Nev, you beautiful bastard. That little island drawing is brilliant! I mean, it is totally seamless, and something that easily could’ve been in the theatrical film. With this little detail, you wouldn’t even necessarily have to have a daydream sequence, tbh. Is that something you drew yourself and stuck into the shot?

Returning to the daydream itself, I’m not sure if still fits the moment completely. I mean, I do think it works as is, but I don’t know if the desert background, music choices, or the addition of porg calls are the best options for this moment. I feel like Ridley’s take on it, which was based on yours, feels a bit closer to something I could’ve pictured in the theatrical version of the film. I do like the softer build-up, having the background dunes match the one’s she was looking at earlier, using music from the film itself, and the dissolve effect that almost gives it a nice mirage-look.

Granted, the use of the trailer music gives us this nice dramatic build-up and drop-off that sort of snaps Rey out of the daydream (which, if you keep it generally as-is, I think it would work even better if you could cut back to Rey just a handful a frames sooner). But, I do think the more subtle approach that Ridley went with fits well with the rest of Rey’s introduction sequence, which generally showed a lot of tasteful restraint, especially for a JJ Abrams film.

Another, unrelated, question I had for you. I was reading back through your change list, and it made it seem like there would be two Kylo prayer sequences. Is that correct? I’m curious how you’ll approach that without it seeming like you’re reusing a lot of material.