Christopher*KH
Stunt Coordinator
- Joined
- Dec 26, 2002
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http://dvd.ign.com/articles/629/629341p1.html
Land of the Dead on DVD
Romero promises more character development and effects on DVD.
June 27, 2005 - George Romero's Land of the Dead opened this week to a respectable $10 million in box office receipts, so it comes as little surprise that the director is already discussing opportunities not only for the forthcoming DVD, but potential sequels. Describing the inevitable unrated version that will appear on DVD, he confesses that much of the material will be character-building content rather than simply extra gore. "There's a few things," he says. "There is one scene in particular where [John Leguizamo's] Cholo, before he meets [Dennis Hopper's] Kaufman, he goes into a neighboring penthouse and finds a human that hung himself and has to kill him. That was a scene that we felt didn't turn out as effectively as it could have and we didn't think it was necessary so that's really the only major scene from the original script that's gone."
"The DVD version, we are working on it now," he reveals. "I think it's about six minutes longer, but it's all just adding back or putting in some effects that were excised and putting in some little things like little bits of dialogue in existing scenes that we cut out just to tighten the pace. It's mostly that, and that penthouse scene."
Romero says that he employed a few CGI tricks to bypass some of the MPAA's objections to the film's gore for the theatrical cut, but did not indicate whether the shots would be restored for the DVD. "Universal was more willing to pony up a little more dough, [so] we got an extra few days to try and improve on some of the gore things and dance around the MPAA a little bit by doing the shadow thing and smoke thing to indicate what was going on without actually having it in your face."
"I used Kubrick's trick on green screen," he explains. "I shot figures walking by so if there was a particular gory shot I could composite it and walk someone in front of it." He marvels at the MPAA's vigilance when it comes to excising or editing questionable footage. "It's amazing sometimes that the MPAA will do a frame count."
"Like nobody knows what's going on here? If it's eight frames shorter it's okay? But I guess they have to be diligent and that's the only way that they measure it. 'Make that a little shorter so it will be alright'," he says, imitating their response.
Beyond the DVD and its many iterations, Romero says he has a few projects on deck, including the Showtime series Masters of Horror and a potential Dead sequel. "Masters of Horror is something I am hoping to do," he says. "It's going to depend, I guess; it's sort of related to what happens with this. If this opens strong, I might be in a situation where I might have to do another one of these or would be asked to do another one of these right away, in which case I've sort of left the [story open-ended]."
"I'd almost want to make chapter two of the same movie if that happens," he continues. "Just sort of finish the story and I have an idea of where to go with and in my mind just think of them both as one movie. So if that happens I may not be able to do the Masters of Horror."
Although Masters enlisted other horror greats such as John Carpenter, he says that simple timing may prohibit Romero's involvement. "I've been so tied up on this thing that I haven't been able to write a script for [the show], he confesses. "Mick sent me a couple of scripts and a couple of them are pretty nice. I'm still hoping that I can get a couple of weeks and still be able to do that." At the same time, the independent-minded moviemaker reveals he has a few other ideas up his sleeve, even if neither of his immediate interests play out.
"I have a couple of other things that we are working on, but everything would get trumped if they want to do a sequel to this."
http://dvd.ign.com/articles/629/629341p1.html
Land of the Dead on DVD
Romero promises more character development and effects on DVD.
June 27, 2005 - George Romero's Land of the Dead opened this week to a respectable $10 million in box office receipts, so it comes as little surprise that the director is already discussing opportunities not only for the forthcoming DVD, but potential sequels. Describing the inevitable unrated version that will appear on DVD, he confesses that much of the material will be character-building content rather than simply extra gore. "There's a few things," he says. "There is one scene in particular where [John Leguizamo's] Cholo, before he meets [Dennis Hopper's] Kaufman, he goes into a neighboring penthouse and finds a human that hung himself and has to kill him. That was a scene that we felt didn't turn out as effectively as it could have and we didn't think it was necessary so that's really the only major scene from the original script that's gone."
"The DVD version, we are working on it now," he reveals. "I think it's about six minutes longer, but it's all just adding back or putting in some effects that were excised and putting in some little things like little bits of dialogue in existing scenes that we cut out just to tighten the pace. It's mostly that, and that penthouse scene."
Romero says that he employed a few CGI tricks to bypass some of the MPAA's objections to the film's gore for the theatrical cut, but did not indicate whether the shots would be restored for the DVD. "Universal was more willing to pony up a little more dough, [so] we got an extra few days to try and improve on some of the gore things and dance around the MPAA a little bit by doing the shadow thing and smoke thing to indicate what was going on without actually having it in your face."
"I used Kubrick's trick on green screen," he explains. "I shot figures walking by so if there was a particular gory shot I could composite it and walk someone in front of it." He marvels at the MPAA's vigilance when it comes to excising or editing questionable footage. "It's amazing sometimes that the MPAA will do a frame count."
"Like nobody knows what's going on here? If it's eight frames shorter it's okay? But I guess they have to be diligent and that's the only way that they measure it. 'Make that a little shorter so it will be alright'," he says, imitating their response.
Beyond the DVD and its many iterations, Romero says he has a few projects on deck, including the Showtime series Masters of Horror and a potential Dead sequel. "Masters of Horror is something I am hoping to do," he says. "It's going to depend, I guess; it's sort of related to what happens with this. If this opens strong, I might be in a situation where I might have to do another one of these or would be asked to do another one of these right away, in which case I've sort of left the [story open-ended]."
"I'd almost want to make chapter two of the same movie if that happens," he continues. "Just sort of finish the story and I have an idea of where to go with and in my mind just think of them both as one movie. So if that happens I may not be able to do the Masters of Horror."
Although Masters enlisted other horror greats such as John Carpenter, he says that simple timing may prohibit Romero's involvement. "I've been so tied up on this thing that I haven't been able to write a script for [the show], he confesses. "Mick sent me a couple of scripts and a couple of them are pretty nice. I'm still hoping that I can get a couple of weeks and still be able to do that." At the same time, the independent-minded moviemaker reveals he has a few other ideas up his sleeve, even if neither of his immediate interests play out.
"I have a couple of other things that we are working on, but everything would get trumped if they want to do a sequel to this."
