Zulu Dawn: The FanEdit

Some response to Zulu Dawn: The FanEdit.

"One word FANTASTIC"

25/04/2011

"May I just congratulate you on Zulu Dawn: The FanEdit. Your choice of music was splendid and I especially loved your new handling of the invasion scene. John Barry's tracks gave it a fantastic new edge."

"I liked your successful attempt to get rid of the carbines and lame original sounds effects. The battle of Isandlwana itself now has more sense of the rush one would expect from one of the most violent engagements of the colonial era. Gone are the hundreds of wandering, stumbling extras and present is the punch and shock of such a crushing Zulu victory.

I could say a lot more but all I can do is suggest that everyone watch and enjoy this incredible effort."

11/02/2011

"What a fantastic piece of work. Your editing and soundtrack has transformed the film."

11/02/2011

"I can only marvel at what you have achieved."

15/02/2011

"Brilliantly done!"

15/02/2011

"The improved music and sound effects make the film much better and the final battle has much more impact without the cutaways to Chelmsford's camp. This reworking of poor material has produced a far more enjoyable experience."

20/02/2011

Note: Due to some moments in Zulu Dawn: The FanEdit that have been less than successful, such as the three instances where it has been impossible to remove the original Elmer Bernstein score, Zulu Dawn: The FanEdit should be regarded as a "work-print" and only viewable as an example of what could be achieved with better source material.

ZULU DAWN: The FanEdit Soundtrack

In memory of the late and great John Barry, here is Zulu Dawn: The FanEdit Soundtrack album.

The original ZULU soundtrack album from 1964 by John Barry comprised of the movie orchestral soundtrack on Side A and versions of popular Zulu songs, unrelated to the movie, on Side B.

Here with the Zulu Dawn: The FanEdit Soundtrack the same approach has been taken. Side A contains the newly mixed and arranged Zulu Dawn: The FanEdit score by John Barry and on Side B is a selection of Zulu popular music.

MP3 | 320kbps | Art & Covers | 118 MB

Note: The names in brackets are those of the film scores and albums composed by John Barry that have been rearranged and mixed especially for Zulu Dawn: The FanEdit Soundtrack.

Side A

01 Zulu Dawn: The FanEdit Opening Title (King Kong)

02 Invasion Of Zululand (King Kong)

03 First Blood (Mercury Rising)

04 March Onto Isandlwana (The Beyondness of Things)

05 Unwabu (Mr Fannin Rides To Vereker) - Traditional Zulu

06 A Worried Colonel Pulleine (Hanover Street)

07 Zulus Escape From British Camp (A Killing Affair)

08 Durnford Leaves To Sweep iNyoni Hills (Hanover Street)

09 Solar Eclipse/Colonel Pulleine Dies (Out Of Africa)

10 Durnford Dies/Cross The River (Mercury Rising)

11 Lord Chelmsford's Shame (Zulu)

12 Zulu Dawn The FanEdit End Titles (Zulu Dawn)

Side B

13 Zulu Marriage Ceremony Dance (Rock Savage Mix)

14 Malibongwe - Holy Chross Choir

15 Ha Po Zamani - Miriam Makeba

16 The Click - Ipi "N Tombi

17 Sum' Bulala (Full Version) - Brenda Fassie

18 Casanova Jump - Basement Boys

19 Umendo - Stompie Mavi

20 Uma Ilanga Liyo Shona - Soweto Gospel Choir

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Download Zulu Dawn: The FanEdit Posters & Art

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Zulu Dawn: The FanEdit

There are only two movies that cater to the Zulu War buff, Stanley Baker's 1964 movie ZULU and the prequel, Zulu Dawn made in 1979.

ZULU (1964) is an undisputed classic of the war movie genre. It is a movie with a difference because the Zulus are portrayed as brave and disciplined, more than a match for their British enemy. The famous musical score by John Barry confirms this respect for the Zulu by having the heroic theme play equally over opposing forces.

Zulu Dawn (1979) is a sprawling affair with considerably less focus on character. The Zulus have regressed to a more primitive and savage enemy. Their culture is hardly explored and the score by Elmer Bernstein establishes the Hollywood cliché generally reserved for the Red Indian.

Zulu Dawn could almost be labeled as Victorian propaganda. The featured British soldiers and officers all meet their fate with stoic heroism. An example of this fantasy is the sequence concerning the saving of the Queen's colours in the midst of spectacular chaos.

So Zulu Dawn has it faults and while it may satisfy some, it disappoints in a fruitless attempt to capture the glory of its predecessor.

So why a FanEdit of Zulu Dawn?

Certain moments in the film always irritate, from O'Toole inability to ride a horse to the use of Martini-Henry carbines by soldiers of the line. The progress of the battle is also incorrect. A missed opportunity was the omission of the most dramatic moment of the battle, the solar eclipse, where men found themselves fighting each other in chilling darkness.

These and many other reasons prompted a desire to create a FanEdit of Zulu Dawn.

Here is a preview trailer for Zulu Dawn: The FanEdit

The poster above is a mash-up of the French 1964 Zoulou poster

Intentions/Changes

1. The 24th Regiment of Foot was armed with the powerful and deadly Martini-Henry rifle. In Zulu Dawn there seems to have been a problem finding practical rifles, so the British infantry are seen to use the carbine version, which is obviously shorter. Also badly made rifle mock-ups are often seen either broken or badly painted. This FanEdit attempts to limiting these obvious errors.

2. The progress of the battle itself is incorrect with the Zulus stopping their advance for no particular reason to stand in open country to bang their shields and be shot at. The momentum of the Zulu attack was only held at bay for a short time due to the hellish hail of bullets from the center British ranks. The Zulus took cover but continued their frontal assault as firing began to weaken. With a FanEdit it is hoped this can be corrected.

3. Remove the reference to the invasion of Zululand being "the final solution to the Zulu problem!" This a direct reference to the Wannsee Conference where Reinhard Heydrich put into action the "Final solution to the Jewish question" and bears no relation to the fate of the Zulu people.

4. Lose some references to foreknowledge. Often in war films characters seem to have foreknowledge of unseen events. This happens a few times in Zulu Dawn as is the case with the representative of the press (Ronald Lacey) who seems to know a lot more than he should.

5. Increase the intensity of the battle. Increase the impression that the Zulu army is huge as they often they appear underwhelming in the original.

6. Add a Solar eclipse towards the end of the battle.

7. Stay at Isandlwana once the battle begins without repeated trips to monitor Chelmsford's uneventful progress.

8. This leads to the portrayal of Lord Chelmsford by Peter O'Toole. The screenplay and O'Toole's performance make Chelmsford into an out and out villain. It is true that Chelmsford invaded Zululand without authorization from the British Government so for dramatic purposes his villainy is easy to construct but I would like to remove some of his more obvious villainous traits. This can be done by removing the odd line and most of his scenes after he leaves the camp at Isandlwana.

9. Elmer Bernstein is a great composer and conductor but his score for Zulu Dawn is frenetic and regressive. I would like to remove as much of it as possible. This means a lot of audio replacement as the DVD audio track is split mono, meaning the dialogue and music are heavily mixed together.

10. Adding some music by John Barry. NOT the famous theme from his Zulu score because it is so emblematic of the 1964 film but instead use music from his lesser known film scores and studio recordings such as The Beyondness of Things (1999), which is not a film score.

11. Sound Design: Whole sections need new sound design. Also some recordings of an authentic Martini-Henry Rifle firing in different locations have been made. The generic Hollywood western rifle sounds will be replaced with enhanced Martini-Henry rifle audio.

12. I would also like to experiment with re-colouring the film with the intention making the over-all colour of the movie less orange.

13. Although a Zulu dance was filmed for Zulu Dawn, it gets very short thrift during the opening credits before there is a cut to the slaughter of a cow. This has always been a major disappointment, so an important intention of this FanEdit is to create a new opening sequence that shows a Zulu marriage ceremony dance.

Rough Cut Complete

A rough cut of Zulu Dawn: The FanEdit is complete. I stress rough cut. Below is a list of the most significant changes. The battle itself has so many alterations that they are impossible to list.

The original runtime is 117 minutes. The FanEdit runtime is 100 minutes.

ZULU DAWN: The FanEdit - Cut & Addition List

Cut: Opening credit sequence

New: Opening credits and title

Cut: Score by Elmer Bernstein

New: Score by John Barry

New: Title Card

New: Zulu Dance

Cut: Line by Bartle Frere (Mills) "You'll see from the letter....this is our decision alone"

New: Brought forward scene of NNC messenger telling King Cetshwayo (Sabela) of the British ultimatum

Cut: Some shots from British army on parade

Cut: Dunford (Lancaster) to Lt. William Vereker (Ward) "Show him how an officer is expected to behave"

Cut: Durnford and the cricket ball

Cut: Lt. William Vereker meeting Fanny Colenso (Calder-Marshall)

Cut: Chelmsford (O'Toole), Bartle Frere and Crealock (Jayston) talking about Durnford

Cut: Fanny Colenso's line "Why can't men think of nothing but war"

Cut: Bartle Frere's final solution line

Cut: Durnford's line "does he wish me to fight the Zulus or observe their natural habitat"

Cut: Durnford's line "God go with you Mr Vereker"

New: Re-arranged scenes at British camp at night before invasion

New: Zulu Dawn sequence

New: Re-arranged British army crossing Buffalo river into Zululand

Cut: Scene between Q.S.M. Bloomfield (Vaughan) and Lt. Harford (Pickup) over dead NNC

New: Added Zulus watching the invasion

Cut: "Why do you come to the Land of The Zulu?"

Cut: Scene with Norris Newman (Lacey) after first blood is drawn "This one is a grandfather at least..."

New: SPX Matte of camp at Isandlwana, Dusk

New: Norris Newman (Lacey) questioning Col Crealock (Jayston) about "willingly splitting his force" has been moved to the morning before Chelmsford leaves camp at Isandlwana

New: Tightened the Zulus escape from British camp

Cut: Chelmsford about to have lunch and all following scenes with him once battle begins at Isandlwana

New: Various SPX shots to increase size of Zulu army

Cut: Shots that show the Zulu Impi as underwhelming

Cut: Colonel Pulleine (Elliott) asking for guns to cover "Durnford for a fallback"

Cut: Lt. William Vereker asking the artillery to cover Durnford

New: Lt. William Vereker rides to Durnford’s position and is witness to the confusion

Cut: Colonel Pulleine asking Melvill to save the colours

Cut: Durnford asking a NNC to ride to Natal "when you see the Bishop tell him...tell his daughter, I was obliged to remain here with my infantry"

New: Added shots of Martini Henry rifles to reduce obvious use of the carbines by the 24th Foot

New: Solar Eclipse during closing stages of the battle

Cut: Lt. William Vereker shooting at the Queen’s Colours

New: Matte of Isandlwana after the battle, Night

Cut: Out-of-context quotation from Disraeli. The quote refers to the death of the Prince Imperial

New: Narrartion

New: End title card

New: Added credits

Newly Created SPX Shots

Newly created Matte of Isandlwana mountain with moving elements

The Zulu Impi has been increased

A flaming and smoking rocket trail has been added

The rocket explodes prematurely

Colonel Pulleine's (Denholm Elliott) POV of the Zulus attacking Durnford on the right flank. The Zulus have been increased

Durnford retreats in the face of the oncoming Zulu hoards. The Zulus now fill the width of the frame

Zulus charge at Durnford. Their numbers have been increased

Lt. William Vereker is witness to the confusion of Durnford's troop. Re-use of a shot but altered with figures removed and mountain landscape placed in the background

Another Colonel Pulleine POV of the Zulus attacking Durnford on the right flank. The Zulus have been increased

The Solar Eclipse towards the end of the battle.

New Matte of Isandlwana mountain after the battle. Moving elements include flares and fires.