We don’t really have deleted scenes in our episodes all that often, but once in a blue moon it happens. There are a few reasons for this. I’m a strong believer that in our show, scenes should do three things:
- Advance the story
- Build characters
- Have lulz
While it’s not possible to accomplish all three things in each and every scene, we hope to have at least two, and if nothing else, just one. When a scene has none of those 3 things, then it usually just gets axed, never to see the light of day. And trust me, that’s for the better.
However, there are other times when we cut scenes simply because YouTube sucks, and only allows us to put up 10 minute videos with our account (certain accounts allow you to do more if you’ve signed up before a certain date, but we were late to the YouTube party). We could split the video in two for them and deliver you guys a longer one, but it becomes such a pain in the ass to do this.
This is where you guys get screwed a little, and that’s mostly due to many of the kind folks over at YouTube being unable to grasp the concept of checking our profile page for the second video. Seriously, I don’t know how some of them even turn on their computers (if you’re here from YouTube, you are not included in this group, since you are clearly of a superior intelligence). Luckily, this has only affected just a couple of episodes throughout the entire series.
Anywho, Episode 8 of Season 2 had a couple of scenes cut for this very reason. One of them was filmed and one wasn’t. Check them out after the jump.
This first scene takes place before Asher’s confrontation with Westheimer in the restroom. We never got around to filming it, because it became apparent that the episode wouldn’t need it, time-wise.
[scrippet]EXT. Back Yard, Shed
Asher is walking up to the shed. Cortez appears behind him.
CORTEZ
A donde vas?
ASHER
Ah, yes, Mr. Cardinal. I need to inspect this shed in order to locate Westheimer.
CORTEZ
This shed belongs to the Terrorists, now. And it is not a dog house… you will not find the old man within.
AHMAD
(From downstairs) Ohhhh snap!
ASHER
If he is not here, where could he be? I must speak with him so the Counter-Terrorists can begin training.
CORTEZ
Even if I knew where he had gone to lick his wounds, I would not tell you.
ASHER
I see. You do not trust me. Neither do the others.
CORTEZ
They know as well as I that something is not right in your cabesa. I do not need my eyes to see this.
ASHER
Yes, I have read your file. You speak of the time your brother Mendoza betrayed you and left you for dead.
CORTEZ
And you speak of things you know nothing of. Mention his name again, and you are a dead man.
ASHER
Mendoza… is a sore spot for you?
CORTEZ
Si. And you would do well to remember this.
AHSER
Yes… yes, I believe I will.[/scrippet]
The second scene happens after Player and Chet are found out by Westheimer and Asher, just before Player goes to see Dr. Soong. It was funny, but when we were trying to keep it under 10 minutes, became unnecessary, because it would make sense that Player would search for the doctor after Asher’s cryptic comments, anyway. The episode ended up being 10 minutes exactly, so this scene had to go.
Hope you enjoyed. By the way, our next post should be the release of Episode 9.
omg first 😀 i dreamt about this
P.S. i thought that this scene would be longer :/ but its only 19 secs all though its well done
Lol pratfall.I just wished i saw this sooner.but you guys are probably busy.
Yay 3rd!:D
That was pretty funny but you’re right, unnecessary. But i think you guys should release some of these “deleted scenes” for some lulz 😛
Scene w/ Cortez is cool. Scene w/ Chet is hilarious. “I think I’ll take a nap. When I wake up, we should do some- zzzzzzzzzzzzz.” F-in’ hilarious 🙂
[quote comment=”15225″]But i think you guys should release some of these “deleted scenes” for some lulz :P[/quote]
Heh, as I said, we don’t delete whole scenes very often, and even then when we do, it’s because they aren’t even funny. We’re fine with having unnecessary scenes, but if it’s unnecessary and un-funny, then it’s totally not worth showing.
So, just an FYI, there’s not some vault full of hilarious deleted scenes somewhere. We’d just post them if that were the case.
The above scene was just an exception, because we needed the episode to be about 20 seconds shorter.
I thought that the ten minute limit was removed if you had director status on youtube, i’ld have thought you had that seeing as you make and post original movies/videos.
I know for a fact that you can post longer than 10 mins as i’ve seen other studios do it.
I predict Episode 9 will be on Thursday.
Why not just post the edited version on YouTube and post the extended version on your site?
[quote comment=”15230″]Why not just post the edited version on YouTube and post the extended version on your site?[/quote]
Because then we have to mess with two edits for Jace’s music, and then he has to deal with the question of writing music for the extended scene or not. And then we’d have to output three different timelines for EACH TLW episode, instead of just one. Trust me, that sucks. We’d rather just do it in one version and keep it simple.
I liked Chet’s scene, but you’re right… wouldn’t have made much difference.
btw: I have seen youtube videos longer than 10 minutes, but its not really my area so there are probably some situational issues that I have no idea about.
[quote comment=”15228″]
I know for a fact that you can post longer than 10 mins as i’ve seen other studios do it.[/quote]
It’s nice that you’re trying to help, but surely we would have noticed that this isn’t true after 2 years and 50+ videos?
Only people that signed up as directors BEFORE the 10 minute time limit was implemented get to post 10 minute + videos, as well as YouTube partners. We are neither.
There’s no reason to continue posting about this. Just enjoy the extra content 🙂
i agree that the chet scene was unnecisary. it would have benn confusing of it had been left in. keep up the good work guys. Can’t wait till ep. 9 !!!
Eddy I love the fact that there is still good machinima makers. Well any type of good film makers really… Hell at least this isn’t Fred, god I hate that guy…
[quote comment=”15229″]I predict Episode 9 will be on Thursday.[/quote]
i think tuesday, the bets are placed. LET THE CHALLANGE BEGIN. also lul’d at chet and ahmad saying “ooooh burn” 😀
That was funny, but I can see why you removed it. When I first saw the picture before the episode came out, I thought Chet was drunk and depressed for whatever reason.
Awwersum! So the next post should be episode 9? Sweet!
Oh, SNAP!
I just remembered about the Making of TLW video you dudes were making. When should we expect that? 😀
Thanks for the post, I enjoyed reading the script as well. If you have any other deleted scenes that were never shot but still have the scripts, I’d be happy to read them (*hint hint* post more *hint hint*).
Can’t wait for Episode 9!
[quote comment=”15239″]When I first saw the picture before the episode came out, I thought Chet was drunk and depressed for whatever reason.[/quote]
Lol I thought he had fell out of the bed for some reason
[quote comment=”15244″]Lol I thought he had fell out of the bed for some reason[/quote]
My guess was comatosed after a heavy night.
Can’t wait for Ep9 guys, I LESS THAN THREE THE LEET WORLD. <3
Just so great. Im going to have a freaking orgasm.
[quote comment=”15231″][quote comment=”15230″]Why not just post the edited version on YouTube and post the extended version on your site?[/quote]
Because then we have to mess with two edits for Jace’s music, and then he has to deal with the question of writing music for the extended scene or not. And then we’d have to output three different timelines for EACH TLW episode, instead of just one. Trust me, that sucks. We’d rather just do it in one version and keep it simple.[/quote]
Well I understand your point about not posting multipart episodes on You Tube, but if you say click here to watch the next segment in the description and an annotation (and probably in the video as well for people who turn of the annotations), shouldn’t that work? I know you said that it is a pain in the ass to do, but it really isn’t.
[quote comment=”15253″]
Well I understand your point about not posting multipart episodes on You Tube, but if you say click here to watch the next segment in the description and an annotation (and probably in the video as well for people who turn of the annotations), shouldn’t that work? I know you said that it is a pain in the ass to do, but it really isn’t.[/quote]
Pfft, for you it’s easy, all you have to do is sit back and watch. For us, on the other hand, it’s kind of annoying. Also, we already do all the stuff you mentioned. Doesn’t help. 🙂
We’re not opposed to having episodes longer than 10 minutes. We’ve done it quite a few times (trust me, Nick complains every time it goes over). We just do our best to avoid it whenever we think we can.
There’s really no point in talking about YouTube. Our method is set and it would be dumb to change this close to the finish line.
Eddy how would you put TLW The Movie on Youtube? I have a hunch it’ll be longer than 10 minutes ;D. Will you break it off into multiple parts which will probably be a pain in the ass? I think it would be logical just making a video that says “HEY MOVIE OUT ON WEBSITE LINK IN DESCRIPTION” so you don’t have to waste your time. What do you plan to do about this? I’m curious 😀
just out of interest are oyu guys still using gmod much for any of your filming? or what im edgeing towards is, i think you should use it for epic effects in the finale/movie 😀
OK, first off, everyone seems fixated on things getting cut out of the show to fit episodes onto YouTube, when it’s rarely actually an issue in practice. There have only been three episodes TOTAL, including this one, that had content produced and then removed after the fact.
There are several good reasons for deleting a scene. Some are:
1) The scene is a dud, and kills the pacing of the episode.
2) The scene is funny, but kills the pacing of the episode.
3) The scene makes the episode slightly longer than 10 minutes, which is too long for basic YouTube but too short to make splitting it in half really worthwhile. This is the case with 8.
Splitting episodes for YouTube oftentimes kills the pacing because it wasn’t planned for in the writing stage. It’s also definitely a pain in the ass because there are folks on YouTube who watch the second half first, or complain about the half-episode being too short, etc.
Splitting is to be avoided unless the length of the episode (or movie) is necessary to tell the whole story. When the movie premieres, it’ll be split on YouTube, but that won’t be the ideal way to watch it AT ALL, and in fact it will only be posted there because YouTube is a necessary evil.
Part of our reasoning is that we want to control your experience watching the episode as much as possible. To that end, it’s important that YouTube viewers get the same viewing experience as our website visitors whenever possible.
It’s also my firm belief that 10 minute episodes have just been good for the overall pacing and quality of the show.
Anyways, that was a bit of a rant. As you were.
[quote comment=”15258″]just out of interest are oyu guys still using gmod much for any of your filming? or what im edgeing towards is, i think you should use it for epic effects in the finale/movie :D[/quote]
We don’t use GMod too much anymore if we can help it. It has a different look than Counter-Strike, and we usually have lots of issues in it. However, we do use it for our faceposed scenes.
Don’t worry, the movie should have some cool effects and such. And the finale will be pretty effects heavy as well. 🙂
Yeah youtube screwed me over on my account as well… As in, the robots suspended my account due to some 3-strikes rule with video infringement. Anyway, i went ahead and re-made my account so no big. The sad thing is, the summer vacation was lost. meaning, i cannot locate it anywhere, i did still have the newer tribute i made… but it still sucks since it was getting kinda popular. Anyway what you guys where thinking of, was the Youtube Partners, where if your eligible, you can get Partner Ship, this allows you to post longer videos, but you need a insanely high amount of video views in order to do so…
[quote comment=”15254″][quote comment=”15253″]
Well I understand your point about not posting multipart episodes on You Tube, but if you say click here to watch the next segment in the description and an annotation (and probably in the video as well for people who turn of the annotations), shouldn’t that work? I know you said that it is a pain in the ass to do, but it really isn’t.[/quote]
Pfft, for you it’s easy, all you have to do is sit back and watch. For us, on the other hand, it’s kind of annoying. Also, we already do all the stuff you mentioned. Doesn’t help. 🙂
We’re not opposed to having episodes longer than 10 minutes. We’ve done it quite a few times (trust me, Nick complains every time it goes over). We just do our best to avoid it whenever we think we can.
There’s really no point in talking about YouTube. Our method is set and it would be dumb to change this close to the finish line.[/quote]
I’ve had to do this before to, and I know you do this with some episodes. I just wish you guys didn’t feel limited by the 10 minutes. But whatever, its your video.
You guys are not looking at the lulz and instead looking at the gooey slime covering the lulz. The scene you didn’t film would have been hilarious just for the instance of Ahmad using his newfound catchphrase.
“Awwwwwww! SNAP!”
Guys can you drop the youtube thing…getting annoying everytime I check comments.
Also can’t wait for EP. 9….predict tommorow (Thursday)
OMG I jusy watched ep 1.14 part 1….and I realized that when player and Ellis were in the deathroom trying to find exit, there was the whale noise just like in 2.7 when Player was alone in deathroom. Wow what could this mean??
sorry part 3…
Come on every time I predict it comes true release Episode 9 today!!
This is AWESOME but when is episode 9 out?
Keep up the effort! You guys are the best!!!