Synopsis:
On a distant planet rife with life, a Predator hunts for a worthy opponent . . .
Careful what you wish for.
Intentions:
As much as I found the early Predator sequences holding Prey back, in isolation they have merit. In particular I liked the Predator vs wolf scene quite a lot, in spite of janky CGI, and was sad to leave it on the cutting room floor when making my 'Implicit Cut'. It got me wondering if I could utilise the cut footage to create something unique… this, then, is a short fan-mix designed to keep almost entirely from the Predator’s perspective. Our alien fiend is now the main character, landing on a distant planet and hunting the local game, only to find an unexpected challenge among the inhabitants.
I didn’t want to just create “Prey: short version”, so I tried to get creative with the narrative and have things play out differently. The result might be a bit marmite but I had a lot of fun with it, and I hope you do too.
Change List:
I challenged myself a bit with this one, but it’s new territory for me in some ways. Masking, colour grading, and AI-assisted tools were used to help in reshaping the narrative. Some light rescoring/remixing as well (from the same source) to aid the atmosphere I wanted to convey in a given scene.
It's a short with liberal cuts, so I won't go into too much detail. A few small notes:
- I chose not to use the snake/rat scene (it just doesn't look good to me)
- The wolf scene is retained, but re-edited (the wolf does not score a mark on the Predator, and trims are made to focus on the better FX shots)
- Generally, I was pulling in shots from throughout the film to help sell the new direction I took scenes.
Additional Notes:
Aside from some French, this is entirely devoid of dialogue, so no subtitles. Surround sound is available.
Other Sources:
Some stock FX samples were utilised.
Special Thanks:
- To Ray Danger, for preview and feedback. The edit definitely improved as a result and challenged me to think outside the box.
- My sister, for advice on the poster.