We’ve got a winner!
You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)
It is looking really good. The deleted scene does look “good” enough for me as well.
I do think the first BB8 rolling away shot is still a little off since his proportions are a bit off. The wide shot is perfect though!
“Because you are a PalpaWalker?”
Excellent, glad we’re in a good spot here! Thanks everybody!
I do think the first BB8 rolling away shot is still a little off since his proportions are a bit off. The wide shot is perfect though!
Still too small, jarbear? I increased the scale about 20%, but I could go bigger. Remember, BB-8 is much smaller than R2D2 and doesn’t go past anyone’s knees. It also has depth of field blur that racks into focus as he moves into the shot, but I could add more?
Maybe just try it a little bit bigger. Slightly increase his size and maybe increase the focus rack a little and see how it looks. That’ll either be enough, or you’ll need to tone it down to a happy medium and then it will be set, hopefully.
Maybe just try it a little bit bigger. Slightly increase his size and maybe increase the focus rack a little and see how it looks. That’ll either be enough, or you’ll need to tone it down to a happy medium and then it will be set, hopefully.
I agree with trying that. That’ll probably be the finishing touch it needs to help smooth it out. I am liking this more and more!
“Because you are a PalpaWalker?”
I wanted to pop in and mention the Finn crash scene and how I’m handling it.
In my version, Rose and Poe warn Finn to get away from the laser, but he continues with it. We get a last shot of Rose looking back at Finn in terror, presumably feeling like Finn is doomed and that she can’t do anything.
Finn gets shot away, Poe slides back, then we see Finn climb out.
Later on we see Finn drag an injured Soilder into the base. I cut this shot short before it zooms up too close onto Rose. Now it is assumed that he is carrying simply an injured Soilder.
I do understand Rose’s absence since this would require cutting her on the stretcher in the Falcon as well but right now that is how I am approaching it.
I do like everyone’s ideas about showing Rose getting shot down though. And depending on episode 9, you could just have Rose die, makes Finn more motivated to do suicide run, and then cut her on the Falcon. This is assuming Rose is relatively unimportant in Ep 9 and can be cut. Just a crazy idea to throw out there.
Here’s a V5!
https://vimeo.com/283242749 (password: fanedit)
For this version I have rotoscoped BB-8 so his matte should be cleaner. I’ve also scaled him up another 10-15% and added a bit more focus blur.
darthrush, that’s interesting about trimming the Finn shot of him dragging Rose instead of cutting it. That way, at least, we see Finn get back to base. I guess I was just worried it would be confusing as to who he was carrying yelling for a medpack. But it could be anybody, I suppose. I am eagerly awaiting The Dark Cut!
Ok, wow, it looks good to me. I think those final touches smooth it out very nicely.
Wonderful! I would insert that into my edit!
“Because you are a PalpaWalker?”
This sounds like a fantastic set of edits coming together here. If you were to include some tweaks to the Luke ‘saber toss’ scene (ala Ivan), this would be really close to my perfect cut.
Wonderful! I would insert that into my edit!
Check your PM! 😉
If anyone else would like full res versions (prores HQ, 5.1 audio) of any specific changes to slot into your edits, please PM me.
The next thing I’d be looking into would be to add a laser blast to show Finn’s ship getting blasted. I’m not sure I could roto out the second ship during the collision, but I think to some (not all!), the mind accepts the shots of the crash as being parts of the same ship. I’m also still thinking about having Rose crash, but for now, leaning against it, because I love the build-up to Finn’s suicide run as it was originally put together.
This sounds like a fantastic set of edits coming together here. If you were to include some tweaks to the Luke ‘saber toss’ scene (ala Ivan), this would be really close to my perfect cut.
Thank you, I’m glad you like the edits! I agree it would be nice to improve the Luke saber toss. The thing with Ivan’s version is that he’s very much changing Luke’s character in the movie, having Luke accept his role to train Rey immediately. In this (Hal’s) version, Luke’s saber toss fits with his behavior in the first half and makes the statement that Luke has become jaded. It just looks a bit silly, played for comedy. I like darthrush’s version, with him just dropping it, but I’m not sure yet if that’s what I would want to do. I’m also thinking the music may have something to do with the comedic timing of the moment, and wondering if a music tweak could help.
So here’s two ideas for the saber toss, approaching the scene from the perspective that the toss isn’t so much the issue as the comedic timing of it:
Option A (TFA Music)
https://vimeo.com/284544481 (password: fanedit)
Option B (TLJ Music Extended)
https://vimeo.com/284554005 (password: fanedit)
I think the original music played into the joke aspect by swelling and then going silent, so we only hear the wind. This has a “bottom falling out” effect, which works for comedy. So to resolve this, I’ve made some modifications to the score, and I think it plays differently. Instead of a joke, the music emphasizes Luke’s anger.
Option A uses “The Jedi Steps” from TFA to replace most of the score from this scene. It’s not ideal, as using the same music only adds to the oddness of having two versions of the same scene across two movies. Option B is my favorite I think, because there’s very little music change. It’s essentially just sliding the music swell to after the toss, so I just had to add a few seconds of music to bridge the gap.
On a smaller level, I also brought in the bells from “The Jedi Steps” theme a little sooner, right after Finn says “Where’s Rey?” Every time I watched that scene I always felt like I wanted to hear a teasing of bells during the pause before the cut, so I tried it and I think it works. I’m a fan of when music leads into a transition instead of after the cut.
EDIT: Added 2nd Option!
The scene works like this! The first one I think works a little bit better, I think.
That is a great idea, and I think option B works very well. Am I correct in thinking neither of these changes alter the length of the scene at all?
Correct! The length / timing has not changed at all.
Good to see there’s interest in both versions! I think I lean towards B simply because it keeps the original score mostly intact and doesn’t repeat TFA as much.
I agree. Nice thing is that you could offer both in the form of an alternate audio track.
I do like Option B as well, it does take away from the set up, which is a good thing!
“Because you are a PalpaWalker?”
I really like some of the tweaks here! Keep it up 😃
Thanks for the feedback! It looks like option B is what I will go with (although I certainly can provide an alt track as Hal suggested).
I think all that’s on my list for the moment is to try and add a laser blast to when Finn gets “shot down”.
I still like RogueLeader’s idea for having Rose get shot down, but at the same time, I love the original flow of the scene (with Rose and Poe trying to talk Finn out of going). I may play with it. I think some music to create the impact Finn feels when Rose gets shot down may help sell it.
I am beyond excited for this edit! While Hal’s edit suits my needs perfectly well, if there’s one edit that can finally get my friends out of the “haters corner” it’s this one. This will be the one to show when we marathon the movies next December. Looking forward to getting a hold of the finished product!
That’s great to hear! Glad you’re excited!
Haven’t posted much recently simply because work has been crazy busy the last couple of weeks.
As I said last week, the only thing on my list at this point is to add a laser blast to Finn getting shot down. Looking at it again, though, I realize it only makes sense to add some sort of light flash on the shot of Finn because that’s when the impact happens.
I may also experiment with RogueLeader’s idea for having Rose get shot down.
In any case, I hope to have a new workprint in the next week or two. This one will have 5.1 surround so I can check that the mix sounds right.
Thank you again, everybody!
Here’s a very minor update to Finn getting shot down. I added some lighting effects in the cockpit and a bit more sound design to help sell Finn getting hit with a laser blast instead of a collision.
https://vimeo.com/286687330
PW: fanedit
That looks and sounds great to me.
Thank you, darthrush! Your edit of this scene is so fantastic and essential for my enjoyment of the movie. As I’ve said before, Rose’s “rescue” is so illogical to me I have trouble focusing afterward.
While I understand having Rose disappear until the end scene in the Falcon is a bit odd, it’s not out of the realm of the kind of editing that often happens in large scale films. Think of Gandalf‘s staff disappearing in the theatrical Return of the King. Or Han having a “funny feeling” he wasn’t going to see the Falcon again in Return of the Jedi. Or the missing 3rd lesson in The Last Jedi!
I’m still open to having Rose get shot down. I’ve played with it, but haven’t figured out how to make it a real moment, which is kind of required for this to happen to a major character. Overall, if it doesn’t work, though, I’m okay with it as is.
Also, at least for me, I still see two ships colliding into each other … so for a person like me who sees details … there would need to be someone editing frame by frame and removing Rose’s colliding skimmer.
But that’s people like me who see’s that detail. 😉
So here’s an effort at removing one of the skimmers from the collision to reinforce Finn getting shot down!
https://vimeo.com/287162447 (password: fanedit)
Maybe it’s just for jarbear, but I figured it was worth giving it a shot!
It’s not perfect, but I may be able to improve upon it.
WOW!! This thread has been a great inspiration. I’ve been a long time lurker here and have many fan editing ideas but I’ve always put off starting any of “my projects”. Until now! I was toying with starting with TLJ because I love the film but just want to twaek a few things here and there. It seems we share very similar ideas with what to leave in and what to cut out and I love the progress you seem to be making with your edit, well done.
The Crait battle sequence with Rose’s dumb collision is a deal breaker for me and thanks to RogueLeader’s idea above and darthrush’s edit I am genuinely excited with what might be achievable here. So I dusted off my Photoshop skills, took the plunge and began editing TLJ. I’ve learnt so much (and made so many mistakes) in the space of a few short days.
Your latest clip above is wonderful, I tried removing one of the speeders myself and you did a much better job of it than me.
My current thinking is to have Rose get shot after she turns and heads back to the base on Poe’s command. There is a very brief clip of her retreat that I think can be used. This gives the advantage that it leads directly in to Finn turning off his comms and I think it sells his reaction (of his friend being shot down) much more favourably. To him, hope is lost and he is even more willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. With the correct audio I think that this can work and I would love to know what you think:
https://vimeo.com/287343498
(password: fanedit, Apologies this is video only, I really haven’t mastered the audio for this sequence yet). Rose gets shot around the 01.15 mark, the laser blast kind of locks on to her.
Also version 2, I think this blast effect is better and more in keeping with Star Wars but it just makes the event seem a bit too quick.
https://vimeo.com/287352195 (password: fanedit, video only)
I’m hoping that these might give you further thought into what might be achieved and then you can use your superior skills to sell it better 😃