[Ensign Q]

Im working on a fanedit of Picard, that cuts the crap (restructed, no foul language and less graphical). unfortnunately some fan service will also go down the drain, because it doesnt add to the story.

if you want to rewatch the series or enjoy it with someone who hasnt seen it yet, you can find the first episode here:

v.2.0
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipO ... hkTFlud2Jn

I plan to do all episodes. Lemme know what you think

[The Guardian]

Are you doing each episode separately or are you playing around with the whole series?

From here on, there are SPOILERS.

I've been thinking since it came out that I would have restructured it too. Each episode had a flashback at the beginning and then progressed from there. I was thinking that I would have made my first episode a "what has Picard been doing the last 25 years?" episode and just combine all of that up until his interview, ending with Dahj's reveal as she sees him on TV. Then, I could do the flashback part of the structure by starting the next episode with what you missed: Dahj with her boyfriend, Romulans attack, etc., leading up to the new episode. There could a few instances where that cliffhanger-and-then-rewind structure could work out well narratively. I wouldn't show the Artifact (or Soji and Narek) either until it's a flashback at the beginning of the episode when Picard actually gets there. (That was probably the most interminable part for me: we kept seeing the Artifact and I was bored by the story every time until Picard arrived.) I would bet that I would end up cutting a bunch too, but I would probably leave things like "Nepenthe" alone. There's also probably something to be made of the Artifact showing up later when the Romulans arrive, like it's coming to the rescue, and then getting biffed by the big space flower thing. Like in Ironman 3 when the Mark 42 shows up and then immediately shatters, only not played for laughs. We needed that end of Act 2 "all hope seems lost" moment.

Anyway, I'd be curious about your thoughts from an armchair critic/hindsight aficionado (like me) point of view would be.

[Ensign Q]

originally i wanted to condense the whole season into a ~3hr movie. thats not possible i guess, since there is only so much to cut. (10hrs of material) also it takes ages to edit and render if its all episodes in one.
so i losely restructre the episodes (taking material from all) to end with like 8 episodes at ~45min each.
I dont think im going for a classic episode structure, just a continuous binge cutting.

spoilers

check it out, it starts with the Admonition and then leads to picards interview. in the og cut it was way too confusing what was going on. piling up all flashbacks doesnt really fit and most were useless anyway.

[The Guardian]

I like the Admonition at the beginning for sure.

[SudenKapala]

Coincidentally, I just restarted my 2nd watching of PIC. I had only the last 3 eps to go.
I am adamant in seeing everything, often not "understanding" (or choosing not to) why deleted scenes were cut at all. In that regard, this may not be for me.
However, I am also interested in the sheer-magical possibilities of film editing to make-or-break a production. I can't pinpoint it exactly, often; but I do see real good or bad editing.
On a more macro scale, I usually don't give it much thought. But indeed I wonder now, if PIC would indeed benefit from a radically altered structure...
On a tangient, this reminds me of SpiceDiver's fan edits of 1984 Dune. The Alternate Edition Redux is superb -- putting all deleted scenes (with blue eye FX) and TV-miniseries material back in, and polishing everything on HD-watchable (if not HD-ready?) format... Even mashing in parts of the paintings prologue while using Irulan's theatrical version as intro... Majestic.

[Ensign Q]

i made 2 other edits in the past.
terminator 3, which cut almost half the movie because it was silly trash. now its almost better than T2 lol.
and
Ash vs Evil Dead S1, which became a 1hr30 movie with an alternate ending. also a favorite of mine now.


its definitely interesting for some movies to reintroduce deleted scenes, but it can become redundant. i was debating using the deepfake scenes with data, but decided to get rid of data at all. silly fanservice scenes.
im not sure how PIC will turn out in the end, but the original structure was a confusing slug fest.
i just redid "my" first episode. Its a proper Pilot now that ends with Picard calling for a ship. check it out

[SudenKapala]

terminator 3, which cut almost half the movie because it was silly trash. now its almost better than T2 lol.

You shouldn't have said that. Yes, much is wrong with T3, but it's not the train wreck people make it out to be. (And neither is T4 -- at all.) Okay, I'm a big fan of that whole franchise; and I know 3 and 4 are not popular... (And I do hate the crane truck scene!) But saying that you can remodel anything and call it "almost better than T2" makes me, regretfully, doubt your Judgement.
It's not my favourite movie -- it's some ways below Aliens, The Abyss, and Interstellar -- but unless your last name is, say, Villeneuve, Nolan or God Pre-Avatar-Cam, you can't say such things.

i was debating using the deepfake scenes with data,

That, I'd have liked to see. That's the kind of thing that would make me see the "worth" of a fan edit -- added material. (But that's very personal and subjective.)

silly fanservice scenes

Meh... Oh, well; yes, for a large part...

but decided to get rid of data at all.

... and now you lost me. the way they actually gave closure to the character in the last ep, in a way Nemesis never could for me, I found to be -- after I got used to it -- quite elegant. (Now, what they did to Picard afterward... But we're about Data, here.) Actually, it was one of the redeeming parts of PIC. Seeing that end up on your cutting floor... nope.
And you can't have that, and not the whole setup for it, of course.

And I also loved the references to Lal; there should've been more in TNG (or even in Generations, post-chip; finally realising what he'd lost, instead of / in addition to remembering that old joke).

But you can't please everyone. And actually doing such a fan project (i.e., big and as a hobby) deserves praise to begin with.

Technical question. I've never tried anything remotely like this. (Well, not if you don't count amateur music editing to repair or improve albums and songs. Which gives me certain ideas of the difficulties -- but which I certainly don't count as in the same ball-park.) How are you able to work around sound -- e.g., music -- running into the next scene if you want to cut that? I assume you edit the video and audio tracks independently, but still...? Are you able to somehow separate the music from the source audio/sound FX? And then re-paste the isolated music?
Kudos.

[Ensign Q]

well, when you get rid of the sillyness and stupid dialogues, t3 turns out 90min of constant action. i find that very appealing. the original was disgusting, 4 was crap as well, but i liked genisys. cranescene is considered the best action scene of the franchise lol...

when it comes to picard, i want to get rid of the slug (and the confusion) so adding or simply replacing scenes wont help there. if you enjoyed the original, a fanedit is surely not for you then. i found the ending horrible and im not sure how i will handle it. just finished episode 3 (05 in the og).

yes you can edit video and sound seperately and is often the most annoying work. i hate when they have overlapping sounds on scenecuts.

[SudenKapala]

90min of constant action. i find that very appealing.

Seriously?

but i liked genisys.

Seriously?? You and I have a very different taste!

cranescene is considered the best action scene of the franchise lol...

Se-- Ser-- Seriously?!? I and the world have a very different taste!

when it comes to picard, i want to get rid of the slug (and the confusion) so adding or simply replacing scenes wont help there.

I get that.

if you enjoyed the original,

Nope. Not really. They

killed Hugh; and killed Icheb even harder. Man, and it wasn't so artistically done, either.

That's not the worst of it -- but I wrote too much elsewhere about why I was disappointed, already.

i found the ending horrible and im not sure how i will handle it.

Indeed. I don't envy you that job. The Data closure made it worth my while, but some of the other tied-up ends really made me cringe a bit.

just finished episode 3 (05 in the og).

You whut now? Already? Do you have Spielberg's editors on speed-dial? Didn't you finish ep 1, like, not 2 days ago?

i hate when they have overlapping sounds on scenecuts.

Doesn't that, like, happen very often? (It being a hallmark of satisfying scene transition for the audience?)

[The Guardian]

Years ago, before Avengers 2, I did a supercut of the previous Marvel movies in chronological order. First scene: Asgard vs. the Dark Elves from Thor 2. The most fun part was the "Fury's Big Week," mixing Iron Man 2, Thor, and Incredible Hulk (which actually begins first and ends last in chronological order). I had to calculate when events were happening, when days and nights happened (made more difficult by Tony visiting Monaco on the other side of the world at one point), and also not interrupt major segments as we jumped around. (Part of the fun was showing things like the Hulk out at the university right before Tony stops by Fury to see the news report playing on one of Fury's screens.) Transitions were crucial to allowing the flow to remain fun.

i hate when they have overlapping sounds on scenecuts.

Doesn't that, like, happen very often? (It being a hallmark of satisfying scene transition for the audience?)

They are. They're called L-cuts or J-cuts, depending on whether they sound trails into the following scene or begins in advance the scene, respectively. Video is usually seen on top of the audio, which makes the cuts kind of look like Ls and Js.

[SudenKapala]

Thx for that info about the cuts. And that must have been a lot of work... And indeed, calculating... back when I was writing, I had a hard time keeping track of all events and getting the time flow straight -- and that's when I could make it all up, myself. (Depends on the kind of stories, of course.) Must be quite the chore, for those films.
OTOH, I didn't know about that news segment -- but/and they obviously spent more time thinking about the order of events than I ever knew. Interesting, too -- except that I grew disappointed in the Marvel ensemble films. Too much action, too many characters, too little personal development / meaningful character moments... (If you're thinking: "But we're discussing a sup[erhero movie!" I'll gladly refer you to X-men. They are more my thing, in those regards.) I really loved some of the earlier origins movies, though. Cap Am 1 was my favourite, I think.

[Ensign Q]

i often cheat with the cuts. doing the cut at a few frames earlier before the sound transition starts. ofc you can also lower the volume and raise it again. or copy the whole transition.
thankfully PIC uses a lot of hard blends, when the screen turns black for a sec.

well, e01 and 02 were the worst of the season, so it kinda was the most work. i will leave most of the other episodes in order, just get rid of the intro and preview. (and cut the crap)
like raffis son, what was that about???

[MidnightLich]

Am I the only one that didn't hate this show?

[KazonPADD]

Am I the only one that didn't hate this show?

No.

[SudenKapala]

@PADD, Lich. No. I didn't hate it, I think, at least in restrospect. (I may have said/felt so, a few months ago.) There was stuff that I liked, and I hope I said that, too. (Hugh's first 98% of screentime; Borg stuff; many parts of Seven's appearance; Rios' character; Jurati's and Riker-Troi daughter's acting; the Data closure arch I just mentioned; etc.)

But I did, and do, vehemently hate some decisions / aspects, and that did eclipse the good parts. I was really disappointed at first view.
Sometimes, that radically changes at second or third view, for me. I hope it does.

no foul language and less graphical

I missed that in the OP, or forgot to mention it. But these things, the show could really do without. Good choices there, "at least".