logo Sign In

The Clone Wars: Refocused [COMPLETE] + Subtitles for season one! — Page 40

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Right, that’s my Tartakovsky Microseries bonus episode now rendering too. That’ll be up in a couple of hours.

That’s just Mon Cala/Dantooine/Ilum, not edited at all except for just making the transitions smooth and equal to each other. Ending on the final Dooku beat actually serves the Ilum story quite well, giving the viewer time to ruminate on the fact that the Jedi probably abandoned Ilum after this (to its eventual abuse by the Sith and its conversion into Starkiller base), though that idea kind of contradicts the fact that the Jedi continue to source lightsaber crystals from here at least a little further into the Clone Wars.

This episode is not part of my quality cut, it’s just for people who want all the canon. Even if you did want to watch both episodes, I still think they’re better presented in this split way - one with all of the story and a proper narrative running through it, and one little anthology episode.

Note: If you want this one you’ll need to scroll down my spreadsheet a bit, to the Canon Cut section (that’s yellow on black).

The Clone Wars: Refocused | Andor: Movie Omnibus

Author
Time

I’ve never been able to get along with the original CW series. I really dislike the voice acting for most of the characters (American accented clones! At least Baker’s Australianish accent is relatively close to a New Zealand one) and the Anakin here is my least favourite in the franchise (even TPM and AotC Anakin is preferable). I know it has its fans but I just don’t get the appeal.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

I always quite liked it due to the tartakovsky charm, even though it doesn’t mesh with the rest of the media so nicely, but on this rewatch for the sake of editing it just now, I found the voices so jarring compared to TCW. Anakin is at maximum whine, the Clones are American, and Grievous is completely different. You’re also missing some opportunities to use more of the franchise’s music - the TCW clone theme, subtler music than the Imperial March, etc. The main reason I’m including it at all is really to introduce Ventress and Grievous.

One thing this has reminded me to mention, is that I’ve taken these episodes now as far as I intend to myself, but I’m absolutely open to collaboration with anyone else who has any ideas about better ways to present them. If someone wanted to take a stab at changing the music/audio/voicework, or had ideas for restructuring beyond what I’ve done, or trims to what I’ve retained to better match TCW’s characterisation, I consider them an open community project.

The Clone Wars: Refocused | Andor: Movie Omnibus

Author
Time
 (Edited)

RELEASED - s01e00 - DARK FORCE RISING - RELEASE CUT AVAILABLE

Comprising Tartakovsky Miniseries’ Muunilinst/Yavin/Hypori storyline, and considered a semi-canon prologue to my series.

RELEASED - s01e00-B - TALES FROM THE CLONE WARS - RELEASE CUT AVAILABLE

Comprising Tartakovsky Miniseries’ Dantooine/Mon Cala/Ilium stories, and considered entirely optional.

See above for notes for both. PM for link to the tracker spreadsheet with links.

The Clone Wars: Refocused | Andor: Movie Omnibus

Author
Time

Also currently rendering the edited version of the second part of the Holocron Crisis arc, now with the ending from Lightsaber Lost so it ends with Ahsoka teaching younglings not to lose their lightsaber, just after Anakin’s lost his lightsaber and Ahsoka’s saved younglings. That’ll be ten hours or so though, because it’s my bed time!

The Clone Wars: Refocused | Andor: Movie Omnibus

Author
Time

Man, I can’t believe I’ve already made fifteen of these. Back in November when I had the idea I didn’t intend for it to be me who picked this project up. And all that month spent planning, I still wasn’t sure I had the knowledge or skills necessary. It’s crazy to think that I’ve already got 30% complete. But I’ve really got the momentum up now, I feel like I’m outputting them faster than you guys can watch them!

The Clone Wars: Refocused | Andor: Movie Omnibus

Author
Time

You really took off with it! I’ve really enjoyed having these so far, even if I haven’t given insightful feedback since I don’t know the show well. It’s just been fun to have essentially a new show to watch.

My stance on revising fan edits.

Author
Time

You definitely had a real drive in editing and publishing your episodes, but i don’t mind. If you’ve to wait for feedback for each episode it could and probably would neglect your motivation and the momentun.
i’ll catch up with the newly re-renderd ep by midweek.

Keep up your fantastic work. it’s a real joy for such a great and now new show.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

I feel like I should absolutely keep pushing forward while I’m motivated, yeah. And if I hit a roadblock on a given episode for whatever reason I should just skip forward and plow on. I don’t have much free time, so I need to spend my focus when I have it. I’m always happy to go back over prior episodes, and even while I’m not actively editing the older ones, I’m taking everyone’s feedback and adding them to my projects for my polish pass.

That said, I know I’ve said it recently but I’ll reiterate:

Everyone, please always feel free to comment on older episodes!

They’re not finished just because it was a while since they were released. Please continue to rip them to shreds if required!

Anyway, speaking of that polish pass, I said I’d go back and do the polish pass now that I’ve done Tartakovsky, since I hadn’t heard back from McFibb on the music for a while. But he’s just got back to me and confirmed he’s back in the game, so I’m going to wait and see what he produces before ‘finalising’ those earlier episodes. Which means I’ll probably be picking up the next couple of episodes first. Though I am going to pause for a little while to watch over my discarded episodes, just to take stock again of any useful scenes or elements.

The Clone Wars: Refocused | Andor: Movie Omnibus

Author
Time

I’ve been going through these episodes and really the only issue I have with them besides technical ones is the opening texts. I feel like they aren’t needed at all… They just take up time that honestly leaves me bored. I feel like taking the first few minutes of an episode and doing a cold open before the title card is better.

After being beaten and battered by prequel hate, I promise not to be that to the next generation.

Author
Time

dgraham414 said:

I’ve been going through these episodes and really the only issue I have with them besides technical ones is the opening texts. I feel like they aren’t needed at all… They just take up time that honestly leaves me bored. I feel like taking the first few minutes of an episode and doing a cold open before the title card is better.

+1

Author
Time

szopman said:

dgraham414 said:

I’ve been going through these episodes and really the only issue I have with them besides technical ones is the opening texts. I feel like they aren’t needed at all… They just take up time that honestly leaves me bored. I feel like taking the first few minutes of an episode and doing a cold open before the title card is better.

+1

-2, just to balance it out.

Author
Time

Artan42 said:

-2, just to balance it out.

so you think you’re the chosen one? haha

i also don’t love the opening texts, it’s just too much. i would prefer a short phrase like the original episodes use or none at all. on the other hand, it would be easy to edit out if i really want to so it wouldn’t bother me too much if you keep them in.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Haha, can’t argue with that maths 😉

I’d also prefer to not have to use them, since they’re not exactly a modern convention, and it’s always better to “show, don’t tell”. But I think I have to, for a few reasons.

Firstly, even in the original versions of some episodes, the newsreel at the beginning carried important exposition that the episodes didn’t cover. Dropping the newsreel - which I think is the right move to mature the tone and give me more editing control - means losing that expositon, which means needing to find an alternate home for it. A good example of this is the holocron arc, where Cad Bane finding master Ropal was actually in the newsreel between two episodes of the arc.

Secondly, sometimes in order to better pace or restructure an episode, I want the ability to cut exposition sequences from the episodes themselves. A one minute text description up front is better than many boring minutes I may have to keep in order to preserve a bit of explanation. A good example of this is my Christophsis, where I can get the main characters onto the planet and establish their mission and relationships without any faff, meaning we only have entertaining content to enjoy.

Thirdly, sometimes I want to recontextualise something that’s going to appear in the episode. In my Domino Squad episode I felt like my big change to make their initial failiure send them to the outpost could have done with more clarity, so I used the intro text to emphasise that they risk lesser duties if they fail. Or in my Holocron episode, to intercut Holocron (Bane + shapeshifter) with Hostage Crisis (Bane + posse), I used the text to emphasise that Bane’s a guy who can pull together a posse quickly.

Fourthly, I can use it to make causal links. My Christophsis left the matter of a mole in the Republic open, and reminding the viewer of the Republic mole in Cloak of Darkness encourages the viewer to infer that it’s Argyus, since he matches that role. Mental niggle now removed - and implicitly now the viewer will be more comfortable with any elements not answered in a given episode, trusting it will be addressed later.

Fifthly, I can also, for example, highlight characters or events a bit more directly, so that the viewer is a little more likely to pay attention to the elements of the episodes that I think are the strongest. Emphasising the Satine angle in our first Mandalore episodes means we treat her as less of a single episode character, and pay particular attention to her. I’ll be doing the same with the political situation in the next Mandalore episode, since it’s important to the later Mauldalore arc.

Sixthly, I can use it like a “previously on The Clone Wars”, like with the Maul arc.

And finally, when I’m not using it for those purposes, I try to use it as an opportunity to keep the viewer on top of the ‘state of the galaxy’, and give a bit more of a sense of the ebb and flow of the war, and keep the whole feeling cohesive. In my first season I tried to emphasise that all of the Separatists attacks were against strategic targets - making them more of a competent threat - but that the Republic during that season successfully established a foothold. In the second season, it’s the rise of scum and villainy, etc.

It’s also worth bearing in mind that while these may be boring for the preexistent Clone Wars viewer, who knows all the necessary context, for the new Clone Wars viewer this infodump may be important to their understanding and enjoyment, therefore a more engaging way to start the episode than it would be for an existing one.

In conclusion, I think it’s more valuable to have it than not. That said though, that’s not me trying to shut down discussion on this, because I think it’s a worthy topic. If I’m missing the bar on any of that, it’s definitely worth discussing. If there are elements of the intro crawls which you guys think I should change, or apply better to achieve the above goals, or additional things I should use those crawls for, I’m all ears.

(I should emphasise here, when I share things like this, it really isn’t to shut down discussion - it’s just to “show my working” and share my thought process on the raised subject. I don’t ever want the fact that I’ve thought about something a bunch to make people feel like I consider the matter final. I can expand on any of this stuff, and there’s nothing in this process or these episodes that I wouldn’t welcome other people’s input on.)

In terms of the format, obviously text gives me the most flexibility - I don’t really have the ability to use any other format, and modifying the newsreel would be too limiting. Luckily, Star Wars as a franchise uniquely has a tolerance for text crawls, so if you can get away with it anywhere, you can get away with it here. Much like wipe transitions, it’s very much a dead medium, but this particular franchise grants a lucky amount of leeway.

My goal, I suppose, is to make this show as good as it can be - even if that ultimately means it still doesn’t pass the modern bar for quality. Because people will always love Star Wars and want the fuller picture - especially now that so much is calling back to TCW - and TCW doesn’t deserve to be the black sheep that people feel they have to avoid or resentfully trudge through. I can’t remove all the imperfections, and sometimes I’ll have to replace one imperfection with another, but ultimately every judgment has to be made against the goal of making the entirety of the experience I produce as palatable as possible - which might incorporate an up-front minute of boredom per episode. I’ll always continue to encourage discussion though, not least because you guys will have new ideas which help me bring up that quality level and minimise those imperfections.

(And if it’s a maths game, you may be pleased to know I’ve already shaved off five hours of almost universally absolute dreck in those seventeen episodes released to date alone [not even including the episodes skipped entirely], and the final 50 episodes should be saving you about 17 hours total.)

In terms of cold opens, they’re not really an option. I’ve been actively looking out for opportunities but unfortunately the episodes just aren’t structured in that way. A cold open needs to have some punch to it, and nine times out of ten you don’t have any options in the first third of an episode to break on such a moment. Furthermore, audio transitions into and out of proper content are one of the hardest things to get right - far harder than smushing two bits of content together - so I’d be effectively doubling the likelihood that we end up with jarring transitions.

The Clone Wars: Refocused | Andor: Movie Omnibus

Author
Time

They seem to take the role the opening narration formerly would. Also lets you connect things in a useful way. Plus, the opening theme and setup really does it for me. I like it!

My stance on revising fan edits.

Author
Time

wow, watching these had me forgetting the newsreels existed! yeah, the text is definitely an improvement. nice thorough explanation!

Author
Time
 (Edited)

As I take a little break, I’m just watching through some of the episodes I’m sure I’m excluding, to see if they have any elements worth preserving. Most of this will likely come to nothing, and I’m not going to force it into places it doesn’t belong, but I’m taking stock of what I have here.

Evil Plans has a few things I might add into the Holocron arc. A couple of good shots of Bane’s crew getting into speeders (to help with the ‘putting together a crew’ element), and some cool Bane quotes - “Cad Bane, at your service, for a price.” “I’m your worst nightmare”. I might also borrow the nice Anakin/Padmé cuddle to cap off an episode sometime if I need it. Padmé also has a good line “you should really lighten up”, which might be fun as they start to come into conflict.

Hunt for Ziro has more good Bane lines - “I hate it when someone does my job”, “the separatists are paying a million a head for Jedi”, and a good sassy Obi-Wan one, “I never did enjoy hanging out with you.” The hutt dancers are quite good, except for Sy Snootles, so I might try to preserve some of their song “Dan Hutt Oola” for the later episode where the Hutts encounter Maul, if that’s possible.

There’s almost some usable stuff here when Bane talks to the Hutts, but there’s nowhere for it to lead to. Similarly, the Bane/Obi-Wan/Quinlan fight is cool, but the only thing you could use it for is to prelude the Rako Hardeen arc with Bane’s capture, but I don’t think it could really be recontextualised as that.

Downfall of the Droid has a good back and forth between Anakin and Ahsoka about real world experience versus academy training. Obi-Wan also says “Grievous’ spies have intercepted our trandmissions”, which might work somewhere. There’s some good Ahsoka lines - “May the force be with you, master”, “Hit it, Rex!”, and “Follow me, boys!”

The separatist listening post in Duel of the Droids is quite a nice design, so if I need to relocate a scene and it doesn’t matter where it’s relocated to, I might use this just because it looks nice. I could use Nal Hutta’s establishing shot for the planet, since at range it matches the colour scheme and Nal Hutta looks nice too.

Bombad Jedi features a lot of inspirational Padmé lines, which I may use in my upcoming Corruption on Mandalore arc, because if I remember right I planned to use some Padmé up front from the first episode, before transitioning into the Academy stuff.

The Clone Wars: Refocused | Andor: Movie Omnibus

Author
Time
 (Edited)

I know I have to subject myself to the worst episodes of Clone Wars just in case I can strip them for parts, but goddamn, today was horrible. I know it’s not interesting to read about for you guys either, but on the off chance that it spawns any ideas, here we go again…

The movie has some nice Coruscant establishing shots, and there are a handful of decent Ahsoka lines, plus a decent Sidious capper if you needed an ominous ending and had the footage for it. It’s kind of a shame that they shot their wad on this idea so early, because having Anakin return to Tattooine and talk Ahsoka through his feelings there could have been really powerful if done as well as the later storytelling.

Ambush has one really nice scene where Yoda tells the clones they’re special, but it looks like utter ass so I don’t think it’s worth me forcing it into my ‘lost clones’ anthology episode (along with Deserter, Gregor, and the traitor from Hidden Enemy).

Blue Shadow Virus has nothing except maybe the odd bit of combat banter but I don’t think I’ll need any more of that, and Sphere of Influence is totally worthless.

Almost universally in this show, anything to do with Tattooine or Hutts is absolute guff, Jar Jar is obviously extremely grating, and Padmé’s episodes generally suck. They really did Padmé dirty in this show, or perhaps they had an uphill struggle since she’s a senator and he’s a warrior and they have to keep their relationship secret, so it’s hard to get them opportunities to spend time together in a way that feels natural. Either way, Padmé got few good storylines and often Anakin/Padmé meetings felt forced, even when the actual character writing in them was decent. It’s disappointing but it’s better to keep Padmé sidelined than to force her crappy episodes to the fore.

What a horrible viewing experience today; I’m very glad to be dumping these forever. It’s genuinely put me off the Clone Wars a bit, I have to remind myself that the whole purpose of this exercise is to cut out this rot and leave only the delicious fruit behind. I’ll conclude this intermission review process by watching through my own episodes again, both to remind myself of their context and get a feel for their ongoing story, and to nourish myself on the good bits of this show.

The Clone Wars: Refocused | Andor: Movie Omnibus

Author
Time
 (Edited)

While I’m having a brief period of taking stock, I’ve just gone over my first 15 pages where I did all the reviews and a lot of you made great suggestions, and I have taken a quick note of some episodes I should review together:

  • Corruption / The Academy / Assassin / Heroes on Both Sides / Pursuit of Peace / Senate Murders: The Academy is the main focus here, followed by Assassin, but the other episodes may be able to add value to the Padmé plotline.
  • The Deserter / Gregor (Droids in the Void) / Hidden Enemy / Grievous Intrigue: Do the first three work well as a “Lost clones” anthology? Do the first two work better as a Rex-focused duology? Does Grievous Intrigue paired with the Deserter give us a stronger episode overall? Does Grievous Intrigue work well elsewhere - perhaps interspliced with Cloak of Darkness, currently my weakest epiasode?
  • Revival / Younglings arc: I need to see what I can do to flip the chronology of these without it breaking anything.
  • Order 66 arc / The Last One (first Yoda arc episode): I wonder if these can be tied together, since in TLO Yoda is actively investigating O66.

The Clone Wars: Refocused | Andor: Movie Omnibus

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Looking over the Droids in the Void arc, while I will be dumping the majority, I agree now with the poster who suggested that the Gregor content is salvageable. It has a couple of flaws (mainly surrounding goofiness) but mostly they can be dug around, and it ends up being quite a decent little story. I think the lead-in would just explain that the tiny Republic Colonel Gascon’s technical infiltration team have crashed on a separatist droid mining planet and leave it at that.

There’s nothing in the first episode which is worth using for this. The second episode’s ice comets are a lovely setting with nothing it can be tied to. And I don’t want to use some of the nicer establishing shots of Aberfar since I think the less we lean into its weirdness the better. The fourth has that nice explosion at a conference at the end, which you could work into some kind of sabotage given context.

Edit: Bardotta is pretty useless too. Maybe the odd good Mace line but nothing major. It’s cool to see Mace and Talzin together but there’s nowhere that could serve.

The Clone Wars: Refocused | Andor: Movie Omnibus