The Prequel Trilogy Revised - concept trailers released (WIP) — Page 15

Hal 9000 said:

“I’m a pilot, y’know, and someday I’m gonna fly away from this place.”

Those are after he meets the gang tho. We don’t see anything of Anakin before meeting the gang. With Luke, you know his story before meeting Obiwan.

stickydixon said:

TheAlaskanSandman said:

Those are after he meets the gang tho. We don’t see anything of Anakin before meeting the gang. With Luke, you know his story before meeting Obiwan.

In ANH we see the world up until that point through the eyes of R2 and 3PO. We learn who Luke is through them.

In TPM we see the world up until the Tattooine arc exclusively through the eyes of Qui-Gon and co.

The only difference is the amount of time it takes for us to meet Anakin - perhaps that’s what you’re pointing out. If Obi-Wan were the POV in the first act of ANH, then maybe it would be comparable. If Anakin were the most interesting character in the film with a more prominent role, then having him show up so late would be an issue.

All my opinion, obviously.

Obiwan and gang are used to introduce Anakin much the same way R2 and 3po are used to introduce Luke into the story, true. Difference is though in the pacing and timing. This works with Luke cause there is little action else wise, especially when you consider the original cut where Luke is seen with his friends, and spotting the space fight from his binoculars. This original cut didn’t work because aside from the opening battle, there is little other action till they get off the planet. So by cutting his early scenes, they push the pacing quicker.
TPM has much more action on the other hand, to the point that when Anakin comes in, it slows the story quite a bit (so does Corasunt). ANH we get one space fight, then droids are captured by Jawas, then they meet Luke. TPM on the other hand, you get a battle on the donut station, then they save Jar Jar, an Invasion of Theed, Attacked underwater by sea creatures, rescuing the Queen and men, then the pilots, then a space fight as they escape- Then they finally meet Anakin, to which there is a podrace, Quigon vs Maul, then Climax. Its all front loaded pacing wise, where as ANH built more like the first Matrix movie. Slowly building to the climax.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1h0-XipP7Ex1ypZZI0QAKQj-d7T-2Mt3F/view

This is a rough draft from my machete cut the other year (I don’t have the final, i deleted everything, just happened to find this). Lots of the scenes were smoothed out and the dinner scene was re-inserted (Was mad chopping scenes to get down near a 2 hour cut and cut over zealous haha) but should give a rough idea of Qui-gon and them’s time with Anakin on the planet and how i was roughly planning it.

Anakins dialogue is meant to be less cheesy, and the biggest change is the cutting of the podrace and the reason/how of Quigon freeing Anakin. Quigon now is intrigued first by Anakins story at dinner about racing pods and then by his mothers story. He then test his blood, sends Anakin to bed, and gets a knowing look from Anakins mother. The next day, he frees Anakin by selling Anakins pod that Wato didn’t know about, and uses jedi trickery to win the dice roll. Adding to a darker side of the jedi, as they are already plucking kids from their mothers, and Anakin is deemed to old to train. Plus Anakins mom senses Quigons interest in her kid that night before, and gives him that look. So when Quigon tells them they are free, the look from Anakins mom is a, “ah ha, i knew you were planning this” in a sad way. To which she (as the one good person in his life who actually gives him a clear choice) allows him to choose his path. The jedi and Sidious just want him to do what they want and to use him. Adding to Anakins mistrust in Ep III, the sadness of leaving his mother and her eventual death, and focuses the story more closely to his journey and less the spectacle of his podrace. Which i would now like to use in the Revised Version as a way to introduce him before Quigon and gang meet him. Which would also help establish who he is before meeting them to back up lines like, “Im a pilot, and some day, im going to fly away from here”. As now well have seen him podracing already, living a dingy slave life, fighting greedo, gunblast and death screams in the background, dingy dark living quarters, etc.

This clip like i said tho was just a rough cut for the machete version. So i know some of the scenes should have been longer, and i did fix them and re-insert the dinner scene. Then i deleted them all so i could redo with new vfx in 1080p instead of 720. So just an idea of the rough narrative i was planning for Tatooine. This again was for the machete cut, where unlike the other machete cuts i had scene, i didn’t want to sacrifice TPM and its story and just keep the end fight. I kept a lot of TPM and just stream lined it focusing on the meat of the story. This way though, you got a proper introduction to Obiwan and Quigon before the end battle with Quigon dying, and you get Anakins journey and how he comes to be with the jedi. I don’t like just coming in on AOTC. I cut TPM down to around 45 min for the Machete cuts 3-1 movie, with the rest of the movie being ATOC and ROTS’s narrative surrounding Anakin. This was meant to be watched after Ep V and before VI, to answer Vader story to Luke about being his father. Which also sets up the Emperors story going into Ep VI. With the Machete Cut being just 1 movie, the parallels between Luke and Anakin are closer in context, such as the Emperor using lightening and Anakin having to make a choice. Or the much more obvious dark imagery of Luke going into Ep VI, along with using the force choke like his father.

Darth_Zounds said:

Wow.

I’m late to the thread, but I’d love to see the final edits for the Prequels!

I can’t wait till they are done and im able to show them! They’re getting there 😃

Not a lot new to show just yet, a lot of small changes not worth showing just yet. I got VC Optical flares so ive been replacing all the generic lens flares with more distinct and differing flares, on top of adding in saber flicker into remaining shots. Redoing some clash effects with the sabers etc. Boring stuff for now.

Else wise though, aside from getting Element 3d, and VC optical flares. Ive also gotten VC Twitch, Red Giants Vfx suite and some other plugins that will help create better VFX, Improve tracking, and other things. Will also be getting the particle plug in to simulate water and such. These will all be used to help create new scenes for the movies. I am also working on getting the 3d models used in Battle front II for other shots. Hoping that the 3d models of people will be good enough to use for wide shots, the clone troopers for battle shots, etc. Along with all the vehicle models. I also plan on getting the Unreal engine. So hopefully many new improvements.

Aside from that, i got the deleted scenes from the 4k blurays (They have different scenes than previously released, and some not there that were previously released, so sourcing both). They look better but still need work. Ive been looking at upscaling programs and hoping to get the deleted scenes looking better. I got Topaz but i think i need a better Graphics card for that, so I may have to do some searching for a good deal and acquire that if needs be. Ill keep looking at other software though and if anyone has a better suggestion let me know.

CourtlyHades296 said:

Have you asked HAL about his DVD deleted scene upscales?

I have the scenes Hal did. So far still the best upscales. Some one on here had started some really nice ones but never finished. Hal only did the scenes he wanted tho, so trying to get everything upscaled included scenes Hal didn’t use. Plus the 4k deleted scenes seem diff than some of the bluray ones.

Skybatman said:

Any progress ? And how close are your edits to being ready?

Not giving any solid dead lines but hoping next year it should be. Lots of progress but not all is something i can show just yet. Things behind the scenes type stuff, lots of learning, getting new plugins, etc. For example i got Red Giants VFX suite, but am taking time to learn all of its features. Its supercomp feature alone tho allows for faster work times with a more stream lined work flow. Its got other things for tracking where it calculates the lense type, warps the image flat, allows you to track properly with no sliding or angle warping cause of weird camera movements, then warps the picture back to how it should be. Like if its fisheye, or wide angle. Even something like going back and adding light wraps that look better. Supercomp even makes doing lightsaber effects a lot easier with out all the precomped layers. It really alters the work flow a bit.
Ive also gotten a lot of new VFX assets like Action Essentials 1080p and other ones. Learned a bunch of new ways for compositing these assets (Not to mention what supercomp can do with them). Which is helping me fix up all the explosions and fire during the attack of theed or escape of Naboo.
There are plenty of new shots to get started on like ideas put forth on here about Tatooine.
Plus there is the 3d elements side of things. Im still working on getting the 3d models from Battle front II situated to help in creating new shots. Plus lots more learning on the 3d side for smooth, exciting camera movements alongside the smooth and exciting character/ship movement vs what the camera is doing. I still plan on getting the Unreal engine (Its free) but need a better graphics card (Hard to justify just yet during these times).
There are also some other plugins by video copilot id like to check out like there futuristic city pack (Already have the rooftop one).

I have also been looking into the pros and cons of the 4k versions and whether they are worth it. They are not. They were filmed in 2k and upscaled. So doing mine in 1080p and upscaling would be equal. Plus, movies never render vfx above 2k, even if the movie was shot in 4k. So after the research and debate ive decided to stick with the bluray copies, but may try to use their atmos soundtrack.

CMMAP said:

TheAlaskanSandman said:
I have also been looking into the pros and cons of the 4k versions and whether they are worth it. They are not. They were filmed in 2k and upscaled. So doing mine in 1080p and upscaling would be equal. Plus, movies never render vfx above 2k, even if the movie was shot in 4k. So after the research and debate ive decided to stick with the bluray copies, but may try to use their atmos soundtrack.

Personally, got no problem with that. The upscaling isn’t needed.
If you want to use the atmos track, make sure it is real atmos. Often the studios use this as marketing bate and there is no real atmos track or at least only just one or two scenes.

Ill have to look into that more and see if its worth it

Will try and get a new trailer up soon, just been super busy with art jobs and day job and life. Here are some screen grabs of some of the work going on. Some supercomp with Red Giant on most of these, creating lightwraps, haze, lightrays, etc. Putting in new lens/optical flares with Video Copilots Optical Flares. Dooku de-aged, de-wrinkled, and lightwrapped to fit his scene. Putting in video scan lines into monitors and binoculars. Changed the sky on Temple walk up to show city light glow in the sky, with no stars visible. To replicate living in a big city and light pollution. Quigon in Theed got heat blurs behind the fire, flicker, glow, etc to look more acurate. And a quick look at a Broom boy test.
The supercomp is cool and helps a lot in compositing along with speeding things up. Though to do it, i need objects separated from each other which means more rotobrushing/rotoscoping. So speeds up somethings but adds more work in other ways, the results i think are worth it though. I consider every critique and want to take my time to make these look the best that they can and should look. Once again, ill try and get a trailer up soon to see much of this in motion.

A lot of the compositing looks better than the compositing in the original movie. Very well done!

SparkySywer said:

A lot of the compositing looks better than the compositing in the original movie. Very well done!

Thank you! Im really hoping i can isolate the cgi characters and stuff to improve their compositing into the scenes along with any new elements im including. Some of this like the optical flares is stuff i always planned to get done, but took me a while to get all the new software i wanted. Really want this not to scream fan edit

SparkySywer said:

A lot of the compositing looks better than the compositing in the original movie. Very well done!

+1

I’d LOVE to see your version of the original triloy.

I know. Right now he’s working on finishing TPM. I’ve been following this project for months.

CMMAP said:

Damn, that is awesome. You’re a welcome addition to this community. How long you’ve been working in the digital art segment?

Thank you! Only as long as i’ve been editing these, but there was a version before the one i posted just for the Machete Cut in 720p. By comparison, they look terrible. I have experience in art, photography, and some digital art with adobe photoshop. Learning the vfx stuff has been a learning curve. Theres so many different things to learn and continue to learn to improve and make things look better. Mostly just a lot of time and patients but the art background probably helps some. That too tho is just time and patients. All things can be learned and done by us all is my feeling. Adywan was definitely a big inspiration though.

IlFanEditore said:

I’d LOVE to see your version of the original triloy.

I keep debating it, well see though. I hate to focus or think about steps M and N when im on steps C and D though. Dont want to get ahead of myself and lose focus on the target goal. I have enough distractions with work, life, and art jobs but its def in the back of my head. I have a couple small scenes to help some other people out with their edits too and must prioritize things in order. (Probably wont help people with too much tho fyi before anyone asks 😃 ) Maybe ill do a small scene at some point just to see what it would look like. Maybe just the intro attack of ANH.

I dont know how i would top Adywan though at somethings. I really wish he was doing his in 1080p, then i could just touch up his a little. Looking forward to seeing what he pulls off for ROTJ