Star Wars Episode VII: The Eyepainter Fanedit is now online

Here are the technical specs for the 1080p and 720p versions:

Lossless 1080p
Codec: H.264 MPEG-4 AVC (Part 10)
Resolution: 1920x800
Frame Rate: 23.976fps
Audio: AAC 5.1 surround and 2.0 stereo
File Size: 13.1gb
Running Time: 1:54:26

Lossy 720p
Codec: H.264 MPEG-4 AVC (Part 10)
Resolution: 1280x720
Frame Rate: 23.976fps
Audio: AAC 5.1 surround and 2.0 stereo
File Size: 4.88gb
Running Time: 1:54:26

I also want to give a big thank you to CaptainFaraday, GMatias, Artan42 and Sade1212 for their assistance and advice in the making of this edit. Your contributions helped in shaping the final results. May the force be with you! 👍😌

There has been an awakening. Have you felt it?

People can complain about TFA being a clone of Episode IV all they want, but at least it felt like we had returned to that galaxy far, far away some 30 to 40 years later. I remember what it was like going into that packed theatre in Christmas 2015. I watched it right next to some stranger who smelled of cigarette smoke. We were all bitter about the prequel trilogy and how much of a disappointment that was, and the best we could all hope for is that Disney’s approach would be a true return to the franchise. And when the credits rolled on Episode VII, it was.

Yeah, I’m not gonna lie. I like this one. I liked the characters, both old and new. And out of all the Star Wars movies that came before, this one was the closest I’ve ever gotten to seeing a movie that actually was Star Wars. In a theatre. I was born 7-13 years too late for the original trilogy. I never had a chance to see Episodes IV-VI when they were in cinemas everywhere, since I’d never been born yet. So, my first exposure to the universe of Star Wars was through three old VHS tapes my parents had. Then of course, the prequels were released. Episode I came out when I was only 9. Episode III came out when I was 15. But even with the prequels, they just weren’t Star Wars. They weren’t those movies I watched on VHS when my age was in the single digits. If nothing else, The Force Awakens was the closest I’ve ever gotten to seeing a real Star Wars movie in a theatre, and for that reason alone, I treasure it.

With that said, I do agree that it had some flaws. Certain things could’ve been done better. There’s a couple of scenes that aren’t necessary. A few jokes that don’t land. And of course, the movie could do with being Episode IV a little less. It’s not a bad film in my eyes, but it does need a tune-up.

So that’s what my edit of Episode VII is. Most of the changes I’m making are minor ones for the most part. I’ve deleted one or two major scenes, but it’s not a dramatic change from what we’ve already seen. Right now, my edit is running two hours even. That’s not the final running time, but it is longer than my other fan edits of the franchise.

Changes list (Updated 2-15-22)

As with the prequels, “-” means deleted, and “/” means altered. I would throw in a “+” for added, but I don’t have any deleted scenes this time around. Two reasons: Reason #1: I don’t know how to get the time codes out, and reason #2, unlike the prequels which deleted some gems, this movie doesn’t have very many good deleted scenes, at least, from the ones on my blu-ray. So, bottom line, don’t expect a “+” sign from this list for now. I have removed some lines of dialogue through sound editing. These will be indicated with the “AUDIO:” sign.

/opening crawl
-“This will begin to make things right. I’ve travelled too far and seen too much to ignore all the despair in the galaxy. Without the jedi, there can be no balance in the force.”, “Well, because of you, now we have a chance. The general’s been after this for a long time.”, and “The general? To me, she’s royalty.” (Updated 2-15-22)
-“You know what I’ve come for.”, and “I know where you come from, before you called yourself Kylo Ren.”
-“So, who talks first? You talk first? I talk first?”
-“It’s very hard to understand you with all the-”, “Search him.”, “-Apparatus.”
-Poe getting searched
-AUDIO: “In the morning you go.” (Updated 1-8-22)
-AUDIO: “You’re welcome.” (Updated 1-8-22)
-Poe screaming from Kylo Ren’s force probing
-Rey deciding not to sell BB-8 to Unkar Plutt (Updated 1-8-22)
-“You need a pilot.”, “I need a pilot.”, “We’re gonna do this.”, and “Yeah?”
-“This is very complicated.”
-“This thing really moves!”
-“Did you see that? Did you see that?”, and “I saw it!”
-Kylo Ren and General Hux’s dispute over finding the droid
-“…I thought he was a myth.” (Updated 12-27-21)
-“Hey! That’s mine!”
-Shot of scavengers going after the downed first order ship
-“Nice shooting!”, “Now that was some flying!”, “Thanks!”, “How did you do that?”, “I don’t know!”, “No one trained you?”, “I’ve flown some ships, but I’ve never left the planet! Your last shot was dead-on!”, “That was amazing!”, “You got him with one blast!”, “You set me up for it!”, “It was perfect!”, and “That was pretty good.”
-Kylo Ren’s reaction scene to the failure of BB-8’s capture on Jakku
-“Jakku? That junkyard?”, “Thank you! Junkyard…”, “I told you we should’ve double-checked the western reaches! Who had it? Ducain?”, “I stole it. From Unkar Plutt. He stole it from the Irving boys, who stole it from Ducain.”, “Who stole it from me!”
-The entire Rathtar episode
-General Hux and Kylo Ren’s meeting with Snoke
-Rey and Han Solo fixing the electrical overload
-Finn trying to bandage chewbacca’s wounds
-Rey bypassing the compressor
-“I think I can handle myself.”, “I know you do. That’s why I’m giving it to you. Take it.”
-Most shots of the guests at Maz’s bar to slightly lessen the film’s overreliance on Episode IV
-“Alert the Resistance their missing droid is here!”
-General Hux’s speech to the first order
-Han Solo trying out Chewbacca’s crossbow
-Poe’s reveal during Takodana battle
-Poe’s “woohoo!” during Takodana battle
-AUDIO: “The girl I’ve heard so much about.” (Updated 1-8-22)
/Restructured the end of the 2nd act to this arrangement instead: (Updated 1-8-22)
----Kylo interrogates Rey (minus the part where Rey resists Kylo, making this scene much darker)
----Starkiller Base begins charging
----Han and Leia meet again
----Introduction to the Resistance
----The incomplete map
----BB-8 meets R2
----Han and Leia talk about Ben
----Finn tells the Resistance about the base
----The Resistance prepares for attack
----Han and Leia say goodbye
----Rey escapes
----Han lands the Falcon
-Chewie socializing with the nurse
-“I’m afraid not. R2-D2 has been in low power mode ever since master Luke went away.”
-“…We have the rest. Recovered from the archives of the Empire, but we need the last piece.” (Updated 1-8-22)
-Rey resisting Kylo Ren’s force probing
-Snoke and Kylo Ren’s discussion on Rey’s resistance
-Death star and Starkiller base comparison discussion
-“The name’s Finn, and I’m in charge! I’m in charge now, Phasma! I’m in charge!”, and “Bring it down. Bring it down.”
-AUDIO: “Girl knows her stuff.” (Updated 1-8-22)
-All shots of Resistance pilots to lessen Episode IV comparisons (Updated 12-27-21)
-“General, are you seeing this?”, “Two more X-Wings down. That’s half our fleet destroyed!”, and “And their weapon will be fully charged in ten minutes! It would take a miracle to save us now!”
-“The oscillator’s been damaged, but is still functional.”, and “Admiral! Their weapon will fire in two minutes!”
-“We just lost R1.”, and “We’re overwhelmed! What do we do? It isn’t working!”
-More shots of the pilots to lessen Episode IV comparisons
-“You need a teacher! I could show you the ways of the force!” and “The force?”
-Shot of first order employee running from his post
-Snoke giving General Hux permission to retreat

Good luck with this, Eyepainter (plus the other two Sequel Edits you are doing). Also with the move too. 👍
 

oojason said:

Good luck with this, Eyepainter (plus the other two Sequel Edits you are doing). Also with the move too. 👍
 

Thanks! I’ll do my best!

Just cut out 1 or 2 more minutes, bringing the running time down to 118-119 minutes. I’m starting to run out of things to cut, so I’m ready to start worrying about polishing things up (as well as getting to work on posting a list of changes).

Changes list is up!

I have decided to release workprints for all three of my sequel trilogy edits soon. Two reasons: the first is to try and keep things consistent, specifically with TLJ and TROS. The second is because I feel I could use a second or third opinion to weed out any more inconsistencies that I may have missed or overlooked.

I’m currently rendering the first drafts of the opening crawls as I type this, and just like a lot of other things, they are a work in progress. I will most likely rewrite them before the official release. Other things that aren’t complete yet are the wipes, crossfades, and color grading.

If you want the specifics, keep reading. If not, you’ve got the cliff’s notes version of this post, and you can PM me for the workprints when I successfully release them.

I made some cuts in the middle of a few lines. I erased what remained of those lines for the workprint so that only the lines that I plan to keep will be featured.

I also started work on the color grading for all three edits. TFA and TLJ are both getting a more orange tinted D55 film look LUT, mainly to fix the not-so-Star Wars-y cyan tint that was prevalent in all three movies. I’m currently using a Kodak D55 LUT for TFA, and a Fuji D55 LUT for TLJ. TROS is the bluest of the three, so I decided to apply a more neutral Kodak D60 LUT instead. Since all three LUT’s are overly bright, I have temporarily readjusted them with the primary color wheels until I officially begin work on power grading them. They still look bright (at least, on my computer monitor), but the readjustment I’ve done should keep things from getting overly bright on most screens. Nevertheless, the color grading is incomplete in these workprints.

I haven’t worked on the wipes yet, so don’t expect any Star Wars style transitions. I know, and I will get to those.

Aside from the lines of dialogue I have removed, most of the sound editing is still incomplete. I’ve only added a couple crossfades throughout all three edits so far, and thus I have a long way to go. So, if the audio cutaways sound choppy or abrupt, it’s because I haven’t polished them up. I will take care of them, so ignore them for now.

I think that’s the gist of what to expect from the workprints. If you want to take a look at them (and give your two cents), feel free to PM me and I’ll send the links when they’re released.

Just uploaded the workprint.

nmxuci5970 said:

can I have a link to the work print for the first of the sequel trilogy eye painter edit as this looks the better way to suit its needs

PM sent!

Removing more shots of the pilots from the X-wing battle during the Starkiller base climax in the hope that it’ll reduce the Episode IV comparison effect some more.

After giving it some more thought, I decided to remove all shots of the X-wing fighter pilots, including Poe’s, during the Starkiller base climax. This places the space battle in the background, and puts more of the focus on the ground level with Rey, Finn, and Han. Thus, the ending is even more simplified, and the Episode IV references are more like a homage instead of a ripoff.

Decided to cut Rey’s line, “I thought he was a myth.” As it downplays the significance of Luke Skywalker and the rebellion from the OT, and not in a good way. It also doesn’t work so well with my revised opening crawl, which places a lot of emphasis on Luke, Leia, and the First Order rising in the aftermath of the Empire’s defeat. All stuff that would make the rebellion well known across the galaxy.

Removed a few more bits. I went through the sound editing and silenced out Han’s line: “Girl knows her stuff.” during the Starkiller base climax. Another tiny detail which lessens Rey’s “Mary Sue” problem just a teensy bit more.

I also took out some more shots of the

Starkiller base X-wing battle, and I think my approach now will be to place nearly all of the focus on the ground level (a.k.a. Rey, Finn, Han, and Chewie), and make the X-wing battle as close to insignificant as possible. I’ll still have Poe’s ship blow the planet up (sans Poe, however). It’s just that most of the X-wing battle will be removed, only showing up when absolutely necessary.

Doing some more restructuring from the scene when Rey gets captured to the scene when Han lands the Falcon on Starkiller Base. I can’t decide if the lowest point in the film is Rey getting captured or if Starkiller base charging up is the lowest point. This area of the film is easy to structure poorly because so many scenes take an upward trajectory (such as Han meeting Leia again, Finn telling the Resistance about the base, Rey escaping, etc.), and if I move some of the more downward scenes to fix the structure, I risk creating continuity issues (Such as Starkiller base charging up too early). I’m doing what I can, but the restructuring job is turning into the hardest part of editing the film.

Just looked at what I came up with for restructuring the 60-80 minute chunk of my edit. I like what I’ve come up with, but I may need to watch the edit in full again to ensure that it works as a whole. For now, I’ll post what I’ve done so far.

Here’s how the scenes were structured in the theatrical film:

Han and Leia meet again
Introduction to the Resistance
Chewie talking to the doctor
The incomplete map
BB-8 meets R2
Han and Leia talk about Ben
Kylo interrogates Rey
Kylo talks with Snoke
Rey escapes
Starkiller Base begins charging
Finn tells the Resistance about the base
The Resistance prepares for battle
Han and Leia say goodbye
The First Order searches for Rey
Han lands the Falcon

Here’s what I’ve done so far:

Kylo interrogates Rey (minus the part where Rey resists Kylo, making this scene much darker)
Starkiller Base begins charging
Han and Leia meet again
Introduction to the Resistance
The incomplete map
BB-8 meets R2
Han and Leia talk about Ben
Finn tells the Resistance about the base
The Resistance prepares for attack
Han and Leia say goodbye
Rey escapes
Han lands the Falcon

If I come up with any improvements to this sequence, I’ll post an update. If you have an interesting suggestion, feel free to post it here.

Just watched my edit in full. I think the restructuring works. I’ll update the changes list sometime when I’m not working my day job.

Next, I’m thinking about removing Rey’s decision to not sell BB-8. It doesn’t seem to me like it adds much to Rey’s character (other than to make her look like a goody-two-shoes protagonist. Even then, I think that’s a problem, especially since we find out in Episode IX that

she’s a Palpatine).

The only problem now is that the remaining exposition about Rey waiting for her family makes for a very short scene, and my main concern is that it might be too short. So I’m torn between keeping a scene that may be better left on the floor, or risking messing with the flow and timing. I guess I’d like a second or third opinion on this dilemma.

I’ve decided to say, “Screw it!” and take out Rey deciding not to sell BB-8 to Unkar Plutt. I also decided to go through the sound editing and take out Rey’s lines, “In the morning you go.” followed by “You’re welcome.”

I believe that removing this makes Rey just a little bit more of a jerk, which will tie in well when we find out about her family history in the later films. It also means that she’s not as perfect in the ethics department, moving her away from the Mary Sue issue surrounding her character.

Took out two of Kylo Ren’s lines due to changes I’ve made to the plot. The first line I’ve removed is “The girl I’ve heard so much about.” Mainly because the part where he learns about her doesn’t exist anymore in my edit. The second one is “…We have the rest. Recovered from the archives of the Empire, but we need the last piece.” This was done to fix a plot issue that came about thanks to my removal of Rey resisting Kylo’s force probing. Taking that line out means that neither the Resistance nor the First Order get a complete map of where Luke is. So the Skywalker map Kylo Ren gets out of Rey is incomplete, and he can’t do anything with it.

Changes updated!

I suppose now is a good time to talk about the color grading. Because I’ve been working on that too while checking for any other little details I might have missed.

I decided to try a similar approach as I did with my Terminator 2 fanedit. I was pleased with the way the color grading turned out for that edit, and I was planning on doing a similar thing for the sequel trilogy. That is, doing a LUT with a powergrade. I’ll let these YouTube videos explain the basics:

https://youtu.be/mt4FMClxhbc
https://youtu.be/PchQ0fWGUR0

These sequel trilogy fanedits will also be the first time I’ve used DaVinci Resolve’s all-new “HDR DaVinci Wide Gamut Intermediate” color processing mode. I’ll let this YouTube video explain the boring stuff:

https://youtu.be/uuoZzF8vB8g

As explained in the above video, this is a good alternative to LUTs. Back when I announced the workprint, I mentioned that I used a Kodak D55 LUT for Episode VII. This is no longer the case, as I had a lot of trouble working on the color grading. So, I’ve ditched the LUT for DaVinci Wide Gamut instead. My apologies for those with the workprint, but it wasn’t working for me. Grading has been much easier for me with the DaVinci Wide Gamut.

One last thing I should mention is that I’ve added a fifth node to the four node process mentioned by Mononodes in YouTube video #1. The fifth node is midtone detail. I loved cranking that sucker up for Terminator 2, and it made the edit look extremely detailed.

For comparison, here’s what my powergrade looks like without the MD:

…And here’s the powergrade with the MD set to 100:

I will be comparing my color grading with the 2016 blu-ray, as that’s the version I own. Overall, I don’t think the changes will be gigantic, as I thought the blu-ray looked good enough. The only difference is that I wanted to make it look more film-like. So, I got Puggo Grande’s 16mm preservations of the OT, and looked at them for reference. Episodes V and VI looked way too red, so I stuck with Episode IV for reference. I went all the way for starters, but it looked too blue, so I’ve adjusted that and made the black levels only faintly blue. I also went and adjusted the white levels towards the slightly green side as best as I can. Then, I raised the gamma for the finishing touch. Most of the screencaps will demonstrate the bluer and greener sides of my color grade, so keep that in mind while looking at the comparisons.

Here’s the blu-ray:

Here’s my personal spin with all adjustments accounted for:

You will find the remaining comparisons in the spoiler tag below. The blu-ray example is the top example, and my adjustments are the bottom example. Let me know what you think, and if anything needs improvement (gulp).

Artan42 said:

I think the colour grade is an overall improvement, I’ve never been a fan of the technical side of Abrams’ films (colourgrade, too fast cameras, weird zooms, etc.).

There’s some that look off, Jakku looks too much like Tatooine when it’s more yellow than orange (orange, red, and yellow are the only ways of distinguishing between Tatooine, Geonosis, and Jakku), Starkiller base looks far too green (the exterior) for me personally and the naturalistic lighting on the last picture makes it look too much like England.

Overall it works on every other scene.

You make some good points. Although Jakku has always been Tattooine 2.0 for me (For better or for worse. Mostly worse). I never saw the difference between yellow and orange on Jakku and Tattooine. They both looked similar to me, with the difference being that one is less sandy than the other. The reds of Geonosis, however, those I see clearly.

Anyway, I think most of your criticisms can easily be resolved by increasing the reds and blues in the white levels of the image. I’ll make that adjustment now, and when I get a day off or two from my job, I’ll be happy to throw in some more screencaps.

Back from work. As promised, here are the screencaps I’ve assembled for Jakku, Starkiller Base, and jolly old England. The top example is the previous grade, while the bottom example is the correction. Click on the spoiler tag below to see what’s changed.

Artan42 said:

I’d say that addresses my issues, especially Starkiller Base. It looks better on the skintones as well.

Good to hear! Thanks for the advice. It was very helpful.

Just did some more research on 35mm film color, and I came up with a bit of an idea for the color grading again. I’m not sure if I’ll go along with it, but I’ll post some screencap comparisons when I find the time.