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Post #266897

Author
Jambe Davdar
Parent topic
//Star Wars Begins\\: HD Version Now on Vimeo
Link to post in topic
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/266897/action/topic#266897
Date created
20-Jan-2007, 4:56 PM

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-STAR WARS BEGINS-
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Film Details
Video: PAL 16:9 MPEG2 SL DVD (I may do a DL DVD later)
DVD Release has 'v2.0' during logo sequence and several additions and corrections

(Also released early as a H.264  to contributors)
Audio: AC3 Audio
Duration: 2hrs 18mins (Main Feature)

DVD Special Features
Restored Music Sequences
Concept Crawl
Trailer

<img src="http://c0013618.cdn1.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/x2_43fa31d" width="640" height="539" />


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<span style="text-decoration: underline;">PRESS RELEASE: Star Wars Begins – 12th March 2011</span>

Filmmaker Jamie Benning has finally finished his trilogy of documentary-commentaries.  This final chapter concentrates on the first Star Wars film. Like his two previous documentaries, Building Empire (2006) and Returning to Jedi (2007)Star Wars Begins is an unofficial look at the creation of the classic movie and features deleted scenes, alternate takes and different angles, bloopers, original on set audio recordings and a huge amount of commentary from cast and crew, culled from every corner of the galaxy.

What’s interesting about the format is that Benning’s documentary is feature-length, and follows the flow of the original movie itself with the deleted scenes added where they would have been, with interviews placed over the top of the action they’re describing. The overall effect is much more engrossing than a DVD commentary track and the wealth of material contained makes it well worth sitting through the entire runtime of 2hrs 18mins.

If you’ve never seen the deleted scenes of Jabba the Hutt or Biggs Darklighter on Tatooine, or heard David Prowse saying Vader’s dialogue, then you will get a real kick out of this. Many reviews and comments have centered on the fact that it’s like watching your favorite movie but from an entirely different perspective.

Benning has obviously invested rather a lot of time and effort into creating this film, and the other two parts of his own trilogy. Lets hope that on the forthcoming Blu-Ray box set LFL will go into as much detail and exude as much love for the subject matter as these films do.

All of Jamie Benning’s Star Wars ‘filmumentaries’ are unofficial. They are all completely non-profit making exercises and are made with respect to copyright and with a genuine affection for the films.

<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Media Reviews</span>

“It’s nearly two and a half hours of nerd paradise.” Mike Hale, New York Times.

“This is a quality product.” Francine Stock, BBC Radio 4, The Film Programme.

“Quite simply, if you're a Star Wars fan of any kind, this thing is an absolute blast to watch…Readers immediately fell in love with 'Star Wars Begins' after we covered it…”  Erik Davis, AOL/Moviefone.com/Cinematical

“Jamie Benning has created a series of Star Wars documentaries that have taken the Internet by storm. With even die-hard Jedis declaring they learnt more from his docs than from 30 years of fandom.”  TotalFilm.com

“…One ambitious fan, has taken it upon himself to create individual, extensive and two-hour-plus documentaries for each film.” Buzzlegoose.com

I don't know how the documentary included with the Star Wars Blu Ray release can top this one.” Swtorstrategies.com

“I haven’t been this impressed by a fan made documentary in…well…ever… he’s crafted a truly amazing doc on the making of Star Wars.”  Steve Weintraub, Collider.com

As Vader would say, ‘Impressive, most impressive’”. Nathan Barry, WiredGeekDad, Wired.com

“I feel like I have failed as a nerd for never having heard of this before… it's unbelievable, and it's unbelievably interesting”. Rob BrickenToplessRobot.com

“Frickin Awesome.” Sci-Guys.com

“This ain't no crummy youtube mashup, this is some serious work.” Agentorange, QuietEarth.com

 “It acts as a very appetising starter to the main course of Blu-Ray releases out in September” Scott Weller, Star Wars Aficionado Blog

 

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<span style="line-height: normal;"> </span>

<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Background and further detail</span>

Inspired by a love of the film 'Star Wars' and the idea that audio commentaries could be expanded, Jambe Davdar set out to make what he calls "the ultimate audio/visual commentary". He started the project in February 2007 and finished, nearly four years later, in late January 2011. It was initially released to in late Jan 2011 those who contributed to the project and finally to everyone else in <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Feb 2011</span>.

Software Used
Final Cut Pro 5.0, DVD Studio Pro 3, A.Pack, Photoshop CS, Cinematize, MPEG Streamclip, Compressor

Project Details
Star Wars Begins is an unofficial commentary to Star Wars, offering an insight into the development and creation of film. The documentary/filmumentary combines video from the movie itself with seen and unseen behind the scenes footage, rare audio from the cast and crew, alternate angles, bloopers, reconstructed scenes, text facts and more to give an in-depth look at the process which brought the film to the big screen.

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</span><span style="line-height: 14px;">FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Q: What did you use to create the project?</span>
A: I used a dual 2GHz G5 Powermac with Final Cut Pro 5, DVD Studio Pro 3, A.Pack, Photoshop CS and Cinematize.

<span style="font-weight: bold; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Q: What inspired you to create this project?</span>
A: Firstly a love of the film, but I always thought that audio commentaries could be expanded somewhat to make them Audio and Visual commentaries. And of course Deleted Magic was a big catalyst as were my previous two projects, Building Empire and Returning to Jedi.

<span style="font-weight: bold; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Q: How long did it take to make from start to finish?</span>
A: I started in 2007 and finished in January 2011.

<span style="font-weight: bold; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Q: What sources did you use?</span>
A: Too many to mention, but there is a condensed list on this page.

<span style="font-weight: bold; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Q: How can I get a copy?</span>
A: I am unable to send copies out. My advice is to ask a fellow forum member or download it from a torrent (I am sure someone has uploaded it by now)

<span style="font-weight: bold; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Q: Can I send you some money on Paypal to get a copy?</span>
A: Absolutely not! These projects are NOT for sale.

<span style="font-weight: bold; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Q: Are there plans for a NTSC version?</span>
A: The NTSC version has been released.

<span style="font-weight: bold; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Q: How can I watch a PAL disc in an NTSC country?</span> (see above)
A: Get yourself a new cheapy DVD player, most of them play PAL discs these days. The disc is also region free so your computer's DVD player should play it just fine. 
 
<span style="font-weight: bold; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Q: Where can I get a DVD cover for this project?</span>
A: Check the forums thread for some great covers designed by members of this very forum in the coming weeks.

<span style="font-weight: bold; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Q: Are there plans for a sequel/prequel?</span>
A: The trilogy is complete. I will not be doing the same for the prequel films.</span>


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Rough Timeline
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28/02/07 - Imported and transcoded first 26 chapters of Star Wars.
01/03/07 - Integrated (edited in) all video from 'Empire of Dreams' that is relevant to the first 26 chapters of Star Wars. Things are taking shape!
23/03/07 - Integrating WSWRTW and The Making of Star Wars footage. Also begun looking at the Jabba scene , this thing is harder than it looks!
watch this space...
07/08/07 - Title of 'Star Wars Begins' announced.
22/11/07 - 'Star Wars Begins' Trailer released on YouTube
27/11/07 - Wondering if I should call it "Establishing Star Wars".
19/12/07 - Sneak Peak released for Christmas 2007!
11/09/07 - Part 3 Preliminary version is now on youtube
16/03/09 - Parts 4,5,6 now on youtube.  Continuing to work on the project...
01/03/10 - Hard drive failure.  Massive loss of data. 80% of FCP timeline media lost.
19/04/10 - Drive sent away for hopeful recovery. 
2010 > - Drive recovered at cost of £700+. Donations from lovely people cover 1/7th of cost.. Amazing.
18/01/2011 - Reaching final stages. Begun DVD creation process.
Late Jan 2011 - Released as a download for QC Team and those who donated. 
Early Feb 2011 - Released to the 'masses'.
Feb 2011- Interviewed by TotalFilm.com, Wired.com and FHM Australia
March 2011 - Interviewed by BBC Radio 4!!

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----------------------OLDER POSTS----------------------------- 
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This project will be be distinctly different from 'Deleted Magic' continuing in the vein of both 'Building Empire' and 'Returning to Jedi'. In completing my trilogy I will take viewers deep into the making of the first 'Star Wars' film with behind the scenes footage, interviews from the cast and crew, alternate takes, on set audio, rare facts and much more.

I currenlty have the following video resources:

Star Wars 2006 OT DVD, From Star Wars To Jedi, Classic Creature
1997 & 2004 SE, The Making of Star Wars (looking forward to seeing any better transfers), When Star Wars Ruled the World, Deleted Magic*, THX Soundtrack! (anyone fancy doing an NTSC to PAL transcode for me?!)
BBC Omnibus - Flying Solo
BBC Omnibus - A long time ago...
Laserdisc Supplementals
Behind the Masks
The Stars of Star Wars
Unauthorised Story of Star Wars
Rareties 1, 2, 3
From the Film Vaults*
The Holiday Special
Star Wars Forgotten Scenes*
Star Wars Unsung Heros (my copy is partly corrupt, please contact me if you have this, thanks)
Feel the Force
EditDroid Special Features
Peter Cushing Interview
Alec Guiness interview - Parkinson
Widescreen Star Wars Bootleg
Machine Men BBC4
Feel the Force
Sculpting a Galaxy DVD
Time & Again
Magic and the Mystery (UK Version)
PBS’s George Lucas: Heroes, Myths and Magic
Magic Magic CD-ROM/DVD
Behind the Magic
The Making of the SE
Paramount Jabba Footage
Interviews with Star Wars Stars 1998 (youtube)
WTVJ Montage - Star Wars Interviews (youtube)
GMTV Interviews 1997 (youtube)
"THE MIKE DOUGLAS SHOW" (1977) (youtube)
The making of Star Wars Computer Graphics (youtube)
AFI youtube videos
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>

Books/Magazines
The Art of Star Wars
From Concept to Screen to Collectible
Lucasfilm Archives
Star Wars, The Annotated Screenplays
Star Wars Aficionado
Star Wars Insider - Lost Cut Article 
Star Wars Chronicles
Star Wars Portfolio
Starlog Magazine
Photoplay Magazine
The Illustrated Star Wars Universe
Sculpting A Galaxy
The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film

Web Resources 
Starwarz.com
T-Bones Star Wars Universe
Originaltrilogy.com
Theforce.net
Rebelscum.com
Youtube.com
Vimeo.com

*= No material will be sourced from this DVD. For research purposes only.

If you have any other resources be they video, audio or in print, please do not hesitate to contact me.

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Posted before project started
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Well, I guess it was inevitable. I am going to do a Star Wars project to complete my trilogy. I don't want to step on the toes of Deleted Magic's creator, so this project will continue the concepts and themes of both 'Building Empire' and 'Returning to Jedi'. I will try to source the best and rarest material and intergrate it into a feature length commentary.

I will not be starting it for a few months (I really need a break after 'Returning to Jedi'), but I need some inspiration to start me off - a title.

I would love to hear your suggestions.

Thanks
JD