Synopsis:

Close Encounter exists in 3 versions. The Theatrical Cut 133 min, The Special Edition, 138 min and the Director's Cut 135 min. All have varied combinations of scenes, some unique to one version. This edit brings them all material together AND fixes the awful blu ray grading which dialled back the intense lighting of the last 20 minutes which flooded theatres and made you feel you were there. This has been fixed.

Intentions:

I love the Theatrical version, but wanted ALL THE SCENES in one place. PLus I hate the new color grade which ruins the end for me. I also noticed lots of little glitches, which I have taken the opportunity to fix.

Change List:

THEATRICAL VERSION - Unique items - Opening scene at Neary home has different opening - Neary at Power station - Neary in truck longer - Old man comment about UFO fly by - Roy and Ronnie row is longer - Silent entrance to dinner table - Roy climbing back thru the window - Roy building tower longer/outside - Dog and gas mask man - Roy and Army chat - Longer helicopter escape - Longer shot of Lacombe watching Neary SPECIAL EDITION - Unique items - Neighborhood establishing shot - Near intro at home v different - UFO Shadow over truck - The infamous billboard closeup - Re-Sequenced firing and village - The Cotopaxi - Lacombe conference scene longer - Neary in the shower - Shorter Ronnie leaving - Man with dog and gas mask, different scene - Scoring difference as Roy walks up ramp - Mothership interior - Scoring difference as cut back to Lacombe - Gamma dialled back down in key sequences. - Rescored end credit roll DIRECTOR'S CUT - Nothing unique SCENES THAT WENT, AND CAME BACK - The press conference - The Powerstation ALL the above are in the COMPLETE VERSION plus the following fixes: ADDITIONAL FIXES - Newly created stable opening credit roll with the correct font (per my Godfather fix) - New hybrid opening scene at Neary home incorporates all material, in a new way - Theatrical sequencing of scenes used, not Director's cut - Hybrid dog and gas mask man - Hybrid Roy at rail station - When Jillian is taking photographs, some of the shutter sounds are missing. These have been added back. - In two shots as the mothership ramp opens and light passes up peoples faces, in two shots, the shadow of the light moving is missing. This has been corrected. Where a camera move is present, the virtual lights are match moved using regression trigonometry. - Color correction of red uniforms washed out in the color grade of the 30th anniversary BD - The scoring glitches when Roy enters the ship, have been redone from scratch using the Collectors Edition CDs. and rebuilding the ambient sounds - When the Aliens emerge, virtual lighting returns the scenes as were originally viewed in 1979 using various reference materials for confirmation. - Closing end credits score restored from Theatrical version. - Portion of Special edition credit roll score used for addition of newly created UNCREDITED Crew added to this version so everyone who worked on ALL 3 versions, gets their on-screen credit - Some very subtle lens flares added in the same style as Douglas Trumbulls work where they were clearly missing due to either budget or production timing constraints. These should not be noticeable, but I know where they are. Drop me a PM if you think you spot any. :) MISSING SCENES IN WORKPRINT with completed audio work and un-used intended scoring from Special Edition CD - Longer opening with the war planes - Lacombe in car on way to airport - Govt official board plane - Roy on way to Crystal Lake - Roy at Crystal Lake - Roy at Police station - Roy on roof of house - Roy Barbeque - Lacombe is awoken by assistant - Roy and Jillian stop for gas - (apologies for the font issue at the opening, it was 13 years ago) WORKPRINT has a NEW OPENING and all the audio fixes and lighting work from above.

Additional Notes:

For the closing scenes lighting, - I say "Gamma correction" but in fact, I used virtual light sources placed where the ship light source would be to actually add light rather than brighten, which would nook very poor. This was done to all scenes where the light from the mother ship is overpowering. Where a camera move is present, the virtual lights are match moved using regression trigonometry.

Other Sources:

Close Encounters Special Edition Cd Close Encounters Anniversary Edition Cd Close Encounters Expanded Edition Cd.

Special Thanks: