An Orson Welles Film Was Horribly Edited In LA — Will Cinematic Justice Finally Be Done?
An Orson Welles Film Was Horribly Edited In LA — Will Cinematic Justice Finally Be Done?
Citizen Kane made Orson Welles a superstar. But his next movie, The Magnificent Ambersons — filmed at RKO Studios in Los Angeles — was edited into incoherence. Now, a Welles fan has used animation to recreate lost footage.
What a fascinating project. I’m of two minds about using the storyboard sketch style for the reconstructed content.
On one hand, the footage is lost, and nothing anyone does will be original, so we shouldn’t try to disguise the truth and try to mimic the real footage with the reconstructed segments. Let the original pieces shine and be honest about what has been filled in.
On the other hand, this is something where the use of deepfake technology or incredibly high quality CGI and audio recreation could be a real benefit, so the audience could be immersed in the story without being distracted by the reconstructed content.
It goes both ways. Do you do your best to show the original content and fill in with just enough to keep the story together, or do you try to truly recreate the lost content even though it will never be exactly what they originally created? Do you supplement or replace?
Very well put!