Unusual Sequel Trilogy Radical Redux Ideas Thread — Page 37

StarkillerAG said:

Ed Slushie said:

Anybody wanna try persuading John Boyega and Oscar Isaac to film themselves kissing in costume so we can add it to the Rise of Skywalker?

I assume you’re joking. Because otherwise, you probably wouldn’t be able to do that.

Those big boys work on a cash-only basis. No freebies.

LILIAN02230 said:

New test for rescore some scene in TROS

REY VS TIE WHISPER (Music Added)
https://vimeo.com/406363516

Pretty good! For some reason it works better for me than the score-less theatrical version.

Is that actual unused music from the ROTS soundtrack?

That’s an interesting idea. Unorthodox for Star Wars, basically doing the “Two weeks earlier…”/“I bet you’re wondering how I ended up here?” trope, but might be worth exploring.

Perhaps since the lightsaber didn’t call out to Luke in ANH, we could play into the saber calling out to Rey (in TFA) due to her evil, Palpatine lineage after being the instrument of genocide. Like it WAS like an Excalibur to the chosen one but now it’s tainted and seeks another evil host or something??

I’ve been away from home so I haven’t been able to work on some bigger ideas on my main work computer, but I did get a chance to play around with a small idea on my laptop.

I’ve been thinking about ways to make the Rey/Ben romance a little more explicit in the trilogy. I think one simple way to do this would be through simple rescoring. One thing Han/Leia and Anakin/Padme have that Rey/Ben lacks is a love theme. It’d be hard to do that without a “love theme” track, like the other two romances have, but we could retroactively establish a “love motif” by seeding it in at least the second film in the trilogy (in comparison, the previous love themes also didn’t make their appearances until the second film in their trilogies). In TROS, when Ben resurrects Rey, the first indication we get that Rey is alive is that her hand comes into frame and touches Ben’s hand. At this moment, we get this great swell of music as Ben and Rey stare into each others eyes. So, I’ve taken this piece of music, and inserted it into the moment when Rey and Ben touch hands and stare into each others eyes in TLJ.

Here is my test track (music only): https://streamable.com/pwg1wp

Just as an experiment, I also replaced much of the music from that scene with pieces of music from the “Anakin and Padme” track from the AOTC score. It’s not the main “Across the Stars” motif, but what I like to call the “forbidden love” motif of their theme. It’s hard to describe, but I think the feeling of that piece represents the inner turmoil Anakin and Padme feel regarding their relationship. I feel like this motif actually works well with Rey and Ben, since their feelings for each other might feel wrong, initially, since they are enemies. It’s not as immediately recognizable as Across the Stars, but audiences might still recognize it enough to associate the music with romance.

Another interesting thing about the music choice is there is a moment in this track that is reminiscent to the build up to the Tristan chord in Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde (compare the beginning with the 0:45 mark in my test clip). For music lovers, this might create an interesting association between Rey and Ben and Tristan and Isolde, who also started their story as bitter enemies.

What I think is also interesting is how the original track for this scene and my test track are actually rather similar. Here is the original scene, for comparison. Similar oboes, similar Tristan-esque notes when Rey raises her hand. It makes me wonder if they had used parts of this track for the temp track. It’s possible Rian saw similarities between this scene and the AOTC scene between Anakin and Padme, since both scenes are visually similar, taking place in a dark, fire-lit rooms.

I just wanted to point out that at 1:09 in your rescore, an almost identical piece plays in Han & Qi’ra’s love theme at 1:05.

https://youtu.be/wummwZCt5s0?t=65

I’m not a music expert other than just enjoying scores a whole lot so I don’t know if that’s a common piece for love songs or anything, but it’s a nice parallel to Han’s doomed romance since Reylo doesn’t exactly end all cheery. Maybe incorporating more of Solo’s tracks would make it more impactful.

Lesser said:

I just wanted to point out that at 1:09 in your rescore, an almost identical piece plays in Han & Qi’ra’s love theme at 1:05.

https://youtu.be/wummwZCt5s0?t=65

I’m not a music expert other than just enjoying scores a whole lot so I don’t know if that’s a common piece for love songs or anything, but it’s a nice parallel to Han’s doomed romance since Reylo doesn’t exactly end all cheery. Maybe incorporating more of Solo’s tracks would make it more impactful.

Nice catch! I didn’t even notice that… I love Han and Qi’ra’s theme, so the similarities are definitely welcome. Reylo in the theatrical film certainly doesn’t have a cheerful ending, but there’s no telling what kind of edits we’ll end up seeing…

NeverarGreat said:

RogueLeader said:

Here is my test track (music only): https://streamable.com/pwg1wp

I really like that change, and it actually makes more sense for this dramatic swell of music to accompany their connection. I never really bought Rey’s 180 insistence that Kylo could be turned since their moment of connection didn’t feel ‘big’ enough to drive the rest of the story, but here I finally buy it.

Wow, I’m glad to hear you like it! The original music for the whole scene certainly doesn’t help to imply anything beyond them having a ‘connection’. But I think the ‘forbidden love’ motif, plus the dramatic swell of music at the end, definitely makes their romantic feelings more explicit, I think. It’s also funny to me how well the music fits in, time-wise, without any necessary alterations. Plus, it is another opportunity to replace the overused Force motif. It really feels like the Force motif was used a lot as a crutch throughout this trilogy.

I always found this to be a very interesting quote from Rian on the music in the scene:
https://www.reddit.com/r/StarWarsCantina/comments/buzzdo/french_interview_that_clarifies_how_rian_johnson/

I do wish Rian had requested a new theme for their relationship instead (the biggest musical missed opportunity all trilogy), but I get the reasoning for the Force theme, which is really the all encompassing ‘fate’ theme (and perhaps if it wasn’t used as much in that film it’d feel more momentous), and which is ultimately mirrored in the moment they join forces.

That said, I think your edit works really, really well, and makes for an excellent change.

I don’t think he’s made it “lovey-dovey” at all. And the preceding scene is Rey confiding in Kylo about her experience in the cave and on Ahch-to in general.

“I’ve never felt so alone.”
“You’re not alone.”
“Neither are you.”

Also, we just found out (from Kylo’s perspective) that his uncle tried to murder him, so I think we, and Rey, are already set up to sympathize with him more, seeing as he had been betrayed by his own family.

I also have an idea to try and show more clearly Kylo’s motivation for joining the dark side, and why detaching himself from his weaknesses is a necessary evil, from his point of view. It’s basically what he says to Rey. He didn’t hate his father, but he felt like like he had to destroy his weaknesses in order to fulfill his destiny and bring order to the galaxy.

The whole point is to make it romantic to set up their later kiss. I don’t know how much set up you want. We heard Han and Leia’s Theme played much more romantically than this when they were arguing in the hallway of Echo base, not much set up there. I don’t see the issue here.

Yeah, I think the struggle is that they are basically antagonistic in every scene before this, so it would be hard to set up anything else before this moment. I suppose you could keep the more subtle ‘forbidden love’ motif and remove the more dramatic swell, or vice versa, but just don’t have both. Maybe you could lay little hints of a romance motif in previous force bond scenes (like you said, idir!). It might hit us differently when we watch the clip in isolation versus being and hour and a half into the movie. It might just require some experimentation.

There’s also another little motif that plays when they kiss, so maybe that could fit into other places too. Not sure though.

idir_hh said:

Reylo is probably a case of either going all in or nothing at all.

I feel like romance is pretty fundamental to Star Wars, so I have to say I’m all in.