Yea, I’m still touching up on the sfx. As for the music piece at the end, this is my thought process:
As the final bit of the race gets drowned out by the binary sunset bits, I wanted to imply Anakin using the force, as Jeebus pointed out. Hopefully that bit translates well. Second, when Anakin and Sebulba are neck and neck, their pods connect. Then the soft piano Imperial March plays. For everyone who knows the Imperial March and what it represents (presumably 99% of the people who would ever watch a fan edit), the soft version might just feel like a playful nod to Anakin’s future. But then I cut to Anakin’s mother and co watching the race. Qui-Gon closes his eyes. He feels something is about to happen. He feels a “vergence” in the force. Cut back to Sebulba struggling to break free of Ani. Cut to Anakin’s mother wincing away from the race. Then, Qui-Gon looks from the viewing tablet to the actual race. He looks concerned. Cut back to Sebulba trying again to pull away. It doesn’t look like Anakin is trying too hard to escape. Then, suddenly, Anakin pulls the lever and sends Sebulba crashing to his death, to the tune of the heavier, actual Imperial March. And then, the crowd cheers. Something about the visual of the crowd cheering a young Darth Vader to the tune of the Imperial March really resonates with me.
The podrace victory may have initially been a celebratory moment. But in my edit, it’s a dark moment. The first true indication of what Anakin will eventually become. What you didn’t see was, in the moments leading up to the race, Sebulba and Anakin have a brutal exchange, where Sebulba tells Anakin that, once he dies in the race, his mother will be sold for Bantha fodder. Throughout the second half of this film, there is a heavy emphasis on Anakin’s feelings for his mother (pointed out even by the Jedi Council), and how those feelings influence him. Killing Sebulba in the podrace is a precursor to Anakin flat-out murdering the sand people in Episode II. If you’ll notice, the end of the podrace does not include the celebratory chanting with QGJ holding Anakin up above the crowd. Qui-Gon is not celebrating. Instead of congratulating Anakin, Qui-Gon goes immediately to Watto to cash in on the bet. After feeling this “vergence” in the force isolated around Anakin, Qui-Gon’s one mission is to train him, because he recognizes the dangers of not training him (which I have as a contrast to everyone else seeing the danger in the training itself).
Anyway, that’s why I have everything the way I do. If I omit anything at all, it would possibly be the softer piano Imperial March, but I’m not sure yet. I may just make it more subtle.
