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White Collar uncut pilot
I watched the extended version of the White Collar pilot last night! Mostly it's pretty much like the aired version, except some of the scenes are longer - they trimmed bits of dialogue here and there to shorten it, without really changing the meaning of the scene. It was neat to get a little more - a little more banter here, a wee bit more backstory there - but there wasn't much that was cut that I minded not having in the "official" episode. We got to see June talk more about playing poker with the boys in the old days, and more of Diana teasing Neal, and a little more Neal-Peter banter. But really I could see why they cut most of it; it would've been nice to keep it, but I never noticed that anything had been cut from the final scenes - the pacing and emotions and everything are still just fine - so they did a good job.
There were only two bits I wished they'd kept. There was one little exchange between Peter and Neal - it was one of the scenes where they're talking in Peter's office, and Peter asks Neal if he trusts him, and Neal answers "... yeah" in this little-kid-caught-in-the-cookie-jar sort of tone that is so cute. Presumably, aside from just needing to trim for time, they didn't really want to push that aspect of Peter and Neal's relationship that quickly. But it was an adorable bit and I wish we'd gotten to keep it.
The other bit I would've liked to have seen in the episode is that, in the uncut version, we see Peter's moment of realization when he figures out what Neal is up to with the ankle monitor and the warehouse. I can see why they cut it, because when Peter gets out of his car and starts ordering people around on the scene, he's obviously figured it out and is still gleeing about it. The moment when he catches on isn't really necessary. But it's neat, just seeing that grin spread across his face as it hits him what Neal is up to and why. I always love Peter's "Eureka!" moments.
And the only long scene that they cut is one I'm glad they did - there's a scene in the extended pilot in which Peter meets Mozzie. But I think it was a good decision to string that along for a while, keeping the two sides of Neal's life separate until they accidentally collide. Also, the scene in which they finally meet in Neal's apartment is a lot more amusing and just generally a stronger scene than the original one in the pilot (where Mozzie supplies some plot-related information to Peter).
This is actually something I struggle with in my original writing, as opposed to fanfic ... the fact that any important scene can only happen once! Aside from canon AUs in shows/books/movies that have time or dimensional travel, you can only ever have one version of anything: the way two characters met, the first time they kissed, the time one of them died. So you'd better make it good. I think this performance anxiety is one of the hurdles that I have to overcome in writing original fiction -- the awareness that out of all the possibilities for the big emotional moments in the plot and in the characters' lives, I'm always going to have to pick one and go with it. In fanfic you can write a dozen versions, and other writers can write a hundred more. And then you can enjoy the one that you find the most satisfying. At the very least, there's always another version out there, or you can make up your own. As a writer, I like that freedom, even though as a reader/viewer, I'll (nearly) always take the one canon version over the million fanon versions. But when I'm writing my own stories, and will only ever get one version, it's hard to overcome the paralyzing fear that I'm not making the best decision and I won't get another chance.
There were only two bits I wished they'd kept. There was one little exchange between Peter and Neal - it was one of the scenes where they're talking in Peter's office, and Peter asks Neal if he trusts him, and Neal answers "... yeah" in this little-kid-caught-in-the-cookie-jar sort of tone that is so cute. Presumably, aside from just needing to trim for time, they didn't really want to push that aspect of Peter and Neal's relationship that quickly. But it was an adorable bit and I wish we'd gotten to keep it.
The other bit I would've liked to have seen in the episode is that, in the uncut version, we see Peter's moment of realization when he figures out what Neal is up to with the ankle monitor and the warehouse. I can see why they cut it, because when Peter gets out of his car and starts ordering people around on the scene, he's obviously figured it out and is still gleeing about it. The moment when he catches on isn't really necessary. But it's neat, just seeing that grin spread across his face as it hits him what Neal is up to and why. I always love Peter's "Eureka!" moments.
And the only long scene that they cut is one I'm glad they did - there's a scene in the extended pilot in which Peter meets Mozzie. But I think it was a good decision to string that along for a while, keeping the two sides of Neal's life separate until they accidentally collide. Also, the scene in which they finally meet in Neal's apartment is a lot more amusing and just generally a stronger scene than the original one in the pilot (where Mozzie supplies some plot-related information to Peter).
This is actually something I struggle with in my original writing, as opposed to fanfic ... the fact that any important scene can only happen once! Aside from canon AUs in shows/books/movies that have time or dimensional travel, you can only ever have one version of anything: the way two characters met, the first time they kissed, the time one of them died. So you'd better make it good. I think this performance anxiety is one of the hurdles that I have to overcome in writing original fiction -- the awareness that out of all the possibilities for the big emotional moments in the plot and in the characters' lives, I'm always going to have to pick one and go with it. In fanfic you can write a dozen versions, and other writers can write a hundred more. And then you can enjoy the one that you find the most satisfying. At the very least, there's always another version out there, or you can make up your own. As a writer, I like that freedom, even though as a reader/viewer, I'll (nearly) always take the one canon version over the million fanon versions. But when I'm writing my own stories, and will only ever get one version, it's hard to overcome the paralyzing fear that I'm not making the best decision and I won't get another chance.
no subject
Clearly you need to write an original groundhog day type of plot.
no subject
Help me please
(Anonymous) 2015-12-31 10:56 am (UTC)(link)Sorry for my english . I am not from english speaking country.
no subject
I dunno! In the tradpub world, maybe, but with all the ways people engage with fiction these days, I imagine that you could easily put out multiple versions of something, turn to your reader base, and go "I like both of these! Go with the one you like better!"
WE ARE THE FUTURE AD WE MAKE THE RULES NOW
no subject
Though of the writers I can think of that I know have done it, the grand master of this sort of thing is probably Leiji Matsumoto, the Captain Harlock guy, who has literally been writing different AU versions of the EXACTLY SAME CHARACTER AND STORY for his entire career -- I mean, not disguised or anything, but "here's Harlock & co. in a Western", and "here's the 3rd iteration of Galaxy Express 999 in which totally different stuff happens".
(btw: how on earth did you get here? XD Suddenly this old entry is getting a lot of comments!)
no subject
I went to your main journal page, and I was looking at the links in the left sidebar, and this showed up under "Active Entries". But I didn't actually read the header on that section, so I thought it was the page summary, and I was like "Huh, a recent entry on White Collar? This may be relevant to my interests. Also, how did I miss that in the last week or two?"
As it turns out, I did not miss it in the last week or two.
no subject
But yes, that makes sense! I hadn't even realized it would do that. Actually I think it's weird it did do that, since my recent entries have been getting comments, and this one just got the one comment from a few weeks ago. idk.