(Not sure if this is a CS question or one for IMHO)
I would like to get a better grasp of the ways that editing, lighting, cinematography etc. can affect the look and general feel of a movie scene. What would be really nice would be to see the same scene composed or lit in different ways or edited differently or whatever, to be able to compare different versions of the scene.
Are there any websites that offer such a thing? Or perhaps DVDs?
I’ve seen things done with set lighting used to create a mood. I’d suggest you see the Doctor Who episode “Amy’s Choice” when it is broadcast in the US.
Note the difference in lighting the Tardis control room in the beginning and at the end.
It’s a terrible movie, but Paul Blart: Mall Cop shows some good techniques here. When Paul switches into action hero mode in the climax, the lighting and camera angles change in subtle ways to give it that action movie feel, and make him look more heroic. Worth checking out for that sequence.
The White House set from An American President was used again by Sorkin in The West Wing. While the movie had bright colors and lighting, the TV show always had muted colors, dark sepias and heavy shadows.
There’s a fantastic documentary called Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography that’s worth hunting down.
The Extended version of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring has some great extras that go into lighting, editing and cinematography.
I believe the movie Cube (in which people are trapped in a multitude of interlocking booby-trapped square rooms) there was only one set used for the entire film. Even though the characters moved to different rooms it was the same set just lit differently.
The movie Groundhog Day is one of the best examples of this. Because the main character keeps living the same day over and over, many of the same scenes were shot over and over. So the same scene will have a different look to reflect Phil’s emotional state, or just to distinguish it from the same scene just before. It’s subtle, because the film is a comedy (which usually means bright lighting), but it is brilliant film-making. The cinematographer used different length lenses to add or subtract depth to a scene. Its a good one to watch carefully.
I don’t know if this is what you are looking for, but Gus Van Sant in 1998 did an almost 100% shot-for-shot remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. I haven’t seen the Gus Van Sant version but the reviewers were not kind, mostly seeming to think that the remake was pointless.
Vantage Point is another movie that shows the same incident seen from different points of view.
Were the contradicting events shot in different ways in Rashomon? I don’t remember.
The Exorcist prequels might be an example of this. I haven’t seen either one, but I think they have the same story. The studio hated the first one so they got a different director to make it again.
I hesitate to recommend movies I haven’t seen, but it seems to me you might be interested in Dracula (1931), which was filmed in English- and Spanish-language versions. They were made with different casts and crews but used the same sets. I haven’t seen the Spanish version, but some film buffs say it’s much more atmospheric than the English one.
You might also check out the wide-screen and standard versions of “The Bat Whispers.” In this case both versions have the same cast but different cinematographers.
Not sure if this is the type of thing your looking for but:
Here is Mary Poppins, using the original scenes, just edited differently and with different music on top of it. What started out as a fun/whimsical music is now a horror movie (I love the scene with the kids running off into the distance)
Mrs Doubtfire as a thriller.
Taxi Driver as a romantic comedy
The Shinning as a summer feel good movie.
And there’s plenty more if you look at the related videos.
I don’t know if this is what you’re looking for, but I think the Voyager episode “Flashback” was a reshoot of Star Trek 6.
Star Trek does this all the time. In Wrath of Khan, the bridge of the Enterprise the bridge of the Reliant are the same set, just lit differently.