Final Fantasy VII - The Show

[Ite]

So, one of my hobby horses for the past four years has been hacking Final Fantasy VII Remake, filming it, and editing it into a show, of sorts. My goal is to showcase the beauty of the game while following the sights and sounds of the original story beats. This all stemmed from a music video I made (see below) celebrating the gorgeous combat and music of the game. What erupted was beyond imagination lol. It's definitely the biggest undertaking I've made as a solo worker, so I hope you enjoy.

• Why is there no dialogue?

A few reasons. I think that people should purchase FF7 Remake and enjoy the voice performances that were created for it. Recutting and re-arranging an actor's performance goes against my sensibilities as an actor myself. As it is, there are subtitle options in multiple languages, and if a dedicated team wants to cast and record voice actors for the show's script, that would be awesome! I would definitely watch that!

As it is now, the show is more of a phantasmagoria-machinima, designed to be a companion piece to the original Final Fantasy VII, rather than a replacement. The OG needs no such adaptation to begin with. This is just a bit of fun.

Spoiler: Episode List

Episode 001: Opening
Episode 002: The Mercenary
Episode 003: Barret's Mission

All episodes playlist

All B-roll playlist

Extended playlist (all episodes and B-roll)

Spoiler: Music Videos, Edits, & More

This all began with me filming my live-play footage from the FF7R Demo on PS4, in March of 2020 - during the first week of lockdown, in fact. That's where I fell in love with the visuals of the game.

(This thread is the master index file, and will be updated when new episodes are released)

 

[Theozilla]

If it's still feasible, I would recommend using the Shinra Archaeology Cut's re-translation/localization of the OG script for better accuracy/quality of dialogue.

 

[Ite]

If it's still feasible, I would recommend using the Shinra Archaeology Cut's re-translation/localization of the OG script for better accuracy/quality of dialogue.

I’m indeed considering that retranslation with each line of the script. I’ve got a spreadsheet comparing all versions — sometimes SAC is better, sometimes worse.

Hacking up the scenes to try and follow the original lines and line order isn’t always possible — I’ll use the opening line as an example:

• “Ikuzo shin’iri! Ore ni tsudzuke!” (JP)
• “C’mon newcomer, follow me!” (NA/PC/Beacause)
• “C’mon new guy! Follow me!” (Tim Rogers)
• “Let’s go, recruit!” (2015 PAX)
• “Come on, new blood! Don’t fall behind!” (SAC)
• “Get down here merc! You’re up!” (Echo-S)

(Note: SAC adds a new dialogue box before this where one of the train station attendants asks “Who goes there?” — SAC does this a lot)

In the OG, Barret’s line is delivered after Cloud arrives on the platform, and then Barret fully leaves the screen before the two MPs appear. In Remake, he barks an order to prompt Cloud to arrive:

- “Get down here, merc!” (FF7R)

And then when the MPs appear, Barret is still on screen and says:

- “You’re up.” (FF7R)

In this instance, I’ve fully used the FF7R script, even though I shot the scene several times from several angles to try and recreate the original, even having the entire thing be a single shot from the OG’s perspective:



But in the end I made the choice to go with Remake’s approach, sacrificing “OG-ness” for something that looks and sounds and feels better.

Even with a single line of dialogue, I spent basically a full work day pulling my hair out trying to find the best way to “fix” it, only to end up doing nothing at all lmao.

So, I’ve aaccepted that this adaptation will use a hybrid script. The Wall Market sequence is probably going to be the first huge departure from Remake’s scenes in favor of the OG and you’ll see how sub-par it is compared to Remake’s quality, because the dialogue scenes with the dressmaker’s daughter are entirely done with movie magic. I’m dreading editing that scene.

The scene I’m editing now is the scene at the gate. I’ve covered the scene from many angles but already there’s a hiccup: Biggs is never facing or talking to Cloud, which makes using any variation of the OG’s script useless, at this moment. I’m playing around (finally) with model swaps, gonna try and swap Biggs and Wedge in the scene — if not, I’ll have to take a more hybrid approach to the scene’s dialogue. We’ll see how it all shakes out.

Addendum: Since there’s no spoken dialogue baked into the videos, anyone can input voice acting or subtitles that match the script/language of their preference — I wonder if someone might put in the Echo-S mod files! That might be neat.

 

[Theozilla]

I’m indeed considering that retranslation with each line of the script. I’ve got a spreadsheet comparing all versions — sometimes SAC is better, sometimes worse.

So just to be clear, when you say SAC is sometimes worse, you mean more in the sense of it not being able to properly fit the literal difference in the pacing/construction of the scenes in the Remake (like the examples you described)? Not worse in the sense of the actual quality of the translation/localization of the OG Japanese script, correct?

 

[Ite]

So just to be clear, when you say SAC is sometimes worse, you mean more in the sense of it not being able to properly fit the literal difference in the pacing/construction of the scenes in the Remake (like the examples you described)? Not worse in the sense of the actual quality of the translation/localization of the OG Japanese script, correct?

Well taste is subjective — I know lots of folks who find Beacause an consistent improvement over the original, but I mostly don’t. Likewise, I think the War of the Lions faux-Elizabethan script is often better, but sometimes worse, than the modern/colloquial English of the PS1 version of FFT.

As for SAC’s quality, I do in fact mean worse — as in, not to my taste. “New blood” for example, is loaded with connotations beyond what shin’iri intends to communicate. For my money, I actually think the official “merc” does the best job. Remake overall does a great job of making the dialogue more natural and convincing (except when the plot is flying off the rails, of course).

That said, the SAC does a brilliant job of cleaning up some of the dialogue lines. But I would caution against considering it an improvement across the board. The only true script is the original Japanese.

“Translation means doing violence upon the original, means warping and distorting it for foreign, unintended eyes… How can we conclude, except by acknowledging that an act of translation is then necessarily always an act of betrayal?” - R. F. Kuang

It’s another reason why a project like this is so daunting. I don’t want to “put my own spin” on it any more than I have to (I already indulged in that with my novelization) but I have to accept that a 1-for-1 PS1 NA script is madness. But in that case, there will be those who’ll consider it heresy. Eh, it’s fandom. That’s inevitable. I’m gonna focus on what I’m doing — you’ll see that it’s mostly focused on slow motion fight scenes. I leave the door open if people want to take what I’ve made and remix it, and not paralyze myself with doubt.

 

[Theozilla]

Well taste is subjective — I know lots of folks who find Beacause an consistent improvement over the original, but I mostly don’t. Likewise, I think the War of the Lions faux-Elizabethan script is often better, but sometimes worse, than the modern/colloquial English of the PS1 version of FFT.

I mean I feel like regardless of taste, there's a common consensus that the OG translation has more flat-out inaccuracies/mistakes compared to newer translations.

As for SAC’s quality, I do in fact mean worse — as in, not to my taste. “New blood” for example, is loaded with connotations beyond what shin’iri intends to communicate. For my money, I actually think the official “merc” does the best job. Remake overall does a great job of making the dialogue more natural and convincing (except when the plot is flying off the rails, of course).

Well it's one thing to have different tastes in terms of creative of choices for translation, but if I am understanding you correctly, you don't mean SAC is sometimes "worse" in the sense that the SAC crew are making more "objective" mistakes/inaccuracies than the OG translation?

“Translation means doing violence upon the original, means warping and distorting it for foreign, unintended eyes… How can we conclude, except by acknowledging that an act of translation is then necessarily always an act of betrayal?” - R. F. Kuang

That's quite a take on translation. Though I don't think I can ultimately agree with Kuang's conclusion that translation is always an act of betrayal (even as a metaphor). While translation certainly has limitations and is subject to personal interpretations, that's true to some extent even in communication within the same language. I guess my go to reference for commentary on the art of translation would be Eliot Weinberger's Nineteen Ways of Looking at Wang Wei .

 

[Ite]

Great points! You’ll probably find that this series is largely unconcerned with our discussion, mostly being almost a 1910s style music+silent film version of FF7. If you turn CC off. It’s literally like watching a Chaplin film made by the Wachowksis… you’ll see what I mean soon.