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The Dark Crystal: The Great Conjunction - A Fanedit.org Original Series

reave

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Love the concept and that Netflix/FE bumper.
 

TM2YC

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DigModiFicaTion said:
@"TM2YC" I'll see if I can carve out some time to show how I made the shot.

Don't go to too much trouble on my account, I only meant in general terms. What program, technique, sources etc?

I did a test shot 4-years back of what was supposed to be Tatooine by dropping flat photographs/art I found on Google images into Vegas and animating them. It looked okay-ish but not as good as your shot:


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DigModiFicaTion

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It sounds like we did pretty much the same thing. The planet and symbols are images I found on google and the video is free stock footage. I think the video is what really sells the shot. I used Gimp to isolate the symbols and then used Vegas Pro to layer the files in the following way: (Top layer>bottom layer) Text>Symbols (separate layer for each)>Planet>Deepspace Nebula video. I used key framing to create the rotations and movements of the individual layers along with glow and fill light filters.

 

TM2YC

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So the rate of forward movement was set in the star-field stock footage. You did a superb job of replicating that movement with the planet element.
 

mnkykungfu

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TM2YC said:
Solemn.Philosopher said:
TM2YC said:
This would be perfect to watch before watching AoR. Hopefully you get to the idea before I get to AoR.

Just a heads up, Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is a prequel and takes place about 50 years before the original Dark Crystal film.

I never saw the original film as a kid, but I watched it many years ago in my college years. I remember not liking it much. It is cool from a technical standpoint but personally found it to have a sluggish narrative and bland main character.

Never-the-less, I revisited the film after finishing the Netflix series. The show does a great job enhancing the original film and I liked it much better knowing some additional backstory to the whole thing.

So with that in mind, it might be worth watching this edit or the original film after the new show.

Thanks for the info. I've not seen the original in years and don't own a copy currently (just got fond memories from childhood). I was planning on buying and watching the old film, or watching this fanedit first, or perhaps watching it after as you suggest. I think I want a refresher before seeing what they did technically with the new show. I also need to re-subscribe to Netflix at some point later in the year.

I'd respectfully disagree about the original film.  I won't say that any film is 100% "off-limits" to fan-editing, buuuuuut... The Dark Crystal is a stone cold classic.  Age of Resistance is indeed a prequel, and I'd suggest that you'll actually enjoy it more if you haven't seen the original.  AoR kind of falls apart in the end, because they are writing to a set point narratively (the original film) and there are actually things you'd like to see resolved that they have to come up with really hackey ways to not resolve, allowing them to be wrapped up in the movie.

It's a technically phenomenal series, with the plotting being the weakest part.  The expansion of the world and the beings in it (done largely by J.M. Lee in his series of prequel books) is great to see on-screen, and the sheer amount of talent working behind this series is amazing.

With the reception it's gotten, I wonder if they won't make a season 2, which I think would hook up narratively much better with the film.  Not to discourage you, Digmodification.  But maybe (hopefully) you'd end up making a version 2 later on!
 

DigModiFicaTion

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Well I decided that I should just finish this relatively small project. Currently rendering episode 1.Threw a poster together for it to celebrate.
poster-1.png
 

TomH1138

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I haven't seen AoR yet because I don't have Netflix (any word of that coming to DVD?). But I think an edit of The Dark Crystal  is a good idea in the first place, and to make it match up with the new series is a great reason to start! The original film is visually stunning and a great technical achievement, but IMO it suffers from a thin plot and bland lead characters. I don't know how much you can fix that, but shaving off a bit of running time should help a bit (and it sounds like you plan to do that).

Trevor Jones' score for the original movie is haunting and beautiful. I was going to ask why you didn't want to add some of his score to AoR instead of adding some AoR's score into the movie...and then I remembered that you're not editing AoR.  :D

One thing I respectfully request that you fix: At the beginning, Jen is playing his flute, and a narrator tells us that he tries to be happy, but he knows that his master is dying. But one scene later, the Mystic reveals to Jen that he's dying, and Jen says something like, "What? Dying? No!" as though he's learning that information for the first time. That continuity gaffe always bothered me. It would be great if you could remove one or the other. It's probably better to remove the narrator, as he doesn't really figure much in the rest of the movie (IIRC), but that might be harder to do if you can't get a clean audio channel without the narrator. Jen's might be easier to cut -- if, of course, you choose to cut it at all. It's your edit! :)
 

DigModiFicaTion

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Well, as is usual, life happened. Goal is to finish this this week and have it in before next Sunday.

Tom, I hadn't really noticed that about Jen. I'll look into it. The narrator will remain as AoR opens with Sigourney Weaver narrating. I think it's a good connection for the two. The edit is very light in terms of actually removing any scenes. There will be slight cuts at the beginning and during episode 1, but episode 2 is pretty much untouched. Both have color correction and sharpness applied to make them look more like AoR, but I just love most everything about this movie to really take anything out.
 

DigModiFicaTion

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And that's a wrap. Took me a few days to get the intro just right and the poster/logo (ocd?), but I'm pleased with the results now.

@"TomH1138" I reviewed the opening scene with Jen and I guess I interpreted that scene differently. It doesn't say directly that Jen knows his master is dying. It simply says that his pipe gives no comfort and that his master lays dying. I assume that he plays his pipe to give comfort/peace to those around him. I assume it's his connection with Thra as evident in the scene when he plays the pipe and the crystal is illuminated. I can see what you mean, but I'll be retaining the line.

I did dial back the sharpening as per TM2YC's feedback.

I'll be rendering episode 1 and will be uploading this today. Oh, I decided to change the name of the project to The Dark Crystal: The Great Conjunction. Hope everyone enjoys it.
 

TM2YC

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This is now on ifdb, thread moved.
 

DigModiFicaTion

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Sorry everyone. Been updating my internet service the past few days and with the festivities of the end of the year I haven't been able to get to any messages. There are 1080p and 720p options via Mega. I'll also be uploading a 1080p stream to google drive for those who prefer to stream the file.
 

TM2YC

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DigModiFicaTion said:
Sorry everyone. I've been on an mulled wine fueled bender for the past few days so I haven't been able to get to any messages.

Perfectly understandable.
 

DigModiFicaTion

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Now available to stream via dailymotion
[video=dailymotion]

[video=dailymotion]
Password: fanedit.org
 

TZLEDZEP22

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thank u for this wonderfull fanedit! i love the both 2 parts. really great.! please keep up the great and hard work.!!! thank u again.!!!!
 

morrigan

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I just left a long-overdue review for this edit on IFDB, but just wanted to throw in my personal thanks to the editor here, for this great edit. Thanks DigModiFicaTion!
 

DigModiFicaTion

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morrigan said:
I just left a long-overdue review for this edit on IFDB, but just wanted to throw in my personal thanks to the editor here, for this great edit. Thanks DigModiFicaTion!

Thanks you for your kind words and sharing how much you enjoyed the edit :)
 
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