Watchmen (HBO) TV Show • Page 2

Anthony_ · Sep 22, 2017

Nyquist said:

So in regards to the movie, a few years back I saw a fan edit that I liked called Watchmen: Midnight (edited by Joshua Wille) wherein he incorporated elements of the Under The Hood doc included in the special features as well as Tales of the Black Freighter. Joshua reshuffled a few things around from the Ultimate Cut and I thought it was a little better, but I also wanted it to go further than it did. So I downloaded Watchmen: Midnight (I liked the color grading he did to deepen the palette so it wasn't all washed out like Snyder is prone to do) and made my own cut out of it.

I kept some things, but I changed a lot. Basic rundown:

1.) Under The Hood - The biggest issue I had with Watchmen: Midnight was that he had wanted it to be closer to the book just to see what it would be like, but the finished product and experiment wasn't as close as it could be. He cut the film up into the twelve chapters using the motion comics and some of the Under The Hood doc. He took those pieces of Under The Hood and had them playing on Hollis Mason's TV screen in place of the supplemental prose found at the end of each chapter in the book. The thing is, he only did the first few chapters and then the rest of the movie played out mostly as it usually does. I loved the idea of incorporating Under The Hood, but I was disappointed that he didn't use all of it and that the chapter bookends didn't necessarily match what was on the page. So I sat down with the book, re-edited all of Under The Hood so that it would match exactly what I was reading (as well as I could possibly get it), downloaded and ripped more material online (I included all of the short teaser videos that were posted online in advance of the film's release like "World In Focus: 6 Minutes to Midnight", "NBS Nightly News", The Keene Act Public Service Announcement, Adrian Veidt commercials, etc.) and then did the exact same thing Joshua had done with Hollis Mason's TV. Now there's supplemental material at the end of every single "chapter" in the film except for one: the end of Chapter 5 when Rorschach is arrested. In the book the supplemental material here is about the author of Tales of the Black Freighter and the fact that he is missing. That ultimately pays off in the book, but is a completely non-existent plotline in the film so there's no material to support it. Therefore it's the only chapter without a bookend. Since the bookends also now extend beyond Hollis's death, once that happens the supplemental material now plays out on the TV at the bar, in Sally Jupiter's home, and on Veidt's wall of screens for chapter 8-12.

2.) Tales of the Black Freighter - The Ultimate Cut was problematic in that they just dropped in huge chunks of Black Freighter at random, seemingly just to get it out of the way. There was very little rhyme or reason to it. Joshua's Midnight edit made some slight alterations to this problem but, again, I felt like it wasn't as thorough as it could be. So I did the same exact thing I did with Under The Hood. I sat down with the book and re-edited all of Tales of the Black Freighter so that the right pieces of it would be inserted into the film at the same time they appear in the graphic novel.

3.) Structural Order - Joshua's cut, as I mentioned, edited the film into the twelve chapters like the book but the chapters were still discordant with the book itself. Now, admittedly, the way I cut it together in the end doesn't necessarily mean that I think it's better this way. I just like the idea of it as an experiment. If you're going to make a cut of the film that is as close of a comparison as possible, then why not go all the way? So after I sat down and re-edited all of Under The Hood and all of Tales of the Black Freighter, I did the same exact thing with the film itself. I read through the book as I was editing and cut the film up to pieces and then put it back together again until it was as close to the graphic novel's structure as I felt I could possibly get it. This also means that anything that wasn't in the graphic novel got removed. No jail fight, no cop finding Rorschach in The Comedian's apartment and shooting him, some of the slow-mo was cut down, a lot of the over-the-top gore was cut out, etc. Joshua's cut also removed some of the pop songs and replaced them with pieces of score, but he left a couple pop songs in that I still didn't like so I took those out and replaced them with more score. Now the only two pop songs left (because they are literally impossible to replace due to the dialogue and sound effects layered over them) are "I'm Your Boogie Man" by KC and the Sunshine Band during the Night Owl/Comedian riot scene, and "All Along the Watchtower" by The Jimi Hendrix Experience when Night Owl and Rorschach fly Archie to Veidt's research facility in Antarctica. Joshua's cut also trimmed down the awkward sex scene so that it's exactly what you get in the graphic novel. That is probably the edit I was most grateful for. Joshua also cut out that opening montage set to Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A' Changin'", moved it to the end of the film, and then replaced it with The Smashing Pumpkins' "The Beginning is the End is the Beginning" which was used in the trailer. I liked this alteration so I left it as is, however I did put the Dylan song in the film where it shows up in the graphic novel. This actually isn't my most recent edit because I had to go back in and change one shot as well as fix a couple audio issues. The one shot is of Sally Jupiter touching the photograph of The Comedian kneeling among The Minutemen. In my cut, I moved that shot along with Sally's facial reaction to the end of the film after Laurie and Dan talk at home. You see that in this cut, but I noticed on a rewatch that that shot of her hand touching the photograph also appears in a flashback when Laurie is remembering on Mars. So I had to go back in and replace that shot, which is not something you get here. Oh well.

So anyway, I think it's an interesting experiment to view it this way. My cut is 4 hours long (with the credits it's actually 4 hours and ten minutes) and not perfect by any means, but I do think it's interesting. The order, the pacing, the tone, the character beats...a lot of those changes make it feel like a different film. Obviously I can't change the ending to a Squid (sorry), but I thought some folks in here might be interested in checking this out if and when you have the time. I posted it on my Vimeo account with a password so that I wouldn't draw some...unwanted attention (I once made a three and a half hour cut of How I Met Your Mother season 9 with an altered ending and received a cease and desist letter from 20th Century Fox, which is something I treasure). It's pretty heavily compressed because it's a four hour long video that was also ripped and re-edited from someone else's edit so please forgive the digital artifacting. Anyway, here it is if you have four hours to waste:

Password: TheVeidtMethod

Might have to check this out before the series! That's a helluva a lot of effort to fix the film, probably more effort than the actual filmmakers put into it haha.

Nyquist · Sep 22, 2017

Anthony_D'Elia said:

Might have to check this out before the series! That's a helluva a lot of effort to fix the film, probably more effort than the actual filmmakers put into it haha.

It really was. Last year was a hard year for me personally. I lost my job among various other things that happened and so I had a lot of free time. I do also work as an independent contractor on commercial shoots but they're infrequent so, when I wasn't doing that, I funneled my energy into editing to keep myself distracted from how sad life can be. All in all it took me about three or four months to get it in the right place.

Joe · May 22, 2018

Lengthy read from Lindelof.

DarkHotline · May 22, 2018

I feel much better about this now and honestly, I really like the idea of creating a new storyline built off the framework of the original versus just making another live action version of the book.

airik625 · May 23, 2018

Damon Lindelof’s Open Letter To ‘Watchmen’ Fans Says HBO Adaptation Will Be An Original Story

Joe · May 23, 2018

Casting news. Love Regina King.

'Watchmen': Regina King, Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson to Star in Damon Lindelof's HBO Pilot

The Leftovers grad Regina King will reunite with Lindelof on the HBO pilot and lead a cast that includes Don Johnson (Miami Vice), Tim Blake Nelson (O Brother, Where Art Thou?), Louis Gossett Jr. (An Officer and a Gentleman), Adelaide Clemens (Rectify) and Andrew Howard (Hatfields & McCoys).

Nyquist · Jun 12, 2018

'Watchmen' Set Photos Reveal the Fate of an Original Character and a Major Connection to the Original Comic

airik625 · Jun 27, 2018

Spoiler Free Movie Sleuth: News: Who Watches The Watchmen? Jeremy Irons Joins HBO's Watchmen Series

primavera · Jun 27, 2018

oooooh nice

Henry · Aug 17, 2018

Ordered to series

Henry · Sep 20, 2018

fuck yeah

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross to score HBO’s Watchmen series

DarkHotline · Sep 20, 2018

Aw yeah, that’s fucking awesome

Joe · Oct 15, 2018

RyanPm40 · Oct 15, 2018

Looks like Charlie traded in his Green Man suit for a chance to fight crime as the Yellow Man

coleslawed · Oct 15, 2018

*Dayman, Champion of the Sun

Henry · Nov 8, 2018

omggggg

Exclusive: Jeremy Irons is Older Ozymandias in the 'Watchmen' TV Series, Jean Smart Joins the Cast as an FBI Agent

chewbacca110 · Nov 9, 2018

HERE FOR IT

Jason Tate · May 8, 2019

Joe · May 8, 2019

Oh shit, looks good!

AWasteOfATime · May 8, 2019

its me im watching the watchmen

Anthony_ · May 8, 2019

This better be as good as it looks.

Steve_JustAGuy · May 8, 2019

Looks promising!

VanMastaIteHab · May 8, 2019

TICK TOCK TICK TOCK

Dinosaurs Dish · May 8, 2019

I'm a big fan of Lindelof so I really hope this is great and he gets the amount of praise he deserves.

chewbacca110 · May 8, 2019

I have not kept up on the show development, are there new Watchmen?

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