The "Official" Witnesses Trailer Drops

[Doctor Scratch]

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.

[Gadianton]

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.

Is it also possible that they re-did the scene, removed the mic, and added some little period enhancement that resembles a mic?

I agree that the production quality was great and it nearly has the feel of a real movie. Definitely threw a curve ball with the music. Frontier Gold-rush music? electric guitars included?

The feel is of a gold-obsessed community who risks it all for their treasure. Quite a parallel, perhaps, to the modern day story of the blue-collar Christian family who built the Discovery hit "Gold Rush". Nobody believes them, so you're on the side of the underdog, and sure enough, they were right all along.

[IHAQ]

The mob incident in the trailer, where David Whitmer is dragged from his house and asked to recant his testimony - what historical event is that a portrayal of?

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

Oh boy. This is pretty special.

Trailer opens with a 'BRAAAAHM' base effect, a shot of the moon, and a dimly lit scene of a man holding a baby.

BRAAAAHM.

"The noise woke him."

At this point I'm ready for a 'You Know What You Did Last Summer' villain to appear.

"David... I'm frightened..."

BAM BAM BAM "AWOOOO!"

Lol. It's bananas.

- Doc

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

Baby crying.

"Get your hands off me! No! NO! Julia! JULIA!!!"

Oh, this is good. @:23 They did a sort of Evil Dead 2 camera shot. I literally thought Ash Williams was going to pop out, chainsaw arm fired up, and decalring, "Not today anti-Mormons, mama needs her baby back."



What's next, "C'mon baby, gimme some sugar."

I'll tell you what's next. SOUND EFFECTS.

@43: BWAP. Oo! Flumph flumph (weird how 50 lbs of gold bounces off the leaves instead of landing with a dead thud).

- Doc

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

"You need to write this EXACTLY as I dictate" (note: not translate).

@:55 What is that "There ain't no grave... when I hear that trumpet sound" song in the background playing?

Lol. This is great.

- Doc

[Tom]

I give a lot of credit to the producers: the Undertaker singing the gospel standard “Ain’t No Grave” is unexpected, but it works. It just works.

The version used by the Undertaker for entrances was too soft for my tastes: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QC849DAaG0w.

[IHAQ]

"You need to write this EXACTLY as I dictate" (note: not translate).

Yep, they’ve nailed their colours to the tight translation mast with that line.

[Lem]

Did I see Martin Harris read pages to his family then tear them up? Was that supposed to be the lost pages?

[Moksha]

The mob incident in the trailer, where David Whitmer is dragged from his house and asked to recant his testimony - what historical event is that a portrayal of?

Was this a fictional story?