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Will you edit your own movies? (1 Viewer)

RichardMA

Second Unit
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Apr 16, 2002
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446
It's pretty clear that a way to copy DVDs is getting
very close, and D-VHS seems to be it. Now, this is not
to suggest copying movies for illegal distribution, but
will any of you feel compelled to "edit" you own movies if
given the chance? This topic popped up when Fantom Menace
came out and people mentioned that if Jar Jar could be
edited from the movie, it would have been a better film.
Given that we should be able to do this in about 6 months
to a year, will anyone here be doing it?
Not to blaspheme, but I can think of a few scenes/characters in certain movies that would benefit from
removal.
 

ChrisLee

Stunt Coordinator
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Sep 4, 2001
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Okay Im a little confused by what you are proposing. If its a question of whether people will edit their own home movies then yes. They'll use a computer and transfer if to a DVD(not DVHS). If you're talking about editing a studio movie that was made by another person (eg Godfather, Star Wars) then the answer would be no. Why would anyone go thru the hassle of editing out scenes that they don't think are good? Personally, if there is a couple of scenes I don't like then I just fast forward. And if there are too many scenes I don't like then I simply turn the movie off.

And I doubt DVHS will be used for any kind of home video editing at all. What would be the point? I don't know of any HDTV camcorders...
 

JasenP

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Why on earth would I want to do that? That's a bit like playing God, don't you think? I don't have the right to tamper with someone elses's work.
However, I saw The Phantom Edit and I actually thought it flowed better. :)
 

Qui-Gon John

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My initial reaction is sure there are scenes in movies I could do without. However after thinking about it, most of those scenes belong in the movies as they give some sort of character development or setup some obscure plot point or what have you. I think if I were to watch a moive I'd already seen, and scenes were cut out, I would be like, "hey isn't there another scene here where ....."

So ultimately I'd say no. Besides, for me, the longer the better, so why would I want to cut myself out of some entertainment time.
 

Nigel McN

Supporting Actor
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actually this probably wouldn't be hard to implement now (if a programmer desired) on a software dvd player. you could just make a small list, like a cue file.
 

Patrick McCart

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Why would you spend 40 dollars on a movie, just to re-edit it to your own tastes? That's like re-editing Memento chronlogically. It's not what was intended.
 

John_Berger

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Why would anyone go thru the hassle of editing out scenes that they don't think are good? Personally, if there is a couple of scenes I don't like then I just fast forward. And if there are too many scenes I don't like then I simply turn the movie off.
I don't know. It's incredibly tempting to make it so that GREEDO DOESN'T FIRE FIRST!!
:D :D :D
 

Marty Christion

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The Moviemask software can do just this. It's being marketed as an "editor" for family-friendly edits, but the scripting software will be made available so you can alter DVD playback in any number of ways. You'll then be able to download other peoples script files and check out what they've done.
 

Dan Brecher

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If one were interested in filmmaking and editing for film, it'd make for an interesting project, HOWEVER, on the whole it is a rather silly idea, and it would not be long before some chump re-edited a movie, copied the vob files and stuck them online for all to download.

I myself, despite a heavy interest in filmmaking, would have no wish to mess with someone elses movie. It's simply not my right.

Dan
 

Michael Boyd

Second Unit
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Sep 19, 2000
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Ten years go in a film class I took, a girl edited together a selection of scenes from various Jesus movies and laid down a new soundtrack over it with her singing a Christian soft rock song. She was a senior and turned this in as her final project under the guise of "editing project". She got read the riot act in front of the entire class for destroying someone else's work. Very embaressing for her, but I think a valuable lesson sunk into the rest of our heads. Later our prof told me the story of finding a student in the edit bay reediting Blade Runner a couple of years before. He just wouldnt put up with that monkey business and made it KNOWN.
 

Derek Williams

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I don't see a problem with reediting a movie to your personal taste. Songs are remixed by DJ's, I canÕt see a difference. I sometimes remix music to include verses by various artists or remixes into on long song. I enjoyed watching Memento chronologically after I had seen it the first time. I wonÕt mind see and reedit of Pulp-Fiction chronologically.
 

John_Berger

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I don't see a problem with reediting a movie to your personal taste.
This is nothing more than second-guessing the filmmakers. "You didn't make it the way that I like it so *I'M* going to correct what YOU didn't do!"

Editing someone else's movie to fit your own tastes is no less degrading than pan-and-scan, IMHO.
 

Neil Joseph

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As silly as some scenes are, I just would not want to tamper with a movie, somehow it would ruin the movie for me. If however the scene(s) was so bad, I would do without the movie.
 

John_Berger

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I make copies of DVD's with my DVD-R burner right now.
But that's not editing...that's archiving. (At least I'm assuming that it's for archival purposes. If it's not, I don't want to know. ;) )
I cannot begrudge anyone for wanting to have a backup of their media in the event that the original gets damaged; but I most certainly can and will begrudge someone who decides that someone else's movie isn't up to their standards and therefore willingly modifies it. If you dislike the editing that badly, don't buy the movie.
 

george kaplan

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Although I certainly want uncensored versions of all films available, and don't want studios editing them, I really have no problem with what an individual does.

Frankly, I think most of us do this to some degree. For myself, when I watch Singin' in the Rain I completely skip over that ballet at the end which ruins the film. Without it, it's a good film. Would I edit it out for my own viewing if I could? Damn straight. I already skip it anyway.

And I do not own There's Something About Mary because I don't like the closeup of the zipper scene. I would never want them to censor this, but if I could edit it out for my own viewing, then I'd buy and love this movie.

Am I going against the director's intent? Yeah. But then my only option is to never watch those films since I think the inclusion of these scenes wreck those movies.

Then there are multiple cuts of films like T2. We all pick a version to watch. That's a form of self-editing. As long as we have the choice to do so ourselves, I see no harm in it whatsoever. It's only a problem when others make the choices for you.
 

Todd Phillips

Second Unit
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Messages
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Editing someone else's movie to fit your own tastes is no less degrading than pan-and-scan, IMHO.
I'm not sure what you mean by degrading, but they seem entirely different to me. Whereby pan-and-scan is a change which is forced on others, personal re-editing would not.

Everything from skipping scenes in a movie or watching a scene out of context, to rearranging the order and trimming could be considered re-editing.

As long as it is for one's own enjoyment, I'm not sure I understand the ethical problem expressed by some here. It is really only a question of taste.

When it comes to redistributing a re-edit, it may be another story, but like someone else said, music remixes are common. They may be in poor taste, but are they wrong?

Also, Kubrick edited Richard Strauss's Op. 30 Also Sprach Zarathustra down to just the introduction for inclusion in 2001 and left out the rest (rightfully so, IMO). It may be in the public domain, but should classical music fans be angry that Strauss's full vision of his work was butchered?
 

Ken Chan

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Yeah, doing it for yourself and showing it in your own home is fine. Of course, if I had that much free time, I'd probably do something else :)
And can you really copy protected DVD onto D-VHS? Seems like something they'd want to prevent.
//Ken
 

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