smudger9

jmarso1 said:

This was a fantastic edit.

It basically salvages BOBF and works in the Mando stuff in a seamless, logical manner. I really liked how the final battle was cut down, and most of the vespa-crew stuff was cut. If there was a way to cut all of it, that would be even better, but I realize that would be extremely difficult. The way Grogu was edited OUT of the Tatooine stuff was pretty ingenious.

My only issue here is with all the Grogu / Luke /Ahsoka stuff at the end. This story essentially concludes with the end of the battle. I thought the scene of Din leaving Tatooine would have been the perfect place to cut to credits.

I haven’t watched Ep IV yet so I’m not sure how well it would work editing all the Jedi stuff into the beginning of that one. However, if it was to be broken up, here’s one possible way I would suggest trying:

In Ep III, Mando tests the starfighter in Beggar’s Canyon. When he heads for space, wipe to him leaving Tatooine to go present his present to Grogu. A LOT of the stuff with the droids building the temple and bench could be cut with no issues- he should arrive and find Ahsoka almost immediately. Then carry on up to the point where Ahsoka talks him down. He leaves, returns to Tatooine, and that’s when Fennic Shand is waiting for him in the docking bay. Then end EP III after the battle, and work in the rest of the Grogu stuff at the beginning of IV. Again, not having seen IV, I’m not sure how well that works.

If all else fails, maybe the answer is an EP 3.5 vignette that addresses the Grogu issue. It’s painfully obvious that Mando S3 didn’t originally account for Grogu, but his popularity caused them to write him back in. The whole thing is just kind of a mess. This would cut down on the length of EP III, allowing it to end in its proper place. (IMHO).

Anyway, great job! Looking forward to EP IV!

Thanks for the input. I agree that the Luke-Grogu segment feels like an add-on. I will be revisiting these Mando edits after I’ve finished with Ahsoka. I’m hoping to better integrate the Luke-Grogu scenes, but as yet I’m not quite sure how to do it.

szopman said:

smudger9 said:

Here is my edited flashback sequence. Lots of trimming here meaning I’ve got it down to 13mins with Huyang being the one that rescues her.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Y4YuxylIKTCKHZJPsW8_0rF1omHsw33T

So, I checked it. The whole flashback/WbW sequence looks cool. I wasn’t able to spot where you trimmed it exactly (except one particular moment), so I’d say it looks seemeless. You managed to save the best part of the show almost intact 😉

I don’t wanna be a pain in the … but I think you shouldn’t have trimmed the moment when Anakin’s ghost goes back from “evil” to “good”. I saw you trimmed a bit the transition and I think it would be better if those few extra seconds stayed. it was a great little moment, the facial expressions of Hayden was perfect and in my opinion, for the millennials fans it had a huge emotional impact to see how his face changes from ROTS evil Anakin to the good Anakin Skywalker again. I know it may be silly, as we talk about 5-10 seconds, but for me it was something that I spot right away, I remember it was really a big deal for me when I watched this episode 😉

Nevertheless, in terms of editing and pacing - great job!

Thanks. I’ll look back at the Anakin face change and put it back in.

szopman said:

GLogus said:

smudger9 said:

Half way there with the second cut!

Here is the episode 4 segment. A lot of big and little cuts here… got the episode down to 19mins. Half was point clocking in at 1h 27 so I’m on target!

Let me know your thoughts.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EK1EjzPk0ZkD9x16xAGz4AsQmzrHNnzi

I hate to see so much of Episode 4 go as I think it was the most cinematic of all eight episodes. Episode 5 may have had the member berries, but 4 was the only one that was as good as the franchise deserves.

Besides, all you had to do was remove the shots where Ahsoka is folding her arms and smirking. That would easily get your cut down below 3 hrs.

I dare to disagree, I think he cut all the superfluous stuff (tho again, some pauses and dialogues could still be trimmed probably), but left the best from it ( I personally like he chose to keep the Inquisitor’s death, I think it was a nice nod to Nightsisters magic and Kurosawa movies).

I have one question regarding the fanedit - in the end it will be “Ahsoka - Episode I” or “New Republic - (…)”?

Also, regarding the title - did you consider using the last episode’s title “The Jedi, the Witch and the Warlord”? I just personally think it was a very cool title and it describes well the whole show 😄

It will become “The New Republic Episode 5”. The title of the last episode was cool, but probably no Star Wars enough. 😃

I’ll definitely take a look at the flashback idea once I’ve completed the second cut.

szopman said:

This idea may sound crazy to some of you but, maybe add the part of dialogue between Ahsoka and Anakin from “Rebels” during the Lucas film/A long time ago… sequence? Like the clone troopers that could be heard in the theatrical TCW movie during the Lucas film/A long time ago … sequence.

That is what I was thinking…… Anakin/Vader dialogue from Rebels and visuals from Rogue One or Kenobi.

Here is my edited flashback sequence. Lots of trimming here meaning I’ve got it down to 13mins with Huyang being the one that rescues her.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Y4YuxylIKTCKHZJPsW8_0rF1omHsw33T

vranir said:

Have you considered removing all instances of Merrik (the ghost inquisitor)? I wonder if everything might be tighter and the reveal with the reanimated stormtroopers better if he wasn’t in the story.

What if Balaan Skall’s line about the legacy of violence from Anakin and Ahsoka was said right after she throws Shinn? Like he sees the violence and Vader-like action, says that, then a moment later knocks her off the cliff and says that it was always that way with her.

I do also miss the craziness of that hyperscape jump and the X-Wings. I’m not sure if that could be worked back in without getting back into the mediocre New Republic stuff.

It’s not a bad idea to completely remove him. It’s definitely doable, but I think he’s needed for the 2 v 2 encounter in the woods. What I will do, however, based on your suggestion is trim his death scene so that he isn’t a “ghost” since that plot point doesn’t really go anywhere.

szopman said:

Today I watched your cuts of episodes 3 and 4. Looks great, you cut a lot of superfluous stuff and you definitely improved the pacing a lot. It flows so much better now.

I personally would trim some dialogues even more, but it’s OK the way it is now 😉

Hope you won’t cut too much from the Anakin/Ahsoka encounter/flashbacks 😉

Looking forward to the final cut! 😉

I was working on the Anakin/Ahsoka sequence last night. I’ve been able to tighten it up a lot without losing too much of the dialogue. The next job is to figure out how to cut it together with the Episode 6 content having decided to remove the New Republic plot.

Half way there with the second cut!

Here is the episode 4 segment. A lot of big and little cuts here… got the episode down to 19mins. Half was point clocking in at 1h 27 so I’m on target!

Let me know your thoughts.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EK1EjzPk0ZkD9x16xAGz4AsQmzrHNnzi

TheDimitrios said:

smudger9 said:
The workaround I’ve done (not yet released) is to use the dialogue I cut from Season 4 where Mando is discussing the Mandalorian glass he has in his possession. I forget the actual dialogue but he explains he fot it off Jawas who claim to have been on the surface of Mandalore.

That sounds even more elegant, very curious to see it.

I thought it worked quite well because it casts doubt over Armourer’s beliefs about Mandalore.

TheDimitrios said:

Watched it again today and had a thought on the Beskar spear.
Maybe you cant push the AI Voice so much, but here it goes:
…
When Mando picks it up, you could add a line from Mando that says “I almost forgot about this”.

Then the conversation with Boba starts.

Mando: This is all that survived.

Boba: Beskar…

And then in the following shot of Mando add him saying: A forbidden weapon…
…
While not perfect, it would explain why we have not seen it before (forbidden and not used for a long time) and do some foreshadowing for Episode 3. And since he does not have a ship to hide it anymore, it is plausible that he carries it with him now. The alternative would be to bury it somewhere.

That would be plausible.
The workaround I’ve done (not yet released) is to use the dialogue I cut from Season 4 where Mando is discussing the Mandalorian glass he has in his possession. I forget the actual dialogue but he explains he fot it off Jawas who claim to have been on the surface of Mandalore.

GLogus said:

idir_hh said:

What do you think of leaving out the scenes that have ashoka fighting her way back to paridea, that way you keep the suspense and anticipation of her return, maybe only keeping the shot of her calling to Sabine with the force as confirmation that she has arrived. So you would cut from her jumping to light speed until she comes to save the day pretty much. Which shaves a good bit for faster pacing.

I actually like this. Sadly, it cuts more of Ahsoka out of her own show, but it’s already kinda Sabine’s show anyway.

That’s my feeling too. It’s a great way to cut the runtime down but it will shift the balance to Sabine and make the third act feel too short.
Also, given that the plot is largely the search for Ezra/Thrawn I feel we need to see Ahsoka’s journey. Having her just show up will feel contrived.

Season 1 has some great content and lore. Annoyingly it’s so close to making a perfect movie, the detour to rescue Gregor just details it slightly and because Hunger gets captured it can’t be cut.

It’s still pretty tight, just about 15mins too long. This edit is 99% done. As soon as Ahsoka is finished I’ll get it finished.

Not quite ready. It’s 99% done but I’m going to finish my Ahsoka edit first!

I’m now up to the end of episode 3 with my second cut. This is the most challenging episode because it essentially only had one job… to get Sabine and Ahsoka to the surface of Seatos… but it took 30 miniutes to accomplish it! It required a LOT of cutting. I’ve managed to get it down to 15 minutes. I could have done it in 11 minutes had it not been for Ahsoka’s costume change!

Anyway, as its only a 15 minute segment and has been massively edited I thought I’d post it here for some feedback. The first three episodes clock in at 1h 8mins including the opening logos and crawl… I would have liked to have done it in an hour, but it still has me on track for the magic sub 3-hour target.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1u1SaVjW2yCsvPXPJcnpmkYHkR_DSUJfi

Thanks for the feedback. I’ll lock down the first act then.
I’m currently working on a second cut with completed audio transitions. It’s taking a bit of time because along with the numerous scene cuts, virtually every remaining scene has been trimmed. The first third is done but it’s slow going!

So I’ve completed the first cut and it’s clocking in at 3h10. This is a little too long, but I haven’t yet removed the New Republic plot from the middle act. That should save 5 to 10 mins. I’ve now gone back to tighten up act 1 and have managed to chip the running time down to 3h07, so I’m getting there and confident that I can bring this in at 2h55 or so.

In terms of the first act there are a couple of sequences that are crucial to the current structure that I wanted an opinion on. It uses AI dialogue to allow me to remove the Correlia and droid head scenes. It would be great to get feedback on

1. Whether the AI voices are good enough.
2. Whether the plot is good enough to get them from Lothal to Seatos without needing to use the droid head. I can put a much shortened droid head sequence back in if needed.

This is the medical bay sequence
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PUOxAdTMZyKWIRPqRqL35h70j2BUwXDL

This is the Ashoka/Sabine platform sequence
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1F0GJz6yXZYY6V1gUQ2HM_CAOtK3nPe4Z

losthead said:

Out of curiosity, would it be possible to edit the Hera trial scene to be referring to the Corellia incident? That could allow us to cut Hera and Jacen out of Seatos, but still provide a conclusion for the New Republic arc in the show.

That would be straightforward to do, although I’m currently working on removing the New Republic plot completely.

Jar Jar Bricks said:

I like it! Obviously needs the AI lines from Huyang that he was the one who found her. Maybe also consider shortening up her auditory flashback so that the camera doesn’t have to pan over Hera and the ghost.

Yes. That will all be done. It’s just a very rough cut to see if it works.

Jar Jar Bricks said:

It seems I need access. But I think removing Hera and all New Republic scenes and keeping them all just a cameo at the beginning and end of the movie is the way to go.

You should be able to access now.

So last night I was working on removing Hera and the New Republic from Seatos. Here is a proof of concept for the sequence from Ahsoka being pulled from the water to her departing in the space whale. There will need to be alteration of Huyang’s dialogue and removing the Ghost from a couple of shots. Thoughts?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xTHdvaVItybDqsEHn8_BUZT3ahRPGEqG

WitchDR said:

I’d love to check out the rough cut!

Thanks. I’ll get it rendered and links out this evening.

szopman said:

In my opinion, it’s better to keep as much as possible or the flashbacks and cut the whole Hera/NR subplot.

In the end, the NR subplot is just a filler, and it was one of the weakest points of the show. I guess most of fans didn’t enjoy it.

On the other hand, let’s be honest, people love the Anakin stuff, and those flashbacks were important I’m terms of the “Lesson” and Ahsoka’s character development. Also, if you take in consideration viewers/fans who never watched TCW, those flashbacks add a lot in terms of Ahsoka/Anakin story. I understand that for the sake of a coherent, well paced 3h movie you have to trim stuff, but I in my opinion you should keep this flashback stuff, as much as possible.

And again, Hera/NR stuff was really weak and in the end turned out to be a useless filler.

EDIT
I’d be happy to watch the rough cut of this 😉 I ll have to spend 2h in a train tomorrow anyway 😉

Yeah the Clone Wars stuff was one of the best parts of the show. I think I’ll stick with my current edit of those. I’ve shortened the scenes as much as I can whilst maintaining the story.

The New Republic stuff is a really difficult one. I agree that it’s a relatively weak part of the show. However, without some elements of it there isn’t anything to plug a couple of time gaps in the Seatos story. That’s fine with a TV show, but with a movie it’s obvious that something is missing. And there is the issue with Ahsoka’s exit from Seatos. I’ll render the rough second act and send you a link.

I’ve done a cut of the first 7 episodes which is clocking in at 2h40. I’m waiting for a non-DV 4K source for episode 8 so that I can complete the cut and I’m confident I can bring it in on 3 hours, which is my upper limit for a movie edit.
Whilst I’m waiting for an episode 8 source I’m going back through act 1 to complete the audio.

Act 1 is pretty much nailed down. It’s act 2 where I’m still a little uncertain, particularly concerning the Clone Wars flashbacks and the Hera/New Republic plot. My current version includes both the Clone Wars and Hera/New Republic elements with a lot of trimming.

I guess the options for the Clone Wars flashbacks are:

1. The trimmed version I currently have.
2. A series of flashes with no dialogue.
3. Remove and use the WBW scenes only.

For the Hera/New Republic arc I can:

1. Stick with my edited version which removes the defence council and tribunal scenes and trimming of the Ahsoka search.

2. Cut it entirely and have Huyang rescue Ahsoka from the water. However, this option creates issues with the pacing of the primary plot due to lack of spacer scenes and a very disjointed Purgil departure results in a disjointed Purgill departure sequence.

If anyone wants to look over a rough cut of the second act let me know.

Theeyskens said:

Can I please get the link to download this?

This is very much a work in progress!