Steven Soderbergh makes Raiders Black and White...

Link here...

Soderbergh has removed the color and added a special soundtrack to the film in order to let people study its staging, which he defines as "how all the various elements of a given scene or piece are aligned, arranged, and coordinated."
He writes in a blog post that Raiders director Steven Spielberg forgot more about staging by the time he made Raiders than Soderbergh knows today.

"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?" he writes. "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."

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Love the idea. Watched a little, can't wait to watch the whole thing.

What is up with the score. Totally distracting. Any focus he was attempting to put on the shot staging/blocking is totally lost by that wacko music. Oh well. I think time would have been better spent if he did an audio commentary, pointing out the great use of shot timing, blocking and staging or just leave it with no audio.

I've always loved the genius directing, lighting and editing of Raiders, and was really excited to see an article/video talking about it. Too bad the music is just so distracting.

Oh well.

russds said:

What is up with the score. Totally distracting. Any focus he was attempting to put on the shot staging/blocking is totally lost by that wacko music. Oh well. I think time would have been better spent if he did an audio commentary, pointing out the great use of shot timing, blocking and staging or just leave it with no audio.

I've always loved the genius directing, lighting and editing of Raiders, and was really excited to see an article/video talking about it. Too bad the music is just so distracting.

Oh well.

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I haven't watched much of it yet, but I think the music is an important element of it. It's so alien to what is expected from the film's score (and, for us, that means music, sound effects, and dialogue) that it forces you to focus on the image alone.

Attila the Professor said:

I haven't watched much of it yet, but I think the music is an important element of it. It's so alien to what is expected from the film's score (and, for us, that means music, sound effects, and dialogue) that it forces you to focus on the image alone.

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The Good Prof brought up the image, but I found it also helped me to do something inverse - view the film without it. I've seen this piece dozens of times, so as a test I simply closed my eyes and started viewing it inside my head. I actually did this for good half an hour or so. And every time I opened my eyes, it was in the exact same shot I was just watching in my mind.

Didn't see this thread and was posting on the other Raiders b&w thread instead yesterday.

No doubt the film looks great in black and white, but I couldn't watch it as I thought the score was terrible and distracting.

All right, conversely, fellas, you can just <I>turn off the sound</I>.

Finn said:

The Good Prof brought up the image, but I found it also helped me to do something inverse - view the film without it. I've seen this piece dozens of times, so as a test I simply closed my eyes and started viewing it inside my head. I actually did this for good half an hour or so. And every time I opened my eyes, it was in the exact same shot I was just watching in my mind.

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I'll need to try that sometime.

A silent Black and White Raiders. Should have the accompanying piano and speed up the film a little for that genuine nostalgic effect.

Mickiana said:

A silent Black and White Raiders. Should have the accompanying piano and speed up the film a little for that genuine nostalgic effect.

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Black and White is not my issue, it helps because Indiana Jones is part of that whole pulp area, or at least trying to emulate. But I think for me the score is a large part of what makes an Indiana Jones film feel like one.

Attila the Professor said:

I'll need to try that sometime.

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It was an interesting experience. Now, my professional field constantly deals with handling large batches of information. I don't have to memorize their contents, but know enough about them to keep 'em organized. This has led me to training myself a wide assortment of mnemonics - some of them pretty advanced. As a matter of fact, many people are often amazed my ability to recall even finest details in quick procession, leading them to wonder if I might possess a photographic memory (and the answer is no, there is no such thing).

Despite this, I don't consider myself having a much better visual memory than your average person. Actually, thinking back to most of my favorite movies... no way I could view almost any of them just in my mind. So I was actually a bit surprised how acutely I was able to do just so with Raiders, tuned in to a music track that had practically nothing to do with it. So I have to say that Soderbergh very likely is onto something here. There aren't many movies one could just memorize so accurately - scene by scene, shot by shot. To be able to do so must mean a piece truly has to have an outstanding imagery and pacing.