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Outtakes
Coming Soon (approximately the second week of September, 2008, as soon as we can digitize and describe it all): In addition to the material posted below, we'll be adding a huge amount of additional, just-discovered original outtakes from the original 35mm camera negatives!
In the 70's, a motion picture production typically sent its camera negatives to the film laboratory on a daily or near-daily basis, and specified which takes of any particular shot were to be printed as positives for review by the director and editor. Since each foot of film cost money to print, takes that were deemed unworthy or unusable at the time of shooting, for one reason or another, would not be designated for printing.
The Phantom production utilized a processing house called Movielab.
This footage had been sitting, discarded and unclaimed, in a dusty tin at Movielab for decades. It was obtained on the original 35mm film by the Swan Archives in early 2008. We then converted the film to digital format for presentation here. We so have your back.
The outtakes here may have been printed by Movielab in error, or perhaps were printed as ordered, but not claimed and paid for by the production (which had periodic financial difficulties as filming was in progress).
Prior to our posting it here, this footage had never been seen by anyone.
The Swan Archives views our salvage and restoration of this abandoned and forgotten material as consistent with our mission to benefit humanity by preserving and making accessible to the public all available documentation of the life of Swan.
As best as we can tell, the footage was printed from the original camera negatives. It is all silent, as this is footage that was not shot with synchronized sound. Had it been used, it would have been combined in the editing process with music.
Click here to view a high quality QuickTime file (77 MB).
Click here to view the same thing, but in a smaller QuickTime file, for quicker downloading (23 MB).
The footage consists of four parts:
First, we have a number of "fly-by"'s of the Death Records clock which was used as one element of the montage showing time passing as Winslow rewrote his cantata for Phoenix. The footage, shot on Christmas eve 1973, shows a number of different ideas for how the clock could have been shown traveling through space. Presumably, other shots of the clock were chosen for the montage.
Second, we have several takes of a truck-forward into the lens of one of Swan's "Swan Song" videocameras. We presume that at one time it was contemplated that the (movie) camera would approach the prop videocamera, and that whatever was in the prop camera's lens would gradually fill the screen, in the same way that the monitor in Swan's video room fills the screen as we transition from the video room to the wedding sequence. Obviously, this "look into the camera" idea was never used.
Third, we have several takes of Bill Finley, as Winslow, extricating himself from the cardboard box in which he had escaped prison, and running off into the streets of New York. In one of these takes, Finley has a lot of trouble getting out of the box, and, when he finally gets out, he breaks character, cracking up at his own bungling attempt to "escape". This was shot in January of 1974, in New York.
Finally, we get to see Winslow being bounced out of Death Records through the revolving doors by Swan's goons, but in regular speed (not the accelerated motion used in the film), and with the original "Swan Song Enterprises" signage clearly visible over the doors, prior to its being optically replaced by "Death Records". This was filmed in Dallas on December 29, 1973.
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All inquiries should be directed by email to archivist at swanarchives.org. The words "grand guignol" appear nowhere on this site. All website text, design, and coding is Copyright 2006-2008, Ari the Principal Archivist. No claim is made to the copyrighted works, trademarks or service marks of 20th Century Fox or A&M Records, and The Swan Archives is in no way affiliated with either company.
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