheers!
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Nah, that was JAWS the Sharksploitation edit. TWOTS is a 2010 edit ;)
 
killbillme said:
It wasn't even TWOTS?
Add insult to injury.
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People always talks about TWOST but JAWS still has more vote and overall better rating than TWOST.
Your honor is safe :)
 
killbillme said:
This is what I wrote of THE WAR OF THE STARS:

This fanedit is headache-inducing bad. The poster child of style over substance.
I started by writing copious notes when it dawned on me that it was getting painfully tedious, it was not very funny or entertaining and I was the wrong audience for it.
So I turned it off. After the cantina scene.

Have you ever had a need to sneeze and had some one stop you just as you were about to?
And do you remember that feeling of emptiness? like something missing, unfulfilled?
That's how I felt after watching this fanedit.
A lot of promise that to these eyes remain just that: a promise.

There were some mildly amusing spots but too few to maintain the kind of energy this "Grindhouse" release deserves.
Would i recommended to a general audience? probably not.
But my little nephew would probably think it was "cool".
Click to expand...

And they call me a grouch. :|
 
Now, on the workprint: While I do like the idea of a grindhoused Matrix, I think this needs a lot of further work. Please don't interpret any of my comments as putting you down, I'll tell you the way I'd like to be told, in order to improve and learn.

I must remind everyone, on top of all, that grindhousing a movie does not just mean making it suck. It, apart from implying a certain violent/bloody/raw style of storytelling, means making it look like it's bad because they couldn't make it better after trying their best, not like if they set up to make a stinker. Your edit, in its current form, has the "let's just downgrade this" feel.

-First, the only filter you seem to apply to the picture is an overload of grain. That doesn't work and looks like what it is, a computer effect. You need to experiment with miscellaneous filters, applying a bit more in this shot and a bit less in that one, trying to be subtle to really be effective. One could argue that TMBTM had the advantage of the Puggo Grande as a source for War of the Stars, but look at his Jaws: The Sharksploitation Edit, in which he only had the commercial DVD to work with and he achieved wonders. (The interlacing, however, didn't bother me as much as I thought, because it was not too heavy. I've seen way worse cases in works that were not intended to have it, incluiding several fanedits).

-I like your choices of music, but you really overdid it by having it play all the time and then stop abruptly for dialogue. Also it is too loud, so when you run it over dialogue sequences one can't really understand what the characters say. Again, be subtle and play with the levels. Also, try to avoid any kind of hard/abrupt audio cuts unless you have them with a purpose (such as missing frames or reels, or censored swearing... You get the idea.)

-Behind-the-scenes footage: It works when you see a little bit of unintended gear or crew during a short period of time (like that ram-thing smashing the phone box), but when the whole film crew is on display as an obviously intended part of the shot, it becomes something not even the most inept of filmmakers would put on a theatrical release. Also, do not use any unfinished CGI shots (as in actors in front of green screens). Those would never show up.

-New phone audio: Please play with the levels and filters, that does not sound convincing at all as a phone conversation, particularly if you keep bits of the real one in several places.

-Opening credits: Too flashy for a grindhouse movie. Create your own with your editing software's title tool or with picture editing tools just as Photoshop. Think B-movie, not Hollywood. And then remember to apply effects to the credits too (that's one of the few flaws of WOTS, too pristine looking credits.)

Hope this doesn't kill off your enthusiasm. This has the potential to be good. It only needs working hard on it.
 
I've been thinking of resurrecting this project, albeit with some serious changes. First and foremost, I'd be abandoning the Grindhouse pretext. As has been said, The Matrix just can't look like it was made cheaply. I'll instead be crafting it as something made worse in post production - a bootleg of some long lost foreign release with different edits and the like. While I'll still have degraded visual quality, I'll be toning everything down significantly. Thoughts?
 
I don't know what this is doing in the COMPLETED archive. Moving it to ITW.
 
98766654321 said:
Confused as to why this is in completed...
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What? It was in Completed, but I moved it to IN-THE-WORKS in September, so...

What?
 
Hey [MENTION=9451]matrixgrindhouse[/MENTION] you still hope to do a Matrix edit?
 
This fanedit could possibly be as dead as Keanu Reeve's acting career :lol:
Sorry, couldn't let it slide :p
 
I C Wut U Did Thar
 
Hey all. I've been crazy busy with real life for the last... however long it's been. I've been honing my editing skills here and there (and upgraded from the nightmare that is WMM). I'm stunned that anybody remembered this. I'm touched. I think I'll get back to this edit after all!
 
Would anyone be interested in giving some feedback on the first few minutes of the new version of the project? Please PM me if so
 
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