The Man Who Knew Too Much: Second Scribbling Cut

[The Scribbling Man]

Just checked over my timeline and the main change during the taxidermy scene is that we don't have two Ambrose Chapels, just one. So no faffing about with the father and then the son, just straight to the son. So the scene cuts to the chase a bit more.

 

[mnkykungfu]

Cheers, I'm honored. I don't usually rewatch a film so soon, but I'll be happy to check out your new version of this when it's ready. (I'm still sitting on your Psychological Cut of The Haunting, hoping to unleash it on an unsuspecting co-viewer.)

 

[The Scribbling Man]

I'm already playing around with a potential rescore for the taxidermy scene - not a bad idea. Even though I've rendered my video, it'd be easy to re-render the audio if it works.

 

[The Scribbling Man]

@mnkykungfu Just whipped this up. Thoughts? It's a hacked up bit of North by North West with some filters on to sound a bit more in keeping with the audio from this film, and a couple of key 'grunts' isolated. If it's got legs I'll smooth it out and spend time doing foley work. also open to other suggestions for music if it's a bit too on the other end of the spectrum now.

 

[mnkykungfu]

Personally I think it has potential. In that clip, I think the close ups of the animal heads with the heightened music have the net effect of the scene feeling even more ridiculous. But clipping out the taxidermy close-ups/inserts could make it feel like an actual struggle, like "My son's life is in danger and these goons in this stupid shop are wasting my time!"

Right now, feels kind of like....

Like, you have guys who are really bad at something, in a silly context, but taking it seriously, then add dramatic music on top...

 

[The Scribbling Man]

Hmm. I wanted to avoid re-rendering the video I'll have a go at recutting it and see what you think. No issues with the music then? I wasn't sure if it was a bit too dramatic.

 

[mnkykungfu]

I think it's very heightened. If there's not much on screen that's incongruent with that, then it could work really well. Depends on how much you're willing to cut. If you want to be brutal and trim out all Hitch's little winks, then I could see it being very successful with this music.

 

[mnkykungfu]

For the record, I f'n LOVE Mr. Mom. That Chariots of Fire homage lives rent-free in my head. But I don't think that's the vibe you're going for with this film. lol

 

[The Scribbling Man]

I think it's very heightened. If there's not much on screen that's incongruent with that, then it could work really well. Depends on how much you're willing to cut. If you want to be brutal and trim out all Hitch's little winks, then I could see it being very successful with this music.

I'm not sure there's much there to cut. Removing the last shot of the lion, trimming getting the hand caught in the mouth and toning down Jimmy's response might be the best i can do. Tweaking the score around that maybe. I've also toyed with leading into the music more beforehand as he starts getting angry with the owner (not in the clip)

 

[mnkykungfu]

All those sound like good ideas to me.

 

[The Scribbling Man]

The problem with spending this much time with a film is you start to notice weird things in the original footage. i remember on my first go through there were some audio loops during marakesh, like background sounds that would repeat, and now I've detected another weird one when the Taxidermist is trying to calm Jimmy down. I thought it was an audio error of my own, but I just compared to the untouched footage. He says "no, no" very quickly and then again - it sounds like a loop or a glitch and now I can't unhear it. Not sure of an easy way of fixing it. Removing it just leaves us with a mouth and no audio.

Edit: it's not just me is it?

Rookie fanediting from Hitchcock.

 

[The Scribbling Man]

Youtube (for some strange reason) gives me a copyright strike on this rescore clip even though it hasn't on other clips with no rescoring. Precious vimeo space must be utilised.

Changes:

• We now we have some music as Jimmy gets riled up to better set the tone.
• Jimmy is quicker as he begins to shake off the men
• New music from North by Northwest - remixed and tweaked to be more generically thrilling and a little less 'exciting'
• Music is a clean stereo recording, so has been converted to mono and made to sound as old as the film
• Trimmed Jimmy getting his hand caught
• re-timed Jimmy's yelp
• Cut shot of Lion head
• Cut 'Jo' from when the guest in the next scene speaks (to avoid the old score bleed)
• Foley pulled from elsewhere in the film, freesound, and Double Indemnity for slamming door, feet, misc shuffling noises

 

[mnkykungfu]

I think it's better. Two things stood out to me.
Firstly, the music intros, and that's great, but then kind of dies off and still comes in suddenly. For me, it would work better as a more obvious ramp up. Does that make sense?
Secondly, there's still a close-up inserted of the hand just sitting in a taxidermy mouth, as if that's some kind of restraint, and then Stewart yelling "ow". It's still ridiculous. For me, you could probably overlook it without the closeup (maybe would need another shot there instead?) but with that closeup, it's patently silly. It's obvious that there's no way Stewart's hand is somehow "caught" in that big mouth, so it's just a gag.

 

[mnkykungfu]

And yeah, I've sometimes commented on a faneditor's work that there was a rough spot or clunky transition, only for them to go back and find it was in the original film, not theirs. It's funny the things that an audience doesn't notice.... until you're specifically looking for them.

 

[The Scribbling Man]

Yeah, limited control on the music. Will see what I can do. Any suggestions for samples are welcome. Of course, the original is very abrupt as well when it comes in.

I don't mind the close shot. It would be difficult to remove, but it may be possible to patch it up with AI depending on how similar the jump between frames is. Will take another look.

 

[daedal]

This conversation has been trimmed down with a couple of cheeky edits. Just wanting to check it flows ok:

Also, I've decided to call the edit "Second Scribbling Cut" as it's a sort of second option to my original "Scribbling Cut". I don't think trims will get this down to an hour for a Hitchock presents style edit either. I think it's likely to come in just under or around the 80 minute mark.

Im sorry if this is a late remark, but I only recently read this thread. I dont know this movie but I'm pretty sure the jump cut at 47 second is not from the original. It feels weird but I dont know what to suggest to make it better! Another reaction shot of the female character would be weird cause there is already one shortly after, and a reaction shot of the interrogator would not work either because he is talking... The dialogue seems already pretty tight... I guess it would be haed to cut it even shorter?

 

[The Scribbling Man]

Im sorry if this is a late remark, but I only recently read this thread.

No worries! I think I have revisited that scene since then, but I'll double check. I did consider the edit done, but since I'm now revisiting the taxidermy scene, it's a good time to be hearing any other feedback.

 

[The Scribbling Man]

Firstly, the music intros, and that's great, but then kind of dies off and still comes in suddenly. For me, it would work better as a more obvious ramp up. Does that make sense?
Secondly, there's still a close-up inserted of the hand just sitting in a taxidermy mouth, as if that's some kind of restraint, and then Stewart yelling "ow". It's still ridiculous. For me, you could probably overlook it without the closeup (maybe would need another shot there instead?) but with that closeup, it's patently silly. It's obvious that there's no way Stewart's hand is somehow "caught" in that big mouth, so it's just a gag.

Ok, so this was more doable than I thought and I'll have something to show soon. I thought that the insert of the lions mouth was sandwhiched between the same shot, but it's not. A hard cut to the next shot actually works just fine. I've removed jimmy's yelp but need to find a fitting replacement. I've worked on building up the score but now it is a proper patchwork lol. I've isolated hits from the music to have full control and using reverb to simulate room sound when they cut off. So we have the drone louden rather than fade out, and then there are some hits over the top to smooth us into when the music properly comes in. i've also swapped sections around to see if that works a bit better as well.

Im sorry if this is a late remark, but I only recently read this thread. I dont know this movie but I'm pretty sure the jump cut at 47 second is not from the original. It feels weird but I dont know what to suggest to make it better! Another reaction shot of the female character would be weird cause there is already one shortly after, and a reaction shot of the interrogator would not work either because he is talking... The dialogue seems already pretty tight... I guess it would be haed to cut it even shorter?

[cry emoji]. You spotted a cut and it's still there and it's damn hard to fix. But you were RIGHT to do so. I will make it through this... somehow. Still, there were a lot of awkward cuts there so I'm glad the rest seems natural.

 

[mnkykungfu]

Ok, so this was more doable than I thought and I'll have something to show soon. I thought that the insert of the lions mouth was sandwhiched between the same shot, but it's not. A hard cut to the next shot actually works just fine. I've removed jimmy's yelp but need to find a fitting replacement. I've worked on building up the score but now it is a proper patchwork lol. I've isolated hits from the music to have full control and using reverb to simulate room sound when they cut off. So we have the drone louden rather than fade out, and then there are some hits over the top to smooth us into when the music properly comes in. i've also swapped sections around to see if that works a bit better as well.

Wow, this sounds like a lot of detail-oriented work! Sounds great, though. I actually suspect the "yelp" might be okay as long as we only see the wide shot, because it's right into the action after that. I mean, it's conceivable that Stewart is getting manhandled and hurt a bit by the stuffed animals...as long as we don't get a close-up shot showing that he clearly isn't. lol

[cry emoji]. You spotted a cut and it's still there and it's damn hard to fix. But you were RIGHT to do so. I will make it through this... somehow. Still, there were a lot of awkward cuts there so I'm glad the rest seems natural.

It's funny, this kind of thing is literally exactly what's being discussed over in the IFDB Quality Control thread. I mean, here you are, an experienced editor, intimately familiar with the material, and no one would expect that you need someone to preview your work and catch flubs. But things can even slip by you. Just having an extra pair of eyes and ears to give a fresh look to something can be super helpful before an edit gets posted.

 

[The Scribbling Man]

It's funny, this kind of thing is literally exactly what's being discussed over in the IFDB Quality Control thread. I mean, here you are, an experienced editor, intimately familiar with the material, and no one would expect that you need someone to preview your work and catch flubs. But things can even slip by you. Just having an extra pair of eyes and ears to give a fresh look to something can be super helpful before an edit gets posted.

Fanediting is a very challenging hobby, and there are always new challenges that present themselves. And no matter how experienced we are, it's very easy to become over familiar with the material and lose perspective. We all need input from others if we are to be the best we can be.