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ChAnOoD DC-L4
Joined: 29 Dec 2008
Post Count: 2774
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Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2021 3:45 pm |
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I´ve decided to do a new topic instead of posting on one of the ongoing PD threads here, but ironically what I´m going to show would fit there.
I did a small video with some samples of the Work In Progress Prime Directives Retelling I´ve working since 2019 (wow, time flies). The project started as a really wilder idea, but I toned it down as I thought you´d kill me . As you already read on other topics, my goal is to make a 90 minute film out of the miniseries, improving the visuals whenever I could and enhance things to make more palatable. This brings me to the vid (please remember, it´s a WIP, so I have to polish some stuff): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgNYhzo9BtU
I found really funny how a simple, plain background on the Jimmy/Sarah chat can improve the feeling of a scene. Most of the OCP scenes on PD felt claustrophobic; adding more background leaves some air to breath. It takes forever to make some seconds of it, but I think it looks a little bit better. Originally I was going to borrow some clips from blockbusters, but since PD only had access to The Series, I think I should follow the same. What if the crew behind PD would use The Series to make his project? Instead of stock footage on MediaNet, let´s use stuff from the 94 TV Show heavily into the narrative.
There are still a lot of work to be done, but there are parts that are getting closer. As I said on the PD topic, I´d probably need some collaboration at some point, as there are new parts that don´t appear on the miniseries. The idea is making a solid, fast PD film out of the four parts (I already edited some gun fights and it´s amazing how short they´re if you skip the slomo and interruptions), mixing some ideas from previous drafts and connecting it to the canon.
Thank you for your co-operation.
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Rick CH-L4
Joined: 10 Jan 2002
Post Count: 3734
Comment: I'm The No. 2 Guy Around Here
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Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2021 6:02 pm |
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So are you taking the 1.78:1 footage and making it more 2.35:1? _________________
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ChAnOoD DC-L4
Joined: 29 Dec 2008
Post Count: 2774
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Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2021 4:14 pm |
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RickLee84 : | So are you taking the 1.78:1 footage and making it more 2.35:1? |
Yup. Which is a pain in the butt
I thought it looked more like a "movie" and less TV, but I see it could improve things on a decent way. I did a bunch of short parts and the aspect ratio helps things to breathe, specially on the OCP scenes. Letting some spaces on both sides makes it look people are in wider corridors instead of the claustrophobic scenes on the miniseries, which didn´t leave much room on the shots. Some other scenes just have upscaled shots, or I wouldn´t be able to finish the damn thing in several reincarnations. I also use The Series a lot, like a new elevator shot which is 90% made of The Series footage, to make some of the establishing shots bigger, with room, and with people.
It is a challenge, as most of the shots are compositions, and there´s a lot of time spent on watching episodes, cutting backgrounds, and trying to mix them (and sometimes the sources, even with color corrections and such, don´t match due to angles and camera movements). But when it works, it feels good!
When I started working on this I wanted to used several resources from movies, but I want to try to create something in the same conditions as PD, so I try to take video (and audio) from the 94 series. I´ll have to cut a lot of PD, as I´m trying to make a 90 min story of it. As I said, the idea is to take the core element of PD, spice it with nods of the previous material and ideas from PD´s first drafts, and make something "new". So, it would be really different from the miniseries (that´s why I call it a "retelling" instead of just editing the whole thing) but still having the basic storyline of it.
Hell, I even I´m doing some edits where the main character´s movements are changed! In some sequences I could make him move similar to Weller, which is almost a miracle
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ChAnOoD DC-L4
Joined: 29 Dec 2008
Post Count: 2774
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Posted: Mon Sep 13, 2021 7:43 pm |
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Yesterday it was a productive day! Things are moving pretty slow, but Robo´s first appereance is getting its shape. Here´s a small clip of The Bombz "negotiation": https://youtu.be/TjrY1NM06i4
As you´ll see, flames has been added (a car has exploded here), a composition with footage from The Series (cop shooting) and PD (background) is there, followed by one of The Bombz and his fate. I wanted to make him dissapear on scene instead of cutting to random flames as it happens in Dark Justice. I´d need to dub the dude with a big "F You" at some point.
(For those who pay attention, the dude´s face is swapped here from the other baddie of DJ).
I´d love to share more of the same scene (as it has two different actions taking place: Robo inside the building and the exterior fight between the gang and the cops) but I think it´d spoil things, as there are some surprises here and there.
I´ve been working on random pieces since the last update, and thank to these, plus some other pieces done in the past, I can start to edit scenes so everything begins to make sense at least.
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RoboWags Ultra Police Watch Commander
Joined: 08 Jul 2012
Post Count: 424
Comment: "Its time to show how real cops kick ass."
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Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2021 8:14 am |
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I have to say this actually is quite intriguing! Looking forward to where you take this... _________________
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ChAnOoD DC-L4
Joined: 29 Dec 2008
Post Count: 2774
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Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2021 7:27 pm |
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RoboWags : | I have to say this actually is quite intriguing! Looking forward to where you take this... |
Thanks, man! I´d love to give you all a lenghty part, but man, it´s a pain in the butt working on it. Each shot has modifications, some are just cropped, but others have "extensions" (backgrounds, or are compositions, etc) and then I have to "dub" everything, from sound FX to music. I spend a bunch of time on random scenes, but lately I started to figure out how to put things together. Music is key: I choose a track from the PD score to go along with these visuals in the vid, and it helps A LOT to put the different parts together and knowing what´s missing. It´s fun putting stuff from all the miniseries + shots from The Series to create a single scene, but it takes forever.
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ChAnOoD DC-L4
Joined: 29 Dec 2008
Post Count: 2774
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Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2022 10:25 am |
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Here´s a small teaser I put together with some small segments I already have, inspired in the old 30 sec. trailers from back in the day: https://youtu.be/SC88fiQ1mLI
As some would notice, almost every single shot in this one is a composition, using stuff from both The Series and Prime Directives. Trying to create a single film, using elements from the original plans for PD, erasing some subplots or characters, erasing the mariachi themes as much as possible and even re-dubbing some dialogue.
Still takes forever, but it´s fun to see there are some parts that are already done. Too bad there are a few surprises I can´t show yet. But it´s getting its shape. Slowly, but that´s something.
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Sean_001 Vault Dweller
Joined: 20 Mar 2003
Post Count: 2192
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Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2022 2:38 pm |
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ChAnOoD : | https://youtu.be/SC88fiQ1mLI
As some would notice, almost every single shot in this one is a composition, using stuff from both The Series and Prime Directives. Trying to create a single film, using elements from the original plans for PD, erasing some subplots or characters, erasing the mariachi themes as much as possible and even re-dubbing some dialogue. |
Dude, no shit, these are nice shots.
Editing and working with effects are a time consuming task, almost unnoticeable. But with very little recognition as to how much work goes into it.
Like the laser bars, and the Fire effects. Must've taken a lot of hours. Keep going, good work takes time.
Beware of burnout, take breaks.
---Sean
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ChAnOoD DC-L4
Joined: 29 Dec 2008
Post Count: 2774
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Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2022 9:47 am |
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Sean_001 : | Dude, no shit, these are nice shots.
Editing and working with effects are a time consuming task, almost unnoticeable. But with very little recognition as to how much work goes into it. |
Thanks, Sean. Really kind words.
The worst part is spending a whole day just to find out you have a 1 or 2 seconds done
But it´s fun to see how things can change from the original stuff to the finished thing. For example, I wanted to have a foot entrance, but didn´t want to use the one from the begining of The Series, so I edited the one from PD (lifted from the showdown in The Series Pilot) and added the fire. So, it´s "new" instead of the exact same shot. I think casual viewers wouldn´t notice that (which would be consider a compliment), but diehard RoboNerds would spot something different. Which is, kinda, the goal of this whole project.
I had a look to the files and what I´d like to archieve is having a packed OCP. Most of PD had people on the OCP halls, alone, or with a few extras on these shots. It´d be cool to put people walking here and there. That, and dressing these sets. The thing is (and you already know), for doing things like this you have to get a strong brain, so you can remember sets or scenes, and then going to these episodes, take a look to them, and watch if a screen, a person or a door could fit on the stuff you´re trying to do.
Plus, the different aspect ratio is a pain in the ass (since you have to rework EVERY shot from PD), but when you´re able to get the same shot and add space on each side, the look of the frame looks better. OCP feels bigger, and less claustrophobic.
Sean_001 : | Beware of burnout, take breaks. |
Oh, yeah. No problem at the moment. It´ll take a bunch of time, but I´m getting things done (I think I´m near to finish the begining of the film [MediaNet + OCP meeting + The Bombz]), so I hope I could show more stuff soon.
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ChAnOoD DC-L4
Joined: 29 Dec 2008
Post Count: 2774
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Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2023 9:01 am |
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Yesterday I took a look to some of the stuff I did and decided to make another 30 second teaser: https://youtu.be/OWnqMT1XxiY
I hope some of you will noticed where I lifted the shots to make these new stuff. Every single shot in the teaser has been modified in some way or another: from insterting shots from The Series, changing the backgrounds, to add a few nods or elements to others; enhancing the OCP backgrounds, giving some air to the shots instead of getting shots too close to the people, or even adding a bit of background on the close up shots of Jimmy. The computer shots have been modified as well (no annoying typing messages with electronic noises for each letter: now messages appear in the screen, like in real life).
Most of the footage here is from the first action scene with The Bombz. I made a bunch of shots in all these years, so I still have to figure out which ones to keep and where I should put them, and which ones won´t be there. If I´m not mistaken, the shot with a certain gang logo on a side is switched to the other side on the edited version, but there are too many files and changes for this project.
That´s all for now!
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Burnout C-L4
Joined: 09 Sep 2005
Post Count: 1715
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Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2023 7:04 pm |
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I always thought someone with really good editing skills could splice a decent 5/10 stars flick out of these. Julian was nuts thinking it would work in the first place, but you have to give him credit for making these, bloated and meandering as the films were.
Great job having a little fun with the idea! Though your previous links are set to private, I enjoyed what you shared.
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ChAnOoD DC-L4
Joined: 29 Dec 2008
Post Count: 2774
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Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2023 8:22 pm |
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Burnout : | Great job having a little fun with the idea! Though your previous links are set to private, I enjoyed what you shared. |
Ooops! They should work right now.
Burnout : | I always thought someone with really good editing skills could splice a decent 5/10 stars flick out of these. |
Well, I still think PD had potential, but the execution didn´t help it. It has good ideas and some interesting scenes; that´s why I started this project. Trying to adapt some of the original ideas for the miniseries, trim a bunch of stuff, and make it one film. As the last teaser "teased", the original trilogy is more present with little nods here and there, and even there are some MediaBreak "flashbacks" with events from the films (recreated with The Series and PD scenes). The main goal is to make something interesting with the same elements PD had: stock footage from The Series and little else. I know I cheated with the Splatterpunk´s logo (and some other suprises), but I think a little, solid (fan) film could be made with it.
But it takes forever to do these quick shots...
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ChAnOoD DC-L4
Joined: 29 Dec 2008
Post Count: 2774
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Posted: Fri May 05, 2023 4:25 pm |
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Ok, here´s another trailer, this time a little bit longer, showing a little variety: https://youtu.be/5cE57X0k95o
As you´ll see, I think around 1% of the footage in this trailer is as it originally was. The rest, from MediaNet (with a sightly changed opening) to the OCP backgrounds (I´m proud of Sara´s office ), gun holsters to character introductions or even character moves are modified.
I think I´ll have to start rendering segments one by one to make the final thing, as my computer would take ages to run all these clips together.
Hope you´ll find it interesting or something!
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RoboWags Ultra Police Watch Commander
Joined: 08 Jul 2012
Post Count: 424
Comment: "Its time to show how real cops kick ass."
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Posted: Fri May 12, 2023 10:09 pm |
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"Still not coming soon"
I died laughing at that!
Now you just need some deep fake Weller face over Page's and you're gold _________________
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