Telling A Different Story With The Same Stuff
A few weeks ago I discovered the crazy YouTube art of recutting.
This is where someone takes a movie and then shuffles it around to make a trailer that looks like a completely different story.
So they’re not using anything new that isn’t already there. It’s the same movie, just in a different order.
There are quite a few great examples on YouTube (and some awful ones too) but my favourite is The Shining recut as a romantic comedy. Go and watch it now, I’ll wait.
*Sits humming the final movement of Mahler’s 4th Symph in preparation for big scary audition next week.*
You’re back? It’s great, right?
So what’s different?
- The voice of the narrator. His voice is a perfect rom com fit. He has the right mix of wry, generous reassurance and authority – you trust his message, you believe what he’s saying and you know instinctively that the movie is safe, funny, heart-warming, feel-good. Listen to a few more recut experiments and you’ll hear immediately when it’s right and when the voice is just completely wrong.
- The narrator’s script. Instead of “Here’s Johnny!” we are offered in true rom-com style, “Meet Jack.” We are being asked to reconsider the character we should really be terrified of. Perfect.
- The choice of clips. The editor isn’t trying to get us to rethink the hidden romantic overtones of an axe splitting a door frame. Instead he has chosen some excellent clips and framed them in such a way that each small section tells the story he really wants us to see. And there are moments in the preview that are darker, especially the shots of where the little boy approaches the evil hotel room of doom – but it’s framed completely differently. No blood down the hallway here – but a lonesome looking Jack in search of a son that will help him find his way home.
- The soundtrack. This is my favourite part, and very few recut experiments get this right. The Peter Gabriel song is PERFECT. It plants us squarely in warm and fuzzy land, but because it’s Peter Gabriel we get smart warm and fuzzy, not schmaltzy.
So instead of using your incredible creative superpowers for evil and crafting a horror movie from the negatives of your day, put that imagination to work on The Film That Is Your Life and recut it the way you want it to be.
But – and this is important…
Don’t change anything.
No adding extra love scenes or bits where you get to wake up next to Hugh Jackman. (I’ve been told this works for both boys and girls.) Only use what you have. But flip them around – what if this was not a massive fuck-up but actually the best moment of my life? How would it look then? What would it sound like?
Try these exercises to get your editor’s brain on:
- Narrate it with a warmer voice and a more positive script. Listen to that voice inside your head and get it to speak over your situation like a warm, reassuring friend. The story has a happy ending, remember? So tell it to yourself that way.
- Choose your clips wisely. What can you shuffle around about your current situation to make it look like a better movie? Are there parts you missed that could tell a better story with a bit of clever editing? Are there dark, scary and miserable parts that could really be the best bits with a new soundtrack and all of the creaky scary soundeffects turned down? (If you want any more proof of this, try watching Evil Dead with the sound off.)
- Pay attention to the soundtrack. Music makes you feel something. You just have to decide whether the music you are hearing is making you feel the way you want to feel. Sinclair loves Bach Cello Suites to get into her groove. I depend on Mozart’s overture from The Marriage of Figaro for immediate fizziness and all round feel-goodness. Are you playing Muse and feeling all gothic and gloomy but ever so slightly dirty? When what you really want is some boppy geekiness like Phoenix so you can feel like Zooey Deschanel in a flippy summer dress? Think of a tune that sounds like how you want to feel, then go play that. See how it completely changes the tone of your story.
Part #2 of Recut Your Life shall follow next week. In the meantime, I am in the having to drop-everything-to-note-bash panic phase because I have an unexpected audition next Tuesday. But I promise to fill you all in when it’s over.
Natalie inspires with the scale and depth of her ideas -- and then accomplishes them, with impressive speed and flair. She is a compelling communicator, with an enviable way of getting straight to the essence of an idea and explaining it with such provoking clarity that you can’t help but be moved to think, see and act differently.
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Deciding what things mean is so powerful!
I’m reminded of a story that Ben Zander tells about 2 shoe salesmen who were set to explore possibilities of doing business in Africa in the 19th century.
When they each arrived they discovered that the people there didn’t wear shoes – one sent the message home:
“Terrible – no opportunity here, they don’t wear shoes.”
the other, seeing exactly the same thing, sent the message:
“Wonderful Opportunity! They don’t wear shoes yet!!”
Same fact – different decisions about what it means.
Andy
Hey Andy – love Ben Zander, forgot about that story. Thanks for the reminder! – S
This video is the one where he tells the story. And if you didn’t see it I’d love your thoughts on this post that I wrote a while back inspired by Ben’s talk…
Great post Natalie! I love the idea of reframing what’s happened in a more positive light. The recutting examples are a perfect description of that. I find that it’s still something I have to consciously sit down and do but I’m looking forward to the time when it happens naturally
Good luck with your audition next week! 
Just to be able to visualise the reframe in this way is what I love. Sometimes we can resist reframing because we don’t have a way to do it. Words – yes, these work brilliantly. But why not pictures and narration? Thanks Lisa!
“But flip them around – what if this was not a massive fuck-up but actually the best moment of my life? How would it look then? What would it sound like?”
This is a stroke of genius! I have an ill feeling every time I think about a conference call that went so terribly wrong not that long ago resulting in the loss of someone I thought I wanted to work with. But what if I reframe it and see that that phone fiasco saved me from getting further involved with someone who would ultimately be my ruin? Why don’t I give my good angels a little more credit and trust that they’re always making things go GREAT?
Thanks, Nat! Ill feeling gone
Have a fabulous audition!!
Jeanne
Yay! It’s like when you’re watching a movie and then right at the end of Act 2 you get this dark death of the hero moment when everything is lost…but there’s always a turn around.
Personal example – for years I felt I had let myself down in a performance I gave in a major international competition – and at the time I was so upset that I stayed inside for three days, didn’t answer the phone, nothing.
But looking back at the movie that is my life, this moment was like the bottom of a phenomenal bounce that has taken me to where I am now. I couldn’t be the woman I am today without that moment. It was like a kiln.
I guess the power is in being able to reframe without the comfortable benefit of time and hindsight – which we’re all really good at. I believe that assuming the universe is conspiring to help you is always a safe bet.
Brilliant! Just the whole idea of viewing your life as a movie, with you as the lead character, can be really helpful for getting perspective. To recut the movie adds a whole new layer and could turn some of the yucky parts into something creative and fun! How could you stay bummed out when you’re doing this? I really love it! Can’t wait for something unpleasant to happen so I can do this, LOL.
Hi dearest –
This is fabulous. You have such a gift for reframing, and opening up authentic possibilities.
1. “Narrate it with a warmer voice and a more positive script.” – LOVE this – so simple, so doable, no matter who or where we are.
2. “Choose your clips wisely.” – girrrl, you should write a book on this one.
3. “Pay attention to the soundtrack.” – this is a great point – we’re very responsive to our environment, but we’re also at choice about that environment!
Geeenius.
So when are you gonna put out your own soundtracks for all of us to enjoy? *bats eyelashes*
xo
Sinclair
Nat ‘n I have had alot of laughs with these videos recently – my favourite is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7ehztRDhZc
“Darth Vader Being A Jerk”
the reason I think it is even better than the Shining recut (which is awesome!) is because it manages to re-frame the whole encounter, give it a completely different meaning and subtext – WITHOUT adding anything!
no extra soundtrack, commentary or titles…
Just a straight re-edit, all the original shots – but in a different order, i.e the editor has told a completely different story from the same material we all have watched over and over again (and we all saw the same story!)
As a director, this is my stock in trade – don’t take anything for granted, forget the stage directions or composers comments! Art (and life) is all about how you CHOOSE to experience it, so a great lesson – re-direct or re-edit your life the way you want it to be!
Like the following example…
“I have a totally unscary audition next week…”
Love you! x
Love you xx
Fabulous Natalie. I read this, duly went off to watch the video (got sidetracked by Mrs Doubtfire and Mary Poppins recut – have you seen them? Ooooh, scary!) and came back, not really sure where you were going with this.
And then you went and did the big ‘ta da’ and made me smile. So much so, I’ve just signed up to you list (with the email I check every day rather than the one known as ‘junk’
)
Have a fabulous day today (if it’s not too late, all the very best for the audition today x)
El x
Oooh, just seen your tweet. My good luck wishes are much too late but hooray!! You got the gig. Congratulations.