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Avatar: The Last Airbender: Sozin’s Comet: The Movie [Not M. Night’s BS] (* unfinished project *)

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 (Edited)

Fan Edit Name: Sozin’s Comet: The Movie [Not set in stone]

Stated Goal: To take the last four episodes of the excellent TV series Avatar: The Last Airbender and combine them into a movie format. This will primarily be done through cutting the episode specific intros and credits, with a few minor cuts.

Program Using: Sony Vegas 8

Original Film Name: Sozin’s Comet Part 1: The Phoenix King; Sozin’s Comet Part 2: The Old Masters; Sozin’s Comet Part 3: Into the Inferno; Sozin’s Comet Part 4: Avatar Aang

Film Studio Name: Nickelodeon

Retail Releases Used:

- Avatar The Last Airbender - Book 1 Water, Vol. 1 (http://www.amazon.com/Avatar-Last-Airbender-Book-Water/dp/B000BNX4NQ)

- Avatar The Last Airbender - Book 3 Fire, Vol. 4 (http://www.amazon.com/Avatar-Last-Airbender-Book-Fire/dp/B0017VG67C)

Original Release Date: July 19, 2008 [TV release]

Original Runtime: Approx 24min / Episode [24 x 4 = 96min]

Fanedit Release Date: N/A

New Runtime: Approx 90min

Amount of Time Cut / Added: Approx 6min Cut


INTENTION AND EDITING DETAILS: I love Avatar: The Last Airbender, and believe it to be one of, if not the best, TV shows of the last several years. I was introduced to it at college, and this summer went through all the episodes in order, and was enthralled. This summer I also became much more immersed in the Fan-Edit realm, having now seeing both of MagnoliaFan’s and The Phantom Editor’s takes on Episodes I and II. I had flitted with the idea of trying my hand at fan-editing, but believed I did not have the knowhow nor the time to do so properly. However, my neighbors and I are going to make a summer movie, and I realized I was rusty as hell with Vegas and would have to do something for me to re-learn the program.

I also noticed that several TV shows went out with a movie. For example, Even Stevens, Cowboy Bebop (I believe) and Justice League (the original, not unlimited). This last one is my key inspiration. For the original Justice League DCAU series, the last three episodes of the series were called “Starcrossed”. Before all the episodes were released in a box set, certain episodes were made available on DVD. I enjoyed “Starcrossed” so much that I bought the DVD of it for $7 bucks online, and haven’t regretted it at all. What I loved about this release, though, was that it was not presented in the original episodic format; rather the DVD was actually a movie with no true signs other than my memory of where the episodes had started and finished. There was a special intro and credits and everything.

Bearing all this in mind, and noticing each episode of Avatar was about 22-23 minutes without credits or pre-episode summary, I realized the four part series finale of Avatar could also (hypothetically) be cut into a perfectly lengthed animated movie. My original, original goal was simply to cut the episodes together. I had anticipated this fan editing stuff was harder than it looked, and wanted to start small. Two things happened: 1) A good friend of mine who through my incessant pestering finally consented to watch the series (and loved it for the record) had a moment in the finale he absolutely despised and though should be gone, and while I wasn’t as vehement, I also thought it could use trimming. And then 2) I saw on my own a cut / rearrangement I wanted to make. (Both will be detailed in the cut list below). Realizing this, I decided I wouldn’t be opposed to making small, small edits (again I wanted to stay within my skill range). So there is slightly more than just splicing the episodes together. Another underlying tenant, though, was I wanted to retain the feel of the series.

 

Changes List: (s indicate more detailed reasons for the changes below the list)

Longer Intro

Edited title card now saying only “Sozin’s Comet”. No episode numbers or names

Spliced the first and second episodes together (cut out intro to second episode and credits to first episode)

Subtitled first instance of the Lion Turtle speaking (subtitle font mimics the distinctive Airbender font)

Spliced the second and third episodes together (cut out intro to third episode and credits to second episode)

Spliced the third and fourth episodes together (cut credits to third episode, intro to fourth episode AND a few seconds of the fourth episode beginning [ie the panning shot])

Subtitled second instance of the Lion Turtle speaking speaking (subtitle font mimics the distinctive Airbender font)

MAJOR CHANGE 1: Radically changed the post fight-meeting between Suki, Sokka, Toph, Aang and Ozai on top of the rock column. Ozai no longer speaks.

We now go directly from Zuko’s peace speech to the tea shop ending scene (tied to the last change listed below)

Changed first credits card to take out the “directed by” and inserting “edited by my name”

MAJOR CHANGE 2: The scene when Zuko confronts Ozai in prison is now the last thing. After the credits. The series ends with “Where. Is. My. Mother.”

 

I wanted the intro to be more special. This is why the first volume DVD is listed above in the retail releases; I used parts of the extended intro present only in episodes 1 and 2. The intro now is: </span>**Water, Earth, Fire, Air. My grandmother used to tell me stories about the old days, a time of peace when the Avatar kept balance between the Water Tribes, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, and Air Nomads. But that all changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar mastered all four elements. Only he could stop the ruthless firebenders. But when the world needed him most, he vanished. A hundred years passed and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar, an airbender named Aang. And although his airbending skills are great, he still has a lot to learn before he’s ready to save anyone. But I believe Aang can save the world.” The intro has to be special for the series finale! I feel like it makes the series seem more full circle.

A major complaint I came across while researching online was that the Lion Turtle was too hard to understand. I initially blew this off, until I was watching with my neighbor and he couldn’t understand the Lion Turtle. So I just got an Avatar font look alike and subtitled all his lines. The Lion Turtle has some of the best lines and I don’t want anyone missing them. I’m still debating trying to do a voice over myself. I think I have the proper voice (hints of James Earl Jones), but I don’t think I have the proper equipment.<span style=“font-weight: normal;”>

This was just to make everything flow more like a movie. The third episode ended with Ozai releasing a huge fire blast right at the screen, so I cut right to the next shot of him hitting Aang’s rock ball. Ie, all that is lost is a panning shot of the Wulong Forest.

Basically, my friend didn’t want Ozai to do the whole thing where he can no longer sit up and just drools after Sokka calls him ‘Loser Lord’. Ozai was a badass super villain and we thought this really detracted from his character. Now, Sokka, Toph and Suki don’t insult Ozai (in Suki’s case try haha), and Ozai never speaks in this scene. I’m still toying around with keeping in his menacing sounding “I’m still alive”, but am unsure. I am completely open to suggestions on that one. As it stands, Ozai is just unconscious for this whole scene now, which actually works really well.

All four of the episodes weren’t directed by the same person, so instead of short shrifting any of the directors, I just took out the ‘Directed by” line and put “Edited by” and then my own name in. Had to give myself some credit haha

Ever since I saw the finale I thought this scene should have been last. What a great way to end the series. When I am an old and rich and famous movie director, EVERY single one of my movies will have a post credits scene. I declare that. You gotta reward the bros who stay for all the credits. My other thinking was that, by and far, the biggest, biggest complaint from fans online was that the character of Ursa really got shat on in the finale / whole series. This is my way of kinda mitigating that fact. You can’t really say she gets pwned if the last scene of the entire series centers around her.

 

So, I am completely open to suggestions. Both about anything else I should cut / change, and any other ideas of how to make the post fight meeting with Toph, Suki, Sokka, Aang and Ozai work without Ozai being a pussy.

As it stands right now, here is the order of that scene:

  1. Toph, Sokka and Suki land. Sokka does his imitation of the fight.

  2. Suki asks if Aang finished the Job

  3. Aang explains energybending

  4. Toph asks where he learned that

  5. Aang says Lion Turtle

  6. Toph comments on his crazy adventures. Boom. Scene’s over.

Problems:

  1. Making the music work in my extended intro is a bitch

  2. Whenever I am exporting out of Vegas, quality is dropping significantly

  3. I want to make the credits more special but don’t know how. They already had some awesome new music, so that might be enough.
     

So please, please leave any comments or suggestions. I’d love them!

May the Force be with you.

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Haha ooooooold topic. Sorry for the slow reply. It turns out I had an account over there already which I didn't know about. Anyways, you are trying to turn the first season into a movie, yeah? Essentially more or less following M. Night's version? The problem on my end is I have never seen that movie, nor will I ever (pact to myself), so I would be of little help in that respect. 

My concern is that part of what made TLA so awesome was its TV show format. Off the top of my head, I am unsure how to effectively translate that into more of a feature length film type of format. For what I did, I only used a defined four episodes, so that put me perfectly in the hour and a half range. From my work, I found that each episode untouched is normally 24 minutes long, and then you subtract two for the intro and credits, for an actual 22 minutes running length per episode. I just glanced at the first season episode list again; I would say that without trouble you could cut eight episodes straight up, leaving you with 12 episodes worth of material, or 12*22=264 minutes. For a 2.5 hour movie (150 minutes), you'd be looking at only cutting ~40 percent of the content, which might be more doable. 

Again, this is with no content of M. Night's work at all, so that might skew some things. That is just how I would approach it, if I were forced into trying to make a movie format work. Let me know how it goes!

May the Force be with you.

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What happened to the "Sozin's Comet" fan edit? Is it even finished by now?

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You know, having watched the intro of the un-aired pilot, it's the perfect intro for your movie.

Currently enjoying Disney Infinity 3.0

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For those of you who have not seen the un-aired pilot, here's the opening narration word-for-word:

Water, earth, fire, air. My grandmother used to tell me stories about the old days. How the four nations once lived in harmony. How everything changed once the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar mastered all four elements. Only he could stop the ruthless firebenders. But when the world needed him most, he disappeared. Nobody had seen him for a hundred years, until my brother and I found him: an airbender named Aang. The problem is this Avatar is still a kid and even though his airbending skills are great, he has a lot to learn before he's ready to save anyone. The Fire Nation will do anything to capture Aang before he masters all four elements. So, I must keep him safe until he is ready to fulfill his destiny. My brother thinks I'm crazy, but I believe Aang can save the world.

Currently enjoying Disney Infinity 3.0

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Did this happen? This needs to happen. SOMEBODY MAKE THIS HAPPEN!!!

I’m just here because I’m driving tonight.