Filmmaker Steven Soderbergh’s latest project isn’t a new theatrical drama; it’s his own edit of Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones movie Raiders of the Lost Ark. But this isn’t some attempt to improve upon Spielberg’s masterpiece, because everyone knows that would be a futile exercise. Soderbergh’s reason for modifying Raiders is for educational purposes.
Soderbergh posted his edited version of the movie to his website, Extension765.com, explaining that he likes to modify movies in order to learn about properly staging shots.
“So I want you to watch this movie and think only about staging, how the shots are built and laid out, what the rules of movement are, what the cutting patterns are,” he explains. He encourages viewers, “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? Sounds like fun, right? It actually is.”
He modified Raiders by removing the film’s original epic John Williams score, and replaced it with “a score designed to aid you in your quest to just study the visual staging aspect.” He also removed all the dialog and sound effects from the movie. He then removed all the color from the original film, leaving viewers with a black-and-white, silent version of Raiders of the Lost Ark.
I’ll admit that it’s a pretty fascinating exercise, and his modifications do highlight just how well Raiders is made. And it’s hard to fault the guy for wanting to use one of the greatest movies ever made as an example of how to properly stage shots.
Check out Soderbergh’s full version of the film at Extension765.com.
