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The ‘Custom Special Edition’ That Almost Wasn’t, But Then Was (Released) — Page 2

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I don’t think I would want to reinclude a deleted scene not present in the SE. The scene as it is presented is neutral to me, so it would come down to whether the continuity issue can be addressed.
And yes, someone could take my video stream and make a custom audio mix fairly easily. Just sync it up with the start, and make adjustments when it goes out of sync.

My stance on revising fan edits.

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Are you also planning to correct the lightsaber color issue aboard the Falcon ?

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Not beyond what an already color corrected source would already have done. Hyperspace aside, I really don’t want to fix or correct things aside from hybridizing the official versions.

My stance on revising fan edits.

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Here’s a stab at a hybridized wampa scene. Avoids ‘showing the shark’ too much, while providing a more effective reveal. Saber retract sound effect has been removed for continuity.

https://vimeo.com/286703539
password: fanedit

And yeah, I’m gonna go ahead and tackle ESB since all the source material I need is already out there. 720p, a compliment to my ANH Custom Special Edition from a few years ago.

My stance on revising fan edits.

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Did you do color correction yourself or am I forgetting what colors are in the scene normally?

Reading R + L ≠ J theories

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Adywan’s 1997 SE restoration is the primary source, and his ESB: Revisited is a secondary. For this scene, I tried to bring each one to a rough halfway point. I tweaked it myself, yes.

My stance on revising fan edits.

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Not bad at all ! If Ady delivers uncompressed version of his edit, will you use his replacement shot of the wampa head ?

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No, since it would be even less of a match to the SE Wampa. I may just use his Wampa sequence flat out, though, since my above hybridization clip is a bit ‘innovative,’ whereas his cleans up and enhances what is fundamentally the original version of the scene.

My stance on revising fan edits.

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The ‘Custom Special Editon’ of ESB will be forthcoming. It’s a fairly quick and easy project to edit, basically just cobbling together two sources from the illustrious Adywan. It’s something I would have done anyway for my own viewing enjoyment, so I may as well present it in case others may find it closer to their preferences.
Primary source is his 1997 SE Reconstruction, as the colors are the best around and it is a little closer match in quality to the 720p Revisited source. It may not be the technical pinnacle of picture quality, but it is sound and more than fits in with the 720p, cobbled-together-by-fans standard that we, sadly, have to settle for for the time being for most OT-related projects. The primary audio source is the wonderful 1997 SE theatrical DTS mix, once again. Until the OT.com eschaton, when the originals are given a proper release, this will be my final word on ESB. (Or, rather, the best that can be achieved in terms of a Special Edition version as a companion to the original theatrical.)

Video Changes, beginning from Adywan’s 1997 SE Reconstruction:

  • Used wampa escape scene from Adywan’s Revisited, which brings enhancements while retaining the pacing (and, indeed, sync) of the original version.
  • Used the conversation between Vader and the Emperor from Adywan’s Revisited, as he essentially honored the content of the original version of the scene while realizing the potential the 2004 DVD version presents.
  • Used Adywan’s Revisited to avoid a continuity error posed by the Special Edition as an expanded cityscape out a Cloud City window disappears a few shots later.
  • Recreated the original pacing of the escape from Cloud City, removing Vader departing for and arriving on his star destroyer, though leaving two brief shots of the shuttle ascending.
  • Used color corrected footage from KK650 to include the 2004 alteration of correcting Piett’s and another officer’s badges appearing on the opposite side of their uniforms.

Audio Changes, beginning from the 1997 Special Edition theatrical DTS audio mix:

  • Reinstated Luke’s line to R2 of, “You’re lucky you don’t taste very good.”
  • Used 2011 BluRay audio to include updated sound design for Slave I during its first appearance to match Episode II.
  • Removed Luke’s scream from the 1997 mix as he falls down the Cloud City shaft after his confrontation with Vader.

My stance on revising fan edits.

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I found the repeat of the Imperial March in the 97SE too jarring. I’d suggest using the concert version of the piece in the credits for more seamlessness.

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Each of the films has a looped section of music at the end. Although I have bent this guideline, doing this would fall outside the goal of the project. Also, I doubt sync would be an easy thing to line up perfectly.

My stance on revising fan edits.

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I remember a post of Harmy explaining that 720p is not really a quality loss with the OT since the bluray aren’t technically “good” 1080p, so fully uncompressed 720p should be quite good ! So you’re still planning to make two tracks ? A pure OT and a PT-compliant (Slave I Episode II sound, Jango Fett’s voice as Boba’s) ? If you can borrow one extra thing from Ady, the shuttle going from one destroyer to the other would be nice.

(I’m still hoping Ady delivers the bluray version of Revisited; the 2017 720p is good but with a higher compression rate it would look better).

edit: SE 97 Reconstruction comes with english subtitles iirc, would be nice to sync them to your edit (and quite easy to do: just keep a log of the number of frame differences in the sections you’ve altered, with that info and the original subtitle file it would be very quite - a matter of minutes - easy to sync)

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Thanks, I’ll do that for the subtitles. And you’re right about the shuttle; that wouldn’t have occurred to me! It’s another Adywan change which assists with continuity with a SE change. Since I decided to keep two shots of the shuttle ascending to his SSD later in the movie, makes perfect sense to incorporate that change as well. 😃

My stance on revising fan edits.

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Hal 9000 said:

Audio Changes, beginning from the 1997 Special Edition theatrical DTS audio mix:

  • Reinstated Luke’s line to R2 of, “You’re lucky you don’t taste very good.”
  • Used 2011 BluRay audio to include updated sound design for Slave I during its first appearance to match Episode II.
  • Removed Luke’s scream from the 1997 mix as he falls down the Cloud City shaft after his confrontation with Vader.
  • insert german track
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 (Edited)

benduwan said:

  • insert german track

I don’t have a great deal of free time right now, but if you were so inclined, it would be a genuinely easy and doable task to take any post 1997 audio track for ESB, sync it to my video stream, and make a few slight cuts to bring it in line. There were only 4 changes made which should affect sync with the 2004 or 2011 version: the wampa, the Emperor, and parts 1 and 2 of the extended shuttle sequence at the end.

ESB is coming together nicely, and should be out soonish. It’s a very, very simple and quick project, since Adywan’s two sources were all I needed to draw from. Again, I’m just putting this out there in case it hits the spot for anyone else.

I already have a customized version of ANH out there, though I would like to update it. ROTJ becomes the next priority. All I really need for sources is a decent color-corrected 2004/2011 source. I am hoping that perhaps Adywan’s upcoming color corrected version would be a close enough match to the Despecialized in order to use those as the two primary sources. We’ll have to see.

In order to revise ANH again, I would need a color corrected source, being either NeverarGreat’s or possibly Adywan’s upcoming. I suspect Adywan’s upcoming may be closer to the current version of the Despecialized than NeverarGreat’s, and would look nice as a “Special Edition” look.

Looks like ESB is all I can accomplish for the time being. If I wanted to do a non-OUT watch-through this very minute, I’d probably use my customized ANH, this new customized ESB, and KK650’s ROTJ. I’m hopeful that the entire OT can be finished prior to a marathon viewing for Episode 9. And this will be my final work on the OOT until such glorious times as a proper restoration is released to the public.

EDIT: Oh, and I don’t think there’s enough merit for a second audio track for ESB. I included the 2011 updated sound effect for Slave I, but retained the original Boba Fett voice. I don’t think anyone who would possibly be interested in this project would actually prefer to watch ESB with Temuera Morrison’s voice even for the novelty of it.

My stance on revising fan edits.

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Well, I’ve managed to get ESB uploaded to the Google Drive, for anyone interested in it. Again, this was a simple and quick project I would have done for myself regardless of any outside interest, so it’s not something to be made a big deal about. I’ll probably watch it next year with family and friends ahead of IX, and hopefully will have given ANH and ROTJ similar attention. And, until radical new source material is revealed and processed by this community, it’ll be all I can do.

My stance on revising fan edits.

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Your version of ESB looks nearly ideal. Any reason you left in the gaffe with the puppeteer’s arm on the Wampa though? That was fixed in the Blu-Ray version.

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Just a nitpick about your TESB edit: I believe Leia’s line “You think after what you did to Han we’re gonna trust you” doesn’t use the best audio mix (we can’t hear Leia because of Chewie). I don’t remember what is the best mix for this line (the original 1980 audio ?). And I would also suggest to use Ady’s audio to fix the slight continuity issue with Luke “Steady, Rogue 2” to “Steady, Rogue 3”.

By the way, since Ady is releasing a 1080p file of his color corrected ANH, there might be a chance he releases as well his color corrected TESB ?

Aside from these details, it’s a very nice edit, taking advantage of the good SE alterations and a few Ady’s modifications to prevent the most notable continuity issues. The best world between the OOT and SE/Revisited 😉

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I am partial to the 1997 mixes, so I’m happy to let that be featured for a custom SE, including the scene where Chewie interrupts Leia.

I am not interested in fixing continuity issues aside from ones introduced by the SE, or to help the SE do what it was trying to do. I got into Star Wars with the 1997 SE versions first, but was exposed to the originals as well, so I want the experience of watching these to feel familiar, like listening to a favorite song. As cool as Revisited is, it certainly can’t provide that. I’ve heard Luke deliver that line with the continuity error present for 20 years, and I don’t want to change it.

I rather like the color timing of Adywan’s older 1997 SE reconstruction. It may not be as accurate to the original, but it’s a great match to the 1997 SE and feels more right to me. (ANH’s color timing for the 1997 SE is too red in places and ROTJ shouldn’t matter as much.)

But yeah, this was a very quick edit of a few sources it took someone else ages and tons of effort to produce, so I’m very grateful to be able to and encourage others to do the same if they’d like.

My stance on revising fan edits.

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Any ideas as to when ROTJ will be released? Are you removing Vader’s “Nooooooo!” from the Palps-Luke scene too?

The Skywalker Saga:
I · II · III · IV · V · VI · VII · VIII · IX
This is the way.

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DZ-330 said:

Any ideas as to when ROTJ will be released? Are you removing Vader’s “Nooooooo!” from the Palps-Luke scene too?

I’ll probably revisit ANH first, and I have no idea for an ETA at all. I’ve got V3 of TFA:R going as well.
Certainly well ahead of a marathon (or even week by week serial viewing) ahead of Episode XI.

My stance on revising fan edits.

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I wouldn’t bet that EpXI will never be produced…