Just made it through part 1 of how to use fusion. It’s mostly a George Lucas inspired fever dream, so I don’t plan on using it for much, but I might find a use for it with the subtitles. For now, though, let’s talk about some more changes.

Entering the Spaceport…

There isn’t much to change with this scene. It’s mostly Qui-Gon describing the place, and its purpose is to get us to Watto’s shop. The only thing worth cutting out in this scene is Jar Jar stepping in poop. This is where Jar Jar really does start to get on everyone’s nerves.

Hello, my name is Anakin.

The first thing I’ve removed from Watto’s is Qui-Gon telling Jar Jar not to touch anything, as well as Jar Jar sticking his tongue out at Qui-Gon, and playing around with the droid. But in between, we are introduced to a kid named Anakin Skywalker.

Much like Jar Jar, there is nothing I can do to remove this kid. In fact, it’s even worse because unlike Jar Jar, whose purpose is served near the end of the 2nd act, Anakin takes up a lot of the storyline of this film. Wait, I take that back. He takes up a lot of all 3 movies. Trying to get rid of Anakin is impossible. So what I’m doing is essentially what every other fan editor is doing: making Anakin a better character. Or at least, the best he can be.

We start with Anakin’s “Are you an angel” talk with Padme. I know, it’s a badly written scene, but it’s the only way to introduce this kid. I’ve kept this talk in full, save for one tiny change. In the version we’ve all seen, Anakin says “They live on the moons of Iago, I think.” I’ve cut the last two words out, because it makes him seem a little dumb. Now he says, “They live on the moons of Iago.” Which makes him sound more confident and decisive. Otherwise, the rest of the dialogue stays. However, Jar Jar’s antics with the droid at the end of the scene have been cut.

On the matter of Republic credits.

This scene is where Qui-Gon starts to destroy his likability as a character. As the movie goes on, Qui-Gon starts to use some tactics that seem very… Unlike the jedi. I get that he is supposed to be different from the others, but some of those actions have been deleted to improve his character. Him using the jedi mind trick on Watto is the first to go. Because getting some junk dealer to take your republic credits that won’t benefit him in the slightest seems very out of place for a jedi. And don’t talk to me about Episode IV where Obi-Wan uses the mind trick on the stormtroopers. That scenario is different, because it’s a life-or-death situation, and the stormtroopers are out to kill whoever has the droids. Watto, despite being one of the bad guys on Tattooine, is just making his way in the galaxy in this scene.

With that rant over, everything else in this conversation is in.

Leaving Watto’s shop

There’s another Jar Jar moment in here that I’d like to get rid of, but I have a bad feeling that it won’t. It’s a shot of Qui-Gon telling his fellow group that they’re leaving, but here’s Jar Jar being a clumsy idiot in the background. I can’t get rid of Jar Jar stumbling about. However, I have tried my best to make it less annoying. I cut the really cartoonish KER-PLOP at the end of the shot. I’ll see what I can do about this as I learn more about Resolve. If you know of a way to get rid of this moment of clumsiness from Jar Jar, feel free to let me know how.

I’ve also removed Jar Jar’s inability to figure out which direction to go even though Qui-Gon, Padme, and R2 have all turned left.

Outside of Jar Jar’s foolishness, I’ve removed the last two shots where Watto tells Anakin to clean the racks as they’re just filler. Plus, it’s an easy way to get rid of Anakin’s first “Yippee!” from the film. The scene now ends with Anakin telling Watto, “They seemed nice to me.”

Do you have anything to barter with?

The scene where Qui-Gon communicates to Obi-Wan about what they can trade for a T-14 Hyperdrive has no changes made to it whatsoever. It’s short and sweet. You can argue about how they could’ve looked for another dealer, but there’s no way I can edit that plot hole out of existence, even with the tools I have.