I'd like to see a menu path that would allow me to integrate the "deleted scenes" seamlessly back into the film.
That's been done on a few films, using the "seemless branching" ability specified in the original DVD spec. But this is only possible for the minority of films where (a) the scenes were cut at the very last minute, after scoring and post production, (b) where the studio is willing to spend a considerable amount of money to complete F/X, sound, ADR and music for scenes that were removed earlier and (c) where the original film and other elements still exist. You can't just drop raw footage shot "on the day" into the middle of a completed, scored and color-timed movie.
An enormous amount of work goes into taking five and ten minute snippets of film shot on different physical film rolls at different times (often hours, days or weeks apart) and cutting them all into a single scene that looks and sounds like a real event happening before our eyes. And once it
is all finally cut togther, the color and contrast balanced the film is "locked" and the composer can write a score timed to the on-screen images, while the Foley artists create virtually every sound except the dialogue that you hear in each scene the the actors come back in to "loop" or rerecord dialogue that was spoiled by noise (most outdoors shots) or other problems.
If scenes were deleted
before all of the work mentioned above you either have to do the work or leave them out of the movie and put them in the supplements. Some deleted scenes don't even exist on film by the time the DVD is prepared. Most films are now edited on digital editing systems before any physical film is cut. Once the digital edit is finalized the original negative is cut and assembled into reels that match the digital version. The rest of the negative may well be discarded. In that case the only version of a cut scene that survives will be the lo-res AVID or other digital editing file, obviously without sound F/X, etc. and looking worse than a worn VHS. These are frequently included in DVD supplements to illustrate the contents of scenes, but obviously could never be used to restore those scenes to a longer cut of the film.
Finally, of the minority of films that
are candidates for seemless branching, some aren't done that way on DVD because the director and/or producer decided not to do it that way.
Regards,
Joe
