playback notes | reflections from a fractured timeline
What happens when a movie haunts you, not because it was great, but because you wanted it to be? The Flash always had the bones of something powerful. Buried under quips, tonal whiplash, and unfinished ideas was a story about grief, regret, and learning when to let go. I saw that, and I couldn’t let it go either.
This edit is the result of nearly two years of reworking, testing, failing, restarting, and pushing further. This is about finally letting this story say what it’s been trying to say all along.
I cut the comedy because it made the trauma feel like a punchline. I reshaped the narrative so that Barry’s arc wasn’t just about saving his mom but about accepting loss without erasing who we become through it.
The bond between both versions of Barry had to evolve. Early drafts of this film leaned on B2’s humor to deflect from meaning. I wanted to pull the focus inward. B2 isn’t just comic relief; he’s the last echo of a life untouched by loss. Their connection became the heart of this, with B1 ultimately seeing what happens when we can’t let go of what hurt us.
I ended up cutting the roommates scene entirely. It always felt like the movie was trying to break tension right when we were starting to lean into something grounded. I didn’t want Barry’s mission to be undercut by quirky roommates and sitcom energy.
Dark Flash was reimagined entirely. Instead of a vague boogeyman, he became a tragic mirror, the cost of obsession, the ultimate version of Barry who couldn’t accept fate. With voiceovers, dialogue reconstruction, and added motifs, we made him the consequence of Barry’s denial, not just a final boss.
I edited this movie because I believed in its core message, and Crossroads is the version where that belief finally pays off.
buried under noise | technical breakdown on the making of a closed loop
This edit was a monster under the hood. Not because it was flashy, pun intended, but because the kind of emotional clarity we were chasing required a level of technical control that’s hard to get when you're working with pre-existing footage. It’s one thing to shift tone with music or pacing. It’s another thing entirely to rebuild a scene’s purpose using scraps, dubs, and digital illusion.
One of the biggest decisions early on was stripping out as much original dialogue as possible, especially in moments where the script leaned too hard into comedy or undercut the stakes. Barry is still Barry, but he doesn’t need to be the class clown in every scene. Emotional weight lands better in quiet conviction than in sarcasm.
ADR and voice work were massive here. AI tech helped a lot. Being able to reshape or redeliver lines in a way that fit the new tone opened doors, especially when it came to building out the Dark Flash mythology. We needed a voice that felt ancient, cracked by time and obsession. Thriller2Rayne had the brilliant idea to draw from Savitar, so we morphed Tobin Bell’s voice to echo that presence. There’s a ghostliness to it now.
Working with others on this was its own adventure. Thriller2Rayne helped rework the core mythology, especially the closed loop idea of B2 becoming the very reason Barry goes back. It was clean, painful, and necessary.
Echo27 rebuilt the entire bullet sequence from scratch using custom assets. Nomadr, who I found through a YouTube rabbit hole, handled the big VFX shot of Flash’s new run. He stripped the original completely, gave me a blank canvas, and returned something that felt like a rebirth. Worth every frame.
Music was a scalpel in this edit. Every cue had to cut clean, precise, and deep. Early in the film, “Midnight City” by M83 scored Barry’s first run. It wasn’t just an energetic opener; it was tonal groundwork.
For the battle against the Kryptonians, “Run Boy Run” by Woodkid was an obvious but effective choice. The lyrics and tempo matched both Barrys’ determination and urgency, and it turned what could’ve been a generic fight scene into something with character. It became a declaration, their need to move, to act.
The emotional core, though, was scored with two tracks from the *Slingshot* movie, “I’m Leaving” and “Wake Up.” These two cues bookended the heart of Barry’s relationship with his mom. “Wake Up,” the slower and more intimate of the two, scored the tender scenes with Nora. “I’m Leaving,” the more upbeat twin, underscored the moments of realization and farewell. Both worked in tandem to give the mother-son dynamic its own emotional language. Parts of the tracks were also used to score the court scene with Henry, making these two tracks the foundation of these three characters.
Taking out the roommates scene meant I had to invent a new path for our Barrys to get from the street to Wayne Manor. Originally, the ADR in that section was all about getting the Justice League together, but with the new direction, that didn’t fit. I rewrote the ADR so B1 tells B2 about his Bruce Wayne instead, and how he might be able to help. To bridge the gap visually, I used AI-generated B-roll of the city to cover the new dialogue. The scene now ends cleanly with “We need to go to Wayne Manor,” and we cut right to them arriving. It flows like it was always written that way, but it took stitching together new lines, ambient shots, and careful timing to get there.
A lot of dialogue got cut, not because it was bad but because it told instead of showed. Barry’s growth in Crossroads had to be felt, not announced. He’s not a narrator; he’s a man trying to undo the undoable. That means holding longer on his eyes, removing exposition, and letting silence breathe. It also makes the audience lean in instead of lean back.
This cut was a massive undertaking. And like most things worth doing, it took a village, a lot of late nights, and a timeline held together with duct tape.
soundtrack | vibrations across the timeline
Wake Up | Slingshot OST
Used in the opening monologue and court scene epilogue.
Midnight City | M83
Replaces the original opening Flash run to Gotham City.
Don't Fear the Reaper (Extended Mix) | Blue Oyster Cult
Rescores the baby scene.
Songs to the Siren (Piano Cover) | Various Artists
Played during Barry and Iris’s first meeting outside work.
Here in Spirit | Jim James
Used as Barry walks away from Iris after their conversation.
Arrival | Tron Legacy OST
Added to Bruce and Barry’s ally talk about time travel.
Electric Love (Instrumental) | BØRNS
Accompanies Barry and Iris’s apartment scene before Barry runs into the Speed Force.
Roosevelt Station" alt ver. 1 and 2 | The Amazing Spider-Man OST
Scores Barry explaining his dilemma with Iris, blending two versions.
Ceilings of Majesty | Avalon Zero
Used for Barry’s run into Speed Force.
Day Zero | Avalon Zero
Plays during the “Don’t forget the tomatoes” and “Please work” sequences.
Time to Pretend | MGMT
Used during B2 gaining his powers.
The Call | Everest OST
Replaces original score in the Zod arrival/Metropolis attack sequence.
Sabotage | Beastie Boys
Scored over the Wayne Manor kitchen “fight scene.”
Ocean | The Expanse OST
Rescores Bruce and Barry's moment in the cave.
Faster Than Bullets | Flashpoint Paradox OST
Used for the restored deleted bullet scene.
Paranoid | Black Sabbath
Added to Batman vs. Russian mercenaries fight.
Flight | Man of Steel OST
Scores the Supergirl fight with Russians.
End of the World | Ivan Shpilevsky
Played as Supergirl helps B1 regain his powers.
JL Animated Theme | DC Animated Universe
Plays as B2 suits up alongside Supergirl B1 & Batman.
Run Boy Run | Woodkid
Featured in the Flash/Supergirl/Batman vs. Kryptonians final battle.
At the Speed of Force | Zack Snyder's Justice League OST
Rescores the emotional B1/DF/B2 confrontation.
I'm Leaving | Slingshot OST
Used for Barry and Nora’s goodbye scene.
Wake Up | Slingshot OST
Second part of this track scores the court scene. tying the intro & outro.
Time (Epic Remix) | Pink Floyd
Redone credits scored with a remix of a classic.