logo Sign In

Post #1449029

Author
EddieDean
Parent topic
The Clone Wars: Refocused [COMPLETE] + Subtitles for season one!
Link to post in topic
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/1449029/action/topic#1449029
Date created
16-Sep-2021, 5:54 AM

Solemn.Philosopher said:

EddieDean said:

This is very much a side thing and way lower priority than anything else, but I’ve also been playing with the idea of turning both Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones into TV-length episodes as a season zero. So essentially this show would emcompass the entirety of the prequel era, as an accessible mixed-media episodic show, that was consistent with (and additive to) canon, but focusing on telling the highest quality coherent story.

The huge advantage of this approach is that chopping into episodes and maintaining my opening text means that I can keep certain plot points offscreen and recontextualise and clarify more of the movie content, and allow us to focus only on the best and most necessary content.

That said, I’d fit all of that around the existing show, rather than the other way around. I don’t want that to be mandatory, and I’d far prefer if my TCW:R allows the viewer to slot in their preferred versions of the movies.

I’ve been wanting someone to do this for a long time. I think it would be good for Revenge of the Sith as well, so you can slot in the final four Clone War episodes in between. I know you are basically doing the opposite with the shows (editing the arcs together) and wouldn’t work since I assume you are doing the same with the final episodes.

I guess I’m not technically going purely for aggregation of arcs so much as “quality of experience”. The main advantage to me of chopping the movies into episodes is that we can avoid difficult scenes by simply covering them in the opening text. Off the top of my head, I might like to do the following:

  • Exclude the Gungans from Phantom Menace. The conflict is between the Trade Federation and Naboo, and the stakes are the people of Theed. (The Gungans still exist, and are another nation of Naboo, but they don’t need to feature in this war or this story. I think this bends canon without breaking it, and wouldn’t negatively impact your enjoyment of other media.)
  • Start with Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon in Theed. They’re with Jar Jar, who’s one of Naboo’s ambassadors to the Republic so is acting as their local guide, perhaps helping them infiltrate the city using his local knowledge - which I think works, because he ends up as a representative in the Naboo delegation in episodes 2 and 3, we’d just be giving him that role earlier (Obviously you’d still minimise some of his more abrasive traits.)
  • We get an EPISODE ONE rescuing Padmé from Theed through to Tattooine, Anakin, the pod race and leaving with him. This would be about 50 minutes.
  • In EPISODE TWO, we bring Padmé to Coruscant, then back to Naboo. Cutting the Gungans, we emphasise that the droid army is overwhelming Theed’s defences. The Jedi are focused on the Sith Lord, whilst Anakin realises that the droids can be killed by destroying their control ship, and does that. End on Qui-Gon’s funeral but not the street celebration. This would run to about 40 minutes. Perhaps we can explain somehow that Anakin (with his technical knowledge) has worked out that there’s a control ship.
  • In EPISODE THREE, we skip ahead to the start of Attack of the Clones. We reestablish the core characters and focus on the Coruscant content up until both parties leave. We use the opening text to explain more clearly how the Trade Federation attack has formed into the nascent Separatist movement.
  • In EPISODE FOUR, we focus purely on Obi-Wan and his investigation of the Clone army through to his capture on Geonosis.
  • In EPISODE FIVE, it’s Anakin and Padmé on Naboo and Tattooine.
  • In EPISODE SIX, we bring Anakin and Padmé to Geonosis and play the remainder out (except the droid factory).

But like I say, this is far, far away for me, it’s definitely outwith the core goal of this project, so I don’t want to put too much thought into it.