logo Sign In

STAR WARS - EPISODE I - The Ancient Lore [V2] [IMPROVED Version]

Author
Time
 (Edited)

STAR WARS - Episode I - The Ancient Lore [Improved]

Alt text

Episode I is the best-looking of the three prequels, with a lot of devotion put into them from both the crew, actors as well as the director himself before he went all ludacris on digital moviemaking. It is also the most dull of the three prequels, with little to no character motivation or even plot explanation.

Some of you might remember my very enthustiastic restructering of The Phantom Menace, and although it was liked, it had plenty of faults.

The project burned me out for anything Episode I-related, and the sequel trilogy extinguished any flame left. Now that the Sequel trilogy is worse than anything from the prequels I have found the fire in my heart again to show people how good The Phantom Menace can be, and how much potential there is for the Prequel Trilogy beyond the first and very-hated chronological entry of Star Wars.

MISC AND PICTURES:

So, the decision to make The Ancient Lore canon-friendly with a higher accuracy will remain firm, and therefore many of the old plot decisions will be gone. The “new” music is also gone. The film needs its original identity.

As for other things;

The Phantom Menace was shot on film, with high browns, dark shadows and a cyan blue. The denoised, high bitrate Disney blu-ray’s and 4k’s are an abomonation and make the CGI look like wax, and the 35mm film prints are noisy and - at certain points - lack detail.

Therefore, the middle-point for me was to use the (not-denoised-/DNR-less-) version of the film; an upscaled HDTV Rip. Then, with my own custom color grading, the next step was to carefully replace and repurpose the original colors of the film (that have been lost since cinemas, except for the mentioned 35mm film print(s)).

This was also important so that today’s children, whom are used to clean screens and firm colors, was kept in the loop when watching The Ancient Lore.

As mentioned the original palette had dark browns, dark shadows and a cyan blue, whilst the DVD and onward versions have replaced the cyan blue with purple and the dark shadows with bright shadows. Also the orange has been toned down to something more pink.

HANGAR BAY EXAMPLE:

Here is the DVD/BLURAY/4K VERSION:

Here is the original 35mm filmprint version (brightened and upscaled):

Here is my color palette:

TRADE FEDERATION INTERIOR EXAMPLE:

DVD/BLU-RAY/4K/HDTV:

35MM VERSION (Brightened and upscaled):

THE ANCIENT LORE/MY VERSION:

And then to something more fun, which would be video.

VIDEO EXAMPLE:

Here is the new The Ancient Lore version, with this new color grade.

https://streamable.com/eq9dkf

The original filmprint has surprisingly dark shadows and colors, and this was important for me to mimic. I love the vintage style of it, but with a modern twist.

I also included a slightly new but unfinished tweak, which was to extend the Nute Gunray scene to also include the Queen of Naboo’s dialogue about the Ambassadors. I find it more thrilling to the story to have them deny their presence whilst they are in the ship, unknowing of the present danger.

CHANGES:

  • A new and improved source (Downscaled 4k footage (1080p) for more detail)
  • A new color grade that better suit the Prequel Trilogy, and that utilizes keyframe grading to better support outdated CGI backgrounds).
  • Maintain the original musical score identity, with few alterations.
  • Fixed new CGI added for The Ancient Lore. This including for instance Sidious hologram on Tattooine, some background details have been refined and improved, and of course re-graded certain scenes to a much better effect that both fit the film more as well as better mask stand-out effects in the background.
  • Improved pacing (by actually adding a little bit more footage to the Naboo Underwater scenes), and trying to go for better suspense as well as character building and humour.
  • Improved first act and third act pacing.

WHAT HAVE I DONE?
The Ancient Lore
Kenobi: A Star Wars Story
Harry Potter Revisited
Game of Thrones Film Edits
Titanic Restructured
… and more.

Author
Time

It sounds so cool! I remember enjoying The Ancient Lore when I watched it.
Is it available already?

Italian faneditor.

EDITS LIST:
Episode IV - THE HEIR OF SKYWALKER. Episode VI - RETURN OF THE JEDI RENEWED. DYAD IN THE FORCE (3-into-1 sequels).
PM me for links if interested.

Author
Time

Woah, I was just asking about your and this edit in the month’s discussion thread. Can I get a link to your Improved Version when you’re willing to share? Thanks in advance!

Author
Time

Thank you for your kind words, FanEditore.

It is not available, no. I will take my time with this one - and eye a May/June release date. Hopefully May the 4th.

WHAT HAVE I DONE?
The Ancient Lore
Kenobi: A Star Wars Story
Harry Potter Revisited
Game of Thrones Film Edits
Titanic Restructured
… and more.

Author
Time

sirlegion13 said:

Woah, I was just asking about your and this edit in the month’s discussion thread. Can I get a link to your Improved Version when you’re willing to share? Thanks in advance!

It is the will of the force, young Padawan. You shall see hope. There is always hope.

My PM inbox and threads are a mess of PM requests. When I release the edit, I advice you to PM me so I don’t forget it. Cheers!

WHAT HAVE I DONE?
The Ancient Lore
Kenobi: A Star Wars Story
Harry Potter Revisited
Game of Thrones Film Edits
Titanic Restructured
… and more.

Author
Time

If you’re open to suggestions, what originally drew my attention looking through IFDB was that you included bits from Maul: Apprentice. One of my biggest takeaways once I was able to see it, was that you made Maul a much more threatening villain by the end. I hope those additions survive the rework.

Author
Time

sirlegion13 said:

If you’re open to suggestions, what originally drew my attention looking through IFDB was that you included bits from Maul: Apprentice. One of my biggest takeaways once I was able to see it, was that you made Maul a much more threatening villain by the end. I hope those additions survive the rework.

Very reassuring to hear that, Sirlegion. I will have to better integrate the footage with that of the original film than what I did in the original edit, but the structure and hopefully most of the footage will be there.

WHAT HAVE I DONE?
The Ancient Lore
Kenobi: A Star Wars Story
Harry Potter Revisited
Game of Thrones Film Edits
Titanic Restructured
… and more.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Wow just checked the trailer out and this looks amazing, I love some of the ideas and am looking forward to seeing this once released.

Take care Anjohan.

Author
Time

I’m really looking forward to this new version.

The original was one of the most creative Star Wars edits I’ve ever seen. I’ll probably rewatch it soon to see if I can give any helpful feedback.

Author
Time

Thank you for your kind words! ❤️ Always appreciated.

WHAT HAVE I DONE?
The Ancient Lore
Kenobi: A Star Wars Story
Harry Potter Revisited
Game of Thrones Film Edits
Titanic Restructured
… and more.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

I’m trying something on a whim here, and I am interested in whether this approach is working or not.

https://streamable.com/gov9qd

I am simply trying to create better conversations and some humour between Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon. I think the first portion works very well (up until “is going to be the death of me”), and the latter about 80%.

I’m trying to achieve a few things through this dialogue:

  • Obi-Wan is inpatient and a little whiny, much like most Padawans are (Anakin will be). But with decent humour and irony.
  • A little gab at the original film premise (diplomatic mission)
  • Obi-Wan hating the planet, that he will once end up living on
  • Qui-Gon trying to keep his Padawan’s mind focused on the Force and the ways of the Jedi.

WHAT HAVE I DONE?
The Ancient Lore
Kenobi: A Star Wars Story
Harry Potter Revisited
Game of Thrones Film Edits
Titanic Restructured
… and more.

Author
Time

Anjohan said:

I’m trying something on a whim here, and I am interested in whether this approach is working or not.

https://streamable.com/gov9qd

I am simply trying to create better conversations and some humour between Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon. I think the first portion works very well (up until “is going to be the death of me”), and the latter about 80%.

I’m trying to achieve a few things through this dialogue:

  • Obi-Wan is inpatient and a little whiny, much like most Padawans are (Anakin will be). But with decent humour and irony.
  • A little gab at the original film premise (diplomatic mission)
  • Obi-Wan hating the planet, that he will once end up living on
  • Qui-Gon trying to keep his Padawan’s mind focused on the Force and the ways of the Jedi.

I think it works great! BTW, are those AI voices? What app did you use, those sound great!

“No one is born ugly, we just live in a judgmental society.”- Kim Namjoon

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Hi, I posted some ideas for episode I in the community focus thread, and I think that some of them maybe could work in an edit like yours:

One idea I have is to change the scene where Maul is introduced, putting another one more “lethal” in place. Instead of show Maul being presented by Sidious in a hologram, I think it could be interesting if he his first shown fighting other jedis, using a few images from the fan film Darth Maul: Apprentice, maybe presenting him as a jedi killer.

When Qui Gon was leaving the underwater city using the water transport, Maul could be shown in another place concentrating (using footage from the fan movie Darth Maul vs Jedi), hinting that he would be controling the underwater monster through the force (at a distance), making the creature attack the transport. While Maul was doing this, he could whisper the phrase “fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, and hate leads to power” in Qui Gon’s mind (this phrase was said in a Knights of Ren fan trailer, and for me the actor who says this phrase sounds a lot like Maul’s voice actor from Clone Wars. Also, putting this phrase would serve to differentiate well the philosophy of the Sith as opposed to that of the Jedi, said by Yoda later in the film). For this scene, I figured it would be cool to “cut” Qui Gon from the scene he meditates (at the end of the film) to put him meditating there, in the transport (I don’t know if this would be possible through editing). In this way, Qui Gon would use the force to control a bigger fish, which would attack the smaller fish controlled by Maul. After Qui Gon spoke the phrase about the “big fish”, Maul would be shown furious with Qui Gon’s victory.

During the pod race, in the moment that Anakin is thrown out of the road, I thought it could be cool to show a close-up of his face and play the "force theme song”, as if Anakin himself was already using the force without knowing it, during that period of his life. After the movie shows Qui Gon’s reaction to Anakin using the force, it would then be shown Anakin’s vehicle returning to the track thanks to his force powers (my idea with this is to try to give a little more emotion to the race, in addition to showing that Anakin was not a complete ignorant in the force until then).

After Maul lost his duel to Qui Gon on Tatooine, I thought it would be cool to show Maul training (using scenes from the fan movie Darth Maul: Apprentice), very angry that he lost again to Qui Gon and wanting revenge (I thought it would be nice to add some Maul lines from Battlefront 2 here).

And that’s it.

EDIT: I don’t know if you know this software, but it could help you to create new voice lines for Qui Gon Jinn: https://originaltrilogy.com/topic/Make-Qui-Gon-say-whatever-you-want-thanks-to-droids-Machine-Learning/id/87366

Author
Time

I think it works great! BTW, are those AI voices? What app did you use, those sound great!

Yes, they are. Im using an AI Software released on github - with decent to very good results. Although I do have to tinker a lot before achieving something workable in both pitch and tone.

COMMUNITY:

I will need more feedback from people to know if it works good enough that with even more fine-tuning and precision things like this could be done to a good result.

WHAT HAVE I DONE?
The Ancient Lore
Kenobi: A Star Wars Story
Harry Potter Revisited
Game of Thrones Film Edits
Titanic Restructured
… and more.

Author
Time

Sirius said:

Hi, I posted some ideas for episode I in the community focus thread, and I think that some of them maybe could work in an edit like yours:

Most of these ideas are to some extent in the original TAL, which is very ironic if you haven’t actually seen my edit! I like the way you think!

Suffice it to say, I like the ideas! The Maul footage will need to thoroughly and seamlessly be incorporated to work (which I feel they only did at about 60% in TAL) and if I don’t find the right balance of color grade and perhaps motion, then I will exclude most of the footage and use the working bits (like a Yoda vision scene).

As for the only idea I haven’t tinkered with, Maul controlling the murderous sea creatures is actually very intriguing. The problem is that this will require major restructuring and probably some new VFX to introduce Maul in a way that doesn’t break the flow of the edit nor what I am aiming for with the story beats. Therefore I find it difficult if such an early introduction to Maul would actually work.

Perhaps if you watch the first 20 minutes of TAL you can conjure up some ideas. I am always open to them, but the most important thing here would be for the story to flow seamlessly. I fear that such an event would break the original flow of the edit, and also the mystery element of the first act.

WHAT HAVE I DONE?
The Ancient Lore
Kenobi: A Star Wars Story
Harry Potter Revisited
Game of Thrones Film Edits
Titanic Restructured
… and more.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Oh yeah, I agree that the story should flow seamlessly, if not it will not be good on screen. I hadn’t seen your edit, but I sure want to see it, I’m always looking for more bold edits. I like what other editors made with TPM, but for me this movie needs a bit more work than just cut bad parts/add deleted scenes, to be a better film. TPM is complex in that sense.

Regarding the AI voices you putted on the clip, I’m always in favor to use them in edits. As you said, AI voices are tricky, but if you find the right words and tones to use, works really well for me.

Author
Time

Sirius said:
I like what other editors made with TPM, but for me this movie needs a bit more work than just cut bad parts/add deleted scenes, to be a better film. TPM is complex in that sense.

Exactly. There is a decent film in there!

WHAT HAVE I DONE?
The Ancient Lore
Kenobi: A Star Wars Story
Harry Potter Revisited
Game of Thrones Film Edits
Titanic Restructured
… and more.

Author
Time

This sounds very interesting. I, for one, would be very interested in a canon-compliant version. Can’t wait until you do that! But I look forward to May the 4th!

Author
Time
 (Edited)

arabian said:

This sounds very interesting. I, for one, would be very interested in a canon-compliant version. Can’t wait until you do that! But I look forward to May the 4th!

I am seriously considering re-structuring The Ancient Lore V2 to the original film structure - but with my story alterations, if that is what most people wish.

I remember this was very split back in 2018 at Fanedit.org. 50 percent insisted that the new structure made this edit unique, and the other 50% meant that the original structure would be easier to follow.

I suppose both are true, which is why choosing which to focus the most energy and time into - prioritize - is getting increasingly difficult as i get further into the process of editing.

One part of me think that going back to the original structure (but with my alterations made) will be the most accessible option for all viewers, and then doing the “Radical version” (which is more the original TAL structure) thereafter.

WHAT HAVE I DONE?
The Ancient Lore
Kenobi: A Star Wars Story
Harry Potter Revisited
Game of Thrones Film Edits
Titanic Restructured
… and more.

Author
Time

That is a tough call. I remember watching it back then and being very intrigued by the changes you made. I don’t recall it being hard to follow - just it being very different.

Mostly I was into the addition of Dooku so whatever you choose to do, having that will make it continue to be a joy!

Author
Time
 (Edited)

evansj1983 said:

That is a tough call. I remember watching it back then and being very intrigued by the changes you made. I don’t recall it being hard to follow - just it being very different.

Mostly I was into the addition of Dooku so whatever you choose to do, having that will make it continue to be a joy!

It is.

Interesting to hear opinions. Did you ever get beyond intrigued tho? Did you ever lose focus, interest or even completely fall out of the movie at places because of the new changes? Or did you find them easy to adapt to?

WHAT HAVE I DONE?
The Ancient Lore
Kenobi: A Star Wars Story
Harry Potter Revisited
Game of Thrones Film Edits
Titanic Restructured
… and more.

Author
Time

Honestly, my main issues with TPM are:

1.) The Neimodians voices – which you are taking care of.
2.) The fact that GL chose to introduce Anakin as a child - which you can’t fix, but you are working on the character of Anakin.
3.) GL creating the age difference between him and Padme which you can’t really fix.
4.) Too much Jar-Jar, which you are fixing.
5.) The pacing issues, which I assume you’re fixing.
6.) The non-canon compliant aspect of the fact that Obi-Wan said that Yoda was his master, and then this Qui-Gonn Jinn comes out of nowhere in this film as his master.

I like that you’re introducing Dooku* earlier and making more of Darth Maul. That sounds cool.

  • I just wish you could change the name Dooku because that remains the stupidest, worse SW name ever in my opinion.
Author
Time
 (Edited)

arabian said:

Honestly, my main issues with TPM are:

I just wish you could change the name Dooku because that remains the stupidest, worse SW name ever in my opinion.

Those are pretty much my issues since I embarked on this edit as well, along with bad character development, a weak villain and a total lack of a main character.

I could fix Dooku - which Is a stupid name (Count Evil would be just as fitting), but such things are so Canon-breaking that it would beg more trouble than resolution.

OBS:

And a half-assed but working fix for the Obi-Wan/Yoda dynamic could be through the use of the free Github Voice AI. I could easily have a decent result of Qui-Gon saying a line like this:

“After so many years as a Padawan of Master Yoda, I expect you to be more mindful of the force”.

WHAT HAVE I DONE?
The Ancient Lore
Kenobi: A Star Wars Story
Harry Potter Revisited
Game of Thrones Film Edits
Titanic Restructured
… and more.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

arabian said:

3.) GL creating the age difference between him and Padme which you can’t really fix.

Some users in this site suggested to make Padme’s voice more thin and Anakin’s voice more deep through editing, in TPM. I never saw this in practice, but maybe this idea could work to shorten the age difference between the two.