I know Hal already mentioned this, but I think it would be good to put some of our brains together and see if we can hammer out the whispering dagger stuff, and decide if we can pull it off or not. I know Sherlock has already made a lot of examples for how many of those scenes can be altered.
Just a refresher, the main changes that needed to be figured out were:
- Cutting 3PO’s line about knowing exactly where the Wayfinder is. He can just know it was the clue Luke was looking for.
- Dubbing red-eyed 3PO with a new dagger translation than makes it clear that Rey must tap into the dark side to be “guided” to the Wayfinder. (I think clarity is the key word here. Just a reminder, he can’t mention Endor because the dagger should theoretically find the Wayfinder no matter where it is.) I know Faraday may provide the voice dub for this.
- I think the interaction on the Destroyer when Poe asks Rey why they need the dagger should be trimmed, since they would clearly still need it based off the new translation.
- When Rey finds the dagger in Kylo’s quarters, she immediately picks it up, and we get a brief glimpse of the Death Star ruins. (I think priority should making this feel like it could’ve been in the theatrical film. I would suggest editing it like Rey/Kylo’s vision at the beginning of the film, but with literally just one or two shots of the Death Star. Really quick.)
- When Rey and Finn are back on the Falcon, have Finn say all or part of his line, “The Endor system? Where the last war ended?” Implying that Rey told them what the Wayfinder showed her. (If it has trouble fitting, perhaps we could regrade a shot of BB-8 on the Falcon to imply he is nearby, listening in. This same technique was actually used during Finn and Rey’s conversation on Ochi’s ship.)
- On Kef-Bir, cough, I mean Endor, cut Jannah saying they received a message from Babu Frik.
Here are my mockups for changes one and six. These are mainly just proof-of-concepts, so if anyone has ideas that they think would work better, feel free! I also have been working on a somewhat radical idea regarding number five, which has required a bit more work than I was anticipating; but I should have something to present tonight or tomorrow.
For some reason, I thought a few people had already started working on potential recordings for number two. Was there any new information on that front? And for three, since that scene is pretty much a oner and any cuts would probably be obvious, could we maybe redub Poe to say something like “How will you find it?” Or maybe “Where?” “[I have] a feeling…”
For four, I think it should be more than just a quick flash; I agree that it should resemble the visions in other points of the film. I’m thinking maybe a shot of the exterior (maybe even taken from ROTJ), the Throne Room (could crop a shot from the 4K source, to remove Rey), the Wayfinder itself in the storage closet, and then maybe a flash of Palpatine at the end, taken from later in the film, just to reiterate that he’s the looming threat here. I think the trickiest part will be matching the audio design of the other visions - maybe Dom could lend his expertise, based on his work on the Mask Vision?
Jar Jar Bricks…worried that the audience wouldn’t understand why Rey was given a vision the second time she picked it up on the Destroyer, but not the first time she did in the Pasaana caves. Because, visually, the movie doesn’t show Rey doing anything different between the two moments she is holding the dagger.
I was thinking perhaps Rey’s eyes could turn yellow at this point, to show her tapping into the Dark Side?
If we decide not to go through with these changes and leave it as V1 basically has it, perhaps we could rejig axlanian’s recent suggestion of adding more Sith voices to the climax, but instead add Sith voices to the whispers Rey follows, but they could actual whisper little things that the audience can understand. Instead of the whispers only being vague jibberish, we could hear some whispers say, “Closer” “This way”, etc… Not only that, but we could throw in some whispers that contribute to that temptation idea. It could all be subtle stuff, but enough to understand that they’re not only leading her to the Wayfinder, but they’re also trying to tell her how she needs power of the dark side.
I’d be down for this. It kind of sounds like the Sith Whispers already, but just a little more explicit. The added whispers could also be really cool when Rey is wandering around Exegol, as they guide her to Palpatine…
With all that being said, maybe it is not worth the amount of work that is required for this change. We might be able to iron out some dumb plot choices, but maybe that effort could be put toward more substantial changes. For example, I would like to see 3PO not get his memory back, so at least some sacrifices in this film have consequences. Then again, maybe it’s time to start closing the door on new ideas.
I’m pretty sure Hal said he’s fine with 3PO getting his memories back. But at this point, the only substantial things that would really be left to do for the Dagger are the new translation recording, and the vision sequence itself.