Sorry for the delay:

Anakin’s soliloquy- try it and if it doesn’t work, then cut it. Sounds good to me- I was actually considering a voice-over from Anakin (lips aren’t moving, but you hear what he’s thinking) but I think that’s a very contemporary technique and not in the ‘30’s style (even though they did use it in RotS

MTHaslett- I see what you’re saying about, “I’m not afraid to die.” (but I am afraid to lose you). I’ll do it that way, then.

As for the Han/Leia theme- I love that theme- that might be my favorite theme from the whole saga. However, I want to keep it in the OT because it doesn’t really have relevance in this romance. It was a different relationship of two people who were free to do whatever they wanted, but were a little reluctant (love/hate type of thing). Anakin/Padme is two people that like each other very much, but are not allowed to fall in love. Anyway, I just feel that the Han/Leia theme doesn’t really fit in this romance.

So how I was planning to score the balcony/fireside scene- remember that Padme hair-combing scene in ROTS? I didn’t like the scene but I loved the music (another variation on the love theme, but with the violin on a countermelody). What do you think of that?

DarthAstuart- nice to hear from you! And I don’t blame you for not wanting to hunt through 300 posts to try and find all of my changes. Yes- no matter how I do the garage scene, the primary concern was to edit it so that Padme has no knowledge that Anakin killed all the sandpeople, because it is indeed very unrealistic for Padme to accept this revelation with, “To be angry is to be human.” As opposed to, “You psycho!” What I was trying to figure out was whether I want the audience to know this.

Commander Courage- nice to hear from you again as well! I have watched part of “Vergence in the Force” by ADigitalMan, and I actually liked this idea very much. My original idea on it (which I haven’t implemented yet) was not to prevent Padme from being a senator in II and III, but to make it so that she was born a queen and that she decided to resign or quit for one reason or another, leaving one of her relatives as the queen. The reason she was no longer queen would be revealed through Nute Gunray during the conference with Dooku in the middle of the film. I need to work on that. Either way, I want to get rid of the “elected queen at 14” business, because as ADM said, queens are born, not elected. That’s why she was so young at the time.

I would, however, love to hear any suggestions you have regarding this idea, because it’s a good one.

Qui-Gon’s role- I loved Qui-Gon. He’s probably my favorite character in the PT. The “No….” that you hear in the original cut will DEFINITELY be removed from my cut. Three things could happen with this:

1. I could look through TPM and even other films starring Neeson for a good recording of “Noo…”
2. I could do a reasonably good imitation myself (better than the one in the film, anyway)
3. I could just leave it out

But beyond that, I don’t know how to expand Qui-Gon’s role in Ep. II. I could have him chime in during Anakin’s dream, but three people talking at once could get messy- I’d have to play with it. Looking towards the future, if the Ep. III DVD contains the deleted scene with Yoda and Qui-Gon, it definitely goes in my cut.

Lightsaber sound effects- I like the original ones, but keep in mind that this is all aesthetic stuff and I won’t necessarily get to (until the end, if there’s time)

The plan for the duel looks good, but I have to plead with you not to use that HORRIBLE shot of CGI Anakin leaping across the room.

Ah…I’m sorry. I had previously cut it from the film, but then discovered that I needed it to make the re-edited final duel work properly. I couldn’t find another shot that did the job. If you have any suggestions, please let me know (because I agree that the shot looks rather phony).

Anakin’s nightmare- my reasoning with the fade-to-black was actually for the same reason that you’d like me to change it!-the fact that that transition had never been used before make it significant, lets you know that what you’re about to see is important. Also, fade-to-black was used once in Ep. III (before the start of the 2nd dream), so it wouldn’t be altogether out of place.

The other reason I had a fade-to-black was because of the nature of the dream- it starts out with voices (over black screen). Shimi: Don’t look back. Tusken grunts. Anakin: Mother? Slowly fade in to image of Shmi, bloody and beaten up. Anakin: No… no, please…Then crossfade with Tuskens slamming their sticks in camera direction…

That type of thing. Hard to explain, but you would understand after seeing it.

And have you found a way to replicate the dream effects used in Episode 3?

I believe so. I don’t know that I want to use it for the whole thing, though- I think it would be effective if everything BUT Shmi was blurred in that dream, again to add significance and urgency to it. I don’t know- the dream is a fun project and I’m pretty much going to go by instinct when editing and try different sequences to see which is most effective (with music).

Breaking up Anakin's nightmare adds a much greater importance to them

Do you mean the fact that it’s earlier in the film makes it more important? I agree completely! BTW, CC, what happened to your old signature?

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I’ve been having computer/video problems recently that have prevented me from working on the final cut, but now it appears that I’ve fixed most of the problems. As of today, I am working on the final cut of “Shroud of the Dark Side”. Don’t get too excited- this is a very very very very long process- but it has begun.