Discuss all things Ghostbusters here, unless they would be better suited in one of the few forums below.
#4973204
Hello all. First, I’d like to summon the all knowing GB behind the scene spirit known as D_Osborn. Perhaps he knows what this is all about.

Ok. Let’s talk GB2 deleted scenes. My favourite topic. Now I’m going to get deep in the weeds here folks, so bare with me.
So how many of you watched the end credits of GB2 back in the day and saw the end credits shot of Slimer and thought “what the hell?”. I know I did. Why in gods name did Ivan Reitman choose that shot out of all the cut Slimer footage? It literally makes the least amount of sense to include. Why not show Slimer eating the chicken? Or licking Louis? Any of that would make more sense than a random shot from Louis Tully’s POV looking in a rear view mirror. Plus we know those scenes were taken all the way to completion. So why the rear view mirror shot?

Thinking about this has made me rethink about what we know, or what we think we know, regarding the cut Slimer Footage from GB2. Most of the info we have stems from the Cinefex “making of” article. That article features the infamous cut “Slimer eating chicken” shot. It’s a 100% finished shot. They also say in the article all the Slimer shots were completed. I’ve always assumed this was true because A) Cinefex has to source that chicken shot from somewhere and B) out of all the scenes Reitman could’ve picked to have in the end credits he picks that random ass one!?! That couldn’t have been the only fully complete composited Slimer shot cut from the film could it..?

…Could it?

Now that I think about it, the fact that they chose that shot, the rear view mirror shot, makes me think…maybe not all the Slimer shots were finished. If they were…where are they? The deleted scenes released on home video feature crude temp effects. But what about the Slimer eating chicken shot? Well that’s all it is. It’s a still image. We don’t know where Cinefex sourced that shot from. Maybe that shot was included in the end credits because…that’s all they had. That one random shot. Because you’ll notice…it’s just Slimer. No humans. So it’s relatively easy from an FX POV. No humans to be rotoscoped. So it makes sense this shot would be one of the first finished. Maybe.

So..what do we think? Why did Reitman chose that shot for Slimer in the end credits? Was it the only 100% finished shot they had that wasn’t used? And where did Cinefex get that cut Slimer shot from? A work print? Or was it a mock up used in the article?

This is one of those mysteries that the upcoming GB2 documentary could solve. Or maybe we will never know. But perhaps somewhere, in some archive or basement, there sits an entire reel of finished ILM Slimer shots from GB2. Sitting in the dark unseen for over 30 years. Now that’s a documentary I’d love to see. “Hunting Slimer” a search for the missing Slimer footage, if it exists at all. It would go deep on the FX aspects of GB2. Man…
#4973206
There doesn't seem to be much of a mystery as to why it was picked... At least, it doesn't seem much of a mystery to me.

It's one of the clearest shots of Slimer where he isn't immediately reacting to something or someone, and he's framed dead-center of the screen. Also, given Slimer's generally friendly-looking appearance in it, it probably seemed a good choice for a character shot for the credits.

And as it had been excised from the film along with the rest of the scene it was filmed for, they were free to edit it back into the film without it repeating something that had been seen earlier in the running time.

Any completed and unused shots might've gone into the Sony archives (where they were either misplaced or irreparably damaged, at least to the point of not being usable for the deleted scenes they put on one of the recent big BluRay releases), or the completed shots may have been unfortunately lost after the production wrapped.
Mikeol1987 liked this
#4973217
Kingpin wrote: October 8th, 2022, 12:13 pm There doesn't seem to be much of a mystery as to why it was picked... At least, it doesn't seem much of a mystery to me.

It's one of the clearest shots of Slimer where he isn't immediately reacting to something or someone, and he's framed dead-center of the screen. Also, given Slimer's generally friendly-looking appearance in it, it probably seemed a good choice for a character shot for the credits.

And as it had been excised from the film along with the rest of the scene it was filmed for, they were free to edit it back into the film without it repeating something that had been seen earlier in the running time.

Any completed and unused shots might've gone into the Sony archives (where they were either misplaced or irreparably damaged, at least to the point of not being usable for the deleted scenes they put on one of the recent big BluRay releases), or the completed shots may have been unfortunately lost after the production wrapped.


Yep. That COULD be why they picked it. Maybe. I thought the same thing. But again, it’s weird. We the audience are seeing Slimer in this rear view mirror. Yeah we get a good shot of him but it’s still sans any context. Maybe they picked the shot because it’s like you say. But…we don’t know what all shots were cut. We know from the ILM behind the scenes footage there was a bunch of Slimer stuff filmed, this was the best single shot of him? Was it the best shot they had to give the audience of Slimer full frame? Or the only shot? So I don’t think it’s as cut and dry as what I use to think.

There’s a mystery for sure. What was composited into a fully finished shot ala the chicken shot. I use to think the Cinefex article was proof. But “finished” can mean all sorts of things. It can mean all the shots were “finished” as in finished in the can, or it can be “finished” as in ready to be shown in theatres. We know there was a work print of GB2 made with some extra Slimer footage. How finished was it tho? These are things I’d love to know.

These are the questions. And…you say “Sony archive”. Not every studio has an official archive ala Disney or Lucasfilm. Some are sent to random salt mines(like with GB1). Some are scattered to the winds. For anyone who wants lesson in how little they cared back then about saving this stuff should watch the documentary on how the Blade Runner final cut was made. All of that films negatives were so close to being lost forever it’s only luck that prevented it.

This is why I try to summon the great spirit of D_Osborn. He knows all there is to know. He is wise.
#4973607
Winston1986 wrote: October 17th, 2022, 8:17 pm I'm too young to have seen the movie when it came out (I was only 3 years old when it came out) but I have heard that Slimer comes out of the Statue of Liberty in the original theatrical cut. Though I have never seen it. If that's the case, why was it deleted from all Home Video releases?
Based on the weight of evidence available, there's currently no proof that the "Slimer ending" was ever actually completed or made it into the theatrical cut.
deadderek liked this
#4973609
Winston1986 wrote: October 17th, 2022, 8:17 pm I'm too young to have seen the movie when it came out (I was only 3 years old when it came out) but I have heard that Slimer comes out of the Statue of Liberty in the original theatrical cut. Though I have never seen it. If that's the case, why was it deleted from all Home Video releases?
Never happened. People just remembered wrong.
#4973701
Stylistically, the end credit montage tends to show the major cast in a solo shot. Aykroyd and Weaver even get nice closeups. And a lot of those shots are from deleted footage. So when picking a shot for Slimer, that was likely the one where he was largest in the frame and looking right at the camera, since it's Louis' POV through the headset mirror.

Now what bugs ME about that shot of Slimer is... it's out of sync.

Think about it. Louis is watching Slimer on a tiny mirror mounted in front of his face. The POV shot shows the central 'rearview' circle with Slimer and the rest of the rectangular screen is Louis' forward peripheral vision.

So it stands to reason that each time Louis moves his head, the rearview shot and the peripheral forward view should both move simultaneously, equivalent degrees but opposite directions.

Yet that's not what the 'finished' effect shows!

First there's a whip pan over to Slimer inside the reflection, while the edges of the forward view barely move at all.

Then at the very end of the shot, the forward view moves laterally, while the room seen in the reflection stays put.

That's always bugged me. Either both should move or both should remain steady.

I lack the ability with my software to re-sync them unless I do it frame-by-frame and the results would be very crude, but I'd love to see that shot corrected so the two motions sync.

Alex
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#4973703
Alex Newborn wrote: So it stands to reason that each time Louis moves his head, the rearview shot and the peripheral forward view should both move simultaneously, equivalent degrees but opposite directions.
If I had to guess, the mirror element was a composite, not filmed practically.

This would avoid some pretty tough tracking/match move issues. The ILM team would’ve had to track the camera movement exactly in order for the Slimer effect to be successful— difficult and time-consuming for a quick shot. It’s a lot faster to put together as a composite, and unless you’re looking for it, blends pretty well.

The thing no one ever remembers about the Slimer/Statue of Liberty ending is that Slimer was only ONE part of the gag. Liberty was also supposed to have the torch in the wrong hand. Although a great piece of GB2 history and lore, the effects weren't executed once production got underway. ILM wasn't on set with the 70mm cameras that day. (Edit- VistaVision)

I love bringing receipts and primary sources! :love:
Image

Edit-- Storyboard for the "torch in the wrong hand" gag.

Image
#4974360
Davideverona wrote: November 9th, 2022, 2:16 pm Please, explain to me: why Lady Liberty holding the torch in the wrong hand should be considered a gag?
Because a treasured national landmark was put back incorrectly and nobody but Ray noticed weeks later then Peter shushes him about it in hopes nobody else will realize it.
deadderek, Davideverona liked this
#4974377
mrmichaelt wrote: November 9th, 2022, 4:56 pm
Davideverona wrote: November 9th, 2022, 2:16 pm Please, explain to me: why Lady Liberty holding the torch in the wrong hand should be considered a gag?
Because a treasured national landmark was put back incorrectly and nobody but Ray noticed weeks later then Peter shushes him about it in hopes nobody else will realize it.
Thanks. I didn't know about Ray being the only one who noticed.
mrmichaelt liked this

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