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Spiderman 3: No Sandman edition

dangermouse

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original film name: Spiderman 3
new film name : Spiderman 3: No Sandman Edition
film studio name : Columbia
edited by : Dangarratt
Date Original Film Was Released : 2007
Date Edit Was Released : October 2009
Original Runtime : 133 min
New Runtime : 95 min
Amount of time Cut/Added : 38 sandy minutes cut

Fanedit details:
Inspiring stuff going on here (fanedit.org) prompted me to think about a movie which had a lot of promise but ultimately didn't deliver: Spiderman 3.
I've always felt the problem was too many disconnected stories going on - for one, there are THREE bad guys in the film (Goblin Jr, Venom, Sandman). Sandman, although brilliantly executed, always felt like a story running parallel to the rest of the movie. Goblin Jr has been a long time coming, Venom is necessary for Peter Parker to mess things up (for him to face his Dark Side) - but Sandman's connection is a very tenuous "Oh actually THIS guy killed your uncle".
So, I have removed the Sandman thread entirely, in order to create a tighter movie focused on the three friends (Peter, Harry, MJ) - with Venom as the Dark Side enabler and ultimate villain.

Changes:
A total of 47 video cuts, and many more audio cuts:

Movie is now 90 minutes long, and much tighter, and character-focussed, like the first two movies.
Removed sandman story entirely - story focussed on the three friends (Peter, MJ and Harry)
Venom becomes more central to the plot, and Peter's descent is more brutal.

Pacing is greatly improved over the original.

Movie now unfolds as follows [cuts in square brackets]:
0:00-10:00 As in movie (Opening credits, everyone loves me, snuggle on the web - intro of Venom attaching to Peter's scooter)
..CUT directly to [intro to Flint Marko, daughter etc]

10:00-17:31 "I'm going to marry MJ", Fight with Harry, Hospital scene
..FADE into [Police, Marko chase, zapped]

17:31-19:52 Peter waiting in corridor, hospital scene with Harry
..CUT directly to [formation of sandman]

19:52-33:37 Horse speech, crane rescue, Bugle scene, Harry & Pete best buddies, MJ fired, Key to the city (crowd scenes)
..CUT directly to [Marko seen by cops, sand truck]

33:37-35:57 Gwen's speech & the kiss
..CUT directly to [Spiderman vs Sandman bank truck. Sad to lose the "Where do these guys come from"]

35:57-42:29 Restaurant & the proposal that wasn't
..CUT directly to [Police reveal Marko. MJ confronts Peter (even Spiderman needs help). Venom takes over, Black suit, Dr Connors lab (MOVED). Killing Marko in sewers. Dark Peter in alley. Peter shouts at Dickovich. Peter takes off Venom (duh!). Peter tells May about Marko's death ]

42:29-48:28 MJ waitress, with Harry
44:06 EDITED Dickovich scene (he makes reference to shouting at him earlier under the influence of the black suit. edited out)
Harry and MJ dancing & kiss & return of Goblin Jr
..CUT directly to [MJ listening to Peter's message about "the other night" - as she didn't try to help him re Marko. MJ being attacked MOVED to dream sequence]

48:28-53:55 MJ's phone call, bridge breakup, Harry's reveal in Cafe, Peter angry at home
..CROSSFADE to [MOVED from earlier in film]

53:55-56:22 Venom takes over while Peter sleeps.
Dreams EDITED: replaced with b/w of MJ being attacked by Goblin Jr AND removed third sequence (Venom takes over much more quickly)
54:00 first dream replacement
54:30 second dream replacement
54:45 CROSSFADES from Venom taking body to Venom taking face)
Black suited Spiderman
Dr Connors lab
..CROSSFADE to [Splicing earlier scenes back into later ones]

56:22-66:00 Peter vs Brock (not necessary to see Brock's earlier scene with digital camera - always thought it was crap anyway - a "pro" photographer just taking pictures without even looking through the viewfinder!)
On phone with Dr Connors
Dark Pete on the streets (Jazzy, virile Pete!)
..CUT (video) SLOW FADE (audio) to [MOVED from earlier in film]

60:06-64:07 Fight with Harry
..CUT directly to [Splicing earlier scenes back into later ones]

64:07-75:05 Jazz date with Gwen
Church removal of Venom
Brock becomes Venom
Pete in shower
Pete says to May he's not good enough (no kidding - can anyone say "self-obsessed"!)
..CUT to [Sandman and Venom meet]

75:05-77:05 Outside MJ's apartment
MJ in taxi, Venom
76:30 EDITED news broadcasts - no mention of Sandman
Red Spiderman returns
..CUT (timed with turning off TV!) to [Awful reporter and message in the web]

77:05-77:44 Harry I need help
77:19 EDITED "I can't take them both"
..CUT to [NO LAME "motivational" butler scene. What an awful MacGuffin this scene is! I've let the audience assume it's due to friendship with MJ and Peter. If this seems to weak, could put in a montage of friendship scenes from Spidey 1&2]

77:44-85:41 FINAL FIGHT!
MJ in taxi
78:53 edited "they'll kill us both"
81:10 CUT Sandman
81:30 Added Jameson scene sans dialogue with girl for pacing reasons
81:34 Reveal of Harry and saves Spidey (Problem is why is Spidey covered in sand...! Can't fix that!)
82:07 MJ falls
Harry & Pete fly up to save her - cut around sandman (many!)
Scene with MJ and Pete ("Are you OK")
82:42 CUT to Venom attacking and Harry's sacrifice
(spliced in some scenes which came later but now not used)
Venom's death
..CROSSFADE to [Sandman "I had no choice" crap]

85:41-90:00 Harry's death, funeral, final voice over, reconciliation with MJ
90:00- 95:00 credits (may edit sandman out of credits if I can be bothered!)

Cuts that are a little abrupt have been soften by cueing the next scenes music early - or even combining the two scenes music to give an audio prep for the cut.

Video will be uploaded tomorrow night (Mp4 stereo, 320x240, only 600MB) and DVD to follow (5.1 surround, DVD quality )
 

boon23

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320x240?
are you sure?
 

dangermouse

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That was the only option available for mpeg4 when I looked last night!
I'll hunt around for other options and see how big the file ends up. At the moment I have a 4gb mpeg2 file...
 

dangermouse

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Even though I am a "newbie" I have a pretty high standard as to what I consider acceptable. There are no hard audio cuts, or jarring video cuts (which I've noticed a number of people complaining about from firstlings, and even one or two fanedits featured on the website have these issues).
Tools used were Handbrake for DVD rip, and VideoStudio 11.5 for editing. The quality is a bit below the DVD, but still very watchable on my projector (NOTE: I DON'T have a HD connection or HD projector, so I don't know how this would look on a 150" widescreen HD setup!)

Basically I've tried to make a movie that, if you didn't know the source material, would simply appear to be a studio release. It's not quite at that level, of course, but I hope you'll enjoy.

Constructive criticism is appreciated!
 

zeppelinrox

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yeah, 320x240 is pretty tiny, even for a preview.

Any of the free apps that I mention here can convert mpeg2 (or pretty much any format) to avi (or pretty much any format)

Of the 4 programs, Super is probably easiest to use but AutoMKV would probably give you great results with a low learning curve.
MediaCoder takes awhile to get used to but with the zillions of options(various encoders,etc) it can produce the best results.
 

Sunarep

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can't wait, sounds pretty well thought out

don't know how to fix peter's "sandyness" but i think if the rest of the movie works most of the viewers won't mind this detail.

Continuity question: what about peter's mask? most of it gets torn away by sandman
 

dangermouse

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@zepplinrocks thanks for the heads-up - really helpful. I'll try those tomorrow.

For now I've done a stereo 640x480 mp4 - comes in at 785MB. Uploaded to MU..... now!

@sunarep sand is more annoying than anything else - if you'd never seen the movie before, then it wouldn't mean too much.
Spidey's mask - venom attacks and then I cut away to Jameson and then to the arrival of Harry - the fight continues, so it's not too much to assume the mask was ripped by Venom
 

AvP

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RESOLUTN.GIF


640x480 = 1.33:1 = 4.3 why?
 

dangermouse

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Not by choice - that was the only stupid option with VideoStudio for MP4. I'll convert the avi with one of the programs zepplin mentioned. DOnwloaded them now.
I'm also working on the DVD - which is, of course, in normal 16:9 format...! :)
The MP4 is up just for those who want a quick peek.

Cool graphic by the way - I'll use that now when people ask me the difference between widescreen and normal (and "why can't we just use the projector from work for movies"). :)
 

AvP

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you should use AutoGK..its freeware.
 

dangermouse

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I think I'll edit the fight scene with Harry to where I initially had it - directly after the dream sequence. Gives more weight to his "jaunty" walk leading up to "I'll put dirt in your eye".
Dr Connors scene will then go - there's enough exposition in the phone call with him.
Comments?
 

zeppelinrox

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AvP said:
you should use AutoGK..its freeware.
Of course... all the programs I mentioned are freeware.
The successor to AutoGK is HDConvertToX, which I also mentioned, by the same author. It contains a couple of neat utilities like a bitrate calculator and stuff like that as well.
 

dangermouse

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I've installed AutoMKV - will play around with it this weekend. :)
 

eldiablosuizo

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Spider-Man 3: No Sandman Edition.

Plot: Peter Parker is on top of the world. He's got the love of his life and the love of the city he protects. In fact, things are a little too good for Spider-Man. While girlfriend Mary Jane's career falters, Peter becomes more and more confident, to the point where it starts hurting the ones he loves. On top of this, hotshot Edward Brock Jr. is vying for a position on the Bugle and old friend Harry Osborn is out for the head of Spider-Man. Just how the heck is Peter supposed to balance all this?

Image Quality: Viewing the mp4, the quality is very spotty. Sometimes, mainly during the quiet moments, the image is just fine, whereas in action scenes the picture become very blocky. 5/10

Audio Quality: On laptop speakers, sounds great. 9/10

Difference to the Original: What an accomplishment. Watching the film, I was thinking of how the editor was going to pull off the climax, what with the original having a giant sand monster. Typically, giant things are hard to cut around, or so I've been led to believe. These re-edited first 10 minutes work spectacularly as a set-up to a better film, yet we never get this. This is no fault of the editor, as he clearly worked with what he had. He just focused the film greatly and made me see that this film has no real theme, a difference between SM 3 versus 1 & 2.

While I can't say it makes for interesting viewing by enduring an hour of poor filmmaking to get to an incredible last 30 minutes, I implore people to seek out this edit just to see how superfluous Sandman really is. While I'm not entirely sure I agree with cutting the fight between black suit Spidey and Sandman, this is the no Sandman edition, and it works for the most part. Also, I was sad to see black suit Spidey be in what seemed to amount to ten minutes, but, since nothing else served the story, it was gone.

And he pulled off the climax. I'll ridicule things if they seem haphazard and cheap, and the re-cut climax of this film is neither of those things. By far, it's the most brilliant thing I've seen in a fanedit in a long, long, long, long time. Almost everything works.

There are nitpicks, such as a bit too many visual cross-fades and an unnecessary fade to black within the first ten, but this has definitely replaced the official Spider-Man 3. There could probably be some tightening, but I can't think of anything right now. Way to go. 7/10

Presentation: It was an mp4. Um...it was hard to unarchive, but I got it. 6/10

Entertainment Value: 7/10

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dangermouse

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Hey Eldiablosuizo, glad you enjoyed it! And thanks for the compliments. I'll upload a better quality MP4 and DVD I promise!
I still have a few more changes to make:
I'm going to put the fight with Harry directly after the dream sequence.
Cut the first Dr Connors scene.
Try to fix one or two audio glitches in the final battle.

Re the black suit Spidey - I thought about keeping the fight with Marko, just removing the sandman bits - but that wasn't possible. So, yes, most of black spidey had to go. :(

What's the fade to black in the first 10 minutes? I'll take it out if distracting, but I honestly can't remember putting it in - could be in the original? Could you give me the timestamp and I'll check it out.
When you speak of the "re-edited first 10 minutes" - do you mean the first 10 minutes of the fight, or first 10 minutes of the movie?
Because I didn't touch the first 10 minutes at all. :smile: My first cut comes exactly at 10 minutes.
Also re crossfades. Yup - I tried to minimize this, but sometimes the hard cuts were just way too hard. The movie also has a fair number of crossfades, which tells me that they were also struggling with editing a lumpy and spotty story.

*** BY the way - the current archive can ONLY be UNARCHIVED using 7ZIP. The program has a flaw which makes it impossible to unarchive with any other zip program. 7zip is free, so not a problem, but a pian in the ass (as eldiablosuizo can attest to!) ***
 

Gaith

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Another fan edit of SM3 (I forget the name, but it's in ITW somewhere) began with the crane disaster sequence. Especially if you were give a small credits shout-out to the editor (whose name I also forget), that could be a great way to open the movie. :)
 

dangermouse

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Gaith said:
Another fan edit of SM3 (I forget the name, but it's in ITW somewhere) began with the crane disaster sequence. Especially if you were give a small credits shout-out to the editor (whose name I also forget), that could be a great way to open the movie. :)

Yes, I did think about that - but I don't have another reason for Peter to suddenly leap out of the window when talking to MJ :lol:
 

dangermouse

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Oh yes - I also want to add in the line of dialogue "I need your help" - a the moment the scene between Harry and Pete is a little off. Harry's response is too sudden - a few beats too quick. So I'll see if I can't squeeze the line back in (was originally taken out because he says "I can't take both of them")
 

Gaith

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dangarratt said:
Yes, I did think about that - but I don't have another reason for Peter to suddenly leap out of the window when talking to MJ :lol:
Hm - I only saw the movie once in theaters - but maybe an added siren could serve that purpose? It could be neat to see one of Peter's instant departures from MJ's perspective for once... ?
 
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