Man, that sequence looks beautiful. I mean really, it is nearly perfect. It has come a long way since you first worked on this scene, and I really think it’s possible for the viewer to connect it with Rey’s “Forceback.”
The only thing that might further enhance it is that, after BB-8 gets Rey’s attention (after the medical lady says, “Your friend is going to be just fine”), I think we need a tighter shot on BB-8 and Artoo. This was difficult to explain, so — I hope you don’t mind — but I took your video and then cut it myself to show you what I mean:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pTw6TzuCPAPO0i2ki53XZEhJGzeznURn/view?usp=sharing
I just reused the previous shot and then reversed it. The only tough thing about this is that it would require putting an “eye” on BB-8 or rotating his head. However, I think this change helps the audience focus a little more on what BB-8 is wanting Rey to look at: Artoo.
I’m still not 100% sold on the Rey/BB-8 stuff, but it could be my own bias. Unrelated to the vfx work so far, I guess it doesn’t feel totally like it actually fits in with the movie yet. Like it isn’t completely seamless logically.
I could go either way on this. I think the shocked look on Rey’s face and the close up on Artoo helps to connect the dots.
If we wanted to make it more obvious, there’s only one thing I can think of: have Rey say Luke’s name. You could maybe use a voiceover from when she says Luke’s name during her conversation with Maz. But I kind of feel like a voiceover would make the edit seem rather amateur. If she says Luke’s name, we need to see her say it. Maybe some rotoscoping magic by cutting her out of the scene with Maz.