Jek Porkins

I was blown away by Harmy's work with the Despecialized Edition, so I wanted to make a DVD cover for it for my copy. I thought that what he did was similar to what the folks at the Criterion Collection do (restore and preserve classic movies in the best way possible), so I borrowed their style to pay homage to both. 

* I know there are a lot of other fake Criterion covers out there for Star Wars, but I found most them (as beautiful as they are) just too modern and pretty to truly represent the movies. So I used the classic movie poster art, but arranged the layout/composition to mimic the aesthetic of a Criterion cover. 

http://i.imgur.com/yyRMuT7.jpg

Rob said:

Are you kidding me? WOW Harmy, WOW! Not only is that a HUGE improvement, it just looks fucking amazing now. Thanks for putting so much effort into this shot and truly perfecting it, it's the most important shot in the entire Trilogy.

Can't express myself better than that. I also like the idea of giving Harmy props in the signature. 

Rob said:

I hope you don't mistake our participation for criticism Harmy. Everyone here is so excited that we've been whipped into a frenzy. You've gotta understand, this is the first time that the real deal has ever been within our grasp. We've waited years for you to return to Earth Harmy, so of course everyone simply has to throw in their two cents. Whatever you decide to do with minor details like these is neither here nor there in the end, you've saved the Original Trilogy and that's all that really matters. I'm gonna go watch Empire again.

I completely second that. 

Harmy said:

OK, here's the whole Mos Eisley sequence:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSt_xEpK7mo

It is just work in progress. There are still a few bugs and Greedo is missing subtitles. Also the colours are not final.

Harmy, you are doing amazing, amazing work. This is the SW version many of us dreamed about. Can't wait.

Harmy said:

I'm definitely not keeping the 04 one this time. And like I said ages ago, I was toying with this idea using Erikstormtrooper's Engli-Besh font::

 

I can't say I'm crazy about this one. It looks a little Photoshopped and I'd find it distracting. I'd rather go for the '04 version, but that's your call.

Either way, I'm just psyched about the project's progress. This will be the definitive SW, I believe.

The Aluminum Falcon said:

I'm glad that you're planning to de-specialize more changes than in your first release, Harmy. Although, by when I said completely, I meant the changes that are obvious to the naked eye. I wasn't including redoing the wipes and the very minor changes (i.e. slightly different color timing, recomposites, different skies, different sabers, different explosions, an added starfighter here or there, enhanced laser blasts, etc.). I actually was just interested in you removing all the obvious CGI, like the added creatures and droids in Mos Eisley. What exactly is the 10-15% which will not be despecialized? Is it what I mentioned earlier: slightly different color timing, recomposites, different skies, different sabers, different explosions, an added starfighter here or there, and enhanced laser blasts? Anyway, I' m looking forward to whatever you may release in the future. This may very well be one of the most significant releases in OT history. 

Agreed here. Harmy -- you have done amazing, amazing work. Those Mos Eisley clips are just beautiful. You may be creating the best version of SW out there and I'm on pins and needles to see more.  

I think this idea sounds great. I'm amazed that a simple idea like this hasn't been executed successfully for SW yet. Color-correction would be great, but don't let the naysayers stop you -- there really just needs to be an edit that simply gets rid of the CGI nonsense.

If you're looking for inspiration, I'd check out Adywan's Empire Reconstruction. It's pretty close to perfection and the edits are seamless. Harmy's ROTJ reconstruction rocks too.

And if you're looking for a cautionary tale, I'd recommend checking out ocpmovie's Classic Edition, which attempts exactly what you're describing. Unfortunately, the cuts were so jarring that it ruined the whole thing.

The Partially Despecialized versions are wonderful, but you're right, a lot of the VFX are still there. The scenes in Mos Eisley -- with the extra creatures and annoying little robots flying around -- need to be replaced. In his defense, the GOUT versions of those scenes are pretty horrendous, so replacing them without being too disruptive would be a challenge. But there's a lot of great work being done with the GOUT, like Darkjedi's work. I wonder how seamless it'd be match those up?

My two cents: between Adywan and Harmy, Empire and Jedi are pretty well taken care of. SW is the only one that really needs some love and care.

Long time lurker, first time poster. This community is doing god's work. So I just wanted to say hi.

Wait, I've got a problem here. I can hold it. I'm alr--AAAAAAAAAAAAAH.