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The Game of Thrones Purist Cuts

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 (Edited)

I’m currently working on an edit of Game of Thrones which aims to cut down the show so that it follows the books more faithfully. I have been reading the first book, “A Game of Thrones”, and editing Season 1 simultaneously. S1 is quite faithful to the book, but there are some differences. Scenes and dialogue that are not in the books, or contradict the books, have been cut as much as possible, whilst still retaining all core plot points. Scenes that are implied in the books but not shown have been left in. Some scenes have been tightened to improve pace, but nothing which is in the books has been cut.

All scenes have been re-ordered so that they follow chapter order. I’ve largely completed the cuts for the first film in the series, still need to work on the audio and subs.

Film I, “The Wolfsbane”, covers material adapted from A Game of Thrones, Chapters 0-35. This corresponds mostly to Season 1 (E01-05), with one scene from E06. The run-time will be around 2:55. This film is mostly setting the scene for the Stark-Lannister conflict in King’s Landing. Sideplots take place in Winterfell, at the Wall, in the Dothraki Sea, and in the Vale. The film ends with Ned Stark being attacked by Jaime Lannister.

The title “The Wolfsbane” refers to the enemies of House Stark, as well as the poison.

I was hoping to make only two films in total for S1, but the second half of the season has less filler and is too long for a single film (~4hrs), so I am now planning on 3 films in total for Season 1.

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Thanks, hopefully the first film will be done in a few weeks. Btw did you manage to get a hold of your ASOIAF S7-8 edit?

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No, unfortunately that file’s been lost forever. : (
I might consider remaking and improving it someday though.

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Hi! Is this an abandoned project?

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 (Edited)

This project in progress. I’ve completed the first volume of this edit, covering the first third of A GAME OF THRONES. More info here:
https://ifdb.fanedit.org/the-game-of-thrones-purist-cuts-volume-i-the-wolfsbane/

I’ve aimed to re-arrange all scenes in chapter order and cut materials that isn’t in the books - without creating any plot holes. I’ve also added chapters to the video, so you can see, if you’re curious, which chapter is playing out. Location cards have also been added. I’ve aimed to trim dialogue that doesn’t appear in or contradicts the books. All in all, about 1/3 of the first season has been cut, and over half of the second season.

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I forgot about this thread. I have completed the first five Volumes of this series, covering all of Season 1 (corresponding to A Game of Thrones) and Season 2 (corresponding to A Clash of Kings).

Nearly all footage from the show that is not adapted from the books has been cut, and all footage has been re-arranged to match the chapter order of the books as closely as possible. For those who want to follow along with the order of things, I’ve added chapter markers to the video file, so you can see which scene corresponds to which book chapter. There is also a detailed changelist available here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1X3kapkh9_Q0xWhJADOFOLjGJNw_RW7Sp/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=106224893014725536741&rtpof=true&sd=true

Pretty much all scenes that I kept have been trimmed to remove non-book events & dialogue, and to improve pace. Additionally, I’ve added location cards for significant new locations, and Dothraki to English subs.

Season 1 has been cut from 9hr 21mins to 6hr 20mins (split across Volumes I, II, & III), and Season 2 has been cut from 9hr 04mins to 4hr 30mins (split across Volumes IV & V). More details are available on the IFDb.

Next up is Season 3-4, corresponding to the third book, A Storm of Swords. Seasons 3-4 run at a total of 18hrs 22mins, whilst my rough cut (split across Volumes VI, VII, & VIII) runs at roughly 6hrs 55mins.

In total, there will be 8 films covering Seasons 1-4 and the beginning of Season 5. From then onwards, the show’s divergence from the books is too significant for a book cut.