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Definitive VIDEO Guide to Star Wars Changes (WIP; FEEDBACK WANTED)

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Hi!

A couple years ago I made some YouTube videos about the changes to the Star Wars films. Generally, people liked the videos… but I always knew I could do better and have become increasingly embarrassed by them. So I’m rebooting the project!

The plan is to put absolutely everything (all rounds of changes to every single Star Wars film) into one massive video so that it can hopefully be the definitive source on the subject. (Definitive VIDEO source anyway — not to take anything away from the stellar work on the Star Wars Visual Comparisons site and elsewhere… I hope my project can be a supplemental resource to stuff like that)

So, I’ve divided my video into seven sections (plus an introduction and conclusion) that are broken down like this:
(1) Pre-Special Edition Changes
(2) Special Edition Changes
(3) The Prequels in Theaters and on DVD
(4) Original Trilogy DVDs
(5) Blu-Rays
(6) The Sequel Trilogy
(7) Disney+/4K Ultra-HD

Each chapter consists of a bit of history/explanation for how and why that round of changes was made, followed by a direct comparison of the changes with the original.

Work is at various stages of completion on all seven chapters and the plan is to share WIP versions of each of them here as I go along for feedback.

So here is a rough draft of Section 1 (Pre-Special Edition Changes): https://youtu.be/E5T3e89VCY4 [Runtime: 38:33] (EDIT: Just realized the VO audio rendered a little wonky, which I’ve already fixed in Premiere for the eventual finalized version)

This WIP is about 90% where I want it to be right now — there are a couple of temporary graphics and bits of editing remaining, plus a few pieces of narration I plan to re-record (especially toward the end where you might notice I sorta started to phone it in). I’ll also do one more pass to level the audio throughout.

I’m interested mostly in factual feedback at this stage, since this era in Star Wars history is the least well-documented online. Did I get anything wrong or leave anything out? (I also would really appreciate someone pointing me to exactly where that 1993 audio change to ESB is… I know it’s a missing snowspeeder crash sound but I was having a hard time finding it myself)

I guess general presentational feedback is welcome too. Is the video too jokey? Is the information conveyed effectively? Are any explanations rushed or overly drawn out?

Looking forward to hearing what you all think, and hopefully collaborating even further on this project!

My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXnq2soRMB-8vqvL-6NHIOg

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Watching the vid now. A quick correction. 3PO’s tractor beam line is NOT in the 1993 mix.

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Here’s another WIP. Section 3: The Prequels in Theaters and on DVD [ https://youtu.be/ZqORvDS_4IU] (Runtime: 19:27)

Again, audio mixing hasn’t been finalized (I think I left the film audio way too loud on this one, but that will be addressed before the final version). There may be one or two other things not quite in their finished form yet, but I think it’s close enough to share for feedback.

Also, I’m doing these slightly out of order because Section 2 (The Special Editions) is a huge one. It’s currently looking like it’s going to be over 90 minutes long and I still have a lot of work left to do.

As before, I’m looking for feedback on factual accuracy primarily but feel free to comment on presentational style and clarity.

Thanks!

My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXnq2soRMB-8vqvL-6NHIOg

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Section 3 is looking good, and I can’t notice any flaws. From memory, I think there was another audio change in TPM, as the senate chanting was changed from “Vote now!” to incoherent yelling. I think this was a DVD change, but I’m not 100% sure as it could of been a BR change.

Otherwise, I haven’t noticed any technical or factual errors, it’s looking good!

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Bobson Dugnutt said:

Section 3 is looking good, and I can’t notice any flaws. From memory, I think there was another audio change in TPM, as the senate chanting was changed from “Vote now!” to incoherent yelling. I think this was a DVD change, but I’m not 100% sure as it could of been a BR change.

Otherwise, I haven’t noticed any technical or factual errors, it’s looking good!

Thanks for the feedback! But, yeah that is actually a Blu-ray change and not a DVD one.

Btw, I’m using your recreation of the Declan Mulholland Jabba scene from ANH to talk about the SE version of the scene. Just wanted to double check that you’re cool with that? I’ll credit you as ‘originaltrilogy.com forum member Bobson Dugnutt’.

My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXnq2soRMB-8vqvL-6NHIOg

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Watched the Pre-SE changes, which is not my speciality, of course.

I’d never noticed the 1981 starfield is the ESB one (since I don’t compare the movies to each other often)! I’ve marked it in my V1 album so I can be sure to speak more on it in ANH V2.5 (which would cover pre-19 changes/unchanges).

Somehow it’d be great if you could explain that adding the EPISODE IV title ruins the flow of the crawl. The movements of the opening theme were scored by Williams to match the appearance of the paragraphs in the original release, but now it’s just garbled. Of course, none of the other movies sync the paragraphs to the music, so it’s kind of setting a precedence.

Other than that, I think it’s great and I learned a lot!

Oh, I love using the “One Last Time” as a transition, you should make a point in the 97SE video that they’re ONLY talking about ANH, which was the original plan. The 97SE of the sequels were done at almost the last minute by a self-admitted “C Team” with much less resources and budget than ANH.

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Star Wars Visual Comparisons WordPress

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doubleofive said:

Oh, I love using the “One Last Time” as a transition, you should make a point in the 97SE video that they’re ONLY talking about ANH, which was the original plan. The 97SE of the sequels were done at almost the last minute by a self-admitted “C Team” with much less resources and budget than ANH.

This is interesting. Any chance you’d be able to point me to where they self-admitted that?

My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXnq2soRMB-8vqvL-6NHIOg

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So I think that’s how I think that’s how I got chosen because it was currently between projects. So the challenge was we weren’t always given all of the resources we would have liked. And we were also not, not always working with the keenest talent, including myself.

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Re Section 1; on the general presentational front… I think you got it spot on.

For a 40 minute video it didn’t feel that long - and you left me wanting to see more. The humour spaced throughout didn’t jar - and was a welcome addition without being too OTT or distracting (you know people are going to pause the video and rush off to post on reddit that Lucas played old-timey piano for some theatre showings - before they later delete their posts after watching the rest of the video!) 😃

You also did a great job with the comparisons between differing takes and audio used - keeping them clear & concise. The presentation and transitions between the many differing takes made them easy to distinguish, intriguing to watch, and easier to remember (which is important important for fans of a certain age).

I think you’re going to surprise a lot of people and have them reaching for their old videos, laserdiscs and such to play the differences themselves. As well as jogging a lot of good memories even for those who know their pre-97 stuff.

Quality work, 13las.

👍
 

A little patience goes a long way on this old-school Rebel base. If you are having issues finding what you are looking for, these will be of some help…

Welcome to the OriginalTrilogy.com | Introduce yourself in here | Useful info within : About : Help : Site Rules : Fan Project Rules : Announcements
How do I do this?’ on the OriginalTrilogy.com; some info & answers + FAQs - includes info on how to search for projects and threads on the OT•com

A Project Index for Star Wars Preservations (Harmy’s Despecialized & 4K77/80/83 etc) : A Project Index for Star Wars Fan Edits (adywan & Hal 9000 etc)

… and take your time to look around this site before posting - to get a feel for this place. Don’t just lazily make yet another thread asking for projects.

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oojason said:

Re Section 1; on the general presentational front… I think you got it spot on.

For a 40 minute video it didn’t feel that long - and you left me wanting to see more. The humour spaced throughout didn’t jar - and was a welcome addition without being too OTT or distracting (you know people are going to pause the video and rush off to post on reddit that Lucas played old-timey piano for some theatre showings - before they later delete their posts after watching the rest of the video!) 😃

You also did a great job with the comparisons between differing takes and audio used - keeping them clear & concise. The presentation and transitions between the many differing takes made them easy to distinguish, intriguing to watch, and easier to remember (which is important important for fans of a certain age).

I think you’re going to surprise a lot of people and have them reaching for their old videos, laserdiscs and such to play the differences themselves. As well as jogging a lot of good memories even for those who know their pre-97 stuff.

Quality work, 13las.

👍
 

I appreciate the kind words.

For everyone following the project, I hit a bit of a snag last week when I got sick. Feeling better now (I’m vaccinated and tested negative for COVID as well) but my voice still sounds congested so I’m holding off on recording more narration.

In the meantime I’ve been working on anything that I can on the visual side, while simultaneously trying to balance work and a social life. I’m really happy with how this project is turning out but damn has it been a lot of work!

My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXnq2soRMB-8vqvL-6NHIOg

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The video is turning out great so far! One thing I noticed that you missed is that Luke’s line “what good will it do him if he gets himself killed, come on” is a different take in the mono mix. The line is at about 01:25:00.

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Will you be adding these changes to Empire?? “It’ll keep you warm til I get the shelter built/It’ll keep you warm til I get the shelter up“, “You’re lucky you don’t taste very good/You were lucky to get out of there”

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crissrudd4554 said:

Will you be adding these changes to Empire?? “It’ll keep you warm til I get the shelter built/It’ll keep you warm til I get the shelter up“, “You’re lucky you don’t taste very good/You were lucky to get out of there”

Those were mono changes right? I’m not worried about being comprehensive about that one because it was not used theatrically. But “you were lucky to get out of there” WAS used in 97 so I have it in that section already.

My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXnq2soRMB-8vqvL-6NHIOg

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Wow! I just watched your rough cuts for section 1 and 3 and I’m absolutely blown away. This will be the best video on the subject by far. The only videos that come close are your original comparisons. Sure, people have pointed out the odd mistake here and there but overall this is fantastic! Like oojason said, Neither section feels that long. The odd bit of humor was nice and the presentation was great (especially for a rough cut). Can’t wait to see the finished result.

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^ These compliments never fail to make me smile! Glad you are looking forward to the final project.

I wish I had more progress to share, but real life has kept me extremely busy of late. The good news is that my delayed progress means I will hopefully be able to use 4K80 for comparisons of ESB! If you’ve been following work on that, you’ll know that it’s getting closer and closer to completion and I couldn’t be more excited. I had been debating about whether or not it would be worthwhile to wait for it (I’m currently using a combo of GOUT and D+80) but it looks like that decision will be made for me.

My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXnq2soRMB-8vqvL-6NHIOg

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This project seems awesome, I loved “The Lost Cut” video you did, and am looking forward to seeing this when finished.