Synopsis:

Steven Soderbergh replaces the soundtrack (SoundFX, Dialogue and Music) of 'Raiders Of The Lost Ark' with various Electronic pieces by Trent Reznor. The film is also converted to Black and White.

Intentions:

I'm assuming the phrase "Staging" came out of the theatre world, but it’s equally at home (and useful) in the movie world, since the term (Roughly defined) refers to how all the various elements of a given scene, or pieces are aligned, arranged, and coordinated. In movies the role of editing adds something unique: The opportunity to extend and/or expand a visual (Or narrative) idea to the limits of one’s imagination - a crazy idea that works today, is tomorrow’s normal. I value the ability to stage something well because when it’s done well it's pleasures are huge, and most people don’t do it well, which indicates it must not be easy to master (It’s frightening how many opportunities there are to do something wrong in a sequence or a group of scenes. Minefields everywhere. Fincher said it: There’s potentially a hundred different ways to shoot something but at the end of the day there’s really only two, and one of them is wrong). Of course understanding story, character, and performance are crucial to directing well, but I operate under the theory a movie should work with the sound off, and under that theory, staging becomes paramount (The adjective, not the studio. Although their logo does appear on the front of this…). So I want you to watch this movie and think only about staging, how the shots are built and laid out, what the rules of movement are, what the cutting patterns are. See if you can reproduce the thought process that resulted in these choices by asking yourself: Why was each shot (Whether short or long) held for that exact length of time and placed in that order? Sounds like fun, right? It actually is. To me. Oh, and I’ve removed all sound and color from the film, apart from a score designed to aid you in your quest to just study the visual staging aspect. Wait, What? How could you do this? Well, I’m not saying I’m like, allowed to do this, I’m just saying this is what I do when I try to learn about staging, and this filmmaker forgot more about staging by the time he made his first feature than I know to this day (For example, no matter how fast the cuts come, you always know exactly where you are... that’s high level visual math shit). At some point you will say to yourself or someone, "This looks amazing in black and white" and it’s because Douglas Slocombe shot 'The Lavender Hill Mob' and the 'The Servant' and his stark, high-contrast lighting style was eye-popping regardless of medium.

Change List:

Whole Soundtrack replaced by music by Trent Reznor, with all but two of the pieces coming from his Scores for 'The Social Network' and 'Girl With The Dragon Tattoo'.

Additional Notes:

Key: The Social Network (TSN) Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (GWTDT) Nine Inch Nails (NIN) Music Tracks: 00.00.00 - In Motion (TSN) 00.04.48 - Soft Trees Break The Fall (TSN) 00.09.15 - Penetration (TSN) 00.10.30 - In The Hall Of The Mountain King (TSN) 00.12.45 - Revealed In The Thaw (GWTDT) 00.15.23 - A Pause For Reflection (GWTDT) 00.19.37 - While Waiting (GWTDT) 00.21.48 - Almost Home (TSN) 00.25.18 - Painted Sun In Abstract (TSN) 00.28.43 - Intriguing Possibilities (TSN) 00.33.04 - Complication with Optimistic Outcome (TSN) 00.36.12 - Please Take Your Hand Away (GWTDT) 00.42.26 - Almost Home (TSN) 00.45.45 - Of Secrets (GWTDT) 00.49.22 - The Heretics (GWTDT) 00.54.37 - The Gentle Hum Of Anxiety (TSN) 00.58.36 - On We March (TSN) 01.02.55 - Magnetic (TSN) 01.03.44 - 14 Ghosts II (NIN) 01.05.04 - The Same As The Others (GWTDT) 01.08.14 - People Lie All The Time (GWTDT) 01.12.24 - Painted Sun In Abstract (TSN) 01.15.57 - 3:14 Every Night (TSN) 01.19.50 - The Splinter (GWTDT) 01.22.14 - Infiltrator (GWTDT) 01.29.17 - The Sound Of Forgetting (GWTDT) 01.31.27 - While Waiting (GWTDT) 01.33.46 - The Seconds Drag (GWTDT) 01.38.22 - 35 Ghosts IV (NIN) 01.41.56 - You're Here (GWTDT) 01.45.19 - Pieces Form The Whole (TSN) 01.49.21 - Penetration (TSN) 01.50.21 - In Motion (TSN)

Other Sources:

Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross - The Social Network (Soundtrack) Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross - Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (Soundtrack) Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I-IV (LP)

Special Thanks: