3 new clips up at http://www.youtube.com/user/SSWR1
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OK, so, I've been sitting on some ideas for ROTJ waiting for someone to do their own edit so I could share with them.
But it looks like it's gonna be a while til the Starkiller Ranch guys get to ROTJ. And adywan's gotta finish ANH and then ESB before getting to ROTJ.
But don't get your hopes up yet!
I don't have the time, money, or knowledge to do a full-blown edit.
But I DO hope this will give people ideas for their own edit.
I don't have alot of resources either, but I do feel my ideas (at least some) are worth your time.
The music and any effects I add will be rough.
It's more like an animatic. That's why I'm calling it a fan-o-matic.
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UPDATE!!!
Well, it’s been a long time since I’ve joined in on all the great conversations going on around here. I have been able to keep up on what’s happening with a few of my favorite threads (adywan’s, trooperman’s musicman’s, reborn, etc.) I actually have still been working on this edit...
I decided to resurrect this thread to hopefully help adywan (or anyone else crazy enough) with a Return of the Jedi edit. I know he wants to focus on ESB:R right now…but, in the meantime, I thought this might help some of us let our aggression out on ROTJ…ok, maybe just me ;)
I love some of the ideas on the StarKiller Ranch thread. I want to flesh out some of those ideas. Also the article “50 Reasons Why Jedi Sucks” has also helped me define some of my problems with ROTJ. Some of the ideas I’m presenting work well, some don’t, some might with a little help. Many of these ideas have surfaced before, but I want to kind of dump them all into one place in this thread. I’ve incorporated some ideas from Commander Courage, MTHaslett and others…I hope no one minds! This movie needs so much help, so that means it needs a lot of input! I also know that my edit will go overboard with some drastic changes. *Hopefully* we can talk some of these through and adywan will have a better idea of what he wants to accomplish and will have some of the hard work done for him when he tackles this beast.
With that being said…take a look:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMfxBcBk4Kw
A few notes...
01.) Opening scene - - - Jabba take’s delivery of Chewbacca
I’m probably the only one, but I have to admit that most of Vader’s scenes (until the Luke/Vader/Emperor scenes) pretty much bore me. He’s no longer a tough guy like in ESB. He doesn’t plot, scheme or kill anymore. Too much talking, not enough force-choking. So while the original opening scene would still work, I wanted to try something different. I at least wanted to have options. I originally tried to make the Luke/Yoda scene work as the opening scene. I thought it would be nice to start the last Star Wars movie on a quiet note. However, that would be A LOT of exposition at a very early stage in the movie (and the next scene with Ben). Even though it’s all pretty interesting, it’ll simply bore everyone if all of that happens right away. We need to grip the audience right off the bat. I don’t think we really grip them with the Luke/Yoda scene.
Someone suggested the Jabba/Boba/Chewy scene to be the opening scene and I thought it was a terrible idea…at first. I didn’t think I’d like starting the film this way. It’s a bit disorienting. You’re wondering where you are and who everyone is (minus Chewy and Fett). But then it had occurred to me that in ANH, you have no clue where you are and who is who, and just when you thought you knew the SW universe-…Next movie: An ice planet with smelly kangaroos? Very disorienting indeed. So this new beginning of ROTJ is very much in line with the other films when you think about it.
The Jabba/Boba/Chewy scene has been played around with quite a bit. To start the opening scene off, the music number must be cut way back-…although I do want the GOUT footage to play with…it jumps around too much once the SE footage is gone. Jabba pushes the button and the dancer-… Now, I know you guys might not agree on this but…the SE clips HAVE to go! We can see her fall and disappear (like in the original) but we don’t need the extra close-ups of her IN the pit. Why? Well, it has to do with pushing Luke into the foreground for the audience’s sake.
Think of it like this:
Look at the Wampa scenes in ESB. First time viewing the movie (OOT or SE) you don’t know what’s gonna happen to Luke, right? A big claw! Ack! Luke is being dragged away! Ooh! Luke is upside-down! Ah! Where’s the Wampa? Eeh! Wampa coming! Ack! Luke gets loose and slices the monster’s arm! Yay! With me so far?
Now ROTJ:
If left the way Lucas has it now, there are not as many surprises for the audience to experience WITH Luke. Sure, once Luke gets down into the pit we’ll (for the first time) get to see the monster and see how Luke responds, but it isn’t near as exciting if we don’t know what’s going on or where Luke is headed. So if you cut out the SE clips of the dancer, the narrative narrows the focus on Luke experiencing this for the first time; thus, the audience as well. We are right there invested in Luke, thinking: “What’s going on? Ack! Luke’s falling! Ooh! Big pit! Ah! Big monster! Eeh!…OK I’m done.
Moving on…the scene no longer contains 3PO. He would have to be painted out of only two or three shots. This scene is so much cooler without the whiny droid! Now, the whole scene is played-out with subtitles. The dialogue can stay the same (if you want), but 3PO isn’t there to interpret. This version also ends differently: We see Chewy being dragged off and Jabba is now excited that he has the missing piece for a “complete set” (meaning Han and Chewy). We then turn around to see Han still frozen. Then Liea, in disguise, says to Boba Fett something to the effect of “Nice catch. I’m jealous.” (Bounty hunter banter if you will) and Fett nods. We end with the close-up of Han. The scene plays out quite eerily if done this way. It also catches the audience up to speed reminding them about Han. Oh…and I cut the obvious reveal of Lando. Lame. We’ll know it’s him when he meets eyes with Leia. Even if I get voted down on this being the opening scene, I hope you can use the ideas for the scene wherever it’s placed.
I also know there’s been talk about removing Boba Fett entirely from the movie…I’m not sure either way…I think the part we all hate the most is his bit on the sail barge. At some point, we could show the outside of Jabba’s palace with Fett’s ship flying off the planet…?
I would love feedback about this scene. Love it? Hate it? Ideas?
I do hope to respond to suggestions and comments but for those who don’t know, I have limited Internet access right now.