Synopsis:

Mark is a lonely guy with a romantic soul, when suddenly one day a girl called Helen says hello.

Intentions:

The acclaimed 1960 psychological Horror movie 'Peeping Tom' was controversial at the time of release (So much so, that it all but ended Director Michael Powell's career) as it features a disturbingly sympathetic portrayal of serial-killer Mark Lewis. It asks the question, if Mark had just been shown a little love, perhaps he wouldn't have turned into a monster? I thought it would be an interesting challenge to see if I could extract the fragile love story at the center of 'Peeping Tom', from all the murder and sadism around it. To do it I knew Brian Easdale's superb but unsettling avant-garde Piano score had to go. What better to replace it with but some romantic Ennio Morricone music. In the original movie Mark decides to open up to Helen by showing her a home-movie of his father psychologically torturing him. Helen does react to this with sympathy and love for Mark but it was way too dark for this lighthearted short. Now the lonely Mark shows Helen a film that represents his deepest longings (Well that's the idea anyway).

Change List:

00.00 - Added film-burn intro and new fanedit credits 00.10 - Mixed original party-scene audio low to only just register. Except two vocal lines 00.12 - Added still image of cake and gradual move into zoom 00.47 - Removed original score and added in new soundfx 01.50 - Removed original score and added in new soundfx 02.02 - Created new FX shot adding 'Nuovo Cinema Paradiso' footage on top of original projection 02.46 - Mixed in swell of music on Helen's entrance 04.32 - Retimed Mark's lines to allow removal of others 04.36 - Removed discussion about rent and awkward silences 04.49 - Removed Mark saying "Yes" twice in an odd way 05.14 - Removed a few moments before dark room scene 06.36 - Shortened two shots with the lamp to remove creepy feel 06.47 - Removed shot of Mark choosing a different reel 06.49 - Removed shot of Mark putting that reel back 07.52 - Rearranged ordering of projection shots and intercut scenes from the "Kiss" scene from 'Nuovo Cinema Paradiso'. Rescored and added projector SoundFX and various other sounds 08.07 - Created a small FXshot replacing the screen behind Helen 10.23 - Removed shots of Helen acting distressed/angry and remade soundtrack 10.28 - Added slow fade to black 10.29 - Cut many scenes to bring Mark and Helen's date forward, so it's as if this is where they are going when Helen said "Let's get out of here". Added slow fade up 11.07 - Added slow fade into clock and removed creepy scenes of Mark watching people 11.10 - Added extra faded shot of date over clock plus many extra SoundFX to date scene (Laughter, restaurant noise, footsteps etc) 11.34 - Added extra faded shot of date over clock. Reversed shot so Helen now goes from a frown to a smile 11.39 - Added slow fade out of clock 12.11 - Removed weird shots of Mark talking to himself while Helen isn't looking and being generally obsessed with his movie camera 12.13 - Flipped and slowed down shot of Mark to make it appear as if he is gazing at Helen longingly. Then Helen just kisses him goodnight 12.19 - Added "Goodnight Mark" line from earlier 12.23 - Added "I hope that you... have a sweet tooth" line from earlier. Maybe Helen is saying this as she walks away or maybe Mark is imagining it 12.25 - Added slowed down shot of birthday cake slice on table plus slow fade out 12.27 - Added "The End" title from 'Citizen Kane' just because I like the design of it 12.30 - Added brief fanedit titlecard Ennio Moricone Music: 00.00 - 05.26 - 'Deborah's Theme: Amapola'(,) 07.22 - 10.44 - 'Love Theme' (#) 10.35 - 12.09 - 'Friends' (,) 11.52 - 12.34 - 'Photographic Memories' (,) (,) From 'Once Upon A Time In America' (#) From 'Nuovo Cinema Paradiso'

Additional Notes:

- I've tried to edit out every moment where Mark is acting strange and disturbed. Hopefully he now just comes across as lonely, awkward and shy. - Obviously all of Mark's murders are removed. - The score is entirely replaced with Ennio Morricone. - The short is mostly drawn from Mark and Helen's first meeting and the date they go on later in the film, although some things have been switched about.

Other Sources:

Peeping Tom (Blu-Ray) Once Upon A Time In America (Soundtrack) Nuovo Cinema Paradiso (Soundtrack) www.freesound.org (Various SoundFX).

Special Thanks:

Thanks to MatrixGrindhouse, Rogue-Thex and Adabisi for putting this Consecution together.