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TheDemonHunter

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11-Jul-2005
Last activity
24-Sep-2006
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Post
#237465
Topic
The Skywalker Legacy (working title) (* unfinished project *)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/237465/action/topic#237465
Time
An announcement of sorts... and an apology to all.

First and foremost, some personal issues arose that drove me away from a lot of things I had going, including this project, for a while. I'd rather not get into details, but I had a serious conflict between creativity and reality for a while there and reality ultimately won out.

The only thing I'll say is that the capper was loss of my computer for a while, and the loss of some of the files I was using for this project. My mistakes there, and I won't make any excuses for it. I screwed up and it hurt me big-time to realize what I did.

Over the past few months I've gotten the computer back up, my SS is back on the road finally, and work is more or less under control. Family drama has finally been pushed to the back burner. I've been back up and running, though not taking on many new projects, for a couple months, and to be honest, I didn't quite know how to approach everyone here. I didn't want it to sound like I was making excuses or anything, and I'm not trying to. I do owe everyone an apology who has been waiting for this thing to be released.

The Skywalker Legacy project is pretty much dead for now. I can do everything but the Big Mig Maker as I'd envisioned it. I managed to edit Dooku out of some of the footage, but I could never get Vader in as I had wanted. That's what it needs to be acceptable in my eyes. That's what I touted this as, and as it turns out, I can't deliver the goods. I'm very much a perfectionist when it comes to anything creative I do, and I can't do this right at this time, so I'm not going to do it.

If anyone out there wants my notes and ideas so they can do their own version of this, by all means, say the word and I'll pass them on to you. I have a rough outline for the footage that would be used and cut down, and I have some sketches and notes for newly-created stuff like the Big Mig Maker. I stand before you, willing to admit that I do not currently have what is needed to work out everything I wanted to do, and I mean that mainly from a standpoint of time, energy, and interest.

I'm back to far simpler projects at the moment instead of creating new scenes composited from varying sources. Most of them are non-computer related.

Once again, I apologize to anyone who wanted this project to be completed. Maybe.... and I do mean maybe.... someday I might get back to it, but I wouldn't want anyone to get their hopes up. I'm glad that someone else has a similar project going now though.

Thanks for supporting this one while it lasted, or even after it crashed and burned.

We now return you to your regular message board.....
Post
#170209
Topic
The Skywalker Legacy (working title) (* unfinished project *)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/170209/action/topic#170209
Time
No worries -- slow, but steady progress is being made on the project as I try to find time to get the work done on this project. It's not an easy process so far, but in the end, I'm hoping it will be worth the wait. I've had some issues in that reality thing that need to be worked out, but I'm still committed to this project being completed.
Post
#165964
Topic
Superman Movie
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/165964/action/topic#165964
Time
Originally posted by: ricardo
as far as the costume is conerned, i thought the same thing when i saw the first spiderman trailer. it looked corny as all get go. BUT, the acting made up for it, although i'm not a big fan of the first half of the first movie (I hate exposition, especially when one can get everything you need to know from the beginning credits a la spiderman 2). i'm hoping the same thing goes for the new supe movie.


Spidey's costume didn't worry me so much, mainly because the colors were right and overall look was consistent with what we've seen in the comics for a long time now. The red they're using for Supes' costume is so dark it's almost brown. Getting something like that wrong, right off the bat, makes me a bit concerned about how well the rest of this is going to be handled, particularly since we've been told that this movie is in the same universe as the first two Supes films, from 25 years ago. Keeping a consistent look for the costume would have allowed that to work better, I think.

I'm all for making changes when necessary to make the story work, so long as you stay true to the spirit of the source material. I'm just wondering how they dropped the ball on this one. It's not like they have to make a new costume because this is supposed to more real world, a la X-Men movie costumes. And the new costume wouldn't even give that effect, given the way it looks.

Yes, I know, I'm picky about the costume, but this is the big one -- the superhero who allowed all the others to follow, and the one from which all others sprung forth into four color glory. If Warner can't get this right, it will be a big blow to them, particularly in wake of the reported $200-300 million budget. Scary stuff here.

I don't fault Singer for wanting to build off of the Donner films. They were obviously among the most successful translations of comics to the big screen, and drawing on the look and legacy of those films could be a big boon, if done correctly. But once you say that it's related, you can't make changes to things like the costume or Lex Luthor's character.

It's called continuity, and watching new writers ignore previously established continuity (and I'm not talking about universe-wide relaunches here) more and more is what made me turn my back on comics to begin with a few years back. That's just as bad as the things we criticize Lucas for in not making the PT match the OT in terms of story and plot. It all has to match up when you're making another chapter in an ongoing series, and right now, I'm a bit concerned about how well this one will work.
Post
#165753
Topic
Daredevil: The Man Without Fear - The Fan Edit (Released)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/165753/action/topic#165753
Time
I don't think it was Affleck who fought for it. Rather, the director had been trying to make it for years and finally convinced the studio. Say what you will about the final movie, but the director definitely had passion for the material. It probably seemed too rushed because Fox had them cut out the subplot.

I stand corrected then. I really need to sit down and watch the DC of DD.

I caught Elektra on DVD out of curiosity and thought it was pretty bad. At least the theatrical cut of Daredevil seemed to have potential. Elektra's potential went out the window the moment they decided on the story. They gave Elektra weird quirks like having OCD and disregarded the darker feel of Daredevil. The movie just never picked up for me. I sat there waiting for something interesting to happen, but nothing ever did.


I was definitely disappointed with Elektra as well. The quirks they gave her were just completely wrong for the character, as was the story. It had elements that were true to the comics, such as Stick (although why was Stamp given the role?) and the Hand, but overall, the handling of the story was definitely not close to the potential it could have lived up to.
Post
#165565
Topic
Daredevil: The Man Without Fear - The Fan Edit (Released)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/165565/action/topic#165565
Time
I skipped DD in theaters and watched it for the first time on DVD at home. It wasn't what I would call great cinema, but it wasn't worthless sludge either. It was entertaining, which is all I expected. It may have seemed rushed, but didn't they have this thing in preproduction hell for a few years while Affleck fought to have it made?

As for Elektra, that movie could have been soooo much better. Elektra is set up as the ultimate bad ass at the start of the movie and then she seems kinda weak in many of her reactions later in the movie, including in her final battles. For completeness' sake, I did pick up the DVD and eventually the "DC" DVD as well, but as with DD, I haven't seen the DC yet.

Hopefully there's some changes that make it so I won't have to add these to my list of possible dissections/edits for the future (post Skywalker Legacy)......
Post
#165516
Topic
Superman Movie
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/165516/action/topic#165516
Time
I really, really do not like what I've seen of this movie. I can accept that changes need to be made from time to time, but the costume is simply not something you can change. It has to look like Superman and right now it doesn't. Not even close.

The costume alone is enough to give this movie one strike before I even see it.
Post
#165494
Topic
Daredevil: The Man Without Fear - The Fan Edit (Released)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/165494/action/topic#165494
Time
I liked this movie as it was. Picked up the Director's Cut but I haven't had a chance to watch it yet. There were certainly some flaws, but overall I thought it was well done. As for the Kingpin, I can deal with the changes to him far more easily than I can deal with some other changes Marvel has allowed over the years.

That having been said, I'm very curious to see what a fan edit would involve. Any details?
Post
#163053
Topic
The legendary "Starkiller Ranch" Thread
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/163053/action/topic#163053
Time
Just peeking in again and I see tons of changes being proposed again.

I know that you guys have set a lot of things up for these edits, and I'm glad that you're going to have an outline and "script" posted online to refer to as you work.

---Replacing Sidious with Dooku? A bit of a stretch. I do like the idea of Qui-Gon talking to him from Tatooine though, to establish the relationship between them. If it helps, there are tutorials online for using After Effects on how to generate holograms and insert them into existing footage. This method could allow you to create the footage you want of Dooku leaving the Order, if he is a hologram in the center of the Council Chamber. Just a thought.

---Cutting down on Gungans? I'd have to agree with MTH (believe it or not!) that the big battle sequence, minus Jar Jar's antics are a must for Ep I. Cutting down on the Gungans too much, no matter how annoying they may seem, may leave you with more holes than before. Subs or dubs can be used to make them tolerable, as you've said. We do have to make sure that any dialogue changes can be balanced by what other characters will be saying though.

---Grievous=Maul? I'm all for this one. I personally don't believe we need to see any kind of transformation in Ep II, especially if there's a chance that Vader's transformation will be shown in Ep III. That would answer any questions abotu how this was possible. Leave it a surprise, a new reveal for a new saga. You can use the new dialogue of Grievous in Ep III to drop clues as to his true identity. For example on the bridge of the starship (change in bold), "Ah General Kenobi, The Negotiator. We meet again at long last." Leaving that hanging might go overlooked by the Jedi and most viewers, but if Obi-Wan and Anakin are concentrating on the matter at hand, this would go unnoticed in the moment. Then, when Obi-Wan finally has the big one-on-one with Grievous, you can leave him dropping more clues in the initial saber fight until the reveal comes just before Obi-Wan defeats him. There is some symmetry to the battles of Ep I and Ep III then. Obi-Wan is older and wiser and has allowed himself to grieve for Qui-Gon by this point. No sense in having any concerns of him being overly emotional.

---Dubbing via alternate languages? This could get sticky. I mentioned this with my roommate over the weekend and he had a comment. This could be bad since you're releasing it for the whole world to see. For example, I believe someone mentioned German as a source for some characters at one point. So what happens when someone who IS German watches the movie? See what I mean? He actually recommended that we get someone who speaks a completely foreign language to write everything. who Subtitles btw are very easy if you're burning them directly into the footage. Use the "titles" track/tools from Womble to add what you need, where you need it. I used it for my first "test" DVD project.

---The Montage at the start? Ick. Just doesn't fit.

Just a few thoughts there. I do like the ideas I'm seeing though, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it all turns out.

EDIT: Didn't see the outline, as I started typing before it was posted. Looks good though.
Post
#162456
Topic
Best movies of 05
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/162456/action/topic#162456
Time
I didn't make it to the theaters this year as much as usual, but my faves of 05 were (in no particular order)....

ROTS (no surprise there)
Batman Begins (As close to perfection as a comics movie has come)
Sin City ("That's a nice coat...")

There were a few that I missed out on though which I'd like to see, such as Fantastic Four.

There were others that just didn't measure up. They just seemed to be lacking something, such as War of the Worlds.
Post
#162454
Topic
Richard Pryor (1940-2005) R.I.P.
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/162454/action/topic#162454
Time
Very, very sad news. I wasn't particularly surprised but I was certainly saddened last night to hear of his passing. His health had been in decline for a number of years, particularly since his MS diagnosis in '86. Very, very sad.

His unique comedic voice brought laughs and insights to many of us, and he'll be sorely missed. Luckily we still have all the recordings and video to watch and listen to.

Rest in Peace, Mr. Pryor. May the next life bring you as many laughs as you brought the rest of us in this one.
Post
#162302
Topic
The legendary "Starkiller Ranch" Thread
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/162302/action/topic#162302
Time
Hey gang, been busy with work, car troubles, and then snow for a few days, but I figure I can chime in on this quickly as I try to get caught up.

When the Maul=Grievous idea came up on the SOTDS thread, I PM'd TM and mentioned that I'd be willing to do the voice if needed. I don't think I remembered to get back to him with a recorded sample of the Maul-esque voice I'd be using for the project though, now that I think about it. Damned scatterbrained thoughts during my cut-short vacation....
Post
#161401
Topic
The legendary "Starkiller Ranch" Thread
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/161401/action/topic#161401
Time
Originally posted by: MTHaslett
With The Demon Hunter's "Migraine Maker" scene, we'll see Vader kill Anakin. The final shots of ROTS allow us to see Vader watching the construction of Death Star II from the deck of the same ship where he learns the Rebels and Skywalker are hiding on Hoth.


I love the idea of your pet project and I believe it would be very cool to see come to fruition. I guess that I'd better get the BigMigMaker perfect if it's possibly going to be a part of someone else's work! Seriously, if it comes out well enough that you'd like to use the scene, I'd be more than honored to have it included in your project.

Time to get to work learning every bit of software I can use, I guess....

Post
#161245
Topic
The legendary "Starkiller Ranch" Thread
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/161245/action/topic#161245
Time
Originally posted by: Hardcore Legend
What I was suggesting was:

Obi Wan (off screen): Anakin...
Vader (interrupting): is no longer ALIVE (using the one from Tantive)
**saber clash***

Luke and Han run out
Obi Wan looks over and grins

Vader:
You don't know the Power of the Dark Side

Swings and kills Obi Wan


This allows for when Luke says that he still believes Anakin 'still exists', and Vader says Obi Wan once thought as he does, it works. It also makes it appear as of Obi Wan still has the conflict in him between doing what must be done and killing his 'brother'. It also links Vader to Anakin's arrogance in the last battle. He has still not learned his lesson. He still thinks he is more powerful than Obi Wan, but yet again, Obi Wan wins, even after Obi Wan warns him that if he uses his power, Obi Wan will become only more powerful.


Perhaps we can cobble together Vader saying "Again you underestimate my power, the power of the Dark Side!" That might work...
Post
#161094
Topic
The legendary "Starkiller Ranch" Thread
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/161094/action/topic#161094
Time
Originally posted by: MTHaslett
I worked on my ideas for editing Jabba's Palace sequence last night and found that the material is there to make something much more sensible and thrilling. There are many jokes that create a tone that makes me cringe. But with CC's strategy, the idea of cutting the jokes as part of a new narrative really worked.

In brief (beause I don't have time now) I have a way to let Leia's plan be in action before Luke arrives-- essentially covering the gap we're creating by having Luke go get training while letting Han just hang around frozen in Jabba's clutches. Then Luke's arrival and "plan" come across as more daring and less blind-frickin'-lucky.

The droids appearance gets moved back, thus keeping the tone darker before their arrival. The whole sequence of Leia arriving as the bounty hunter plays out with subtitles and no Threepio.


I think you have something there with most of it, but at least some of the comments by Han and Luke have to stay in, I think. Something we disagree on -- a big surprise, right?

The comments back and forth between the two friends show the anticipation they must feel for what Han fears will happen, and for what Luke has planned to happen. Han's always struck me as a sarcastic smart-ass, so I'm more comfortable with comments and false bravado than just silence to hide the fear he would surely be feeling on a barge that's taking him to his apparent death. Keeping in mind that he has limited sight at this point, he'd be trying to compensate for his lack of control over the situation, trying to hide the fear he feels for being in a situation he can't control, not knowing what is coming. I always took his comments to Jabba as defiance. Like he feels the need to show that no matter what Jabba and his henchmen do, his spirit will never be broken. None of this is really out of line with his previous appearances, at least in my mind.

On other points, and these are just things I'm throwing out as the Devil's advocate....

We open with Leia handing over Chewie, with Lando not revealed yet if possible. We have plenty of establishing shots of exteriors on Tatooine to work with here.
Luke finishes his training on Dagobah. Yoda dies, telling Luke that he must face Vader to become a full Jedi.
Vader arrives at DSII.
Leia is captured after freeing Han from the carbonite.
Luke leave's Yoda's hut and sees Ben. They talk before Luke leaves.
The droids show up at Jabba's. (and yes, the droid torture certainly has to go)
The Emperor arrives at DS II
Luke arrives at Jabba's. I agree that Luke should be able to use the Force to bring down the door on the Rancor.
From here, the movie continues as originally devised, with the exceptions of some dialogue and action edits to make the escape from the barge more of a daring act of heroism than luck (though I once again point to Obi-Wan's comments from ANH on the Falcon about luck...)

That's just off the top of my head after work today.

I'm wondering if perhaps one of the biggest changes might be that we could somehow incorporate the much-rumored death of Lando and the loss of the Falcon in the destruction of DS II, so Han doesn't seem like a totally out of character crybaby idiot when he says he doesn't think he'll see the Falcon again. We could eliminate the bit where he talks Lando into taking the Falcon. Just cut in like it's the end of a conversation, and he's giving reluctant permission to use the reliable freighter, on the condition "not a scratch." I always thought it was pretty poorly written that Han changes tune so drastically in that scene. One minute he's trying to get Lando to take the MF, and then he's almost crying because Lando might get a scratch on her in a heavy combat zone. One way or the other, please -- not the half-assed way it was written. If we decided not to add Lando's death, perhaps we could instead cut the lines where Han makes him promise not to get a scratch and also where he worries that he won't see the Falcon again. Once again -- one way or the other, please.

We also need to cut down on the Ewoks scenes, or at least have them not so cutesied-up. It's a shame we can't figure out a way to exchange them for the Wookies from ROTS....

Comments anyone?