A New Trailer Drops for the "Witnesses" Movie

[Lemmie]

Tom, you made me think, so I went back and looked again. Did he swing the plates to hit the guy? Why, then, is the kapow sound a knuckles to skin type of a sound, and not a metal to head sound?

Also, when the plates get knocked out of his hands and fall to the grass, they make a clackity sound like a lightweight aluminum toy, as the pages flutter. Like a couple of my kids’ hot wheels cars crashing into each other. Would 50 pounds of metal sound like that? Or look like that?

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

Here’s a thudding sound the rubes could use for, I think, $2.50:

https://www.freesoundeffects.com/track/thud-1-9563/

- Doc

[Tom]

Tom, you made me think, so I went back and looked again. Did he swing the plates to hit the guy? Why, then, is the kapow sound a knuckles to skin type of a sound, and not a metal to head sound?

Also, when the plates get knocked out of his hands and fall to the grass, they make a clackity sound like a lightweight aluminum toy, as the pages flutter. Like a couple of my kids’ hot wheels cars crashing into each other. Would 50 pounds of metal sound like that? Or look like that?

Those are excellent questions, Lemmie. Clearly, this film needs a lot of work. Did it undergo any type of peer review? I recommend that the filmmakers seek a test screening in front of Cassius faculty and graduate students.

Picking up on comments from Physics Guy and Dr. Moore, I wonder whether there were takes in which "Joseph" swung the badly torn bag and the prop plates fell out and landed on his own face.

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

Here’s the perfect sound effect when Joseph lays eyes on Fanny’s fanny:

https://www.freesoundeffects.com/track/ ... e2x-22307/

- Doc

[Lemmie]

Tom, you made me think, so I went back and looked again. Did he swing the plates to hit the guy? Why, then, is the kapow sound a knuckles to skin type of a sound, and not a metal to head sound?

Also, when the plates get knocked out of his hands and fall to the grass, they make a clackity sound like a lightweight aluminum toy, as the pages flutter. Like a couple of my kids’ hot wheels cars crashing into each other. Would 50 pounds of metal sound like that? Or look like that?

Those are excellent questions, Lemmie. Clearly, this film needs a lot of work. Did it undergo any type of peer review?

Picking up on comments from Physics Guy and Dr. Moore, I wonder whether there were takes in which "Joseph" swung the badly torn bag and the prop plates fell out and landed on his own face.

Yes, just the quick takes people mention here bring up so many issues. Maybe the focus group they used had the same playground peer review rule— you have believe first.

Also, did you notice that during the fighting, the plates had a “sealed” part on the bottom that really looked like nothing more than brown duct tape wrapped around the bottom third, but later in the clip the plates are fully shown from the same angle, are much bigger, and there are unsealed plates all the way down? No continuity.

I also find the steel machine-tooled D rings a little disconcerting.

[Lemmie]

Susan Easton Black. . . what hast thou done?

She--who should know better, considering her status as emeritus professor of church history--states that critics have resorted to saying that the witnesses saw the plates with their "spiritual eyes."

THAT'S A BORDERLINE LIE!! The implication, of course, is that the critics invented this from thin air. Not so; Martin Harris said this point-blank and critics are merely reminding us what he said.

That was bizarre. She said, as close as I can quote:

”critics today are STARTING to say that...perhaps...they just saw it with their spiritual eyes. That...maybe they were just hallucinating.”

That is an extremely dishonest statement to make. Coming from a historian it is inexcusable.

[Dr Exiled]

Where are those Nephites/Lamanites again? The lack of evidence of their existence makes the plates story a side show, part of the magician's trick to focus attention elsewhere.
The movie is more of the same or so it seems from the clip. So, who really cares that the witnesses were true to their delusion? I once saw this magician levitate for a second and I will go to my grave saying this. Yet, it was a trick.

[Tom]

Yes, just the quick takes people mention here bring up so many issues. Maybe the focus group they used had the same playground peer review rule— you have believe first.

Also, did you notice that during the fighting, the plates had a “sealed” part on the bottom that really looked like nothing more than brown duct tape wrapped around the bottom third, but later in the clip the plates are fully shown from the same angle, are much bigger, and there are unsealed plates all the way down? No continuity.

Yes, I see that now. The plates at 1:30 are clearly different than the ones earlier in the trailer. I have to say that the brown tape does not look good.

A few other thoughts:

1. Terryl Givens' head movements toward the light strike me as an affectation. It appears that he's receiving a vision.
3. I suggest that Dr. Black's interview be redone to cut out her use of "And I'm like."

[Dr Exiled]

Maybe the director is trying to tell us something with the plates' prop errors? Lol. The plates weren't real in the sense that they came from ancient america. They were a prop to promote a story as the Witnesses' plates prop are there to promote a story. So, it doesn't matter if the prop changes from scene to scene?

[Gadianton]

...didn’t they say somewhere they made two sets of plates?

[Lemmie]

...didn’t they say somewhere they made two sets of plates?

Who knew it wouldn’t occur to them that the two sets should be identical, at least in appearance.

On the other hand, we have a situation developing, in real time, of how a religious person might go about faking an artifact to try to convince people of a supernatural story. The Witnesses filming process is just acting it out for us. From Black subtly changing the story to Givens tilting his head to simulate visions, we’re getting the 21st century version of Smith’s original con.

(Don Bradley, by the way, doesn’t really look like he wants to be there. He’s wearing a torn and dirty t-shirt, and sounds extremely placating. He was careful to preface his statement with something like, ‘once you decide god exists, every miracle is fair game’ or something like that.)

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

Lemmie makes an excellent point. We’re literally watching a Conception. It’s a making of a con about the making of a con. Or is this more like Adaption, where DCP is trying to screenplay a film called Being Joseph Smith? After all, Adaption has a wonderful scene where the protagonist is chased through the wilds of Florida while protecting his treasure, more or less. I dunno, I’m sure I’m muddling metaphors, but being clever is tough business in a world where LDS fantasy is about as subtle as braining someone with a club.

- Doc

[Everybody Wang Chung]

...didn’t they say somewhere they made two sets of plates?

Who knew it wouldn’t occur to them that the two sets should be identical, at least in appearance.

Exactly. People (assuming any people actually watch the finished product) are going to be confused by the two different sets of plates.

The acting, directing and sound effects, remind me of this:

https://youtu.be/pKAwXLVxuZQ

[kairos]

For accuracy was not Joseph Smith wearing all black ,like zorro when he brought the plates home- here he is a suit coat away from a 3 piece brooks brothers 1828? version.

k

[Everybody Wang Chung]

Dr. Scratch,

It looks like DCP has now modified the punch sound, which now sounds much more normal: https://witnessesfilm.com/

I guess DCP owes Dr. Scratch a debt of gratitude for pointing that out. I hope Dr. Scratch gets a mention in the movie credits for sound editing or as a consultant.

[Lemmie]

Dr. Scratch,

It looks like DCP has now modified the punch sound, which now sounds much more normal: https://witnessesfilm.com/

I guess DCP owes Dr. Scratch a debt of gratitude for pointing that out. I hope Dr. Scratch gets a mention in the movie credits for sound editing or as a consultant.

Wow, that's a whole different sound. Its now human flesh hit by a thing, and a voiced reaction, instead of the previous sterile and standardized kapow of skin on skin.

The brown duct tape covering the sealed part is still on the chase scene plates but there is no sealed part OR brown duct tape on the later plates, however, but that might br harder to fix.

How professioal is this trailer if it was changed only after online comments? I think the filmmakers are taking DCP for a ride. How is this a million dollar film?

[Tom]

Dr. Scratch,

It looks like DCP has now modified the punch sound, which now sounds much more normal: https://witnessesfilm.com/

I guess DCP owes Dr. Scratch a debt of gratitude for pointing that out. I hope Dr. Scratch gets a mention in the movie credits for sound editing or as a consultant.

Wow, that's a whole different sound. Its now human flesh hit by a thing, and a voiced reaction, instead of the previous sterile and standardized kapow of skin on skin.

The brown duct tape covering the sealed part is still on the chase scene plates but there is no sealed part OR brown duct tape on the later plates, however, but that might br harder to fix.

How professioal is this trailer if it was changed only after online comments? I think the filmmakers are taking DCP for a ride. How is this a million dollar film?

Did they add sound to the plates hitting the ground? I wish I had downloaded the original.

[consiglieri]

The opening struggle for the plates looks a lot like Smeagol and Deagol fighting for a ring.

[Philo Sofee]

They are USING us to improve their product! Who says they don't value valid criticism?

[Gadianton]

A few seconds playing with eq even with a basic free sample could have prevented this whole problem in the first place. It's definitely different, no ringing in my ears this time. I actually missed it twice being distracted with something else --- is it just me or did they also block the ability to rewind?

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

HELLO MR. PETERSON! HOW ARE YOU DOING? WEIRD HOW OBSESSIVE YOU ARE WITH THIS BOARD, NO? IT'S LIKE YOU CAN LEAVE US, BUT CAN'T LEAVE US ALONE! TUT TUT!

- Doc