The "Official" Witnesses Trailer Drops
Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2021 4:46 am
Wow, do you know what? The trailer for DCP's Witnesses movie is here at last! You can check it out here. I'm pleased to see that the producers of the film paid close attention to our constructive criticism. This trailer is a vast improvement over the last one, amateurish effort that appeared close to this same time last year (you know, the one with the "POW!" where Joseph Smith bashes that guy with the Gold Plates!). Still, one cannot help but read Mopologetic themes into this newest "sneak preview" of DCP's latest folly.
In any case, the trailer opens with David Whitmer attempting to reassure his wife that he's "right here," and that nothing is going to happen to them. Famous last words? Well, shortly after that, members of an angry mob--that archetype of the Mormon persecution complex--comes storming into the house to haul him away. The smirking, snickering leader of the mob exclaims, "We're tired of you Mormons!" Later, the villain hunches down to ask a cowering Whitmer: "You were with Joe Smith? You saw when he had them thar Gold Plates??" So, this is almost comical. The guy they've cast as the villain is straight out of central casting. I can see DCP giving rigid instructions to the casting director: "I want someone who seems like they grew up in rural Appalachia. You know: hick accent, mutton chop sideburns, bulging eyes. The whole works." The only thing missing here is for the guy to be dressed in a pair of overalls with no shirt. And hey, is that a jug with Xs that I see on his porch? And is that a bloodhound?
In the next segment, you can see them taking pains to emphasize the heaviness of the Plates: "50 pounds!" a character notes. And it would appear that they've completely eliminated the scene where Joseph Smith clobbers his pursuer with the Plates. Instead, the scene appears to involve Joseph Smith kicking someone who's shooting at him with an old-school rifle. Remember those reshoots that were ordered up, and which were announced on "Sic et Non"? What do you want to be that this is what they reshot? When the film finally debuts, we'll get to see. If the scene where Joseph swings the plates as a weapon is gone, then you'll know how much power we have managed to wield over their editorial decisions. We shall see. We shall see.
The other interesting bit comes in at 1:09 (and if you want to be able to search through the trailer, I recommend using the YouTube version. In typical Mopologetic fashion, on the Interpreter site for the movie, they've disabled your ability to search through the clip). Here, we get the scene of the men praying out in the woods. As you'll recall, this scene was noteworthy for the fact that there was apparently a wireless mic clipped to the back of the Martin Harris character's pants. Dr. Peterson swore up and down that this was *not* a wireless mic, and was instead part of the actor's "period appropriate" costume, but I pointed out that that didn't matter, since most moviegoers aren't experts in frontier-era New England attire, and they'd likely assume the same thing we did: wireless mic. So, they've left this in here, but to my eyes, it looks different. The bow isn't leaning outwards as much as it was in the original trailer. My guess? They've gone in and tidied this up using CGI, exactly as I predicted they would. Once again, it would seem that we here, on this messageboard, have played a powerful role in determining the final cut of this movie.
Further along, I couldn't help but chuckle at the line that's spoken at the 1:33 mark: "You are intoxicated by the power of leading a believing people!" LOL. Sound familiar?
At 1:58, we get what appears to be a scene involving the supernatural. Basically, it looks like all the Church-produced films throughout the decades: a bright white glow. I wonder if this is something that has been correlated? Like, depictions of Heavenly beings must be done in this manner? (Are there allusions to Added Upon in the film?)
In any event, I'm still looking forward to watching the finished product. I think the notion of it doing well in theaters this summer is wishful thinking, but good luck to the Mopologists nonetheless. No doubt this will spur Dr. Peterson on in pursuit of further cinematic glory. He'll never finish writing all those books he's been promising to complete, but he was never going to finish those anyways.
In any case, the trailer opens with David Whitmer attempting to reassure his wife that he's "right here," and that nothing is going to happen to them. Famous last words? Well, shortly after that, members of an angry mob--that archetype of the Mormon persecution complex--comes storming into the house to haul him away. The smirking, snickering leader of the mob exclaims, "We're tired of you Mormons!" Later, the villain hunches down to ask a cowering Whitmer: "You were with Joe Smith? You saw when he had them thar Gold Plates??" So, this is almost comical. The guy they've cast as the villain is straight out of central casting. I can see DCP giving rigid instructions to the casting director: "I want someone who seems like they grew up in rural Appalachia. You know: hick accent, mutton chop sideburns, bulging eyes. The whole works." The only thing missing here is for the guy to be dressed in a pair of overalls with no shirt. And hey, is that a jug with Xs that I see on his porch? And is that a bloodhound?
In the next segment, you can see them taking pains to emphasize the heaviness of the Plates: "50 pounds!" a character notes. And it would appear that they've completely eliminated the scene where Joseph Smith clobbers his pursuer with the Plates. Instead, the scene appears to involve Joseph Smith kicking someone who's shooting at him with an old-school rifle. Remember those reshoots that were ordered up, and which were announced on "Sic et Non"? What do you want to be that this is what they reshot? When the film finally debuts, we'll get to see. If the scene where Joseph swings the plates as a weapon is gone, then you'll know how much power we have managed to wield over their editorial decisions. We shall see. We shall see.
The other interesting bit comes in at 1:09 (and if you want to be able to search through the trailer, I recommend using the YouTube version. In typical Mopologetic fashion, on the Interpreter site for the movie, they've disabled your ability to search through the clip). Here, we get the scene of the men praying out in the woods. As you'll recall, this scene was noteworthy for the fact that there was apparently a wireless mic clipped to the back of the Martin Harris character's pants. Dr. Peterson swore up and down that this was *not* a wireless mic, and was instead part of the actor's "period appropriate" costume, but I pointed out that that didn't matter, since most moviegoers aren't experts in frontier-era New England attire, and they'd likely assume the same thing we did: wireless mic. So, they've left this in here, but to my eyes, it looks different. The bow isn't leaning outwards as much as it was in the original trailer. My guess? They've gone in and tidied this up using CGI, exactly as I predicted they would. Once again, it would seem that we here, on this messageboard, have played a powerful role in determining the final cut of this movie.
Further along, I couldn't help but chuckle at the line that's spoken at the 1:33 mark: "You are intoxicated by the power of leading a believing people!" LOL. Sound familiar?
At 1:58, we get what appears to be a scene involving the supernatural. Basically, it looks like all the Church-produced films throughout the decades: a bright white glow. I wonder if this is something that has been correlated? Like, depictions of Heavenly beings must be done in this manner? (Are there allusions to Added Upon in the film?)
In any event, I'm still looking forward to watching the finished product. I think the notion of it doing well in theaters this summer is wishful thinking, but good luck to the Mopologists nonetheless. No doubt this will spur Dr. Peterson on in pursuit of further cinematic glory. He'll never finish writing all those books he's been promising to complete, but he was never going to finish those anyways.
