Complete Comparison of Special Edition Visual Changes — Page 2

Here's another difference.

In the original film these two lights are pulsating, a nice little animated effect that helps bring the matte painting to life, they are just static in the '97/'04 version.

msycamore said:

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.

msycamore said:

Here's another difference.

In the original film these two lights are pulsating, a nice little animated effect that helps bring the matte painting to life, they are just static in the '97/'04 version.

I can see now when you've added the latest one that the matte painting have actually been slightly altered, look closely for a different light pattern in the top right area.

doubleofive said:

Alrighty, the new optical wipes aren't timed perfectly to the originals. Conspiracy theory lessened. The fact that, save for one wipe, they all (I even found another one) begin first in the SE just enough to cover up the original wipe must be a coincidence.

I'll try to check a few of the other ones and see if they're also identical in timing.

msycamore said:

doubleofive said:
Alrighty, the new optical wipes aren't timed perfectly to the originals. Conspiracy theory lessened. The fact that, save for one wipe, they all (I even found another one) begin first in the SE just enough to cover up the original wipe must be a coincidence.

I'll try to check a few of the other ones and see if they're also identical in timing.

doubleofive said:

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

Very strange.

 This new wipe is also identical in timing to the '97SE.

msycamore said:

This new wipe is also identical in timing to the '97SE.

But if you look at the next shot, its that clean but the shadows match perfectly.

zombie84 said:

Hmm, you are right the second shot matches. It looks like what they did was re-use the original foreground element, but they didn't use the same section for the first shot.

Checked out three random wipes from ESB. They are also differently timed, heck, the wipe from Yoda to Needa's shuttle lasts LONGER in the SE, giving us complely new frames of Yoda disappointed in Luke. So now I really don't think the ANH wipes were literal coverups. They just didn't time them the same.

Ill post the pics in a few days.

Random Wipe 1:



Random Wipe 2:



Random Wipe 3:



As you can see from the second one, the Yoda shot lasts a lot longer than the original one, but the film is still exactly the same length as all of the action matches. Impressive.

So did they just slow the wipe down, so it lasts for more frames?

There are more frames involved in the wipe as the action continues longer in the SE, but the movie doesn't last any longer. Not sure on the comparative wipe times.

Here's a few suggestions for you.

Comparison pic 81: When the Falcon takes off from Mos Eisely, they erased some wires or lines from the weird antenna or whatever it is and also added some traffic to the sky.

Comparison pic 123: I don't think the original engine glow was an actual error as you describe it. The original Falcon showed the engine with a full thrust even when it backs out of the docking bay, the SE changed it so it only have a full glow when finally taking off. I'm not sure but I think it's a digital Millennium Falcon in that shot.

I also think you can mention the different starfield in the '81 version opening crawl even though you don't show a pic of it. Otherwise I think you have covered all changes, maybe the Chess pieces were also recomposited in '97, I'm not sure.

Keep up the good work. :)

Updated the pics, will add the 81 starfield change later.

In adding a new frame to put all of the starfield discussion, I noticed that I forgot the sped up pan down from the crawl.

http://picasaweb.google.com/doubleofive/StarWarsSpecialEditionChangesHD#5522404724295929538

Basically the camera starts panning down at the same time, but the 2004 version reaches the planet first and sits there for around 3 seconds before the Blockade Runner flies overhead. In the 1977 version the camera pans down a bit slower, but the ship flies overhead within a second of the camera settling. Not sure if this "watching the planet sit there" is a 1981, 1997, or 2004 change.

EDIT: We should get frame counts.

EDIT 2:
THERE'S BEEN FRAME ADVANCE IN VLC SINCE 1.0 AND I'VE BEEN RANDOMLY PAUSING TO GET MY SHOTS?! WHAT THE HECK MAN?!

EDIT YET AGAIN:

~39 frames 2004
~28 frames 1977

It may not seem like a lot, but I think it is.

Also interesting: the diamond wipe from Tarkin to the sentry is 17 frames in BOTH 1977 and 2004. The 2004 just starts and ends earlier.

Wow, frame advance is going to save me so much time while also wasting my time.

zombie84 said:

What is interesting about the 1977 vs 1981 matte painting is that in the 1977 version for some unclear reason the painting was stretched vertically. Which is why the moons are slightly eliptical. The 1981 composited the matte normally, and slightly more blue shifted from the video transfers.

This caused some people to think it was a whole new painting, because the moon looked different. But its just because it was stretched, slighly re-coloured (the 1977 composite has it green shifted), and the composite was moved ever so slightly so its not a perfect alignment. In fact, in either the 1977 or 1981 composite the moons were isolated and re-positioned slightly.

I remember doing a really detailed analysis of this back when the GOUT came up. Then I found the original matte painting and realized how much it had been manipulated. So, for 1977, they stretched it, and then I think moved around the moons and printed them slightly greenish. Probably this was for compositional reasons. 

Yeah, I remember that thread but I cannot seem to find it now. In the comparison pictures I posted in your thread, http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/Save-Star-Wars-Dot-Com/topic/11771/page/7/ you can clearly see the different '81 composite with a slightly smaller second moon and the Stardestroyer's slightly different position.

About the faster receding SW logo, it was an alteration made in '97 for the SE and is still that way in the '04 DVD. I keep hearing people think it was a DVD change when it's clearly not. The '97 opening crawl is unchanged on the DVD.

The musical crash that reveals Tatooine have been out of sync since the introduction of the '81 version, I'll try to check the timings for the pan down in the '81 for you, doubleofive.

EDIT: Also there was never a third moon on the '81 opening shot.