Oh dear folks I've got a bad feeling about this. You see, remember that report from Cannes from the fella that said he met Bill Mechanic? Well he said that Bill saw a little over 30 minutes of the film so far. Did this happen? Hmmmm, I don't know. I'm sure that whatever the problem (if there ever was one) is, I'm sure Lucas and his people can take care of it. As Holden here says, he doesn't know 100% if this is true, in fact it is a great fear, and if it is true then godspeed in fixing the problem. If you know something about this then please let me know...
Holden Caulfield here with another report...
A friend of a friend, who toils anonymously within the Empire (of the Lucas variety), shared some news that, if it pans out, will turn out to be either no big deal, or one of the most devastating pieces of news to rear its ugly head on the Net. This nameless, faceless Stormtrooper, who my friend says is 110% reliable, said that a screening of approximately 45 minutes to an hour of Episode One footage was recently put together for Fox executives. In the course of preparing the screening, a horrific discovery was made...approximately 40% of the footage shot by the first unit is...UNUSABLE. Apparently a problem with the camera has made portions of each shot out of focus. One character in a scene may be crystal clear while another is completely out of focus, for example; or a character may be in focus in one frame and out of focus in the next - but no matter how you slice it, at least 40% of the footage shot by the first unit is no good.
Now why was this only discovered now, in the course of preparing this preview for Fox execs? According to the Stormtrooper, it is because all the film was DEVELOPED but never PRINTED. Dailies were seen on VIDEO, and the film is being edited on VIDEO. They only became aware of the problem when the developed film was PRINTED for this preview.
Now, what is the Empire going to do? At first, we're told, they thought they could fix the problem in the computer, but alas a solution could not be found. The Stormtrooper SEEMED to believe that all the footage would have to be reshot...and, of course, this leads to a logical question: if 40% of all the first unit's footage has to be RESHOT, what impact will that have on the considerable amount of work to be done in Post? And, more importantly, will this have an effect on the all-important Memorial Day '99 release date?
I hope (and pray) that even if this DID happen, there is a quick and easy solution, and that there is no cause for alarm. My friend (the friend of the Stormtrooper) asked me to get the message to you to see if you could use the considerable power of your network of Bothans to see if this is true, and if so, what does it mean for the entire planet that is waiting barely-patiently for the continuation of the Star Wars saga?
If this is true - SOMEONE LET US KNOW! If it's false - SOMEONE LET US KNOW! If it is or isn't a monumental problem - PLEASE! SOMEONE LET US KNOW!
That's all for now (and I think that's plenty). I'm heading back for the rye field to prevent innocent children from toddling over the brink...
Holden Caulfield
