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The Force Awakens: Starlight (V1.1 Released!) — Page 57

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Hi everyone, I’m back! Now the Air Conditioning is broken, and may take a few days to repair during which I probably won’t be in the house. Ah well, if it isn’t one thing it’s another 😉

SomethingStarWarsRelated said:

I feel very honored to be listed in the credits! I haven’t been very active on the forums- mainly because I don’t like taking the time to type. But I have followed a lot of this edit because DAMN, the work you’ve done here is amazing! I’m in awe of the creative ideas you’ve been able to implement! You’ve been able to achieve huge and also subtle changes that, if someone had only seen the film once or twice, might not be able to figure out what you’ve done. I certainly look forward to your version of TLJ!

Thanks for the review! The intention certainly has been to strike that balance between ambition and invisibility, so that anyone watching comes away feeling that the film is better but not fully realizing how different it is.

You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)

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So is V3 the completed version? As I would like to watch the completed edit.

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A couple small things I noticed while watching the latest workprint.

During the scene at 17:30 onwards, when Poe screams it kind of cuts in at a weird time that feels very edited if that makes sense. I would prefer not cutting any of his screaming at all while keeping the other additions you added.

Very small nitpick here also, at 41:40-41:42 you can hear han say faintly “…out of there” which was cut from I think… Hal’s edit…? + This edit. However like I mentioned before, you can still faintly hear the line and its slightly distracting when you know where to look for it.

Other than that, I absolutely love it. Great movie now, and I look forward to the full release.

“You will find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view” — Obi-Wan Kenobi

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Peonthegrate said:

A couple small things I noticed while watching the latest workprint.

During the scene at 17:30 onwards, when Poe screams it kind of cuts in at a weird time that feels very edited if that makes sense. I would prefer not cutting any of his screaming at all while keeping the other additions you added.

Very small nitpick here also, at 41:40-41:42 you can hear han say faintly “…out of there” which was cut from I think… Hal’s edit…? + This edit. However like I mentioned before, you can still faintly hear the line and its slightly distracting when you know where to look for it.

Other than that, I absolutely love it. Great movie now, and I look forward to the full release.

Thanks for the kind words! I’ll definitely put those places on the list for final review.

You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)

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 (Edited)

I’ve been debating whether or not to apply a new color grade to this edit, whether it be a subtle correction or a more extreme transformation. I’m leaning towards a more subtle correction, since there are aspects of the original color that simply don’t make me happy. In particular, the warm tones are rather muted which leaves Chewbacca and C-3PO looking almost green in many shots, and there’s an unpleasant blue push to the whole film that tends to ‘lobsterize’ faces. Finally, the red is a bit overdone which leads to some detail loss in heavily red shots, so taking all of this together I’ve tried to fix these issues:















Perhaps on the alternate version of the film I will do a more extreme grading.

You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)

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Subtle, yet effective. 😃

“The Dark Side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural.”
-Sheev Palpatine, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (2005)

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I like the subtle correction, too.

What do you have in mind for a new grading?

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CMMAP said:

I like the subtle correction, too.

What do you have in mind for a new grading?

It would be similar to what I did for ANH, with an approximation of a Technicolor look. Scene by scene regrading to give them a older, more filmic look and make the skin tones sing. I don’t want to do that for this version however since the governing principle is for changes to be less-noticeable whenever possible.

Concerning whether V4 is the final version, it’s probably 98% there. I was hoping to hear back from SirRidley about the Han Dice Hanging scene to include, but it looks like that won’t be included in V1 so it looks like V4 (107 in the file) will be pretty much accurate to the final full bitrate version sans the color correction and final tweaks to audio.

You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)

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NeverarGreat said:

CMMAP said:

I like the subtle correction, too.

What do you have in mind for a new grading?

It would be similar to what I did for ANH, with an approximation of a Technicolor look. Scene by scene regrading to give them a older, more filmic look and make the skin tones sing. I don’t want to do that for this version however since the governing principle is for changes to be less-noticeable whenever possible…

I would totally dig the technicolor feel, nice to hear. Could you share an example how it would look?
Do you intend to regrade it for the „starlight“ version? Or will you take a well deserved break after finishing this version?

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hi, I would love a link to your most recent version

I’ve been inspired to make my own fan edit of the sequels so I’ve been watching everyone elses edits for inspiration and ideas, this definitely sounds like one of the best TFA edits I’ve come across yet, really interested in seeing it

Oh, and I also agree that Technicolor type visuals would be awesome to see, the more subtle color correction you’ve already done looks really good too (I always felt like there was too much blue in TFA)

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Thanks, PM sent!

I’m holding off on the final pass of this project for now, since I’m investigating if the Han dice hanging scene is possible. I’m cautiously optimistic based on SirRidley’s prior work and the extra coverage granted by the Vehicle Flythroughs and other BTS material. The only sticking point I can see so far is needing a closeup of the dice. The best candidate for that would be the closeup from TLJ before Luke’s gloved hand comes into frame, but the dice are immobile before that. I’ll keep thinking about it.

You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)

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This looks incredible! I’ve always felt that TFA could have done with being a bit more innovative, and as much as I already love Hal’s restructure, this looks really special! I’d love a PM, and good luck working on the next two.

“I don’t believe it.”

“That is why you Yoda.”
Master Fail

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Can I get a link? I would really appreciate it!

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 (Edited)

Just finished the edit, and I simply couldn’t wait to share my thoughts.

Good Lord, this edit was amazing. While I had some technical problems with it, those are mostly moot given this is still a WIP. But as for what you did with the story, I was astonished.

I have lots of thoughts, so I’ll go through the film chronologically (sorry in advance, it’s a whole lot of reading…)

The first act has so much more atmosphere and mystique. Recolouring Jakku was a great touch, giving the planet a far more unique feel. Leaving Rey’s introductory sequence to be entirely wordless up until BB-8 was a great idea, further augmenting the atmosphere. The added voiceover in Poe’s interrogation worked very well, though I feel the scene might transition out more cleanly if you kept Poe’s scream, just reduced in volume and maybe with some echo/reverb to blend it with the voices. Moving up Kylo and the Vader helmet completely recontextualises the scene; though I’m a little on the fence about how well it flows from the previous scene - the shift in atmosphere and energy is a bit abrupt - it adds an amazing aura of mystery around Kylo, and his connection to the Supreme Leader and Vader. It also flows brilliantly into the next scene; we think a stormtrooper is coming so Ren can ‘finish what he started’, but nope, it’s actually Finn come to rescue Poe. Great subversion. The general rearranging of the first act was excellent, giving a much better flow to the introduction of the characters and how they all connect to drive the main plot.

Removing BB-8 divulging the location of the Resistance Base definitely works well story-wise, though the scene came across a little clunky; Rey goes from asking where the base is so she can drop them off to saying she’ll drop them off somewhere else for them to make their own way, and I felt the beat of BB-8 doing his ‘thumbs-up’ was a bit too long, which seemed out of place in the energy of the scene. Still, changing the plot point definitely improves the overall flow of the story, and clears up why they need Maz’s help. (I guess you could rationalise Rey’s change of plans as her remembering her priorities, which would give credence to Finn’s surprise and immediate “What about you?”). The rathtar sequence was much improved; the newly darkened lighting was a great addition, and it definitely feels a lot darker and more horrifying than before. Snoke and Kylo’s new conversation was very effective; it builds up the mystery around Kylo very well, showing that these two know things that we don’t. Polishing up the cantina/castle sequence also worked nicely, and I loved the addition of Luke’s TLJ lines to Rey’s visions of Kylo.

The addition of Rey going to the pirates’ ship to join Finn was brilliant, and I felt it was executed seamlessly. The addition of the Sith whispers when she shoots the stormtrooper worked brilliantly; I loved the through-line across the edit that Rey taps into the Dark side whenever she uses the Force. The small changes to the Battle of Takodana were great; the re-edited ending with Han, Finn and Kylo felt a lot more compelling and dramatic. The interrogation of Rey was quite surprising; I really like what you were going for with the reduced lighting, but I felt it was a bit too dark, and there was way too much contrast, leading to it feeling unnatural, and at odds with the rest of the film’s visuals. In some shots Kylo’s face looks incredibly blue/purple, and it doesn’t feel like lighting from the room. Nonetheless, reducing the light of the scene makes it far more sinister, especially Kylo’s face reveal. Snoke taunting Kylo by calling him ‘Solo’ serves as a great confirmation of the suspicions about him built up to this point, and despite not being directly prompted, it actually still fits the scene; after Kylo says he needs Snoke’s guidance, Snoke using his real name works as an admonishment of his failure, shaking his confidence to test him. I did feel it transitioned out of the scene a bit too quickly, not giving this momentous reveal enough time to properly sink in, but otherwise it works very well. Han and Leia’s re-edited conversation was a nice surprise; focussing it more around them than Luke and reducing the overly direct exposition made the exchange much more powerful.

The transition from that convo to Hux’s impassioned speech felt a bit jarring (not sure if it was the music or just because I’m not used to that placement of the scene), but in terms of the flow of the scenes it did overall work nicely (the reconnaissance report about Starkiller Base arrives, we transition to the Base readying to be unleashed, then to the plan to destroy it). Leia’s line in the meeting “The Senate is the next target” feels a bit incongruent; since the weapon hasn’t been fired before, there’s no reason to call it the “next” target, though I understand there’s only so much that can be done with the material available. But from here, I found the re-structured third act absolutely AWESOME. I’ve always had problems with TFA’s third act, but this edit makes it so much more tense and dramatic. The rearranging of Rey’s first mind trick was brilliant, and I loved the redone lighting in the first cutaway to Kylo, showing him walking out of the flashing light of the absorbing sun and into the blue of the corridor (though I thought the music over the second cutaway to Kylo was overly loud, and didn’t quite mesh with the rest of the scene). The re-edited infiltration was a vast improvement over the original, particularly concerning Phasma. And about Kylo entering the Falcon: I didn’t even know this deleted scene existed, but its incorporation into the rest of the sequence was seamless, especially the ending.

The addition of Leia and Han’s voices over the final moments with Han and Kylo were very effective; I do feel this scene doesn’t strictly need voiceover, but going from “There was too much Vader in him” to Han’s death was awesome. As for the moved firing of the laser, I’m undecided as to whether I prefer this edit’s version that combines it with Chewie’s detonation or Hal’s original sequence; I’ll have to watch both carefully. Either way, you edited the sequence beautifully, and the impact this restructure has on the film overall is immense. And now we come to my absolute favourite part of this edit: THAT moment with Rey as she taps into the Dark side to overcome Kylo (I won’t spoil the specifics here for those who haven’t seen it, it’s worth being surprised by). I was completely not expecting that, and when it happened I genuinely jumped out of my seat. So damn awesome. My only complaint about the scene was that maybe the music was a bit loud compared to the dialogue, and the rest of the sequence’s music.

I loved this edit. It made me feel like I was watching TFA for the first time; the film felt much less Disney, and much more Star Wars. I particularly loved the first and third acts; the former just felt like pure Star Wars, and the third act felt much less silly, instead becoming a whole lot more powerful, dramatic and epic. Probably my favourite addition to the story was Rey tapping into the Dark side to use the Force. It’s awesome to finally truly see the ‘quick and easy path’ of the Force like Yoda warned of. Even without your plans for TLJ and TROS, this adds a whole new dimension to Rey’s journey throughout those films: TLJ now shows Rey learning not just how to use the Force, but how to properly use the Force, without relying on the Dark side, lending a lot more power to both when she immediately gets attracted to the Dark cave, and her final lifting of the rocks. It also gives far more basis to her struggles across TROS of turning to the Dark side, as well as Ren’s insistence that she belongs alongside him. It even gives more basis to the maligned Rey Palpatine (for the record I don’t hate this counter-twist on a conceptual level, I just think it needed to be planned from the beginning to be actually compelling).

Even though I already love Hal’s edit, this might well have impressed me more. This is the most I’ve enjoyed watching a Star Wars film in a very long time. I can’t wait to see what you have planned for TLJ and TROS!

“I don’t believe it.”

“That is why you Yoda.”
Master Fail

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After following this thread since the beginning and now reading that comprehensive review I can’t wait for the final version, can you please send me a link to the current work print?

Thanks