doubleofive
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Chief Architect of Cynical MoralityI am working on upgrading/expanding/completing the Special Edition visual changes for eventual use on savestarwars.com, but figured I'd share it outside of that thread for those interested. I used WookieGroomer's Splitscreen 1080p wmv to take the frame-by-frame shots, and msycamore provided the 1997 screencaps.
http://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/102542760950977079734/albums/5514974191245813441
I'm still tweaking it, especially the text. Please submit suggestions for possible text and let me know if I missed anything.
The most interesting thing we've noticed is that each wipe from 2004 starts early enough to cover up the original optical wipe and the fades from black start a lot later, almost as if they were trying to cover up the original wipes instead of recreating them. This goes against all previously known facts about the wipes.
EMPIRE STRIKES BACK:
http://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/102542760950977079734/albums/5525747538664147553
RETURN OF THE JEDI:
http://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/102542760950977079734/albums/5528361230751063825
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doubleofive
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Chief Architect of Cynical MoralityThis wipe is the most obvious that starts earlier than the original:

However, of all the wipes, this one is the only one that actually starts later than the original:

Very strange.
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Fantomas
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Why did they not erase the reflexion of the wall on the floor ?
You see ? We can see the relexion of the vertical columns of the wall which is no longer present in the SE !
Harmy
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Han D. SoloGood eye, I've never noticed that :-)
Pennsylvania Jones said:
"Stick and Stones will break my bones but the Blu-Rays will never Harmy."
Lucas: I am altering the film. Pray I don't alter it any further.
Fans: This film is getting worse all the time!
doubleofive
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Chief Architect of Cynical MoralityExcellent find! I'll add that to the caption!
EDIT: It's also in Revisited. :-(
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doubleofive
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Chief Architect of Cynical MoralitySo this change:
1997 or 2004? I just noticed I don't have it labelled.
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adywan
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"Untallented and clueless to the core"that's a 2004 change. That sky is there in the '97 version
msycamore
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You also have a CGI desert in that shot, it looks horrible.
We want you to be aware that we have no plans—now or in the future—to restore the earlier versions.
Sincerely, Lynne Hale publicity@lucasfilm.com
doubleofive
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Chief Architect of Cynical MoralityReally? Is that why it looks so weird?msycamore said:
You also have a CGI desert in that shot, it looks horrible.
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msycamore
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Yes, you can even see some computer generated sand blowing in the wind from the left of the frame.
We want you to be aware that we have no plans—now or in the future—to restore the earlier versions.
Sincerely, Lynne Hale publicity@lucasfilm.com
captainsolo
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Tauntaun herder-Damn Fool Idealistic CrusaderGod, what did they not change in 04?
VADER!? WHERE THE HELL IS MY MOCHA LATTE? -Palpy on a very bad day.
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Harmy
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Han D. Solo
Well, what with the colour creative fuck-ups erm... decisions, there isn't a single unmolested shot in the 04 version.
Pennsylvania Jones said:
"Stick and Stones will break my bones but the Blu-Rays will never Harmy."
Lucas: I am altering the film. Pray I don't alter it any further.
Fans: This film is getting worse all the time!
msycamore
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I think you can change the description to this comparison.

The original opening crawl had the text on 21 lines, so to still keep it as 21 lines when adding two new lines (Episode IV, A NEW HOPE) they simply changed the spacing of the words in the first two paragraphs of the text. That's my theory, but they still didn't get the timing exactly right as the music is now slightly out of sync with the reveal of Tatooine.
Secondly, the capitalization of "Rebel" was not done to match the first (the first Rebel starts a sentence, that's why it has a capital "R") I think it was done to match how it now was written in Empire, I also think they capitalized rebel when they revised the script to ANH in '79.
We want you to be aware that we have no plans—now or in the future—to restore the earlier versions.
Sincerely, Lynne Hale publicity@lucasfilm.com
msycamore
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You have done a good job on this, doubleofive. Several changes I didn't know existed, the alternate takes for example, very interesting.

I checked the '97 version for you, and I can confirm that this Alderaan shot is a 2004 alteration.

...and maybe you could use this pic for a better demonstration of this comparison and definitely change the description of it.

I like how they managed to erase a big part of the speeder in the process of "improving" this shot. ;)
We want you to be aware that we have no plans—now or in the future—to restore the earlier versions.
Sincerely, Lynne Hale publicity@lucasfilm.com
ray_afraid
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Twisted & Evilmsycamore said:
I like how they managed to erase a big part of the speeder in the process of "improving" this shot. ;)
I'm not seeing it...
Nien Nunb
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Padawan Learnerray_afraid said:
msycamore said:
I like how they managed to erase a big part of the speeder in the process of "improving" this shot. ;)I'm not seeing it...
The whole bottom of the speeder is completely shaved off, Look at how much thinner the new speeder looks compared to the old one.
doubleofive
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Chief Architect of Cynical MoralityThanks guys, that is a much better frame. I'll try to replace it tomorrow. Keep the suggestions/confirmations coming. This can't be all of them, can it?
Any way we can confirm the timing on the wipes or fades? Does the 97 fade to 3PO have as much blank screen as the 2004? That may be the easiest one to test.
EDIT: just realized that that was my frame, you just wanted me to replace the GOUT image with that one. Where did yours come from, so I can label it?
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bkev
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See You, Space Cowboy...It looks like it's from the JSC set.
Sevb32
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Padawan LearnerIt's slightly thinner, helps give the speeder the illusion of a little more lft. Never been a big deal to me..
"For over a thousand generations, adding more and more......Adywan worked on the models of ESB:R."
doubleofive
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Chief Architect of Cynical MoralityCheck this out:
It looks like the canopy is completely different. CG, you think?
EDIT: looking at it again, they may just have used a retimed original element.
I just finished going through and restoring the original captions back to their original wording (I kept my grammatical fixes as some of them were in present tense) and put them in quotes, with space for commentary at the bottom. I also more clearly labelled when the change first took place.
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ray_afraid
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Twisted & EvilSevb32 said:
It's slightly thinner, helps give the speeder the illusion of a little more lft. Never been a big deal to me..
Yeah, I can see it now. Still looks better..
005, great work! I love the comparisons.
doubleofive
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Chief Architect of Cynical MoralityClearer, yes, but had they gone back to the original element and erased the wheels properly instead of erasing the vasoline smear they wouldn't have had to crop the speeder itself.ray_afraid said:
Yeah, I can see it now. Still looks better..
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msycamore
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doubleofive said:
Any way we can confirm the timing on the wipes or fades? Does the 97 fade to 3PO have as much blank screen as the 2004? That may be the easiest one to test.
EDIT: just realized that that was my frame, you just wanted me to replace the GOUT image with that one. Where did yours come from, so I can label it?
I'm not sure which fade you're talking about, I believe the wipes on the '04DVD is the same as on the '97SE, but I can of course check it for you.
Yes, that pic is from the JSC LD.
This is a '97 recomp, the '81 version only changed the opening scene and when it cuts to this shot it's back to '77 again.

I cannot see why they recomposited this shot, there is a different starfield but I can't see any significant improvement done, not to the blockade runner either, maybe the material was damaged or too dirty? Any ideas?
We want you to be aware that we have no plans—now or in the future—to restore the earlier versions.
Sincerely, Lynne Hale publicity@lucasfilm.com
doubleofive
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Chief Architect of Cynical MoralityI'm talking about this:msycamore said:
I'm not sure which fade you're talking about, I believe the wipes on the '04DVD is the same as on the '97SE, but I can of course check it for you.

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msycamore
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I checked that fade to C-3PO in the oil bath and the timing is exactly the same on the '97 SE as in the '04 DVD.
We want you to be aware that we have no plans—now or in the future—to restore the earlier versions.
Sincerely, Lynne Hale publicity@lucasfilm.com