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The ‘Custom Special Edition’ That Almost Wasn’t, But Then Was (Released) — Page 7

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I just put a small workprint version of ROTJ on the Google Drive in the same place as the other material. It’s not intended as final for the way things look, as almost all the video clips it uses are placeholders for final source material.

My stance on revising fan edits.

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 (Edited)

I’m going to use NeverArGreat’s shot of the twin sunset, which he sourced from film and manually re-created the mountainside removal. For the surrounding shots, I think averaging out his and Adywan’s color correction looks very pleasing. Neither version or combination is a good match for the sunset shot itself, but doing it this way feels right.

https://vimeo.com/315092803
password: fanedit

Adywan:

NeverAr:

Hal9000 (blending the previous two):

Adywan sunset:

NeverAr sunset (which I am using):

My stance on revising fan edits.

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Just curious: what would be the result of blending the sunset shots ?

Otherwise, it looks good… even though I don’t really know anymore how the OT is supposed to look ! (who does ? 😄)

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 (Edited)

They can’t be blended because they use different sources. The only reason the surrounding shots can be averaged is because they are aligned pixel perfect by virtue of each being a color corrected BluRay.

NeverAr’s feels much more right than Adywan’s (his color corrected starting point, to be fair), and still removes the mountainside.

My stance on revising fan edits.

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I like your plan for this one, Hal. Ady’s shots are too mismatched, and I don’t particularly like the hyper-orangered of the close up shot myself.

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Something that came to mind watching that recent lightspeed footage from inside the cockpit and watching Adywan’s. I notice you see the blue lighting effect from the lightspeed light lighting up the cockpit. Watching Adywan’s edit I notice how he also applied it on the shot Han say’s “Stand by Chewy here we go, cutting the sublight engines.” It would be cool tp see that effect continuity in the edit.

All my life as I looked away to the future, to the horizon. Never in my mind did I know where I was, what I was doing.

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The shot of the Falcon exiting Hyperspace is neat but isn’t the bigger issue that they’re clearly not in a hyperspace tunnel for the entire scene? Also, doesn’t the change kind of go against the ethos of this being a hybridization of official versions only?

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Check here for discussion of exactly that - I assume the discussion is there instead of here as the end result will be applicable to more than just Hal’s edit.

And the “hybridizing official versions” angle was kind of rendered moot when Hal used Ady’s Revisited Emperor in ESB, no?

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Octorox, the Falcon will be depicted as being in hyperspace for that scene, thanks to snooker in the thread Ash linked to. So no problem there.

This is the one change I’m including that oversteps the project’s goals. However, it’s non-arbitrary, seems to me at least. What can I say? I have to go with my gut in the end.

My stance on revising fan edits.

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Hal why not flip the boba fett shots in Jabbas Palace? Just curious.

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Hal 9000 said:

Here’s a candidate for the entrance to Mos Eisley. I carefully blended Adywan’s color corrected BluRay master, NewGuy’s ANH, and the Despecialized. Sometimes I overlaid the first two in order to better blend between sources, since they align perfectly. A little film grain is applied in spots to help mask transitions between sources, also.

https://vimeo.com/310480965
password: fanedit

Do you plan on following Adywan’s lead in removing the little floater droid that passes by the Stormtrooper in the background? i’m finding it a bit distracting, especially since you’ve cut down on many of the other CGI additions.

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I remember that I removed the droids sound on NewGuy’s edit for my own custom audio track (just the second scene - where R2 and 3PO are hidding behind a door -, not the first because there was a slightly different timing between the OOT and the SE). I personally don’t mind them, I just don’t like their sound for some reason.

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Yeah, the sentry droid has been removed in both its instances since that earlier clip was posted. Even for a SE alternative version, it’s rather distracting from the action.

My stance on revising fan edits.

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SWOTFAN25 said:

Hal why not flip the boba fett shots in Jabbas Palace? Just curious.

Flipped shots are your friends; they are done for reasons as part of the editing process. They aren’t mistakes, in other words. They imply direction, albeit at the cost of visual continuity. I have never been bothered by that aspect of filmmaking; it’s just what you do sometimes, especially if the film in question isn’t a modern, big-budget CGI endeavor.

I really admire Adywan’s two ‘Revisited’ projects, but personally I find the resultant film as having a very different feel to what I remember. It’s hard to settle down and just enjoy it because it’s so different throughout. I grew up with the 1997 SE originally, so perhaps what I feel is what some felt when viewing the SE when it came out. But, I am more than okay with the little quirks involved in making a movie like flipped shots.

My stance on revising fan edits.

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I’m sure that the OOT Death Star explosion in ANH won’t be as noticeable if you keep some of the OOT Battle of Yavin.

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With snooker having left for perhaps a long period of time for sanity’s sake, the hyperspace sequence is in a state of uncertainty. Sir Ridley has said he would like to tackle it, so we will see what happens.
I hope snooker gets to feeling better; none of this nonsense is worth real life trouble. Hopefully when he does come back, Ridley will be able to surprise him with a completed version of it.

I would like to do an updated version of ESB, using a higher quality source than Adywan’s old 1997 SE recreation. If DrDre ever publishes a finished version of his ESB SE regrade, that’d be perfect. The 1997 color timing feels so right, so that’s more important to me than technical picture quality (same as AOTC).

ROTJ will still need to wait on a primary source, most probably Adywan’s preliminary regrade.

My stance on revising fan edits.

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Snooker is taking a hiatus? I must have missed that post.

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Hal 9000 said:

With snooker having left for perhaps a long period of time for sanity’s sake, the hyperspace sequence is in a state of uncertainty. Sir Ridley has said he would like to tackle it, so we will see what happens.
I hope snooker gets to feeling better; none of this nonsense is worth real life trouble. Hopefully when he does come back, Ridley will be able to surprise him with a completed version of it.

I would like to do an updated version of ESB, using a higher quality source than Adywan’s old 1997 SE recreation. If DrDre ever publishes a finished version of his ESB SE regrade, that’d be perfect. The 1997 color timing feels so right, so that’s more important to me than technical picture quality (same as AOTC).

ROTJ will still need to wait on a primary source, most probably Adywan’s preliminary regrade.

I’d be fine with a V1 excluding the hyperspace sequence since it seems to push the boundaries of the project’s goals anyway. That way you can have a more radical V2 but still keep the V1 around for those who’d be interested, similar to your ST edits.

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I’d rather not put out multiple versions if it’s not needed. If Ridley can do it, I’d rather wait than do two versions.
There’ll definitely be a version of ANH out ahead of IX, in any event. But if Ridley says he’ll do something, far be it from me to question it.

My stance on revising fan edits.

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Currently working on getting a clean hyperspace tunnel from the Battlefront II cutscene. Going well so far.

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Managed to get a nice full screen hyperspace tunnel in a 6 second loop. I’ll upload the clip later as a resource. The next thing to do is to replace the existing tunnel in the exterior shot, I’ll post a progress picture once I get somewhere with that.

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Here’s what I have for the exterior shot.


I’ve tried to balance the look to be modern but not too modern. Style wise it’s TFA but the color is closer to ANH. I opted to replace the ship with a 3D model instead of rotoscoping the old ship (which had an error with the engine glow being in the wrong place), hopefully it doesn’t feel out of place. Thoughts?

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Wow, that’s incredible! I mean this in a good way: those caps look exactly like it came from the 1997 SE of an alternate universe where they decided to make this change. I think your sensibilities, not to mention abilities, are spot on here; it need not be a perfect match with TFA and it’s more important to work for ANH:SE on its own. Can’t wait to see it in motion!

My stance on revising fan edits.