LOST I - Genesis

Updated
LOST I - Genesis
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie Title:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
2004
Original Running Time:
Approx 1071 minutes
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
218 minutes
Time Cut:
Approx 853 minutes
Available in HD?
Brief Synopsis:
LOST I - Genesis covers the first season of the television show of the same name, and depicts the struggles of a diverse and conflicted group of people as they come to terms with the ramifications of their miraculous survival of a plane crash on an island in the South Pacific Ocean. This film series eschews the manufactured drama of its parent television series in order to focus on the compelling narrative hidden beneath its surface. In doing so, the central story of the series is brought into focus through a series of ten thrilling and wholly self-contained cinematic experiences.

LOST I - Genesis lays the foundations for the realization of the joint destinies of the survivors of the crash of Oceanic Flight 815, and sows the seeds for the discovery of their true role in the future of the mysterious island upon which they find themselves. This series of films will finally provide viewers with an easily-accessible, internally consistent series of films that tell the story of the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 in the most compelling and concise way possible.

Explore the world of LOST like never before in this unprecedented film experience.
Intention:
This fanedit is intended to create a complete and self-contained narrative that eschews the less desirable aspects of the notoriously confusing and slow-paced television show LOST, in order to place greater focus on the compelling narrative hidden beneath a heavy cloud of mystery and confusion.

This series of films will finally provide viewers with an easily-accessible, plot-hole free series of films that tell the story of the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 in a compelling and concise manner.
Additional Notes:
This edit contains small sections of film in which credits appear over the action on the screen. While it might have been possible to remove these credits entirely, I felt that short of manually repainting every frame in which they occur the best course of action was to leave them in. LOST is an inherently cinematic television show, and I believe that cropping the beautifully-shot images in the name of removing the credits of those who made the show would be disingenuous and and ultimately self-defeating.

As television show credits go, they are extremely unobtrusive; and I would estimate that they appear for no more than a minute or so of screen time across a three-and-a-half hour film.

I personally believe that the credits do not detract from the experience of watching the film; though in the interests of full-disclosure I feel that I should let anyone considering watching the movie know of the existence of these on-screen credits beforehand, just in case it is an issue for you.
Special Thanks:
Thanks go to Neglify for reviewing and approving my first ever submission to the fanediting community.
Release Information:
  • DVD
  • Digital
Special Features
Currently none, though if there is sufficient interest I will record a full-length commentary for each film after the conclusion of the series.
Editing Details:
My general method for editing the television series into the set of ten films that will eventually take shape was to identify and remove any narrative threads that did not contribute to the core story of the television show, and also to remove any plot-holes or poor dialog I found.

The programs I used in my edit include:

AnyDVD to rip the Blu-Rays
TSMuxer to demux the video streams into .264 files
MeGUI to demux the DTS-HD audio streams into WAV files
Sony Vegas to do the editing and rendering (as Lagarith and WAV files)
eacto3 to transcode the finished audio into 5.1 AC3 files
MeGUI again to transcode the Lagarith video into the x264 codec for the mkv version of the film
HCenc to transcode the Lagarith video into the MPEG-2 codec for the DVD version of the film
MuxMan to pack the AC3 and MPEG-2 files into a DVD compliant set of VOB, BUP and IFO files
WinRAR to compress the files for uploading
jDownloader to create the dlc files
Photoshop to create the art for the film
Cuts and Additions:
Too many to name, but major plotlines that have been removed in making this film include:

-Kate's identity as a fugitive
-Claire's abduction by the Others
-Almost all flashback narratives
-Charlie's drug addiction
-Sun's deception regarding her ability to speak English
-Rousseau's abduction of Aaron

-The existence of the skeletons named "Adam and Eve"
-The fact that body of Jack's father is missing


In addition, all the ad-break blackouts have been eliminated in order to create a more film-like experience.
Cover art (DOWNLOAD HERE) image

Trailer

User reviews

7 reviews
 
71%
 
14%
 
14%
3-5 stars
 
0%
1-3 stars
 
0%
Overall rating
 
8.9
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0(7)
Audio Editing
 
8.7(7)
Visual Editing
 
9.3(7)
Narrative
 
8.4(7)
Enjoyment
 
9.2(7)
View all user reviews View most helpful
(Updated: February 02, 2014)
Overall rating
 
9.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
8.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
I want to start with the audio issue. I know a previous reviewer said they had a problem but the Admins didn't find an issue. I've double checked and made notes of everything and am confident in my findings. (Note I'm running off my HTPC via an encoded output through an optical digital cable to my receiver which decodes the signal.) My receiver states that it's Dolby Digital EX but what it's decoding isn't separated properly. The center channel is coming from the rear surround channels and the other 5 speakers sound like an even mix of all 7 channels (including center).

However please note that when I switch to a non-encoded analog signal output my receiver decodes it as Dolby Pro-Logic II (as selected) and it plays properly with dialogue from the center, effects in the surrounds and music and other effects primarily L+R. I tried this with both VLC and the PLEX media center with the same results.

That's pretty much where my skill set ends and I don't understand how a direct encoded DD signal is all wonky but when it's reduced to a 2ch analogue signal it is then decoded properly. Also note that when I first started watching this (in the digital encode) the first audio effect of the Lost 'thud' (as I call it) was very loud and blew out my front right speaker (and scared the cat). I used one of my rear surrounds to replace it so now I'm down to 6.1. BTW, the 'thud' was only an issue when I originally played it as a digital encode before switching to Dolby ProLogic II.

I'm confident in stating there is something awry with the audio and it could be some corruption in the digital encode that doesn't find its way to the analogue downmix. OR Perhaps it only effects certain setups with different types of audio ins/outs/cables/decoding methods, etc.... BUT this is the only title I've had this problem with and I've had this setup for 4 years now. In any case, on to my review....

I finished watching this last night and I'm mighty impressed. On the whole I felt the flow was nice, both the audio and video edits were relatively seamless and the picture quality was great.

There's quite a bit about Lost I enjoyed when it aired but I had major problems with many of the lead characters (who I found to be extremely annoying) and the long drawn-out flashbacks. All that is gone now and I can enjoy it and I look forward to the other fanedits of this series.

I just have 2 minor issues with the edit. I wish the credits could have been avoided and I know it would have been difficult to achieve. I know cropping would have diminished quality which would have been just as bad I think. Just wondering if they could be blurred? I've seen it done before to good effect. My other issue was that the pacing of the last 45 minutes or so felt rushed and there was no real build-up to an exciting cliffhanger, but it could have just been the fact I knew what was coming.

Those are minor qualms, however, and on the whole I thought this was great and will be watching it again as my DVD's sit all alone on the shelf collecting more dust. Thanks Radzinsky!

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
AVCHD
Owner's reply February 02, 2014

Thanks for the great review. You'll be glad to know I'll be cropping the credits from now on, and will go back and release the first three films in this new format after the completion of the series. I've also done some investigation of the audio issue myself, and have found the same strange problems as you did.

I'm currently in the process of figuring out the best way to fix the problem, and have come up with a solution that will probably work. By exporting each audio track as a single mono file, I should be able to avoid similar issues in the future.

I'll also apply a global sound reduction as well, since a few people's speakers don't seem to be able to handle the heavy bass of the films without distortion.

Again, thanks for the great and informative review.

Yours,
Radzinsky

Report this review Comments (1) | Was this review helpful? 1 0
Overall rating
 
9.8
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
This was an amazing fanedit! I decided to watch this fanedit before I watch the actual season normally. It was a great decision. Radzinsky has done an amazing job with this fanedit and I'm looking forward to watching the next installments in his LOST fanedit series.

If you haven't seen LOST yet and your LOST video discs are sitting on your shelf collecting dust, then I would strongly recommend watching Radzinsky's fanedit.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
M
1 reviews
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
(Updated: September 12, 2013)
Overall rating
 
6.6
Audio/Video Quality
 
5.0
Audio Editing
 
4.0
Visual Editing
 
8.0
Narrative
 
7.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
ADMIN NOTE: The reviewer mentions a serious problem with the audio of the edit. 2 Administrators and a member of the Academy checked the fanedit and the audio error was not present.

Ok where to start. First off my scores may be low but for a firstling the edit is good. but it and all 3 part's that have been released suffer from the same issues.

Visual Editing: Overall I have found the visual editing to be spot on. The on screen credit's really do hinder the flow of the edit. If not for those it would not feel episodic in nature. Every time they pop on the screen even for the few seconds they are there they remind me of an episode start. Other than that the Video is solid. One other thing is, there are no proper end credit's Just the Lost logo at the end. Why not take the 15 min and type up a end credit's or at the very least use the ones from the show

Audio Editing: Transitions and what not are fine and well executed but when watched on a 5.1 setup 95% of all audio comes out of the right channel. This is true for parts 1-3. I personally rebalanced the audio on my own so I could watch. This is a major flaw in the audio and if the edit had not come with such great reviews I would have just turned it off. Even when watched through my 2 channel TV via HDMI cable from the same BD player, I had all the audio out of the right channel there also. (NOTE: 2 Admins and 1 Academy member has checked the audio and have not experienced the same issue that I have.)

Narrative: I found that most of the narrative works and most of what was cut works well. The editor did a great job structuring the edit. I loved the Jacob flashback with Jack. Alot of things that I absolutely loved. That being said if someone had not watched lost before they have zero reason to care about the characters as next to all character development has been cut. In the case of Kate this works well. But in most other cases not so much. There are times we see a character for just long enough for someone to talk to them, then a short time later that character does their plot specific thing. The only other gripe about the narrative is the lack of taking the time to do the minor tweaks. Here is just one example it might be from part 2 not sure as i watched them all back to back. But the issue happens in all 3 versions. Characters will make references to stuff that has been cut. For instance Kate in the source material was always following them. In this edit she only does it once and then they make a comment about how she always does it. They are just minor things but they do stand out.

Enjoyment: Despite the flaws of the edit and after i fixed the audio I thoroughly enjoyed the edit. It was long but it was good. It is clear the editor has a great mind for getting what he want's out of the source material and using it wisely. I would just like to see some more attention to detail. Project's of this scope are always hard to tackle and the editor has done some good work. I would hope to see a Version 2 of parts 1-3 before the next installment.

Would I recommend the edit. Yes if you have watched lost and you just want a speed run. If you are not familer with the show I suggest a full watch of season 1 before watching this edit.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
Report this review Comments (2) | Was this review helpful? 0 2
(Updated: August 09, 2013)
Overall rating
 
9.4
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
8.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
I have never been able to get through LOST no matter how hard I tried. I found the pace of the episodes extemely slow and the mysteries of the plot not sufficiently mysterious to keep my attention. KUDOS to Radzinsky...you manage to keep my attention at last. Your edit has converted me and I look forward to seeing what you can do with the other seasons.

Credits didn't bother that much but I agree with the other reviewers that croping those scenes would push a perfect product to perfection nirvana.

Keep up the great work!

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
Overall rating
 
9.8
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
I love any thing Lost,great job Radzinsky looking forward to your future edits wether there lost related or anything else.I cant imagine taking on editing lost,so much going on but Radzinsky is doing a great job with it.
Namaste

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
View all user reviews