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The Force Awakens: Starlight (V1.1 Released!) — Page 17

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NeverarGreat said:

With the day off, I had some fun taking apart the Starkiller Infiltration and putting it back together (somewhat).

https://vimeo.com/300872367
Password: fanedit

I intentionally didn’t spend a great deal of time finessing the scenes or transitions, so it’s a very rough idea. Kylo begins the interrogation the same place as in the Theatrical, but it then transitions to Hux and the Starkiller charging, then the Resistance briefing, and then finally back to the interrogation to imply that it has been going on for quite a while (it definitely needs an establishing shot though). I would like to have some indication in this scene that implies that Rey’s connection to Han is what defeats Kylo, which is what Snoke picks up on later.

Really liked your reworking of the interrogation scenes - you can really feel the ebb and flow of information, Rey’s resistance and then her own probing of Kylo when he more forcefully tries to exert the info he wants. Nice execution in amongst the Falcon’s approach, and Han & Co entering the base.

A little patience goes a long way on this old-school Rebel base. If you are having issues finding what you are looking for, these will be of some help…

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How do I do this?’ on the OriginalTrilogy.com; some info & answers + FAQs - includes info on how to search for projects and threads on the OT•com

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… and take your time to look around this site before posting - to get a feel for this place. Don’t just lazily make yet another thread asking for projects.

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Thanks! It’s definitely a work in progress though.

Moving right to the end of the film, I have had the idea for a while that Rey alone is able to find Luke through the Force. There would be some vision when she touches the lightsaber of the completed map to Luke (along with the other visions), and this is what Kylo senses in her. When they fight over the lightsaber in the snow, it can now support the interpretation that Kylo wants the vision of the map that the saber first imparted to Rey.

Since Rey has this vision, there is no need for R2 to have the rest of the map. I tried making a version without the map scene, with mixed results:

https://vimeo.com/301427587
Password: fanedit

I feel like it might work better if the scene of R2’s reveal happens in place of the one where he wakes up. We would see R2 again, but our hopes would be dashed when 3PO says that he’s in low power mode and probably doesn’t have the rest of the map. Move Chewie’s mourning to after this scene, and then this despondency implies that Rey must act on her vision and find Luke.

Another benefit of this change would be to save R2 waking up for TLJ, where we get a more powerful reunion.

You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)

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I actually think that the brief scene of Rey and the doctor would work in such an ending, despite its weirdness.

In thinking about the end of the movie and Rey’s character, I keep coming back to the idea that she uses the Dark Side as much as the light, if not more. After all, using the Dark Side is the quickest way to gain power, and Rey gains it more quickly than anyone we’ve ever seen in the Star Wars universe. Maybe using some more Yoda dialogue in the vision scene, where he talks about how the Dark Side is easier and more seductive. If it were possible to make clear that Rey is using the Dark Side, it turns her greatest strength into a liability. Now instead of her being simply a stronger version of Luke, she is precariously balanced on the edge of a metaphysical cliff.

https://vimeo.com/301907627
Password: fanedit

Imagine then if Kylo were more sympathetic…say that he wants to lead the First Order, but hates the Dark Side. He knows that the only way to rise to power is to play Snoke’s games, but to do so means sacrificing his own father. I would say that most of this message is already in the film, it’s just muddled by the idea that Kylo genuinely supports Snoke and the evil of the Dark Side instead of playing the long game in a quest to finish what Vader started and become the leader of a unified galaxy.

You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)

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^ I like that idea about Rey a lot–I think the saber-lock scene and the end of the duel definitely have more weight with your added audio.

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Thanks!

It’s been a while since any updates here, but now I have funds for computer upgrades and hope to resume progress soon.

In the meantime, here’s another crawl for your consideration, again taking some liberties with the canon and geography:

War has scarred the galaxy.
Between the remnants of the
Empire and the new Republic
lies a barren, lawless rift.

Working in secret from
across this dark expanse,
agents of the Empire have
destroyed the Republic’s
first and most noble order,
the mystical Jedi Knights,
and in their place have
declared themselves to be
the true FIRST ORDER.

Believing the leader of the
Jedi still lives, one Republic
general mobilizes a covert
RESISTANCE to search
the barren rift for the last
protector of peace and
justice amid the darkening
stars…

JEDIT: An updated version that is closer to the original, while still retaining some of these ideas:

Luke Skywalker has vanished.
In his absence, hope for the
return of the Jedi Knights
is fading.

Without the protection
of this sacred order, the
Senate of the Republic
is infiltrated by sinister
agents advocating the
return of the Empire and
proclaiming it to be the
true FIRST ORDER of the
galaxy.

Fearing for the Republic’s
very soul, one general
forms a covert RESISTANCE
to this threat and sends
her most daring pilot in
search of the last Jedi
among the darkening
stars…

You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)

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NeverarGreat said:
-Poe arrives on the Finalizer, Finn is accosted by Phasma
-Poe is interrogated
-Rey’s day and finding of BB-8
-The Rescue
-Hux sends the squad to the wreckage
-Apocalypse TIEs
-Hux and Kylo bicker (work in progress)
-Finn awakens/sees Niima outpost
-Rey arrives at Niima with BB-8/Plutt bargains for the droid
-Finn arrives at Niima.

Are you still doing this resequencing, I hope? I fell in love with it the first time I’ve read your idea.

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Nev, also wanted to ask you about this scene rearrangement. It makes a lot of sense, actually, especially when going back and looking at the original order.

Wanted to suggest a few options though.
One issue with this restructure is that you would lose the nice hard cut going from Finn in a mask to Rey in hers. It’s a really great moment that would be a bit of a shame to lose.

Another option would be to put Poe’s ineterrogation and Finn’s rescue one after the other. A hard cut might be too sudden, but possibly a wipe, or coming up with some kind of buffer shot could help with that. Maybe if you removed Poe waking up in the interrogation room and moved it to right before Finn enters, it would give the two scenes a few seconds of breathing room. Just an idea though.

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 (Edited)

I’m still planning on using this restructure, or something close to it.

RogueLeader, are you suggesting this sequence?

-Poe arrives on the Finalizer, Finn is accosted by Phasma
-Rey’s day and finding of BB-8
-Poe is interrogated
-The Rescue
-Hux sends the squad to the wreckage
-Apocalypse TIEs
-Hux and Kylo bicker (work in progress)
-Finn awakens/sees Niima outpost
-Rey arrives at Niima with BB-8/Plutt bargains for the droid
-Finn arrives at Niima.

As you say, there would need to be a buffer of some kind between the interrogation and the rescue, and I don’t know what could go there. Poe waking up seems tailored to the interrogation scene, so I’m not sure if that would work.

I think part of the idea for the restructure was to give some indication of why Rey was being introduced. In the original she is introduced with only a cut from Finn to Rey, whereas the restructure places her introduction after Hux’s comment ‘Well, if it’s on Jakku we’ll soon have it.’ The focus swings back to Jakku here, and we see the person standing between the villains and their prize. I also think it would be neat to extend the shot of Hux to make time for a horizontal wipe to Rey in motion with the opening compartment door.

You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)

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 (Edited)

Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. There are a few seconds of Poe “asleep”, then he sits up when Kylo Ren says, “I didn’t know we had the best pilot in the Resistance on board.”

I was thinking that you could put a shot of exhausted-Poe in between the shot of Hux and when Finn enters, with possibly a wipe between Hux and Poe to emphasize time having passed.

I am not sure about the reordering of the rest of the scenes, like moving Hux and Kylo bickering up, but I don’t see an issue with it either necessarily. I would like to see a workprint eventually just to see how it flows.

But actually I like your explanation of why you want to reorder it that way. It makes me think of the reason why the editors of Star Wars cut out Luke’s early scenes, since jumping to Luke felt too disjointed, and having Luke be introduced as the plot came to him felt more natural.

I think you should try it out and see how it feels. And I like the idea of having the wipe go with door opening up!

How would you transition from Finn putting his helmet back on to Poe’s interrogation?

I like the way you think about editing. There’s always this dilemma of editing according to logic/continuity and editing according to emotion/narrative. In this case I think it feels right, at least on paper, and also makes sense logically.

Also, had another little idea for you.
When Kylo Ren gets shot by Chewbacca, I thought an effective little addition would be to add some sound fx to the impact.
The Battlefront games have a lot of nice impact sounds when your character gets shot, and maybe adding that sound, making to where you really feel it in the bass, could help make understand how much it probably hurt Kylo.
Also, when Kylo kneels in pain, you could add a slight sizzling sound from plasma burn.

This is just an idea I had but I thought it might sound interesting to you too.

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I do have the Battlefront SFX, and I’ll be sure to make use of them in the final edit. 😃

In other news, the new computer is up and running, which means I can begin the authoritative version of this weird collection of ideas.

…but that doesn’t mean I can’t have new ones. Sparked by the discussions in the Sequel Radical Redux Ideas, here’s a concept for a more desolate and alien Jakku:






For Comparison:

The idea is that the sun is quite blue, turning the light more and more blue as the sun reaches its zenith.

With this single LUT I am able to bleach the highlights while leaving low light situations in fairly good color:




You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)

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Huh, with that lighting it definitely makes it feel like Jakku is like some kind of purgatory, you know? Like Davy Jones’ Locker in Pirates of the Caribbean. Pretty interesting. My only concern would be that the color grade makes it less visually appealing, sort of being desaturated like that. It would make her reaction to the colorful Takodana make even more sense though. It would be like Dorothy leaving sepia Kansas and arriving in technicolor Oz. And it does help make it more visually distinct from Tatooine. I’m not getting the idea that the sun is blue, though. That idea did make me think of this video talking about Martian sunsets.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLc7YDJArRo

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Not sure if it’s the best approach, but I definitely dig it.

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I think most of the daytime shots work. But the issue is do we understand visually what Nev has in mind - that it’s a bright blue sun? In bright light the desert looks grey or white, like it could be ash. The lighting is peculiar and alien but I don’t think the natural assumption is that the desert would be classically yellow without the unnatural lighting (rather that it’s just grey/white). Which isn’t a problem, until the sun starts to set and the sand changes color, which might be confusing.

Or maybe not?

I wonder what the sunset shot looks like.

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Yeah, I see what you’re saying. I think more of the orange tones in the sunset shots could be removed, and maybe those shots could be given a bluer tone, maybe? Color-wise sunset doesn’t feel super distinct from midday.

Like Dom said, you start seeing that orange come back in the sand and her skin reflection during sunset, but if that could be toned down, or somehow replaced with another tone that might help.

Honestly the regrade idea is growing on me a little, especially with the limbo/purgatory analogy appropriate with Jakku being “nowhere”, and the parallels with the Wizard of Oz, which feels like something JJ/Kennedy would’ve actually gone for.

Also, could job on retaining things like the reds, blues, and skin tones as well.

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You could definitely lean in on the blue for the magic hour shots (so they essentially look like evening on earth). Would fit well anyway with the shot of BB8 at night.

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I’m glad people understand where I’m coming from here, even if the LUT isn’t there all the way.

The trouble is that if I go too far in an unnatural lighting direction, it starts to look like the image is simply ‘wrong’, in a way that doesn’t feel intentional. But I see where the sun and sunset could use some more blue.

You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)

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That’s true too. I don’t think it would hurt to try and push the grass in one direction, and if it is too much, find a happy medium somewhere.

You also will have that wide shot where Rey swoops by the sunset on her way back home. The sun is very visible there so you’ll have a clear shot to illustrate the sun’s color.

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There is an exterior shot of the Finalizer just before Kylo Ren’s monologue to Vader’s helmet. Since you already plan to move that scene (as far as I remember), it might act as a buffer between the Interrogation and the Escape. The problem is, there’s Starkiller Base in the background so that would have to be removed, which is surely a time consuming project if it’s even possible.

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 (Edited)

Here’s a fairly quick and dirty version of the restructure.

https://vimeo.com/311589354

Password: fanedit

The sequence is now:

-Poe arrives on the Finalizer, Finn is accosted by Phasma
-Poe is interrogated
-Rey’s day and finding of BB-8
-The Rescue
-Hux sends the squad to the wreckage
-Finn awakens/sees Niima outpost
-Hux and Kylo bicker
-Rey arrives at Niima with BB-8/Plutt bargains for the droid
-Finn arrives at Niima.

The Apocalypse TIEs seemed out of place, so I decided against using them. Without that buffer, I had to leave the Hux and Kylo scene where it was originally.

RogueLeader said:

That’s true too. I don’t think it would hurt to try and push the grass in one direction, and if it is too much, find a happy medium somewhere.

You also will have that wide shot where Rey swoops by the sunset on her way back home. The sun is very visible there so you’ll have a clear shot to illustrate the sun’s color.

Grass?
Regardless, I’ve since discovered that every attempt at turning the sun/sky a different color plays havoc with the explosions and blaster bolts later on. If it was just a few shots I could work around it, but there are dozens of shots which would need serious work and I don’t know if it’s worth it.

Dr. Krogshöj said:

There is an exterior shot of the Finalizer just before Kylo Ren’s monologue to Vader’s helmet. Since you already plan to move that scene (as far as I remember), it might act as a buffer between the Interrogation and the Escape. The problem is, there’s Starkiller Base in the background so that would have to be removed, which is surely a time consuming project if it’s even possible.

Good idea. There really needs to be less time between Finn being sent to Reconditioning and the rescue. As it is, I don’t know how to do that without Rey’s day getting in the way. Unless…

Opening crawl paragraph 3 describes how a clue to Luke has been found on a planet ravaged by war.
-Cut from false starfield to Rey opening the compartment, as was intended at some point in TFA’s writing.
-Show Rey’s day through shot of her riding past the setting sun at dusk, then interior of her home until the wall of scratches.
-Use this as a transition to Tekka describing the despair in the galaxy, through his remark about Leia being royalty.
-Closeup of BB-8 viewing danger, rushing into the hut to warn Poe.
-Action, Kylo, return to Finalizer, etc.
-Poe’s interrogation.
-Rey’s home interior, making dinner (repurposed as breakfast), sitting out watching the evening (morning), finding BB-8 (sans ‘tomorrow you leave’). This extended introduction to Rey might justify using the Reydream here.
-The rescue, Finn’s journey to Niima, Hux and Kylo bicker.
-Rey arrives at Niima, Plutt’s offer.
-Finn arrives at Niima.

This restructure has many advantages - the passage of time is very clear in day and night cycles, Rey gets enough of an introduction to perhaps use the Reydream, and Rey finding BB-8 is short enough that Finn could reasonably have postponed his trip to Reconditioning, vs the original where an entire day goes by in the meantime.

You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)

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I meant grade, not grass. Sorry!

And that’s a shame it isn’t really compatible with explosions and other things, it was growing on me!

I think the restructure works. The interrogation scene doesn’t feel out of place where it is. It would be nice to have some kind of buffer to understand a bit of time has passed, like make it a wipe rather than a hard cut. But I think it works as is too.

The only thing I wonder about it the pacing, maybe. I think the tension is still high up until we’re with Finn and he puts his helmet back on, and that hard cut to Rey’s intro is a nice change of pace. The interrogation scene might slow down to pace to early, since Poe slowly wakes up. I mean this could be a non issue. Pacing has always been a harder aspect of editing for me to understand. Just a thought, though.

Before cutting to the escape scene, you could use the establishing shot that’s right before the interrogation scene rather than the one the fine Dr. K suggested, since you don’t use that shot in your current resequence, if you felt like you needed it.

I don’t think less time between being sent to reconditioning and the escape is a big deal. It’s not anymore time the way you have than it is in the theatrical, and it wasn’t really an issue then. I don’t think that should be something for you to worry about.

I personally don’t like opening with Rey’s intro, because I think the attack on the village is a great cold open. It really helps get the audience into how this movie is gonna move and feel. Rey’s intro might be too slow of a cold open, in my opinion. I personally would stick with your initial idea.

But, if it something that interests you, there’s no harm in a mock up to see how it feels, either.

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There’s only one thing that bothers me in the first act. Whatever sequence you end up with, Poe’s only waking up during the night following Rey’s and Finn’s escape with the Falcon. So he gets off Jakku, back to the Resistance and to Takodana while the Falcon flies from Han’s freighter near Jakku to Takodana. Which implies that it has a really, really, REALLY slow hypedrive at this point.

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I kind of imagine during the night Poe walks to Niima Outpost, and either he somehow contacts the Resistance or they arrive to look for Poe around the same time and they find each other. From there they may have went straight to Takodana rather than stop at D’Qar.