"The Thing" from 1951

[TM2YC]

I had a go at making some intro titles, inspired by the 1951 titles, the 1982 titles and the Universal logo. It's a VERY rough test but if you're interested in the concept, I could spend some more time making it better.

 

[The Scribbling Man]

I had a go at making some intro titles, inspired by the 1951 titles, the 1982 titles and the Universal logo. It's a VERY rough test but if you're interested in the concept, I could spend some more time making it better.

Oh wow, thank you! That's awesome   Where's the footage of the saucer from?

Titles are a weak spot for me, so this is incredibly helpful, and would lead nicely into my opening credits. I'm planning to mirror the original by placing text over the scenic shots at the beginning of Carpenter version. This is from a quick go I had a while back:

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[TM2YC]

The saucer, the planet etc were greenscreen stuff found on youtube/google. I'll work on it some more if you like it. I had the same thought about using the opening 1982 snow shots to replicate the 1951 style credits.

Would you want the big title to be simply "The Thing" like I've got it now, or "The Thing (Subtitle: From 1951)" in the 1951 style. The 1951 credits say "Howard Hawks' Production" before the main title, so it could be changed to "John Carpenter Presents" or something.

 

[The Scribbling Man]

The saucer, the planet etc were greenscreen stuff found on youtube/google. I'll work on it some more if you like it.

That would be great! Thank you
 

Would you want the big title to be simply "The Thing" like I've got it now, or "The Thing (Subtitle: From 1951)" in the 1951 style. The 1951 credits say "Howard Hawks' Production" before the main title, so it could be changed to "John Carpenter Presents" or something.

 

I'm thinking either:

1. "John Carpenter's" (followed by) THE THING (subtitle: From 1951)
or 
2. "John Carpenter Presents" (followed by) THE THING (no subtitle)

In my head it feels weird to have "John Carpenter Presents" and then the full title of the edit, as it feels like he's presenting the edit not the film (if that makes sense). I'm not sure which of those two options would be more fitting, but I'd be happy with either. Feel free to pick whichever one you think would look best. 
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I had the same thought about using the opening 1982 snow shots to replicate the 1951 style credits.

At the moment I literally have them over the top of the scenic shots as the helicopter approaches in the distance, and then it transitions into the film when we get a close shot of the pilot in the helicopter - I'm not sure if that works/is 50's enough. If not I might just have to pick stills from the opening shots and use those, then fade out and fade into the action. The original's credits have an animated blizzard over still images though, so I thought moving shots might still work ok. I might try both and upload 2 versions for feedback.

 

[Plissken1138]

a few pan&scan suggestions for kennel clip above if I may:

nudge this shot a bit to the right, about third or half the width of visible door frame here

this dolly shot of the thing entering the kennel starts fine, establishing the space and other dogs,
but needs to pan to the right of the frame while dollying so at least two thirds of the thing are visible at the end

>

nudge this shot of the thing spraying the dog to the right also,
about half way through wooden pillar width,
so a bit more of the thing is visible

there's the similar shot before this one, just the dog biting the fence, maybe nudge that one also.

 

[The Scribbling Man]

The saucer, the planet etc were greenscreen stuff found on youtube/google. I'll work on it some more if you like it.

That would be great! Thank you
 

Would you want the big title to be simply "The Thing" like I've got it now, or "The Thing (Subtitle: From 1951)" in the 1951 style. The 1951 credits say "Howard Hawks' Production" before the main title, so it could be changed to "John Carpenter Presents" or something.

 

Hmm. I'm not 100% on what would be most fitting, but I think I'd lean towards:

"John Carpenter Presents" (followed by) THE THING (subtitle: From 1951)​

I had the same thought about using the opening 1982 snow shots to replicate the 1951 style credits.

At the moment I literally have them over the top of the scenic shots as the helicopter approaches in the distance, and then it transitions into the film when we get a close shot of the pilot in the helicopter - I'm not sure if that works/is 50's enough. If not I might just have to pick stills from the opening shots and use those, then fade out and fade into the action. The original's credits have an animated blizzard over still images though, so I thought moving shots might still work ok. I might try both and upload 2 versions for feedback.
_____

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a few pan&scan suggestions for kennel clip above if I may:

@"Plissken1138" you may! Thank you for the feedback. I will take another crack at those shots you mentioned.

In regards to the shot where the dog is being sprayed, I originally had it more to the right, but it looked awkward to me due to the dog leaping so close to the left. I will see if there's a happy medium though.

 

[Plissken1138]

 it looked awkward to me due to the dog leaping so close to the left

won't be a problem, the dog doesn't cross over vertical wooden pillar, so the pillar itself can be on the edge of the frame. there is another cut you can do there - the dog jolting to left and back is repeated from alternate angle two cuts later, after the front shot of the thing spraying, so you can shorten the first shot before the dog jolts, just a few frames after the goo hits it on the snout.

there's another... well, thing that jumped out to me, in the first shot of the legs growing from the thing, which pretty much utilized the width of 2.39 AR, you did a very fast cut to left and then to the right of the frame, which seems counterintuitive if you wanna emulate the feel of 50's cutting pace. try just leaving the whole shot centered, because in the following shot we will see legs protruding from the right side in detail.

you've done wonderful panning in the pool room opening shot and bennings/clark two-shot, btw.

 

[The Scribbling Man]

 it looked awkward to me due to the dog leaping so close to the left

won't be a problem, the dog doesn't cross over vertical wooden pillar, so the pillar itself can be on the edge of the frame. there is another cut you can do there - the dog jolting to left and back is repeated from alternate angle two cuts later, after the front shot of the thing spraying, so you can shorten the first shot before the dog jolts, just a few frames after the goo hits it on the snout.

there's another... well, thing that jumped out to me, in the first shot of the legs growing from the thing, which pretty much utilized the width of 2.39 AR, you did a very fast cut to left and then to the right of the frame, which seems counterintuitive if you wanna emulate the feel of 50's cutting pace. try just leaving the whole shot centered, because in the following shot we will see legs protruding from the right side in detail.

you've done wonderful panning in the pool room opening shot and bennings/clark two-shot, btw.

Thanks. I'm new to this sort of thing, so it's hard to know sometimes whether to go by the rule of thirds or just keep things central.

As for the fast cuts of the thing's legs, this was because the central shot looked obviously cropped to me and I felt blocked what was happening too much, so I created two shots of each side to convey it - though as you say it does mean the shots are now a bit quickfire for 50's. I can maybe upload a version that's just central for comparison and see what people think works best.

 

[Plissken1138]

see here another possible solution

pass: thingthing

 

[The Scribbling Man]

@"Plissken1138" how's this? I tweaked a couple of other moments you didn't mention that were bothering me also. Given that nearly half the screen is being cut out, I think its unnavoidable that some shots are gonna be a bit claustrophobic, but hopefully this is a bit better. 

Ignore the flash frame that occurs early on. It's just vegas being buggy.

 

[The Scribbling Man]

Does anyone know if there was ever a full soundtrack released for It Came From Outer Space? All I can find is a single theme found on this compilation: https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/album/original-sci-fi-film-themes-various-artists/i17xijmmbfula

I think the piece on there could fit the next part of the dog scene really well (especially as its in the same key as the 50's Thing score), but it'd be nice to get hold of the complete soundtrack. What's there is less than 2 minutes in length.

 

[Plissken1138]

looks excellent!


edit:
regarding the It Came From Outer Space, there's this release https://www.discogs.com/Various-Monstrous-Movie-Music/release/2081117

 

[The Scribbling Man]

@"TM2YC" - Do these sfx work better for you?

 

[TM2YC]

^ Seamless. I like it!

Co-incidentally, I was just looking at the Arrow Academy blu-ray for Fritz Lang's 1948 film 'Secret Beyond the Door' and it's got a really nice clean 1080p version of the Universal logo. It'll be a great reference for recreating the look.

 

[The Scribbling Man]

^ Seamless. I like it!

Co-incidentally, I was just looking at the Arrow Academy blu-ray for Fritz Lang's 1948 film 'Secret Beyond the Door' and it's got a really nice clean 1080p version of the Universal logo. It'll be a great reference for recreating the look.

The Wolfman remake is another option as well. The extended cut opens the film with the classic universal logo, I believe.

 

[Dawnrazor]

Yes it does!
This is the logo from Wolfman remake!

 

[TM2YC]

Yes it does!
This is the logo from Wolfman remake!

That's really cool, makes me want to see that film on the strength of the logo alone . Although it's styled on the 20/30s logo, rather than 40s/50s.

 

[The Scribbling Man]

Although it's styled on the 20/30s logo, rather than 40s/50s.

 This is a neat little video showing the chronology of the logo:

If this is accurate, then it looks like that early one was used until 1946, so it was the correct logo to reference The Wolfman (1941). But you're right, it's earlier than the one that would have been used in the 50's it seems. Probably for the best, as the 50's logo lends itself much better to your concept for the edit titles.

 

[The Scribbling Man]

Here's the second half of the dog transformation.

Some info on what's been done (from memory):

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• Any cursing has been cut. Eg. "Damn it" (Childs) "It's weird and pissed off, whatever it is"/"Damn it, Childs, torch it!"/"Get your ass over here"
• We no longer see the dog get shot, but cut away just before and instead have Clark go crazy after Mac fires his gun. 
• During much of the re-scoring I've heavily EQ'd out lows and mids in order to get rid of the synth, so the audio sounds a bit weak. Therefore I've let the dialogue spike through with a little less aggressive EQ and added some SFX for things like footsteps/shuffling in order to give the audio some weight back. 
• The Thing's POV shot @ 2:26 is already quite 50's-esque IMO, but I've added a bit of round haze to aid that feel. It reminded me of how "It" is portrayed in "It Came From Outer Space" (see vid at 1:42: 
   ). I would love to be able to mimic that effect more accurately as a sort of reference, but I'm not experienced with VFX. Any thoughts on how I could make it better?

Feel free to comment on anything audio/visual-wise. Particular things I'm unsure about are:

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• Whether the music should stop when the guns start firing. I've done this to mirror when the 80's score stops, but I'm not 100% whether it works for the 50's scoring or not. 
• The alien sounds that occur from 2:15 don't sound like they fit the period to me - am I alone in that thinking? If not, any suggestions for a fitting replacement? 
• @2:27 the shot of the flamethrower is very quick, and I'm not sure if there's anything I can do about that. Originally there were 3 quick shots in succession, but I removed one. 
• Whether the original score that comes back in at 2:42 works for the concept, or whether that also needs rescoring. Because there is no clean center channel and there are scenes with dialogue and an orchestral score, my aim is to only re-score electronic parts of the score currently. Though if there are moments that need to be redone, I will do them. A complete rescore though I fear will be very hard and maybe impossible to do perfectly when dialogue is present, so I don't want to dig myself into a hole. 

 

[The Scribbling Man]

edit:
regarding the It Came From Outer Space, there's this release https://www.discogs.com/Various-Monstrous-Movie-Music/release/2081117

Only just saw this. I did come across this eventually, but couldn't find a digital version and all physical copies were upwards of £80! I didn't check discogs though - looks like there's some more reasonable pricing there. Thanks!

Where this comes from actually seems like a really neat project. Seems they use old equipment and recording techniques to accurately record/recreate old movie soundtracks that are no longer available.