Fan edit

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A fan edit is a version of a film modified by a viewer, that removes, reorders, or adds material in order to create a new interpretation of the film. This includes the removal of scenes or dialog, replacement of audio and/or visual elements, and adding material from sources such as deleted scenes or even other films. The trend became popular when an individual calling himself the "Phantom Editor" (later revealed as professional editor Mike J. Nichols) removed elements from George Lucas' Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace that he felt detracted from the film, and made minor changes in languages and subtitles to give the film's villains a more menacing tone.[1] The end result became known as The Phantom Edit, which achieved fame through distribution on VHS, DVD, and other media.

While fan editors originally focused on the Star Wars prequels, the trend spread to the original trilogy after their release on DVD, both because of higher quality source material, and due to further changes by Lucas to the films in 1997 and 2004. Many of the fan edits aimed to preserve the pre-"Special Edition" films or correct perceived story flaws. Recently, fan editors have begun editing non-Star Wars films in the same fashion, such as Matrix series, Pearl Harbor, Superman II, and others (see below). In addition to the editing of the film, some fan edits feature basic corrections, such as colors or framing, that maintain or restore consistency within the film.

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[edit] Fair use issues

It should be noted that while fan edits skirt the lines of fair use, their creators emphasize the use of the final product should only be for those who own the source material (often commercial DVDs), and are not to be distributed for profit or other personal gain. LucasFilm is aware of the existence of Star Wars fan edits, and has stated they will take action when they believe copyright infringement has taken place.[2] In July 2007, Lucasfilm took action against fan editor "daveytod" after taking issue with his fan edit documentary, The Clones Revealed. It is unclear exactly why Lucasfilm took this action against "daveytod". Their email to him cited the possibility of 'consumer confusion', that The Clones Revealed might be mistaken for an official Lucasfilm product. The email was sent to several active members of the fan editing community and resulted in the short down time of FanEdit.org until it was made clear which film was being cited with a cease and desist. The reasoning given by Lucasfilm's anti-piracy team during communications with fanedit.org moderators seemed to display the mistaken impression that 'The Clones Revealed' was an Episode II bootleg.[citation needed]

[edit] Notable fan edits

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Notable fan edits have included the following:

  • Bad Boys II - Mark Mancina Remix - A fan edit that inserts Mark Mancina's score from the first Bad Boys film.
  • Batman and Robin: De-assified – Cut most of the one-liners and dialogue felt to be campy.
  • Batman Forever: Red Book Edition – Removes the "Batass" shots of the suit-up and other campier aspects, restores deleted scenes to the film such as Bruce's encounter with the gigantic bat within the Batcave.
  • The Crow: City of Angels: The Second Coming – It re-arranges some events, gives some additional footage, and has animatics with written dialogue to give a feel for what director Tim Pope wanted to achieve with the film.
  • Daredevil: The Spence Edit – Cut out the flashback frame story and voiceovers and removed some of the dialogue.
  • The Evil Dead Trilogy - A fan edit that combines all three films into one, making it a nearly five hour long film.
  • House By The Cemetery: Grindhouse Edition - One of 3 "Grindhouse Editions" from Retro Horror Remix. The point was to remove the so-called campy aspects of the film by minimizing the awful dubbing of the young boy. The edit was also designed to replicate what the film would look like in a Grindhouse theater in the 1980's.
  • Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers: The Purist Edit – Cut most of the deviations from Tolkien's original book.
  • The Matrix: Dezionized – Combines The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions into one film by removing most of the storylines centering around Zion.
  • The Matrix Evolutions – An edit that merges The Matrix sequels into one film and reconstructs a new narrative from the original footage.
  • Pearl Harbor – Strength and Honor Edit - Edited out much of the romantic angle, in order to focus on the attack on Pearl Harbor and the pilots.
  • Rob Zombie's HALLOWEEN - This fanedit from Retro Horror Remix re-arranges Rob Zombie's film to more closely resemble the original 1978 film. A new homage credit sequence was made and many "over the top" scenes removed. New deleted scenes were added to help best match the original classic.
  • Silent Hill - The Spence Edit – A shorter version removing the husband subplot and exposition scenes.
  • Star Trek: Kirkless Generations – The film Star Trek Generations with all of Kirk and the original Enterprise crew removed.
  • Star Trek: Phase II – Is a fan edit series made by using footage from the Star Trek movies in order to recreate the cancelled TV series.
  • Star Wars: Episode 1 - Bernd Dötzers Final Cut (BDFC) – is a more serious and compact fan edit version of The Phantom Menace, running 121 minutes; shortened original material is combined with cut scenes and restored scenes; in addition this edit shows a changed montage of selected scenes and sequences.
  • Star Wars - Episode 4 - Bernd Dötzers Final Cut (BDFC) – is a fan cut vision as close as possible to the original Star Wars conception including cut scenes, restored and selfmade scenes; running time 144 minutes.
  • Superman Redeemed – A hybrid cut of Superman III and Superman IV.
  • Superman III: The Smallville Cut – a cut that makes use of Smallville scenes from Superman, Superman III, and Superman IV, while retaining the original storyline of the third movie.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Salon.com Arts & Entertainment | "The Phantom Edit"
  2. ^ Zap2it.com - Movie news - Phantom Editor Apologizes

[edit] External links

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