Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Edit Suggestions — Page 6

More suggestions.

In this, Mac still comes out second, but Indy's close up is delayed. Actually makes the scene seem more brutal and dangerous.

Removed Mac talking about a bet. I know it's a set up for later, but who cares about his "reason" greed was enough, and more honest.

PLUS, took out Irina's crap mind reading which weakened her character from page one.

Note, want to have Indy say the you're embarrassing us line, but not used to the progam, couldn't see how to tweak the audio, but you get the idea.

http://fileload.us/2472022-Sequence_2.avi

jones1899 said:

Man, between Laser, InfoDroid and now Cyclades -we may be in need of 1 ultimate version incorporating the best of each version. 

Yeah, we need a Skywalker Ranch like edit for this :)

Maybe this would create to much attention, but I bet there are some uber Indiana Jones fans at the raven.theraider.net that would love to add their input to this.

Thanks for the info on the Audio, are you looking to create subtitles as well?

Nice editing skills cyclades, but I think I prefer Indy being tossed out of the car second. Editing this sequence seems too clunky, and Mac being brought out of the car second weakens Indy's full reveal.

Plus, I don't think Indy being brought out of the car second diminishes his bad-ass-ness at all - it doesn't logically mean that he was captured first; Indy could have been captured second, and Mac first, but when they were brought to the car, the Russians decided to put Indy in the car first. Maybe they did this at a whim, or maybe they did it to get Indy in the car quickly, so he wouldn't be a threat, or so that Mac would be on top of him to prevent him from escaping from the car. And before Indy is even brought out of the car, after his hat is tossed out, a ring of Russian soldiers surround the car; so we clearly know that some bad ass dude is in there, about to be brought out. This is creating tension and drama, and this is why it seems to make movie sense to have Indy brought out last - building up suspense, leaving the best till last, and making the audience wonder where Indy is up until resolution is brought about with his hat being tossed on the gound by a Russian soldier.

That's looking at this in way too much detail I'm sure :S ! But I definitely never paid this short segment that much thought before, and I don't think it requires a re-edit; the original take on this scene is logically sound and flows well.

I've yet to comb through all 6 pages, so maybe these suggestions were made:


-Cut the circus natives attacking Indy and Mutt at the tomb. It has no bearing on anything whatsoever. They should arrive at the tomb and just go right in.


-Near the end, just before the Crystal Skull natives climb out of the walls, Mutt grabs a torch and says "someone's been here" or something. Cut this bit. It spoils it for the audience that someone is there, plus who would've used it? The natives hiding in the walls? or Oxley who was last there weeks ago?


-Cut as many sequences possible of Indy asking others (Oxley mostly) what to do next. Indy should figure things out himself.


-Cut the shots with the tracking device Mac drops. It spoils the ultimate reveal that he is bad, and Spalko could just figure out where they're going from piecing previous clues and using her telepathic powers.


-Trim Indy asking about Mutt's mother in the diner. Indy's already invested because of Oxley. But once Indy asks about Mutt's mom, it opens a can of worms. Like, if Indy didn't recognise who Mutt's mom was, you'd think he'd ask who his dad was, and right there Indy would've been able to put two and two together.

Having re-watched the opening of KOTCS, I was thinking of possible cuts that could be made to quicken the pace and also remove some dubious elements from the film's start.

- When Spalko walks up to Indy, after she asks 'where were they found' and is told 'they were found in Mexico, digging in the dirt', and after she walks up to Indy, it should cut to her holding out her hand and introducing herself to him. This would eliminate Indy's 'you're not from around here, are you?' line, which seems totally superflous after Indy's first line in the film was '...Russians', so he's obviously established prior to this that they're 'not from around here', and so has the audience. Also, the delivery of his 'from the way you're sticking your teeth into your...etc.' line seems strange, and very out of character.

- Spalko's mind-reading and telepathically-opening-the-warehouse-door should also be cut. Spalko should still point at Indy's head and say 'what I do not know, is in here *indicating Indy's forehead*', and then after she delivers this line, it should cut to her saying 'so, we will do this, what is the expression, the old fashioned way?'. This would still make sense in terms of continuity, and could flow well. And could Indy's cross-eyedness when Spalko points at his head be removed somehow, but the head-pointing remain intact?

As for her telepathically-opening the warehouse door, she should still raise her hand and say 'Dabei!', but immediately after this it should cut to the interior shot of the warehouse, with its doors opening. This way, it looks like Spalko gave an order for the doors to be opened, and the sparks flying out of the control box, signifying that she was using some sort of mental power, would be cut here.

- Jones1899 raised a very good point about how to cut the gun-powder segment, which I think should be implemented. After Indy asks for a compass, and then for bullets, he approaches Spalko and explains that the contents of the box are highly magnetised, he needs gun powder, and asks whether she wants his help or not. This dialogue should remain, but could the part about needing gun powder be cut from Indy's speech here? The speech is still required I think, to establish what is going on. After this dialogue is delivered, it should cut straight to Indy receiving the shotgun shells from the Russian soldier.

I can't envision any other cuts that could be carried out which would maintain pace and continuity. Also, I have never asked, but is it actually technologically feasable to add in the missing nozzle-flash at the start of the film (the Russian soldier on screen-right, as Dovchenko bends down to tie his shoe, is missing a nozzle flash - as is Spalko during the jungle chase, for that matter, just as it cuts back to her after she has shot at Indy/Marion/Mutt's jeep) and also to change the counter effect during the rocket sled sequene?

That's everything I can spot in the opening! Am I missing anything?

Was that supposed to be a telepathic opening of the door? That's even more lame.

I thought it was a charge placed by soldiers that were detonated.

You know, you could be right - I didn't know what the hell it was supposed to be, but I heard a lot of people saying it was supposed to show her telepathic power. The more I think about it, an electrical charge planted by the soldiers does make more sense, lol - maybe it's the suddeness and the Russian-talking that's throwing me off :S

Well to be fair, it's not like they were ever that clear. :lol:

topdawg193 said:

You know, you could be right - I didn't know what the hell it was supposed to be, but I heard a lot of people saying it was supposed to show her telepathic power. The more I think about it, an electrical charge planted by the soldiers does make more sense, lol - maybe it's the suddeness and the Russian-talking that's throwing me off :S

 Well, the soldiers do say "It's ready" in Russian right before the sparks go off, so I guess it may be that they planted a charge. It wouldn't make sense for them to say "it's ready" if Spalko was using her "powers."

While on the subject, this is probably impossible to do for you guys, but can someone who speaks Russian and sounds like Spalko please dub over some of Spalko's lines in Russian? Sometimes her lines are OK, but sometimes it sounds like she's speaking gibberish (yes, I'm fluent in Russian). The other soldiers speak perfect Russian, but Spalko sometimes really fails at her pronunciation, which makes it sound jarring for Russian speakers like me. This probably isn't a priority for you guys, since you don't understand Russian, so w/e.

The Golden Idol said:

Sometimes her lines are OK, but sometimes it sounds like she's speaking gibberish (yes, I'm fluent in Russian). The other soldiers speak perfect Russian, but Spalko sometimes really fails at her pronunciation, which makes it sound jarring for Russian speakers like me. This probably isn't a priority for you guys, since you don't understand Russian, so w/e.

To me that's the case with most of the "Germans" in Raiders and Crusade :-)

topdawg193 said:

- When Spalko walks up to Indy, after she asks 'where were they found' and is told 'they were found in Mexico, digging in the dirt', and after she walks up to Indy, it should cut to her holding out her hand and introducing herself to him. This would eliminate Indy's 'you're not from around here, are you?' line, which seems totally superflous after Indy's first line in the film was '...Russians', so he's obviously established prior to this that they're 'not from around here', and so has the audience. Also, the delivery of his 'from the way you're sticking your teeth into your...etc.' line seems strange, and very out of character.

He notices that she's not "from around here", and not Russian either. To be exact, managing to distinguish her from being from the Eastern-Ukraine and not from Russia just by her accent (or the way she's "sinking her teeth into those wubbleyous") shows how educated Indy really is, and that he really has seen the world in all his years of adventure. I would definitely keep that line.

cyclades said:

Well to be fair, it's not like they were ever that clear. :lol:

Well, I think the guy with the charge itself makes it VERY clear that it wasn't telepathic powers ;)

^ lmao, ah yes, the Russian soldier standing by the control box does subtly imply that a charge is used :P

Couldn't see the wood from the trees, I guess :D

And good point about Indy's worldly-ness being conveyed through his 'you're not from around here...' exchange with Spalko. Keeping it in does seem like the logical thing to do, in terms of preserving Indy's character.

Must've been having an off day :S

Ha! Never noticed the dude standing there before.

And to make it even clearer:

BAM!!!

:p

I'm squinting, but I'm still not seeing it... hehe

Can't wait to see what you guys come up with, if you need any help let me know, I have Adobe AE and Premiere.

I think the line "Put your hands down you're embarising us." should be kept.

Yup, I've been updating the list as we go.

Lol, I know, I think I'm fresh out of ideas as well - there can't honestly be anything else we haven't covered! I think we really do have the definitive list of suggestions; if all or most can be implemented in a fan edit, I'll finally be able to let this film sit beside my original Indy trilogy DVD boxset. Right now, that's just not happening with the theatrical cut, on principal, lol.

On JohnGreenArt's suggestions - I included the suggestions about Indy figuring things out for himself, and also about cutting Mutt revealing that the torches at Akator had been used not long before they arrived (I'll go out on a limb and say that most, if not all, would agree wth these ideas), but am unsure about the other suggestions put forward - maybe these could be discussed, to arrive at a consensus before they are included on the page 1 list?

I think that removing the graveyard action sequence with the natives would severely damage the pace of the film - remember, this action seqence comes, thankfully, after a period of plot development and exposition; cutting it entirely could drag the film out. Also, it is in this sequence that it has been proposed that we could have Indy fire his gun, which he doesn't do anywhere else in the film (and this is a first for an Indy film), and this is a pretty crucial edit which would need to be done.

Also, I think cutting the 'Mac-drops-the-trackers-for-Spalko' segments would make it look very strange when Spalko just suddenly turns up in the main chamber where the Crystal Skulls are - and, it would mean sacrificing the scene where the Russians, under Spalko's order, ruthlessly shoot down the Akator natives. That scene, for me, added much needed grit to the film, and made us genuinely wary of Spalko, as we were seeing here (for arguably the first time) what she was capable of. Plus, I think the tracker-segments reinforce just how damn dastardly Mac is!

Finally, at the diner, cutting Indy asking about Mutt's mum would also seem inconsistent, in my opinion. Mutt's mum being captured by the Russians is one of the key reasons (if not the reason) why Mutt is choosing to personally get involved, and why Indy is being asked for help. So, Indy is bound to ask who his mother is - it would seem strange if he just didn't bother to follow up on that crucial piece of Mutt's tale. And it doesn't necessarily follow that Indy would then ask about Mutt's father - Mutt hadn't mentioned him at all, so Indy would assume he was no longer on the scene (having either died or left). Plus, cutting this would mean losing Mutt's hot-headed-ness (which becomes a considerable part of his character) when he is angered by Indy's comment ('there's been a lot of Marys kid...' - which is a great line! And a very Indy-like line!). Then, it would make Mutt's coldness to Indy after this confrontation ('oh, you're a teacher? Well, that's gonna be a lot of help...') seem out of place.

But that's just my two cents!

Damn, I've found the perfect way to get rid of the prarie dog in the opening-shot, but I need someone who a) has the BluRay-DVD and b) is able to rip a portion of it (so that we have the full thing in 1080-res):

The visual-effects featurette contains the clean plate used for the opening shot, until the point of the car driving through the mound of dirt and the camera being covered with dust, so that the blend could be made right there.

They are in 1080i ... good enough to use.