Okay, so without anything better to do, I watched the workprint and wrote down some notes!
- I don’t think I entirely get the removal of the Snoke line (is it to not cheapen his character as much?)
There was some discussion about how the Snoke line implies that Palpatine literally puppeted Snoke’s body. I had a hard time arguing against that interpretation, and I hate even the hint that that might have been the case, so the line is gone. Simple enough.
- The wipe to Rey and the wipe to the Falcon feel fanedity and like they don’t quite fit. Perhaps a different sort of transition, especially to Rey?
I’m considering a hard cut to the Falcon like Hal has done. The transition to Rey is trickier, but I haven’t come up with any alternates that work well. I had tried a hard cut earlier and shared a clip of it but people weren’t super into it. It might be something that audio can help with, I’ll have to tinker some more.
- these are probably just technical issues, but Rey’s “ugh” modification, and the transition from the falcon back to Rey are imperfect
Could you elaborate on what is feeling weird to you? I know it’s sometimes hard to pinpoint.
- I support adding the squeaky wheel scene shots from the documentary
I’m still open to it. Part of my issue is I’m not crazy about having music over it, but to not do that would be a complete sound design, which I’m not sure is worth the effort.
- Is there any way to still have the Chewie arriving on the star destroyer scene somewhere? I mean, it is kind of redundant, especially as I like the reveal to be moved to where it is now, but
I think I tried it after Rey senses Chewie, but I think pacing-wise it felt a bit redundant. I’ll take another look though, I’d like to include it if I can.
- Kylo saying “power” stands out in the hangar scene. Although, it may be related to the overall workprint audio quality. I remember really liking Rogueleader’s take on it by the way
I’m open to stealing more from RogueLeader, but it’s all going to depend on what sounds best. “Your power” could definitely use some more love though, it was one of the last changes I made before I exported.
- Leia’s “come home” also could use work. I feel bad listing technical issues just because they haven’t been refined yet, but there you go
No, it’s good to get these sorts of notes. These aren’t straightforward audio changes, so that means they’re things I have to play around with a lot which means I lose some objectivity working on them and I can’t tell if they work or not.
- DOTF being included to the extent that it has I am conflicted about, but I guess it’s a good addition
I’m still not 100% on it. Maybe there’ll be an alternate audio track.
- I sort of didn’t realize that you were including Leia’s purple saber in your edit, and that was a very pleasant surprise. Although when Rey uses it, it looks pink for some reason.
Forgot to add to the cutlist, so thanks for the heads up, my b. The pinkish look is on purpose, I just like that hue better. Will take another look to make sure the scenes are consistent, thanks.
- Speaking of colours, is an un-blue-ening of Exogol going to take place?
It’s there I promise (maybe harder to tell on the small bitrate), but confined mostly to the stuff outside of the throne chambers (besides a little bit towards during the fight, and a lot a bit in Ben’s final scene).
- Beaumont’s mouth opens, only for Palpatine to speak. Just thought that was funny
Was hoping no one would notice. I forgot about that, still need to see if that’s something I can fix or if I’ll need to recruit someone.
- Well, including the moneyshot with all the ships which was sliced up originally (the extended ILM shot) is fantastic, but you do sacrifice a line from Poe
Yes, which bothered me at first, but then I thought about it and it’s kind of a useless line anyway. Part of me kind of wants to swap that in instead of “we believe in you Poe,” but it’d need to the chatter effect to fit the shot.
- “I’m no one” just doesn’t resonate with me. “I’m all the Jedi” is dumb, but this one elicited a “wait, huh?” at a moment that is supposed to be epic. I don’t know what to do about that. Maybe it’s also that the delivery of it is the way it is. I understand the sentiment behind this change, but, well… maybe “I’m a Jedi”? idk
I’m getting pretty consistent push back on this so I’ll probably have to change it haha
- I didn’t have a strong conviction about this before, but now I think Ben should never have died. We needed a character who is on the redemption path but doesn’t immediately die without atonement. It’s cheap. But anyway, I don’t know how one would pull that off with the footage available and stuff, or if you even want to
Oh trust me, I’m with you. I’ve fully considered what an alternate ending would entail, but accomplishing it is a bit beyond my skillset so I’ll just have to wait for someday.
- Idk I kinda care about (the citizens of) Naboo more than Coruscant, especially as in canon Coruscant becomes kind of rubbish (not actually sure about this but anyway), so maybe consider using the fan-made Naboo shot instead of Coruscant? Just my opinion
Once again, way ahead of you. I actually would much prefer Naboo, but the shot that’s been made is too short for my purposes. I need to contact whoever made it (skenera?) and see if they can extend it for me.
- Poe-Zori moment at the end was funny and I miss it
I agree, but it needed to go for kind of a complicated reason but essentially to preserve the music without a weird edit.
- Emperor’s theme plays during the Resistance briefing, which on the one hand you may think makes sense because they’re talking about him, BUT that theme tends to imply his (direct) influence, like in this case that their actions, decisions are under his control, which makes it confused and not quite appropriate (at least to me. I also listened to a podcast which mentioned this)
Interesting point, but it doesn’t really bother me. I feel like I could come up with a counter example if I thought about it for a bit.
- Poe’s theme plays when Jannah says hi to our heroes. Weird usage of that.
Yeah that’s annoying to me too. I’m not sure if I looked into changing this or not, there actually is an alternative version of this cue without that on the soundtrack I believe.
- Force theme plays when Lando appears, which… eh, maybe it’s the Rebel theme now
More just like the general dramatic/fate theme for the series. I think it fits the moment, even if it’s a reused cue from ROTS.
- Luke and Leia plays at the celebration. It was there before, and out of context, and you’ve now cut out the Lando-Jannah moment, but the theme is still there, and still out of context.
Alright well you gotta give me props for cutting out Yoda’s theme at least. I agree, although I did come up with a flimsy justification in my mind for it - this victory was thanks to Luke and Leia’s sacrifices or something. Maybe I’ll replace it though, we’ll see.
Anyways thanks for taking a look and sharing your thoughts!