The Mist - Dad Friendly Edition

[JasonFlippy]

POSTER CREDIT TO @ArtisDead. They actually made 4 posters for me and we both decided this was the winner, hands down awesome work. Thank you!

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After having my soul crushed again by The Mist as I reviewed @krausfadr's edit, I got to thinking that it wouldn't be too hard to completely remove Billy from the equation. Many many of the scenes with Billy are complete asides from the rest of the cast, and he isn't present during much of the action. I'd say I'm about 1/4th done with it, it actually moves pretty quickly, and the final product should be about 90 100 mins. Plus then when I'm done I can watch a fun monster movie without feeling like a big bag of human garbage afterwards haha

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First/Final Draft Completed!

Reveal message: Change List (450+ Different Cuts!!!)

REMOVED: 100+ individual shots of Billy
REMOVED: 25+ spoken references to Billy
Movie length: Minus ~30 minutes

--Other Noteable Changes--
Extended: Title Card by 5 seconds to fill space
AI Erased: Billy from the boathouse scene (fun!)
Overlaid: "Mist on the lake" convo to tighten the scene
Removed: Man saying "That was an earthquake." (duh)
Removed: Introduction sequences for several characters
Shortened: The fight after Norm's death by 61 seconds
Shortened: Mrs. Carmody's first long speech by 40 seconds
Removed: David talking to the Military Trio about helping out
Removed: Sally and Private Jessup's entire backstory (drags)
Moved: Amanda saying "oh my God" to *after* she can see the bloody rope
Removed: Two really bad CGI shots of the flying monster eating
Removed: Mrs. Carmody not getting stung by the bug
Removed: David overly beating the dead burning monster
Added Music: "Tense Horror Background - UNIVERSFIELD"
Removed: David grabbing a comic book in the pharmacy
Removed: Mrs. Carmody choking Private Jessup (come on now)
Reordered: Exiting the store and escaping to the car
AI Erased: Billy from David's arms while outside
Created: An entirely new bleak ending to keep the original tone
Removed: Everything to do with the military saving the day

I also created an Alternate Ending where

Reveal message: Alternate Ending Spoiler

David also shoots everyone in the car and then himself.

Roll Credits. I thought that since a lot of people think the Military Ending is a bit cheesy, I would offer up another option.

I should call this movie Death By 500 Cuts haha here's an example of a 10-min section of editing, containing roughly 100 slices:

And an example of a visual edit I put together using AI to remove the kid from a pivotal scene:

Thanks to everyone for commenting thoughts and suggestions and for keeping the discussion fun, and to @ArtisDead for the awesome poster

 

[That One Guy]

Interesting idea! I've always seen The Mist as being about the humans-as-monsters (both the original story and the film), so the idea of reframing it like this sounds quite adventurous!

Are you planning to make any other changes to the film (e.g. rescoring, regrading) to change the tone?

 

[JasonFlippy]

I think I'm going to have to do some messing with the soundtrack to cover up the cuts, and krausfadr did such a good job regrading it that I'll need to try a little at least. My main goal is to turn this story into David vs Mrs Carmody, so however I can do that.

 

[Bobson Dugnutt]

Watched this the other night actually, massively prefer the B/W version of it too! Really fits the atmosphere that the film creates.

I think Billy is mostly useless except as an extention of David's own character, as a device for him to try and do good, and create a safe situation within the store. having Billy in the film, makes that ending all that much better too. I really think it would suffer without him in the car at the end. No spoilers about the specifics though, love keeping it under wraps until someone experiences it themselves.

 

[groovefunkel]

Great film. Kids often ruin what are otherwise great films. Anxious to see this!

 

[JasonFlippy]

Great film. Kids often ruin what are otherwise great films. Anxious to see this!

Lol I don't know if he ruined it in the way you're thinking. I'm a dad now to two boys so watching this movie is absolutely heartbreaking for me. I just can't handle it.

 

[JasonFlippy]

Massively prefer the B/W version of it too

Interesting! I will release a B&W version as well.

I think Billy is mostly useless except as an extention of David's own character... Having Billy in the film, makes that ending all that much better too.

Those are definitely good points. Maybe I'll rename this the "Dad Friendly Version" because I can't emotionally handle watching it the way it is.

 

[That One Guy]

I rewatched the B&W version of the film yesterday (I'm another person who much prefers it to the colour version) as this thread got me thinking about it. I think Billy isn't really a character that we get to know much, but his purpose in terms of the narrative is to represent the vulnerable who are dependent on social cohesion for their survival - so that when things start to deteriorate and Mrs Carmody starts to accumulate followers, there's a clear sense of who is in danger.

If anything David is a bit too much of a hero figure in the film, in that we see people asking for his advice on topics where it's clear he has no idea (why would a professional artist be the person to speak to about treating someone's injuries instead of e.g. anyone with first aid training?). To some extent because the film sticks closely to his perspective it's an understandable contrivance to then have him be part of the group who e.g. go to the pharmacy, but it's a nagging little thing.

One thing I would like to see gone, if possible, is

Reveal message: minor spoiler

Mrs Carmody having one of the locust-bugs land on her, then fly off leaving her unharmed. It felt like it was meant as a sort of "maybe it is the work of God after all" moment, but given everything else in the film just feels contrived, out of place and clunky.

 

[JasonFlippy]

Very interesting point about the bug! It does seem unnecessary right? Like she's already a zealot and doesn't actually gain or lose anything from that incident.

Maybe if other people had seen it it would make sense, it would raise her status, but you're totally right in saying that the way it is now is silly.

YOU GOT IT, IT'S CHOPPED haha

 

[JasonFlippy]

Oh and you're right that it's a bit weird about David being the go-to guy, but I think that's because he's buff, handsome, pretty confident, and clearly also "woodworking, rough hands" kinda guy. In a way he attracts people to him the way Mrs Carmody does, which creates that air of Us v Them.

 

[JasonFlippy]

I was deeply inspired by @DonkeyKonga's editing work on his Indiana Jones Crystal Skull, and rather than work around it I decided to do some VFX of my own.

So I really needed this boathouse scene for the plot to continue BUT the kid is standing like SMACK right in the middle of it, but the good news is he was just standing there, barely moving. SO
1 - I took a frame from the scene
2 - Dropped it in Photoshop, where I erased the kid using Generative AI and the key phrase "nearby ground"
3 - In Premiere I applied the Effect "Warp Stabilizer" with "No Motion" / "Stabilize, Crop, Auto-Scale" selected to the Boathouse scene
4 - Overlaid just enough of the AI image to cover the kid, and hand-lined it up
And here's the result!

Sort of a mini-tutorial for anyone who wants to try removing "non-moving background stuff"

VERY SATISFYING when these things work out view full-screen for best results!

 

[DonkeyKonga]

I was deeply inspired by @DonkeyKonga's editing work on his Indiana Jones Crystal Skull, and rather than work around it I decided to do some VFX of my own.

So I really needed this boathouse scene for the plot to continue BUT the kid is standing like SMACK right in the middle of it, but the good news is he was just standing there, barely moving. SO
1 - I took a frame from the scene
2 - Dropped it in Photoshop, where I erased the kid using Generative AI and the key phrase "nearby ground"
3 - In Premiere I applied the Effect "Warp Stabilizer" with "No Motion" / "Stabilize, Crop, Auto-Scale" selected to the Boathouse scene
4 - Overlaid just enough of the AI image to cover the kid, and hand-lined it up
And here's the result!

Sort of a mini-tutorial for anyone who wants to try removing "non-moving background stuff"

VERY SATISFYING when these things work out view full-screen for best results!

That is some mighty fine work! No way anyone will notice that it's edited!

 

[That One Guy]

That is some very nice work!

 

[JasonFlippy]

Are you planning to make any other changes to the film (e.g. rescoring, regrading) to change the tone?

I also think I'll release it in black and white, since I see a fair amount of praise for that version of the movie.

And thank you guys @DonkeyKonga and @That One Guy, I really appreciate the compliments!

 

[ArtisDead]

That is the long way around but it worked out damn fine! Excellent work, Flippy!

 

[DonkeyKonga]

I also think I'll release it in black and white, since I see a fair amount of praise for that version of the movie.

And thank you guys @DonkeyKonga and @That One Guy, I really appreciate the compliments!

Heck man that looks better than anything I could come up with probably. Never used ai tools before and shows how useful they are!

 

[JasonFlippy]

That is the long way around but it worked out damn fine! Excellent work, Flippy!

haha oh really?? I thought it was pretty quick, what's the fast way! I'm dying to expand my skillset

 

[JasonFlippy]

I can't believe I thought this was gonna be an easy project. I think I'm at well over 500 individual clips/cuts...

Look at this 10 minute section towards the middle of the movie:

I'd cry if I wasn't almost done haha

 

[ArtisDead]

I can't believe I thought this was gonna be an easy project. I think I'm at well over 500 individual clips/cuts...

Look at this 10 minute section towards the middle of the movie:

I'd cry if I wasn't almost done haha

Damn! I'm crying for you!

 

[JasonFlippy]

Updated the main post with an awesome new poster from @ArtisDead, my change list, and some fun media. Trailer and submission coming soon!