Synopsis:

This edit combines several sources of media depicting the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2011 into a two and a half hour presentation.

Intentions:

This edit begins on a calm Tuesday morning in New York City. The date? September 11, 2001. This edit portrays the hijacks of Flight 11, 175, 93 and 77; planes hitting the north and south towers of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and crashing in the Pennsylvania field. The immediate reaction by law enforcement and first responders is and confusion and chaos. The FAA orders the grounding of all air traffic while the towers collapse. It was sheer chaos on the streets of New York, and this edit aims to capture this tone and atmosphere. The edit ends with the the immediate aftermath of the attacks, enactment of the PATRIOT Act, invasion of the Afghanistan, and campaigns to trick the American people and international community to approve of the invasion of Iraq. I incorporate Movies, TV Shows, documentaries, news reports, amateur camcorder footage, interviews, and dramatic enactments. This edit culminates with the invasion of Iraq, with a 'LETS GET THE TERRORISTS!' vibe. I wanted to tell the entire story start to finish, however there is SO MUCH 9/11 media, and the timeline starts as early as the 1990s and arguably continues to this day. I quickly realized this would be too much for one single edit, so I broke it up into three separate edits. This edit is the middle chapter, and I will follow up with separate edits detailing the events leading up to 9/11, and America's 'War on Terror' and the invasion of Iraq.

Change List:

Editing Details: This edit is presented with some scenes letterboxed and some in full screen. Why? Well, I was unhappy with zooming in on the letterboxed footage to make it fit a standard 16:9 ratio. However, I was unwilling to place black bars on the 16:9 footage to letterbox it. Therefore, all footage is presented in its original aspect ratio. Cuts and Additions: My source material ranged from dramatic enactments to more factual documentary type pieces. I took the main parts from each that focused on 9/11 and arranged everything into one massive timeline. This 'assembly cut' was around 4 hours. From there, I deleted scenes that were duplicated elsewhere, and sometimes combined two or more scenes into one. I wanted to keep the past moving quickly, to help convey the chaos during the day. To help with this, I did not add a time tickers as you might expect. I felt this would help orient viewers, which I wanted to avoid. I also removed any type of clock or time present in the source material. The result is a very past paced, disorienting experience. I feel this is appropriate given the subject matter.

Additional Notes:

I was Inspired by Bobson Dugnutt's excellent Star Wars behind the scenes edits, where he combined several sources of behind the scenes material into one cohesive film. Thanks Bobson!

Other Sources:

Vice OST United 93 OST The Big Short OST Prisoners OST Several interviews/news clips freesound.org

Special Thanks:

Thanks to everyone who participated in the thread and kept me motivated, and those who offered to preview the edit for me!