Here’s an example of a scene with alternate takes and angles used. Some trims and alterations to the timing have been made to keep things in sync.
Hi, this is my first post on this website. I’ve been researching the Superman saga for a while now, and I thought I’d fill you in. The alternate camera angles of Zod in the TV version are the same ones that appeared in the Lester theatrical release. The majority of that scene was shot by Donner in 1977, but in order to receive full credit on the film, Lester reshot several scenes that Donner already filmed. Note how the background behind Zod is different in Lester’s version. It wasn’t until the Donner cut that this scene was restored to its original form without Lester’s refilmed close ups.
For more info on the differences between the two versions, here’s a handy guide courtesy of Capedwonder:
http://www.capedwonder.com/superman-ii-article/
I think this information is pretty well known by most know. Spotting who shot what is easy enough due to the different look of the actors.
The point of that clip was to recreate the TV cut version of the scene in widescreen, using video from the bluray. There are several identical lines between the theatrical and Lester, that are filmed from different angles and read at different speeds. For example “What do you want? I can see the greed written on your face”, is in the TV version as filmed by Lester, It’s in the Donner cut as filmed by Donner, and it’s not in the Theatrical cut at all. So the Donner shot was retimed to fill in for the Lester shot as that is presently all we have.
Hopefully this sort of workaround won’t be needed soon, and we can get an official release from WB.