Thanks for the interest everyone! Sorry in advance for the long post. I just wanted to go ahead and respond to everyone.
Very interesting idea. I’ve thought of this hypothetically before. This could be good, though potentially problematic when ideas clash, which I’d definitely see happening. But count me in nonetheless.
Yeah, this would be the biggest issue. I’m definitely expecting there to be heated debates, but I think if people keep in mind that debate is a part of the process and to not make arguments personal, I think it will be beneficial in the long run. I doubt there will be ideas that will require a vote, but it could always come down to something like that if it was necessary. This idea is still so nebulous that we may have to figure out how to handle decisive decisions as we go along. But that’s the fun part I think. If you have any ideas Dixon please share them!
Nice idea! I could probably help out with some effects later. As you know, I helped Hal with Restructured as well as the “Padmé survives” clip.
I appreciate that Ridley! I have to say the necklace addition really caught be by surprise. Great job on that! I’d love to hear your thoughts on any ideas you might have as well.
Needless to say, anyone may use anything of mine for whatever they want; I just ask that if you borrow extensively and directly that you acknowledge what you’re doing.
Absolutely!
I’d say if this were going to move forward, RogueLeader would need to guide the process and set the parameters; we would likely wander aimlessly if we wait for a totally organic consensus to emerge on any of the particulars; you can’t do everything and not all ideas are congruent with one another.
Yeah, I could kind of act as a moderator for the project. If we’re not careful things could messy real quick, with imcompatible edits and overambitious ideas. We would need to make some sort of rules or guidelines to stick it. While it will be more complex than rules for one major change, I think having something written and laid out will make a big difference.
If your intent is to edit all of the films for continuity, I’d actually suggest having Padme die in Ep3; it’s much easier to simply remove the dialogue from ROTJ. (For me, I’d rather alter the prequels than the OT.) I’m not sure that’s a goal that can be satisfactorily addressed, given how pervasive the serial nature of the series has been. Can Obi-Wan and the droids be separated throughout the prequels, for example?
I think going back through each of these issues and seeing what realistically can be done would create pretty fun discussions. I do agree with you about the Padmé thing. While I would like to use Revisited as a basis with Adywan’s permission considering how many visual continuity errors he has fixed so far, I picture changes to the original trilogy being minimal. Mostly I picture it would be small dialogue changes that your average Star Wars might not even notice.
For example, a big continuity issue to me is Obi-Wan’s story to Luke about his father in A New Hope. While he obviously wants to hide the truth from Luke, some things he says seem more like blatant lies for no reason. While I think you could argue that the stuff he says about Owen could be resentment Owen developed about Obi-Wan during his exile. But “Your father wanted you to have this when you were old enough” can really only be interpreted as a continuity error or a manipulative lie. With this idea in mind, maybe that line could be changed to “I wanted you to have this…” or “Your father would’ve wanted you to have this…”
Same for his line about Yoda being his master in ESB. It could just be changed to, “A Jedi Master who instructed me” rather than “THE Jedi Master who instructed me.” While, yes, we are changing the OT, I believe these changes are minimal.
This isn’t set in stone, but I think when minimal changes can be made, it might be the better option. I think the Obi-Wan and the droids issue could use more discussion!
Although, and I say this as a joke, it almost makes me nervous that you’ll come up with a bunch of cool ideas and effects that I’ll regret not being included in my own edits which I refuse to return to. 😉
Ha! I don’t think you have anything to worry about from this edit! And many future prequel edits will have you to thank for all of your changes and ideas. I think overtime all of our edits, including this one, will become outdated as ideas grow and technology improves for future editors. We are what they grow beyond.
Though I wonder how much work would actually be necessary, if this kind of project would provide much more than has already been done in other edits like Hal’s PT and TFA Restructured? It would be interesting to write up some possible changes, including new ideas and things that would be copied from existing edits and see how those two things compare.
As you say, things can’t really be finalised until ep9 is out, but that’s no reason not to get started if enough people are on board 😄
That’s what I’ve thought about too. There has already been a lot done to the prequels and the other films. I think we would should definitely look at what has been done before, but I also know I have a few ideas I haven’t seen before that I think could be considered, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who has other ideas. It’s an ever-evolving thing.
And I agree! I definitely think making a rule set or guidelines might be a pretty good start. Or just start throwing out ideas and having the rules evolve as we discuss, since we can’t real make any final decisions until IX is out.
This reminds me of the old ROTJ collaborative edit that was happening a few years ago.
I’d be happy to do some visual effects if they become necessary.
Same here! I definitely was thinking of darthender’s thread when I thought of this.
I appreciate that! I meant to tell you that your most recent posts have looked really great. I really liked the rebel fleet shot.
Having strict continuity between all films is a good place to start with this idea, but could the idea be extended to apply to character actions and plot issues?
For example, in AOTC there are some real issues with characters acting inconsistently like when Obi-wan jumps out an open window after urging restraint in the previous scene.
I have a few other ideas like this for Episode 2, and in a collaborative thread we could probably come up with many more. It would probably help to have separate threads for each movie.
I’ve thought a lot about this too!
Eventually I came to the thought that maybe Obi-Wan is a little more reckless than he likes to believe. He wants to be the perfect master for Anakin, but he was only 25 when he became Anakin’s Master, and he might be more brash like Qui-Gon than he thinks he is. So when he says, “I hate it when he does that”, I take it more as he hates when Anakin shows that he has inherited more of Obi-Wan’s more reckless traits than he would like, like jumping out of a window. I think making Obi-Wan choose to train Anakin rather than being forced to by Qui-Gon’s dying wishes could help with this as well.
That’s at least one interpretation, but regardless you do bring up good points about some of their antics in this scene being a little outlandish. But these kind of questions would be good for discussion! I would to talk about your other ideas too. And maybe separate threads for each movie would be a good idea. I guess I could put links to each thread in the first post of this one?
I like your idea behind this Rogue! I do agree with others that there would still need to be direction to focus on the objections. Of course taking in as many ideas is good, just need the head editor to make the final choice that keeps the project going and on track. I have no edit skills but would be happy to bounce ideas off and look over things too. After the release of the final saga, a broad objective needs to be drawn up and then tackle down the details.
Thanks for the interest jarbear! I’m definitely going to moderate the project and mediate discussion as best as possible. I think the most important thing is to have ideas and perspectives to bounce around, so your input would definitely be appreciated.
And that’s what it really comes down to. I’m going to start thinking about what this broad objective could be. At the very least, we’ll try to tackle major continuity issues, but it could also be more specific things like Neverar suggested. Obviously improving plot and characterization like most edits do, but the ideas could range from changing prequel ship interfaces to be more OT low-tech, or trying to keep the runtime to as close to 2 hours as possible.
I kind of picture the guidelines being set up like Asimov’s 3 laws of robotics, where we adhere to one idea unless it interferes with another more primary rule. I don’t think they should be set in stone, though. So if we all really like an idea that doesn’t necessarily fit into the objective, we could still run with it if we are all generally on board.
Anyway, if you guys have any ideas regarding changes or guidelines I’d love to hear them. I’ll post some more thoughts on both later.