well, it's the way that Ridley would have done if they'd used that as the name. as confusing as it looks, I kinda like it...seems kinda alien.Sadly the numbers in that font look terrible, but that doesn't mean you can't use a different font for the numbers. I'll check it out when I get back to my own computer.
strangeland said:
I always took it (and I'm non religious) as Leviticus 4:26
not so much of a bible reader myself, but: Wow!
http://bible.cc/leviticus/4-26.htm
and how about: "EL Vee - Ai Vee : Ex Vee Ai" ? sounds pretty cryptic ;-)
I just thought about that book/text ... why not call the edit "Leviticus" ?
some things in there fit like a glove to our story, don't you think?
I think you might be onto something here. see also Leviticus 22.3 - also, it sounds cool. I think the LV naming was more Jim Cameron than Ridley Scott but thinking back, some of the film did have strong religious overtones - alien3, Alien4 also, iirc - Holloway in the original script (before he became the douchebag we know) quoted sveral bible passages. I should look those up..
it always had a religiuos meaning (behind the curtains), sacrifice, corruption of body and soul ...
if the title (sequence) should consist of letters, rather than numbers, and we had "Prometheus", "Leviticus" isn't that far away as an alternative ;-)
Plus on top of religious motifs, we also have that whole AIDS/rape motif that a lot of sci-fi horror films from the 70s-80 had. (John Carpenter's 'the thing', 'invasion of the body snatchers 'also immediately sprung into my mind)
with incurable illness,caused by trauma, something inside you, that takes your form, but different.... kinda thing going on.
Anyways, I am a fan of Black and White, there were many times on this edit that I contemplated having this edit be that way, HOWEVER the problem is that I'm a big fan of Prometheus' color scheme. Mustard and Cyan, whatta combo.
Im willing to go black and white on some other edits that I think could benefit from toning down visuals (i.e. star wars prequels,king kong, etc), and MAYBE this one could fit the bill, I just dont think it would add anything other then a forced 'classy factor',
I Like Leviticus as a title, Especially in that digital style. If we could come up with some interesting way that would fit with Alien and Aliens, and someone could animate a title reveal, which would just have to be on a black background.
Then by all means. Your photoshop skills are greater then mine.
Though if the title was a little more serif-Ed with lines on top and bottom the individual IV, II, and VI I'd love it!
Example layout~
LV: IV II VI
Or Leviticus in that font, if you're up to the challenge Johnny ringo!
I had a bit of an idea for the ending but I'll need to re-watch some scenes and see if it's possible.If it is, it might also be a nice way of bringing the start and end together nicely.
along the lines of Shaw circa the crash and Weyland circa 2033.
EDIT -
hold on - let me slap something together in photoshop. i saved the layers separate..
the font is called MIZU by the way. You can get it here -
Do Tell, (when you have the time)
and THAT is an awesome font!
Blam -
I know it's a bit different, still playing with ideas.
http://postimage.org/gallery/acvu9ghm/08001709/ - see here for more, i saved a copy at each stage of tweakage.
I have ideas of how this could look ANIMATED [maybe each square as a flickering light, etc] but it's a lot of work for a rough concept. If you wanna go with something like this we can talk / tweak..
And something completely different - just because I'm really digging the idea of black and white -
Basically My idea is to begin [after the fox logo] with a brief prologue showing Shaw emerge from beneath the derelict [;)] and the some shots of her wandering around in despair - then we hear some of her final log - distorted which begins to fragment and morph into the signal Ripley listens to aboard the Nostromo - this sound then crossfades into the sound of applause and then suddenly we're looking at young Peter Weyland.
Towards the end of his [cut down] speech we are introduced to david - less some of the over the top "this is a commercial" style segments - Blending some of the footage of him aboard the ship alone with promo stuff, playing chess with himself - keep things a bit vague and don't show anything related to the mission - ie: learning the Engineers language [save that for later on]
Only when the ship approaches the planet do we realise - don't show any exterior shots until he opens up the viewscreen in orbit.
The problem here is that we probably need the Hangar briefing scene to explain what the hell is going on - but it might work sans old man Weyland [;)]
Extreme fast forward >>
the derelict falls to the surface and crushes Shaw. black out. Flashback to [cut down] isle of sky segment - "I think they want us to come find them" [or whatever]...then possibly cut back to Weyland talking about human achievement - "We are the GODS now" or some such.
the idea needs some refining and I'm not sure if the resources are available as cleanly as i'd like. And i'm not sure if the idea as a whole works as neatly in context.
I've got a few other 'out there' ideas, thinking back to speculation based solely on the first teaser trailer, but dunno if that stuff is viable. I might take a stroll through the supplimental materials again. - there's a lot of documentary footage on the BD set that looks as good as the actual film.
Now i need to watch your most recent stuff again to remember just what you've done already..
And maybe we should look more to the leviticus passages for editing ideas / inspiration. I didn't try anything visually with the 'LV426 - Leviticus 4:26' yet - it would be cool to fit that stuff in, either in plot or text.
EDIT - A little more that I forgot to post - [that i thought was interesting]
Acheron (LV-426) is one of three known moons orbiting theCalpamos, which is located in the Zeta II Reticuli system, 39 light years away from Earth. The moon is christened by human colonists as Acheron.
http://avp.wikia.com/wiki/Acheron_(LV-426)
AKHERON (or Acheron), the river of pain, was a stream and swampy lake of the underworld and its god. The daimon Kharon ferried the souls of the dead across its dark waters in a skiff.
http://www.theoi.com/Khthonios/PotamosAkheron.html
I cannot thank you enough, honestly.
for some flickering animation, Some intuition is telling me the letters appear outermost first and then inward.
ive made a mockup with your opening, for some reason it's taking forever to render these few minutes tonight.
I'll edit this post and throw a link below tomorrow.
things I've noticed, it's a nice cold open, without giving too much away, it makes the film nicely bookended with shaw alone, and feels dreamlike while it lasts,
however, it does take away from a slow 2001-ish feel to the opening. From its first seconds it screams-big budget space action film, without organically getting to that point. It obviously feels like a setup, that can't get much resolution to when we get back around to the derelict crashing. Cutting back in to waylands speech or her and holloway on the isle of sky doesn't change much from showing her eager transmission at the end in my newest clip.
The difference is that, in context, that segment is signifying her death, and passing to the afterlife/meeting her maker etc., for which she is venturing forward.
I've tryed using her final transmission audio from the theatrical as well, because of that final "and I'm still searching" line for the same purpose. (Didn't work, way too upbeat for a woman sobbing on the ground)
Anyhow going BACK to waylands "we are the gods now", again, sounds like a great closing line, but we desperately NEED that kind of foolhardy ambition, "science for sciences sake" attitude from wayland from the start, yes we get that from the rest of the speech, but the audience in film acts as we do, "is this guy serious?"
I've also toyed with opening the film with the Leviticus 4:26 passage, dare I say a bit preachy to begin the film with?
Maybe it's just the booze.
@ Johnny Ringo
Cool Font :-)
and nice ideas/designs - though it really takes some of the mystery away, if we start with Shaw ...
Ah, I haven't looked for "clues", but the connection "Weyland/Yutani" and Horus is intersting too (like eagle and Prometheus)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horus
http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/img/jl50d9bc21.png
=> "we are the gods now" - indeed ;-)
@ strangeland
as for the animation of the title: how about a "drop" (of the black fluid) rippling the "digital fabric", producing waves leaving the letters behind ?
found some concept art, maybe to fuel thought:
and saw this tonight, it's from "Resident Evil: Damnation" - looked extreme nice for CGI, and had many parallels to Alien/Thing ;-)
http://hotdogsinthedark.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Resident-Evil-Damnation.jpg
How's it going?
I did a little mindgame on my way home yesterday, thinking about society and mused over some philosophical subjects I discussed with a colleague ...
there it dawned on me, like "Also sprach Zaratustra", that Nietsches idea of the "Übermensch" fits perfectly with the "Engineers" - in terms when he wrote: what the ape is to man, is man to the "superman" ;-)
And again we have a "connection" from Ridley Scott to "2001" - I really wish 'had more time at hand and the technical equipment ready, so I could cut my own version of "Prometheus" ... well, someday later
is it ready?
off-topic:
http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=102444
so I'm curious if Spahtis will nail a good one ... or if another writer will mess this one up ?
Is there any way you can show in this edit more of the symbolism behind the derelict and the goddess nut?
Pronounced (noot).
It'a real major thing that I wanted explored.
Nut was the goddess of the sky.She was seen as arching over the earth, protecting it
A sacred symbol of Nut was the ladder, used by Osiris to enter her heavenly skies. This ladder-symbol was called maqet and was placed in tombs to protect the deceased
Jacobs Ladder from spirit to matter and matter to spirit in conjunction with the signs of the zodiacin our galaxy
she Who Holds a Thousand Souls: Because of her role in the re-birthing of Ra every morning and in her son Osiris's resurrection, Nut became a key god in many of the myths about the after-life
Nut was the goddess of the sky and all heavenly bodies, a symbol of protecting the dead when they enter the after life. According to the Egyptians, during the day, the heavenly bodies—such as the sun and moon—would make their way across her body. Then, at dusk, they would be swallowed, pass through her belly during the night, and be reborn at dawn
Nut is also the barrier separating the forces of chaos from the ordered cosmos in the world .
hieroglyphic script was held to have been invented by the god Thoth, and the hieroglyphs themselves were powerful. Written words conveyed the full force of a spell.[19] This was even true when the text was abbreviated or omitted, as often occurred in later Book of the Dead scrolls, particularly if the accompanying images were present.[20] The Egyptians also believed that knowing the name of something gave power over it; thus, the Book of the Dead equips its owner with the mystical names of many of the entities he would encounter in the afterlife, giving him power of them.[21]
The spells of the Book of the Dead made use of several magical techniques which can also be seen in other areas of Egyptian life. A number of spells are for magical amulets, which would protect the deceased from harm. In addition to being represented on a Book of the Dead papyrus, these spells appeared on amulets wound into the wrappings of a mummy.[17] Everyday magic made use of amulets in huge numbers. Other items in direct contact with the body in the tomb, such as headrests, were also considered to have amuletic value.[22] A number of spells also refer to Egyptian beliefs about the magical healing power of saliva
The path to the afterlife as laid out in the Book of the Dead was a difficult one. The deceased was required to pass a series of gates, caverns and mounds (pyrimid) guarded by supernatural creatures.[39] These terrifying entities were armed with enormous knives and are illustrated in grotesque forms, typically as human figures with the heads of animals or combinations of different ferocious beasts. Their names—for instance, "He who lives on snakes" or "He who dances in blood"—are equally grotesque. These creatures had to be pacified by reciting the appropriate spells included in the Book of the Dead; once pacified they posed no further threat, and could even extend their protection to the dead person.[40] Another breed of supernatural creatures was 'slaughterers' who killed the unrighteous on behalf of Osiris; the Book of the Dead equipped its owner to escape their attentions.[41] As well as these supernatural entities, there were also threats from natural or supernatural animals, including crocodiles, snakes, and beetles
Basically it was a type of purgatory the spells were used to ease the passage against these encounters to await final judgement by osiris son of nut.
Also let's not forget the sarcofogi the SJ's use....And how man would have copied this ritual to preserve the kings as the SJ's prolonged their life in Hypersleep or dormant chambers.
Epic post but what do you think of this Symbolism?
and is there anyway to incorporate this line of thought into the edit to give it more explaination.
Perhaps even an old documentary? Basically all this I posted above seems that there was a large influence on Eyjptian mythology used when creating the mythos in Alien and Prometheus... wanted to make it more pronounced that is all.
Rather than Lawrence of arabia perhaps an egyptian history lesson would be better... Just an Idea...Anyway.
It's been a few months, and I guess I have no excuses for leaving so many of you guys hanging other then I suffer from depression/suicidal urges, and my current living situation has left me in limbo of weather I would spend the rest of this year homeless.
Both of which not making the other any more bearable.
In the few times I've gotten online since my last posting, I've always been drawn back to this thread, and to the many private messages that have piled up. Some of the messages eagerly cheering me on, or showing me screencaps of people talking about the rough edit on 4chan and the like.
These messages have helped drive me through this tough time in life, and now since a lot of my worries have settled down, I feel like finishing this is just one more step in the right direction for me.
Please don't let the internal conflicts going on with me hold back any of your criticism/concern/questions/ideas from this thread.
Its good to be back.
I also have no experience animating titles, you guys saw the blocky-alien-esque reveal I did... That's about as far as my skills go.
It'd be awesome if one of you with the knowhow could do it. Otherwise I may just stick with the resources that I have.
As for the ending, I found some recent save files on my laptop. Some of which shortened the ending with shaw dying/no lifeboat etc. I still really like this direction, but when I'm back in the editing chair, I wouldn't be surprised if I go back to the original ending I had.
Good to have you back!
I got a friend suffering from depression, it is not an easy thing to live with, but with professional help, and a goal to focus on, every day should be worth living ...
sorry can't provide help for the animations - I am trying to build a decent computer for cutting movies for some time - and hoping it will come together this year ;-)
But I will keep an eye on this thread and try to throw in some ideas from time to time ...
I'm pretty busy for the next few weeks but after that I can probably be of assistance.
Good to have you back.
Nice to see you back on the case.
Keep up the good work.
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.
Ripley said: Did interest in this just drop sharply while I was away?
Guess I'll just keep rambling for a bit.
Been scouring the blurays and there's quite a bit of stuff that may be useful, Sadly there's some interesting stuff that'd be unuseable - like extended scenes but with crewmen standing in the shot or ridley talking over the actors.
There are some good alternate shots that should be easy enough to insert as well as clean [enough] dialogue from multi angle scenes.
Example: the scene where Milburn and Fifield runs longer. Milburn says his fingers are still numb - which explains why he is shaking his hand furiously, then he goes on to say he hasn't been in stasis that long and Fifield comments that nobody has.
The scene with David on the bridge - where he is holding the basketball - pulls back and with outstretched arms David says "I am king of the world" - but this may have just been Fassbender dicking about.
If I find the time I might go through and catalogue all that stuff.
I was browsing browsing youtube yesterday and discovered some promo stuff from the last AVP video game with narration by Lance Henriksen. If a clean enough snippet could be found it might b fun to replace the Weyland Hologram intro with LH saying the "building better worlds" line. Might make a fun link to AVP and at this point i'd like to see that just to spite Ridley ;)
I wish we could just replace Guy Pearce with Lance's AVP character.
It makes a nice link to Alien 3 too.
I wonder if there are sounds and other articles in the other AVP and Alien games that could be used?
Hmm, good point. Henriksen is the face of Weyland in time periods before AND after Prometheus.
He plays a prominent role in Mass Effect 3 [lesser in the previous]. Maybe dialogue could be pinched and repurposed somehow.
As far as sound effects, I've got a clean recording of the Nostromo alarm and some stuff ripped from the movie - computer terminal sounds.
Looking for a cleaner version of the trailer sound effect.
Pretty sure I've got sound effects from the AVP games on an external hard drive somewhere - but the most iconic stuff wouldn't really fit in Prometheus - Weaponry and xenomorph screams. Maybe the cool hydraulic door sounds could be inserted someplace.