Wow, this thread is moving fast. It’s already getting a little difficult to get a handle on.

I’d expected it to take a very top-down approach, which is what I’m used to at work, but it seems like this thread is naturally leading towards a bottom-up one, where individual issues are being raised and discussed and solutions around them are forming.

That’s not a criticism at all, either is valid and will yield good results, but top-down and bottom-up can’t really both work together, at least not in a loose environment like a forum. So let’s lean into bottom-up for a moment and think about how a bit of structure might help.

If we’re going to be generating issues for discussion, instead of trying to find a coherent shared approach for movies, let’s see how well we can fix those issues by editing individual scenes, as a few people already have to great effect. I’d propose building a library of edited scenes in order that we can settle on which components warrant inclusion at a later date. This way, we focus on practicality without needing to come to a consensus right now. And if we have edited scenes to hand, it takes the pressure off a single set of edits - editors can simply select the elements they prefer the most. And it also takes the main editing pressure off individuals, since snipping and reordering scenes is one of the easier editing tasks. We can also, with permission, take edited scenes from existing fanedits with consent, and avoid repeating work.

Let’s take the Dooku is a fallen Jedi example - some are unhappy with his red lightsaber, so want it rotoscoped. We’ll list that as an issue, then if a capable VFX editor can make that change we have the scene available for production.

Does this resonate? If we focus on individual scenes rather than high-level goals it allows for practicality to be chief while leaving room for personal preferences down the line.