Hey guys. Haven't been around much lately but I've been thinking about Prometheus quite a bit over the past few weeks.
Has there been any progress lately, or are things on the back burner - doesn't feel like it's been as long as it has since we were last discussing the edit.
I flicked through this thread and then went and watched Prometheus - in black and white. Even without changes it was a bit more enjoyable - I've been toying with the idea of doing a black and white edit mostly for myself just to get a version I'm happy with.
all things considered, the ending is still a mess. I've been trying to think of a way to make the awakening of the engineer be satisfying in some way.
My sketchy idea is to have him explain to David [using the alternate version where he speaks] Just what his mission / goal was.
It's already clear by his later actions that he's not happy. This is probably the only spot that I could justify the sacrifice sequence.
I don't like the idea of the Engineers creating humans - but I do like the idea of them taking on a sort of 'guardians of the galaxy' type of role.
- Ridley has mentioned the idea of the engineers as being gardeners - i think this was from an earlier time where a greater focus would be on their terraforming / word building..
So, what if he explains to David that the mission was to prune back mankind a little - not total obliteration. Maybe they know how dangerous humans can be and it's more a case of protectiing others from us?
Then of course Weyland steps in and tries to plead his case - asking for more life.
Then I had another idea - What if the Engineer places his hands on David's head / face as before but then we see a white flash / montage that basically convinces him on the spot that Humans have gotten out of control and compels him to try finish the mission alone.
- some of the viral footage could be useful here, basically a jumbled sequence of David's memories and Weyland archival footage - there's some good stuff in the David8 viral clip - David saying things like 'war' with a tear rolling down his face.
so the Engineer kills the humans mostly because they stand in his way.
The other big thing I've been considering is how the characters get infected. My idea at the moment is that anyone who breathes the air in the 'temple / tomb' will be infected. This could help in tying in to ALIEN - if this is to be LV 426 then the engineer will also be infected - unbeknownst to him, looking at the holograms there is no urgency when they go into stasis, so whatever killed the flight crew happened while he was asleep.
So shaw uses the medpod to cut a creature out of herself and everyone else dies before they reach this point. Charlie's rapid degradation is a result of the infection combined with alcohol poisoning and Fifield is mutated by the lake of black goo...and drugs.
'something' bursts out of the Engineer offscreen before the Nostromo crew find him. He dies in the crash or is trapped. I don't buy that Shaw could survive an encounter with him, especially when he is angry and specifically hunting her down.
I did a few quick tests and it seems I can remove the part where David visibly infects Holloways drink - but I've also had an idea to expand the scene where David talks to Weyland while wearing the dream helmet.
I'd like to use footage from the start of the tedtalk - the zarathustra bit, there are some good shots where you can see Weylands mouth so it should be easy to dab in some dialogue...and maybe add in something like "what would Charlie do?" - from his later scene with Shaw.
I watched another edit called Maculate Conception - which i think is still WIP. There were some changes I didn't like but one thing I did - The editor created a new hybrid out of both versions of the scene where Shaw is in her quarters and Holloway comes in, they argue then awkwardly start to get it on.
I haven't tackled that but I've been toying with re-ordering the Holloway scenes so that he does most of his drinking after they have an argument - David meets him in the mess hall and things are a bit more ambiguous.
I've also been toying with a new opening / closing -
I like the idea of starting with Shaw heading for the lifeboat, she starts looking for supplies until she hears a sound and grabs an axe - the sound she hears is the creepy wailing sound from the promo trailers of this and alien that doesn't appear in any of the films*. She moves through into the main lounge area and sees a recording of the Weyland speech from 60 years earlier.
then we cut to weyland fullscreen then to David sitting in the lifeboat watching the same clip instead of Lawrence of Arabia - but still cut to him finishing the line 'the trick wiliam potter is not minding that it hurts' [rather than just repeating it]
then later later on when we get back to this point we hear Weyland going on and on as Shaw cautiously moves through to where the Trilobite is, sees it, freaks out and runs out side.
No over the top engineer vs shaw battle, no awkward face rape, no pointless introduction of deacon.
* riffing on the idea of attaching that sound to the Trilobite - what if we hear that after the medpod pulls it out of her - BUT blended with the sound of a human baby crying? - that might prove unsettling in a good way if done right.
I've got some other ideas that i've been madly scribbling down in a notebook. What do you guys think of that stuff fora start.
I'd like to close the film with some of young Weyland. I hate Shaws message at the end. I'd rather put that at the beginning - edited and if at all possible combined with bits of the transmission the nostromo picks up.
something along the lines of "My name is Elizabeth Shaw...if you're reading this transmission make no attempt to come to it's point of origin..there is only death here now" - there are some promo clips with suitable dialogue to steal from - Crew files, quiet eye etc.
I also feel like the briefing scene can be salvaged by trimming out half of what Weyland says and ALL of what Shaw says.