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Coming March 5th, 2023...
"Arrow Parallel present, for the first time, John Carpenter's 'The Thing' from 1951. While some damage inevitably remains due to the nature of interdimensional travel, the content has been painstakingly restored and largely remains in excellent condition. Please enjoy this insight into an alternate history through what is, quite literally, "The Thing" from another world..."
COMPARISON TEASER
EXTENDED ALT. VINTAGE TRAILER
Comparison with "The Thing from Another World" trailer:
PREVIEW CLIP: "DOGS-IN-PROGRESS"
PREVIEW CLIP: "I CUT HIM LOOSE"
I did a bunch of work on this last year, but haven't touched it again until recently. I wasn't sure whether it was achievable enough to be worth posting a thread. Having taken another look at it, I believe it is and I'm very keen to get this one done.
Intention:
Technical Aims:
Beyond this, I plan to try and provide a few audio options:
The complete re-score would be going for a full on 1950's experience, even extending to scoring some scenes that originally were not scored at all (eg. the blood test scene). This would be in the interest of an alternative experience, and would lean more on the unsubtle side. It could even prove comically overdramatic at points.
The halfway house would only re-score where necessary - i.e. electronic elements - and leave any original music that fits, or any unscored scenes as they are. This would hopefully be in keeping with 1950's, but come across less corny and hopefuly maintain an effective and suspenseful atmosphere. A more subtle take on the edit's premise.
Keeping the original score would be partly for the sake of providing it as an option/reference point, but also allowing the edit to be more viewed as "The Thing For Another Audience". A toned down version of the film for those that may find the original cut too stomach churning. The black and white serving to mask some of the nastier aspects, but the original score preventing an all out 50's vibe and allowing much of the original atosphere to be retained.
What I've already done:
Rescoring
For the re-score, I am mostly planning on using music from The Thing From Another World, but I'm very open to any other suggestions people might have. I'm not a huge fan of the score, but it would be an apt choice.
Here are some other pieces I like more and may use, which I thought may be fitting:
Other suggestions:
The Blob (Malthus): [media removed]
Depending on how out of place they sound, I may replace some SFX with more 50's-esque sounds. I'd like to keep the technology in the film, especially as some of it is narrative, but I can prehaps suspend disbelief with some more appropriate audio.
Example clip:
Here's a simple example of the only scoring that I've done so far - a replacement for Stevie Wonder's superstion. Other changes:
[media removed]
"Arrow Parallel present, for the first time, John Carpenter's 'The Thing' from 1951. While some damage inevitably remains due to the nature of interdimensional travel, the content has been painstakingly restored and largely remains in excellent condition. Please enjoy this insight into an alternate history through what is, quite literally, "The Thing" from another world..."
SPECIAL FEATURES
- An archival interview with John Carpenter, in which he relays his experience working with Howard Hawks on the film.
- The original, dramatic 1950s score in lossless mono
- Alternate 'restrained' 1950s score in lossless mono
- Isolated 'dramatic' 1950s score
- Ennio Morricone's 1982 score from our timeline, re-edited to fit the 1951 cut, including the absence of language.
- Commentary track by The Scribbling Man
- Viewing guidelines for extra-dimensional content
- Trailers
- English Subtitles
TEASER TRAILER
COMPARISON TEASER
EXTENDED ALT. VINTAGE TRAILER
Comparison with "The Thing from Another World" trailer:
PREVIEW CLIP: "DOGS-IN-PROGRESS"
PREVIEW CLIP: "I CUT HIM LOOSE"
50s/80s COMPARISON
Verified Historical Document said:"In 1982, on the eve of shooting his first big budget horror movie, John Carpenter and his crew became victims of a freak electrical accident. This brought an immediate halt to production, while also resulting in their unexpected transportation to 1951, right around the time a similar film was in pre-production. Having impressed the producers with their uncanny knowledge of both the project and the industry, and with Howard Hawks unable to direct due to disagreements with the guild, Carpenter and his crew were given the reigns. Working within budget constraints and the limited technology of the time, as well as fighting tooth and nail against censorship, this is the film they managed to produce.
Howard Hawk's insisted that retaining the creature's shape-shifting nature was impossible; Carpenter told him to hold his beer."
I did a bunch of work on this last year, but haven't touched it again until recently. I wasn't sure whether it was achievable enough to be worth posting a thread. Having taken another look at it, I believe it is and I'm very keen to get this one done.
Intention:
- To create a reverse homage, and try and imagine how a Carpenter film might have been executed in the 1950's.
- As an experiment, to see how a retro makeover and altered score impacts the tone of the film.
- To see how well the film works as a horror when the paranoia is more of a focus than the body horror.
Technical Aims:
- convert John Carpenter's The Thing to black and white.
- convert to 4:3
- Create new opening and closing titles to fit the 1950's vibe and mirror the style of the original film
- remove all language considered too offensive for the time period
- *slightly* tone down/trim some of the more violent/gory moments in the film
- Rescore the film using music from "The Thing From Another World" (or other, similar scores of the time)
- Possibly replace some SFX
- Work in 5.1, but downmix to mono
Beyond this, I plan to try and provide a few audio options:
- Re-scored score (Mono)
- Halfway house (only electronic elements of the original score are replaced) [mono and stereo]
- Original score (5.1)
The complete re-score would be going for a full on 1950's experience, even extending to scoring some scenes that originally were not scored at all (eg. the blood test scene). This would be in the interest of an alternative experience, and would lean more on the unsubtle side. It could even prove comically overdramatic at points.
The halfway house would only re-score where necessary - i.e. electronic elements - and leave any original music that fits, or any unscored scenes as they are. This would hopefully be in keeping with 1950's, but come across less corny and hopefuly maintain an effective and suspenseful atmosphere. A more subtle take on the edit's premise.
Keeping the original score would be partly for the sake of providing it as an option/reference point, but also allowing the edit to be more viewed as "The Thing For Another Audience". A toned down version of the film for those that may find the original cut too stomach churning. The black and white serving to mask some of the nastier aspects, but the original score preventing an all out 50's vibe and allowing much of the original atosphere to be retained.
What I've already done:
- The film is already in black and white. IMO this makes some of the effects more intense, but in a different way. However, it masks things such as the blood and gore that drips from the creature during transformations, making these scenes more palatable. The horror is therefore chiefly from the design of the creature, as opposed to the blood and gore of the transformation.
- I am currently going shot by shot to make sure that the 4:3 conversion is done in a way that works for the film and looks good. I will adjust the B&W levels as I go, should it feel necessary.
- Some trims to violence have been done. Examples include: cutting away form the severed arms of the doctor; During the blood test, we do not see people's thumbs being split. The camera cuts away as the knife touches the skin; Palmers transformation and Windows' death trimmed.
- All language has been removed, but not all transitions have been finalised.
- "Superstition" by Stevie Wonder has been replaced with another hit tune from 1951
- I've experimented with opening titles and placed the original film in my timeline to use as a visual guide, but nothing more.
Rescoring
For the re-score, I am mostly planning on using music from The Thing From Another World, but I'm very open to any other suggestions people might have. I'm not a huge fan of the score, but it would be an apt choice.
Here are some other pieces I like more and may use, which I thought may be fitting:
Destination Moon:
It Came From Outer Space (Mancini):
Conquest of Space:
Jounrey TO The Centre of The Earth (Hermann):
This Island Earth (the less anthemic moments):
The Day The Earth Stood Still:
[media removed]
It Came From Outer Space (Mancini):
Conquest of Space:
Jounrey TO The Centre of The Earth (Hermann):
This Island Earth (the less anthemic moments):
The Day The Earth Stood Still:
[media removed]
Other suggestions:
The Blob (Malthus): [media removed]
Depending on how out of place they sound, I may replace some SFX with more 50's-esque sounds. I'd like to keep the technology in the film, especially as some of it is narrative, but I can prehaps suspend disbelief with some more appropriate audio.
Example clip:
Here's a simple example of the only scoring that I've done so far - a replacement for Stevie Wonder's superstion. Other changes:
- 4:3
- B&W
- Mono
- one instance of bad language removed.
[media removed]
Last edited: