Observations on Deleted Scenes
What are they and what do they do other than help resell a movie?
In this article, I will share my thoughts on a subject that is rarely considered in film studies - deleted scenes. Usually, deleted scenes are thought of almost exclusively in the commercial sense. This is understandable, given that they typically bolster the resale value of a given title in the home video market.*
But I am curious, as to how they can impact a film text beyond merely adding financial value to it. Among other things, I want to consider: “What do deleted scenes tell us about a film and its internal history? How do they affect the viewer? What is their relation to alternate versions of a picture?”
*Audiences are more likely to purchase subsequent video reissues of a film (eg. new digital remasters) if they contain new deleted footage - that is, footage that had never previously been made available. Some distributors, such as Disney, take advantage of this by holding back deleted scenes from initial video releases with the intention of including them in a future reissue, such as a box set.