The Gamer's Quarter

[SuperWes]

I have it on good word that Matt went to go see this last night. I have sort of middle road expectations for it. I'll be happy if it keeps the feeling of Silent Hill and don't really care if it sticks to the plot at all. Strangely, this is the opposite of why I liked the Resident Evil movie. It really kind of established its own style and dropped in plot and visual ties to the games when neccessary. The second one stuck a lot closer to the games plotwise and ended up pretty terrible as a result.

Matt and his wife are going to Silent Hill again tonight to see it with me and my woman. I read a review that seemed to imply that there are gaping plot holes. For some reason that raised my expectations that it might actually have a lot in common with the games. We'll see!

// Space Reserved for further impressions //

-Wes
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[SuperWes]

Oh yeah, uhh. What are you guys expecting? Is anyone NOT going to see it tonight?

-Wes
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[dessgeega]

i'm not going to see it tonight.
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[DaleNixon]

i am.

[B coma]

I'm gonna see it! woo!

[TheRumblefish]

I might go see it tonight. That depends if I can find the money to go see it. I'm not expecting much honestly. As long as Pyramid Head doesn't do any Kung-Fu moves, it will be all right with me.

By Kung-Fu I mean, jumping off a wall to kick someone. Grappling with the main character while she uses some form of duel melee weapons, and or suddenly having a change of heart and deciding to help the main character against a GREATER EVIL!!

Wait, Resident Evil Apocalypse already did that. The first movie pushed the limits, but the second one was just outrageous. So as long as they don't treat Pyramid Head, or any other creature in Silent Hill like Nemesis, it will be o.k. I hope.

KUNG FU!

[dhex]

i'm not.

i was kinda into it until i saw recent trailers. also: sitting through movies is really boring.
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[seryogin]

[wourme]

I'm not going to see it. I initially had no hope of it being worthwhile, then I had a little hope for a short time, but then I lost it all again.

As with movie adaptations of books that I like, if it's bad or even mediocre, I don't want to be stuck with the movie images and events in my mind instead of the real ones when I think about the story.

[TheRumblefish]

[seryogin]

[friedchicken]

[OtakupunkX]

A friend of mine who works at the local five-screen cinema said it was really good (they got to preview it last night), and if he said it's really good it must be pretty damn good because he's pretty hard to impress, movie-wise.

I'm going to go see it either tomorrow or Sunday, depending on if I have time or not.

[dhex]

actually, it's kickboxer, which is far superior to bloodsport in every way, including a keith hernandez look-alike.

runner ups include lionheart, above the law (whose hot dog is this?) and breaking the waves.
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[SuperWes]

[Lackey]

I thought Cyborg was pretty good, to take the Van Damme angle.
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| Little bird fighting against a bat sect game |

[Persona-sama]

I saw it~!!

It was better than I expected, coming from the same guy who directed Brotherhood of the Wolf. You should watch it just to see Pyramid Head~!!

...and the T-1000-like lady!
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[GSL]

Dammit Seryogin, you had to drop Seagal's name into the conversation and just totally curdle it like month-old milk. The mere mention of Steven Seagal creates almost as much blinding hatred in me as Dan Brown does. I suppose I hate Seagal because he's the original Wapanese otaku. Long before we had students that sat in their college Japanese classes and asked the teacher to translate lines from Dragonball Z, or gushed about their cosplay experience at the last anime convention they attended, Seagal was out there aping the whole white-disciple-of-every-goddamn-Asian-martial-art-that-may-have-but-probably-didn't-exist role, along with whatever random cultural references he felt like awkwardly sprinkling in. I mean, hell, his new energy drink thing has the goddamn character for--wait for it--ENERGY featured front and center on the can! That only a half-step less trite and passe (please imagine that silly accent mark over the 'e') than seeing some white honkey walking around with the character for 'power' tatooed on his bulging bicep.
Also, I blame Seagal's for allowing Chuck Norris to achieve popularity, which is a mortal sin in its own right.
And that damn ponytail!

But, uh, anyways... I'd like to see Silent Hill, as the previews have not given me that creeping sense of impending doom that most videogame movies do; it actually looked to be rather true to the game in all the ways that matter. I'm just not sure if I'll see it tonight--I doubt any theaters here are showing it yet, and if they are, I may have a schedule conflict. I might try to check it out Saturday though, time permitting.

[TheRumblefish]

[dhex]

american ninja is lame.

[Mister Toups]

I'm seeing this tomorrow.
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where were you when nana komatsu got a wii?

[seryogin]

[B coma]

I saw it.

This movie really was made for people who take gaming somewhat seriously! So I enjoyed it.

[Kinuko]

Saw it this morning, first show in the area.

I really enjoyed it, actually. The parts where it stuck to the game were done pretty accurately and beautifully, and Pyramid Head's appearance was absolutely amazing. The second half of the movie kinda split off from the game and went into its own thing, which was kinda mediocre and the ending was really iffy. The acting (especially Cheryl/Alessa/Sharon) was pretty bad, but you're not gonna go see the movie to see great acting anyway, right? The biggest thing going for the movie are is the visuals. I think it was done absolutely perfectly.

I'm going to go see it again this weekend, and possibly a few more times after that. I dunno, I just really liked it.

[GSL]

[SuperWes]

I saw it last night. I really liked it a lot, but everyone I was with pretty much hated it. As a movie it was pretty much crap. Silent Hill's story itself is a waste. It's just an excuse for a town that I'd be pretty happy existing with no excuse. The themes, visuals, and feelings are really what Silent Hill is about to me and these were captured dead on.

Thankfully, as mentioned above, this is the stuff I went to see and I walked away happy. Oh yeah, the barbed wire tentacle rape was pretty cool too.

-Wes
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[TheRumblefish]

[dessgeega]

my sister saw silent hill with her boyfriend.

apparently, she thought it was stupid.
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[Mister Toups]

Well, it looks good, anyway.

My one sentence review of the movie:

I can't wait to play the game!
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where were you when nana komatsu got a wii?

[Shapermc]

[Lestrade]

[Mr. Apol]

My first reaction to the movie:

"Goddamnit Gans... how could you fuck this up?"
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LJ -- Profile

[dhex]

i think expectations were a little too high.

the reason something like silent hill 2 gets recognized for being what it is (groundbreaking) is because it's a video game doing something outside the set boundaries of "video game" topics. it's not because it's truly breaking new ground; the plot and characters are only a few steps up from mid-level lovecraft.
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[Shapermc]

Yup Lestrade, we saw the same movie.

Although, I can't say that I blame Avery as much as you do. The more you know about movies the more you know how little the real script actually ends up being the end product if you have good actors.

[EDIT]: I am about to re-edit the movie and basically go over the entire things scene for scene. This is probably the worst spoiler you could read!

Anyways, about Rose: imagine that the movie starts at the gas station. No, scratch that. The movie starts with Cybil writing down the license plate as Rose is driving off.

Why is she writing the license plate?

So then she is driving and gets pulled over, then sees Silent Hill off ramp and drives towards it. Why did she do that? Then the ghost girl walks in front and the accident happens. In the blackness of the knock out the title card for the movie comes up.

What the hell is going on?

So she wakes up and makes the call to the husband, things are starting to fall into place as to why she is there, but you are not expressly handed the information. You have to peice it together. So then the looking happens, the burned out children happen, then she hits the ground and blacks out right before Johnny Cash sequence: cue the first flashback.

Remember what I was saying about the HUGE flashback exposition being OK, just not how it was presented? Well you can take out the voice over and have section of the burning happen here. Now the smart section of the audience would have made the symbolic association with the enemies when the movie was finished.

So then the movie proceeds as it did before, the handcuffing, the maps, then the school. This is where it gets tricky. Like I said, I would have cut a lot of the husband sequences. I would have shown him pulling up to the car around the same time, but no where near the amount of explanation/exposition. I mean, the whole "Cybil stayed with a kid for 3 days" story is told 3 times during the movie. Just him pulling up and having enough to show that it was the same day/time, but NOT the same place at all. Anyways, sometime around when Rose and Him are in the same area I would do much shorter cuts and better interlacing with more fearful/dramatic/heavy music (still, I would use it from the games) so that if you are in the right frame of mind you would think something climactic may happen then he just says "I smelled her" and it cuts to Rose then running into PH. That other cop would have almost no dialogue.

Now, see when the school starts to go black (sorry to back track a little, bear with me), between the flash light flickers I would interlace the other school flashbacks (they start the damn flashbacks while she is awake anyways). You get the part where the Janitor (who.... I really don't like. He feels like he is in there just to have a sexual related symbolic monster) is in the bathroom when she bursts in. Then flashlight flicker. Then the mother (Dalia) is pulling her out of the stall. Flashlight flicker. Then you have just a very short sequence where the cult leader says "just tell us the fathers name". Then the flashlight turns on permanently.

Ok NOW! Moving on.

Hopefully even by this point the most inept of viewer is making the connections and starting to piece together what the hell is going on. When Rose is questioned about "why are you here" or starts talking about her daughter you get the same "she sleepwalks, and talks about Silent Hill" but instead of recalling the HORRID intro you get this almost profound... "what the fuck is going on?" moment.

Back to the light, follow the clues. Get to the hotel. Now... I would have to do a bit of work, but I think that the one villager is still ok. I would definitely cut a bunch of lines from her. Then you follow the clues, go behind the wall (COMPLETELY remove the knife from the movie at all. I am almost thinking it is a nod towards SH2, but either way, everything involving the knife is clichéd) then follow Samael/Demon Girl, and when you corner her, you cut her speaking part and you just show her burst into flame. NOW, before you cut back to Rose freaking out, show the part of the flash back of them getting out of the car and going to the room and then the screaming and the burning. Cut out the cop carrying her away, and end right before the hospital.

Cut back to Rose freaking out and being like, "did you see her?" Then you can see that grate/grill cover, that is over the center of the pit and INSTANTLY make the connection again, not be dependant on remembering this inane detail to a cheesy part of the movie an hour later.

This is where it become more difficult to work with what is available.

So, if the audience was paying attention you should have pieced together most of the plot while other things are still lost to you, or just foggy (like the town). So you can cram the rest of the horror down the throat of the viewer with the “plot” out of the way. You follow the girl to the church, show Dalia on the steps, PH comes up and does the awesome rip, then the whole church stares at them soaked in blood.

None of this “BURN THEM” shit that happens so damn frequently (all I could think of was Monty Python during this section). Just cut to the cult leader leading them around upstairs with the 3 cult members and asking how they got there. Then she agrees to take them to the elevator. Then you have the outside the elevator sequence and then Cybil pulls the stopper, elevator falls, Rose screams/cries, then after the final wack of the pipe on Cybil’s head it cuts to the final flashback: Alyssa in the hospital. You see the nurse look in, then Samael comes up, peers in and promises that they all live in her eternal dream/nightmare (or not! Which may make things much more interesting and allows the viewer to draw whatever conclusion they want) then cut back to the elevator door opening.

So then when she gets to the end of the hall you have the flash of white (because, honestly the impact of the brightness works) and then fades out slowly to the dark hospital. This would also involve some cutting, but then the womb section would happen and she would go back (which is never quite stated how she gets back).

First: Leave Cybil dead. She was heroic and proud when she died originally. I think that they honestly forgot to write in enough “good guys” to die at the hands of the cultist, so they just brought her back to life. Cutting this would be difficult, but you basically have to make it so that you cut to the girl screaming (no cult talking) while tied to the ladder. The door bursts open and Rose comes in and walks straight up to the cult leader (I could edit in the walking and the punches with no talking I think) and then she confronts her and then the ending sequence happens. The movie would proceed as previously.

This would do a couple of things: the cult would remain more unified in the audience mind, not a bunch of people in a cult, but just a cult, just one new character. It also gives the end wires an excuse to kill a fuck ton of people (which… I admit is cool). It also cuts down on the terrible lines at this point. Rose holding her daughter, Samael trying to freak out the daughter.

Since it was already written this way I couldn’t do what I would love to, and that be the rebirth ending. Completely remove--what the hell was the daughters name?—the part where she gets found with Dalia, completely remove her from being burned, still have the mother being distraught and the audience being confused as to what is going on. Then have the rebirth. Have Sameal let Rose go from Silent Hill with a new daughter in her womb, and have Rose cry with Chris in their loss of their daughter. But, no this can’t happen, so I won’t do it (although it would be the better thing. . . or not, because this current ending leaves no room for a direct sequel).

There are a few more overall changes I would make, but most important I would add a really light film grain to all the “dark” sequences.

Anyways, yea, so like I said in my (bottom of last page) post, there is a good 80 or so min movie in there. I can see it. I am SERIOUSLY debating on trying my hand at editing film again (I have not touched the stuff in about 6 years) when the DVD of Silent Hill comes out just to see if I could reveal the gem in the shit that is currently being passed as this movie.

Sorry if this is really confusing.
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“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

[Lestrade]

Shaper: SHIT YES.

It's amazing what a little editing can do. Seriously, that was some serious turd polishing. With the available footage it still couldn't be perfect, but you have made it into a very workable film.

I was thinking before you wrote it: get the DVD and try your hand! I'll pay for my copy. :-) I'll even create the box art for it.* Who thought that 1.5 hours of running around and then some forced exposition was a good idea? (Suddenly I'm remembering The Matrix: Reloaded.)

P.S. Everyone I was with also thought that Cybill was dead, and accepted that, because the implied death seemed so brutal that everyone was wincing at the scene. It was a scene — one of the few — that had any impact.

* I'm deadly serious: I want to see this. I'll do whatever I can to help.

[Shapermc]

[Lestrade]

ROCK AND/OR ROLL. I'm sure there's a way to take a ripped DVD (a VIDEO_TS folder) and use the files from that. Programs such as VLC Player allow playback of these folders; perhaps something will also allow encoding/exporting to another format, such as MPEG4? I don't know what Premiere uses, but if it has the option of accepting AVIs, you're golden.

Also, since the movie's "score" just uses music from the game (except for one noticeable "remix"), you (or I) already have all the files necessary to overlay if you needed to better link two edited scenes, aurally speaking. If the song's playing on one clip but isn't all the next, could you sync an MP3 with the scene that does contain the music and then allow it to run into the next clip, for continuity?

I'm also all for really fucking with the sound. One good example in the actual film is when Rose's hearing becomes muffled. That was truly unsettling. (Just do me a favour and keep the Johnny Cash!)

[SuperWes]

So I'm going to ask this because I haven't totally played through the games and my interpretation could be totally wrong, but what was Rose's sin? I think there was a scene in the movie where they tell you explicitly that Silent Hill is a place only for sinners. My understanding of Silent Hill is that it's a place that your guilt forces you into, so if this is the case, what was her sin? She seemed to treat her daughter pretty well. Was it just that she happened to be the parent of the good half of a demon child? Then again, why was the child a demon? Doesn't that lend a sort of authenticity to the cult's existance? I kinda wondered this when I played the first game as well but never really bothered to think through it.

My understanding of the scenes where the husband was in the same room as Rose but couldn't see her is that he was sinless and didn't belong in Silent Hill. These scenes were very poignant for me, and actually seemed to add an understanding of the world that isn't present in the games. Yeah, they came off as kind of cheesy, but the concept helped add to the world without ruining any of the mystery.

Any thoughts?

-Wes
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[Lestrade]

Did she mention her sin specifically? In the game and in the film, the reason why she (or Harry) goes to Silent Hill isn't for herself/himself, but because her daughter (or Harry's daughter in the game) is being drawn back by her other "half."

Which of course sounds like a fuckload of nonsense in a theatre, but nevermind that.

The cultists' sin is obvious: they burned an innocent child for being a witch. And then she sort of proved them right by creating a nightmare world to punish them all. (IRONY!?!?) The deceptive part of this retelling is that it negates the other entries in the series. In the game, Silent Hill as a whole isn't Alessa's doing; just the version that Harry sees. The reason the place is so... well, screwed up, I suppose, is more to do with the cult practices and the demons over the years blah blah blah.

I prefer the less descriptive, more romantic notion that you stated simply: Silent Hill is a place only for sinners. The reason is sort of moot, I think.

EDIT: Perhaps the reason why Sean Bean's character didn't find anything but a ghost town is that he is not Sharon's mother, adoptive or otherwise. The film makes an obvious case for the mother-daughter connection (the nearly all-female cast is rather noticeable). Then there's that forced line that gets OH SO DRAMATICALLY repeated at the end: "Mother is God in a child's eyes."

So Sharon/Alessa (in this version) wanted Rose to understand, or to help, and "allowed her in."

[Shapermc]

[Shapermc]

[Lestrade]

[Shapermc]

[Lestrade]

Oh yes, another point: I actually like how Gans & Co. used the story of Centralia (fo' realz) to give a probable explanation for all the fog (and ash, I suppose). It's a lot easier to believe that SH is a ghost town for this reason, rather than the game's insistence that rampant drug use and demons drove everyone away.

In fact, a lot of the first game's imagery makes a bit more sense given this context. And I liked how the men in miner's suits had the canary, except this one could sense The Darkness (and I'm not talking about the bad, ironic, hair-metal band).

EDIT: Hey, isn't the neighbouring town in Silent Hill 4 Ashbury? Har har!

[OtakupunkX]

My dad's taking me and some friends to see the movie tonight. It should be interesting, I've heard only mixed things since the movie came out.

[Shapermc]

[Mister Toups]

it's ashville, actually
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where were you when nana komatsu got a wii?

[Mr. Apol]

[OtakupunkX]

I really don't think the movie was that bad. I really enjoyed it, in fact. Granted it didn't scare me as much as I would've liked to have been scared, and I thought the CG was off in some parts, but I'm so glad there were no Rose vs Pyramid Head Kung Fu sequences. I'm also glad there were no cheesy nu-metal songs during the credits (unless I left too early). If I really wanted to nitpick I could find a lot of things I didn't like about the movie but overall it was an enjoyable experience.

The worst part about the whole thing was the trailer for The Fast and The Furious 3 that played before the movie at the theater I went to, in which a guy with a really thick, almost stereotypical (and way exaggerated) southern accent (the likes of which I've never heard before, and I live in south TX) travels to Tokyo and talks about how he fits in so well. Pretty much every anime-obsessed junior high student will see this movie over and over again... personally I'd rather buy herpes in a paper bag than sit through that trailer again, much less watch the whole movie.

There is a way to export a DVD into .avi and MPEG-4 files. I have a friend who has done it, he showed me an online tutorial once and I bookmarked it; when I get home I'll find said bookmark.

[Lestrade]

Yes, I can rip any DVD easily; that's not the issue. The issue will be seeing what file formats Adobe Premiere allows you to edit.