• Most new users don't bother reading our rules. Here's the one that is ignored almost immediately upon signup: DO NOT ASK FOR FANEDIT LINKS PUBLICLY. First, read the FAQ. Seriously. What you want is there. You can also send a message to the editor. If that doesn't work THEN post in the Trade & Request forum. Anywhere else and it will be deleted and an infraction will be issued.
  • If this is your first time here please read our FAQ and Rules pages. They have some useful information that will get us all off on the right foot, especially our Own the Source rule. If you do not understand any of these rules send a private message to one of our staff for further details.
  • Please read our Rules & Guidelines

Star Trek Generations: Possessed

Possessed

Well-known member
Faneditor
Messages
1,445
Reaction score
341
Trophy Points
103
I'm working on a somewhat light edit of Star Trek: Generations.

This isn't going to be an edit to save it for people that hate it. If you absolutely despise it to its core, this isn't for you.

But it may be for you if you are "meh" on it.

Most of the changes will just involve trimming down excessive Data humor, while keeping it when it works. As well as tightening the pace and removing sequences that don't contribute anything and slow the movie down. Nothing radical, this isn't Kirkless Generations... it's Generations but more focused, more intense, and with a faster pace inspired by First Contact.

Also removing the horrible and obvious cyan hue that was artificially added for the blu ray release to bring it closer to the original tone. Thankfully they seem to have added the tone universally so removing wasn't hard and didn't require an extensive shot by shot correction.

Release will be, as usual for me, a 1080p full bluray and a 720p mp4. Both using a 2.0 dolby surround/pro logic compatible sound mix sourced from the lossless 6 channel track on the Blu-ray and properly matrixed into a dolby surround that will sound great both in stereo and surround.
 
Last edited:

Possessed

Well-known member
Faneditor
Messages
1,445
Reaction score
341
Trophy Points
103
RIP Mr. Tricorder!
Ha... probably. But i haven't decided which data moments I'm removing or keeping yet. I don't really have a problem with any of them in and of themselves, it's just that there's too much of them. So it'll come down to which of them is easiest to remove while keeping the pacing and continuity smooth and such. But yeah that one was a bit much so there's a good chance I'll try to remove it.

Data going "Ohhhhh Shit" is absolutely remaining though and i will not budge on that. I lol every time.
 

Zarius

Well-known member
Faneditor
Messages
7,019
Reaction score
862
Trophy Points
153
Ha... probably. But i haven't decided which data moments I'm removing or keeping yet. I don't really have a problem with any of them in and of themselves, it's just that there's too much of them. So it'll come down to which of them is easiest to remove while keeping the pacing and continuity smooth and such. But yeah that one was a bit much so there's a good chance I'll try to remove it.
Maybe a fair compromise would be to keep Mr. Tricorder but cut the hysteric fit Data has.
 

Possessed

Well-known member
Faneditor
Messages
1,445
Reaction score
341
Trophy Points
103
I'm definitely cutting the bit where he begs them not to hurt me. I have a note in my phone that i came up with while watching it a couple weeks ago with a list of things to possibly cut if possible, it's just a matter of keeping it balanced and what can be cut without "feeling" like it's been edited. I've always been in the camp of wanting my edits to feel like a cohesive movie that could have been the real release.
 

The Warlord

Well-known member
Faneditor
Messages
355
Reaction score
69
Trophy Points
43
Sounds like a good edit!

You could - if you wished - truncate the "life forms" song, so that you only use the first two lines, but still have Riker's reaction. This is if you didn't want the whole moment.
 

Jrzag42

Well-known member
Faneditor
Messages
3,997
Reaction score
1,016
Trophy Points
138
Oh shell yeah! Are you planning on doing the other Next Gen movies eventually?
 

Zarius

Well-known member
Faneditor
Messages
7,019
Reaction score
862
Trophy Points
153
I'm definitely cutting the bit where he begs them not to hurt me.
Doing that would perhaps minimise the conversation he has with Picard in Steller cartography correct?
 

Possessed

Well-known member
Faneditor
Messages
1,445
Reaction score
341
Trophy Points
103
Well I'm not going to cut him having a panic attack, just the begging.
 

Possessed

Well-known member
Faneditor
Messages
1,445
Reaction score
341
Trophy Points
103
Sorry for no updates in a while. Haven't been in much of an editing mood lately. Plus i don't have a laptop anymore and I've always preferred editing on my laptop to desktop just for comfort reasons, as my desktop set up is much more geared toward music production (including the recording of musical instruments), and comfort isn't really a priority on it lol.

Anyway, having already finished the pre production (color grade and sound processing and such) I have finally started the actual editing. Tackled the opening sequence. I uh... unfortunately wasn't really able to do much with it. Which I can live with, it's a pretty good opening, if a bit slow. But I had really hoped to reduce the techno babble with regards to their attempts to save the starships in distress. But, sadly, it's just so baked in that i couldn't figure out a way to cut any of it. Script wise I can absolutely think of several lines of it that could be cut and still be perfectly coherent... but unfortunately the way the footage was shot and sequenced it's just so ingrained into it that I don't think it's possible to execute it.

Oh well, it's not the end of the world i guess. Here's hoping I have better luck reducing it the other few times it comes up in the film. And perhaps now that I know I'm stuck with that stuff, i can make another pass at the rest of the sequence and see if I can tighten up the pace a little in other ways. But if I can't, ah well. It's still a decent opening.
 

Possessed

Well-known member
Faneditor
Messages
1,445
Reaction score
341
Trophy Points
103
Sorry that updates and progress on this have been slow. Really the hold up is my laptop getting broken. I already have my sources prepped and ready (color adjustment, sound mix set up etc) on my desktop, but my desktop is primarily geared for music production. Meaning comfort and... You know sitting in a comfortable chair and using the computer are a low priority. 75% of the time when I use I'm wielding a guitar or mixing/mastering with a big sound system (Meaning I do a lot of walking between the console and the optimal standing position with the speakers to see how things are sounding) so it's really not a set up geared for comfort.

I made my ANH edit with this setup... But I don't aim to repeat that experience. I usually edit leisurely while lounging on the couch or even in bed on a laptop with comfortable studio headphones. I'm too spoiled and that's what I'm used to. So basically I'm not doing much editing until I can replace the laptop.

That's not to say this should be moved to inactive or anything because getting said new laptop is a priority now that I'm back to work from a health related leave so I should hopefully be back in the fanediting saddle again very soon.
 

Possessed

Well-known member
Faneditor
Messages
1,445
Reaction score
341
Trophy Points
103
So work on this has started again and is going promising now! After almost a month of not looking or thinking about it and coming at it with a fresh mind, I can say I was wrong in my previous statement, and I found ways to improve the opening. Far less techno babble (there is still a little, it's star trek after all...) and a quicker pace. The opening sequence is about 2 minutes shorter now, which doesn't sound like much but it's two minutes of just a few seconds here and there. Not that I was cutting things just for the sake of cutting them, but I really wanted to liven up the pacing of it so you aren't just "alright let's get to the tng crew already" and also remove the heavy science babble to make it more of a rounded film that isn't just for star trek fans. That stuff may not be a big deal for trekkies (of which I am one!) and in the TV series it flies no problem... But this is a movie. It's supposed to be cinematic and it's a big franchise film, so it would do well to have a bit broader of an appeal. All the great star trek movies did this after all. Even wrath of Kahn did it. I'm not talking removing the Sci fi until it isn't star trek anymore, just streamlining it a bit to make it more exciting and cinematic, and less bogged down.

I already knew I wanted to do this to the opening (and a few other parts of the film as well) but couldn't figure out how to do so while still keeping the pacing smooth and feeling like a complete finished movie that isn't chopped up.

Somewhat ironically, the key to achieving this had nothing to do with that. It was removing the whole 'humorous' (if you can call it that) "It won't arrive until Tuesday" gag throughout the sequence. I never had a HUGE problem with that, but it did somewhat annoy me. So I decided, if only as an exercise, to try removing it smoothly just to give myself a feel for the pacing and editing flow of this film so that I may replicate it, even if I ended up reverting the change later. But then it was like a light bulb went off in my head and it snowball ed. Without that gag there, then you no longer need this other line backing it up or explaining it. Then that makes this line redundant. Then realizing maybe they don't even really need to be talking about this at all, just let it happen and cut to the next thing that happens. I mean, they were caught off guard by a surprising event that is supposed to be unpredictable. Maybe not everything that happens needs a paragraph of things explaining it? Just let the things happen and keep only their reactions to it. This makes it more exciting, and also makes the new captain much more likeable and removes him seeming so cowardly.

Now I didn't come at it with a meat cleaver, it's not hacked to pieces and the pace is still smooth because I never want it to not feel like a film. It's just a number of small trims and re arranging that add up to a much more captivating opening.

As an example, probably the most drastic edit is the following (very paraphrased due to memory but you get the idea) exchange:

Scott:I have a theory.
Kirk: I thought you might.
Scotty: An antimatter discharge directly ahead might disrupt the field and let us peace out girl scouts
Kirk: Proton torpedoes!
Sulu: We don't have any torpedoes...
K: don't tell me... Tuesday?
S: captain, it may be possible to simulate a torpedo blast, using a resonance burst from the main deflector dish!
K:where are the deflector relays

Being re arranged and cut into:

S: I have a theory.
K: I thought you might.
S: Using a resonance burst from the main deflector dish, an antimatter discharge directly ahead may disrupt the field etc...

That's not the exact wording but that's basically how it plays it. Still feels like trek but isn't so bogged down and babbly and feels more like an exciting movie. I've already executed this and luckily the inflections of Scotty's voice was hey forgiving to the dialog editing and still feels natural.
 
Last edited:

The Warlord

Well-known member
Faneditor
Messages
355
Reaction score
69
Trophy Points
43
I don't know whether it's worth considering or not, but the opening to the Generations PC game has a very short version of the Enterprise B stuff to set up the game. Obviously the footage itself couldn't be used due to lower quality, but I could try and capture the video file and send across, if you wanted to really just sum up the TOS stuff and focus on the TNG crew, and use the video as a base.
 

The Warlord

Well-known member
Faneditor
Messages
355
Reaction score
69
Trophy Points
43
I'll try and rip it. That game is a nightmare on modern systems, but someone did manage to get it to work, so it's just a case of extracting it.
 

Possessed

Well-known member
Faneditor
Messages
1,445
Reaction score
341
Trophy Points
103
I think I'm happy with how I have it cut down, however I'll still take it. Never know, maybe I'll like it more
 

The Warlord

Well-known member
Faneditor
Messages
355
Reaction score
69
Trophy Points
43
Sorry guys, my bad. Completely forgot about this. I will try and get the file sorted over the weekend
 

Possessed

Well-known member
Faneditor
Messages
1,445
Reaction score
341
Trophy Points
103
No worries or rush. I'm really sick right now and won't be editing for at least several days.
 

Jrzag42

Well-known member
Faneditor
Messages
3,997
Reaction score
1,016
Trophy Points
138
I don't know whether it's worth considering or not, but the opening to the Generations PC game has a very short version of the Enterprise B stuff to set up the game. Obviously the footage itself couldn't be used due to lower quality, but I could try and capture the video file and send across, if you wanted to really just sum up the TOS stuff and focus on the TNG crew, and use the video as a base.
Is this it? (first 3 minutes)
If it is, not sure how well the narration would fit in an actual edit of the film, and I don't think the scenes used would work without the narration without more context. It is really interesting to see though.
 
Top Bottom