This exercise proved to be quite challenging—and many more
hours of work than I anticipated. I had a digitized copy of Mel Brook’s Young
Frankenstein from a previous work project that I decided to use. I struggled to
come up with an idea. First, given my documentary inclinations, I used footage
from the film to create a travel log of Transylvania from the 1930s, the period
of the Young Frankenstein story. I patched a few clips together and realized
I’d need to embellish the cut with outside photos and information. This cut
would lack a story arc and dialogue. Then I decided to work on a horror cut of
the existing story, stripping it of all comedic elements but maintaining the
story line. Neither of these were sufficient to fulfill the objectives of
creating a new story, cutting new dialogue, and restructuring shots. The version I ended up with does tell a
different story, in spite of unavoidable continuity issues. I’d love feedback!
