And your posts really brightened my day, InfoDroid. And yours too, DemonHunter (good luck on your project, BTW
) And Commander Courage, as always. Everyone!- I'm glad you guys like where I'm going with this. (unless I'm seeing things) it looks like you cut in the middle of Padme's run rather then letting the whole run go on. *checks the DVD* Yeah, it seems you cut the last 5 frames*thumbs up*
Could be. I edit very much on instinct and don't keep track of a lot of that. I pity the poor person who will try to list all the changes after this is done- it's kind of an impossible task.
A word on the space battle music I borrowed from the original SW- I didn't just come up with that a couple days ago, or last week. I've had that specific cue in mind for the saber duel for months now- it was one of the first things I envisioned for my Ep. II. And I was going to say the same thing as InfoDroid, CC- It did take a few plays to realize where the music was actually from, because it is in a very different context and is synched to the action. I guess the hope is that if people can’t place it from the original SW, they will sense that it’s familiar and will become more attached to it. Which is what I think InfoD was saying.
But as I said before, I don't plan on tracking much music directly out of the other movies, so there shouldn’t be a concern that it’ll be another sloppy cut, paste, and track job- not the case at all. Pretty much all new music comes in one piece, in a pretty good sized chunk- so that it flows.
And I'm glad people liked the saber effects. So do I
helps to raise the level of tension for the entire scene. Unlike that aimless, percussive funeral knell that John Williams crapped out for the official release. Whatever that was.
That's so true- this is a climactic life or death lightsaber fight! We need to hear an orchestra that's taking us somewhere. "Aimless" really is a good choice of words for the current score.
As a matter of fact, I must mention that you have come a LOOONG way since I last visited this thread, which was when it was only one page long. Back then, after reading your first entry, I admit that I laughed it off and said that what you were proposing (with a full redub of the main characters, sound effects, etc.) could never be done with any degree of acceptable quality.
Ha ha- it sounded a little over-the-top to me, too (at the time). Causing my somewhat unconfident 1st post. But it definitely has come a long way, especially after I realized there would be a demand for this and people were actually following the project.
But now... Wow! I've seen the screenshots and sample vids... and what can I say? You've made a believer out of me!
Ha ha- go back to the first page of this thread. I actually made the comment that people wouldn't buy this unless they actually saw it. And I honestly don't blame people for doubting someone with a wacky idea and no proof that he could actually do it.
Best of luck to you in this endeavor, as I read this thread I'm noticing that your directorial sensibilities are very much in tune with a lot of the changes I would've made myself. I'm overjoyed to see that someone is putting so much focus and effort into recreating the soundtrack of this film. It is an aspect that has been largely overlooked or ignored by most fan-editors up to this point. And IMO, it is where the prequels need the most work.
Thank you- it actually didn't start out that way, really. The big change to the soundtrack was going to be the new Anakin dub. Maybe some music in the nightclub, the Imperial March for the stormtroopers, etc. Then I remembered that the soundtrack is garbage and I wanted to replace a lot of that. Then, I didn't like some of the sound effects... before you know it, I'm almost doing a new stereo mix from scratch, splitting up the 5.1 on the official DVD for my own ends. Then, I remembered how awful the CGI was for this movie, and so I started experimenting…in fact, one of the most popular recolored sequences, the droid factory, was a complete accident that turned out way better than I expected. I’ll admit it- so many things in this edit I carefully planned, and so many new ideas were given to me through this forum, but I think you’ll find that some of the most amazing and creative things in here actually came about through luck.
The trick for Trooperman is to (in some cases) let the completed music dictate the editing and flow of the film, instead of vice-versa. If he does that, I think it may offer us all a brand new way of looking at this film.
Right on; that’s how I edit a movie, not the other way around. Cut the film to the music- there’s nothing more effective.
Looks (and sounds) like you've done an amazing job bringing life to Ep II.
Trooperman has certainly gotten it "just right," and I'm sure when the sequence is viewed as a whole it will work wonderfully. This guy seems to know what he's doing.
Thank you! As I’ve said, this isn’t my real job, just a very big hobby of mine. But in all honesty, although this is by far the biggest thing I’ve ever done, I have done a couple short films, so I’m not completely new to editing using the PC. My biggest concern is going to be coloring Mace Windu’s lightsaber blue- SPFX isn’t my forte at all. Music is my big thing, and I have access to certain things…as I brought up earlier, let’s just say that I’m positive that new music written specifically for SotDS will be recorded and featured in this.
This clip did bring something else to my attention. "Yoda holds you in such high esteem." Where does this come from? Surely Yoda hasn't been conferring with Dooku about his Jedi pupils. I'm glad they added some OT-style taunting in contrast to the silent duel of TPM, and there was even more in the script, but this line makes little sense when you think about it. I'm not suggesting to cut it, as it needs to be there to break up the fighting, I'm just pointing that out.
Good point, though. Like you say, it’s necessary to break the fighting up, pacing, etc.
Please ask if you have any questions, folks! I’m so happy that I’m doing something that will benefit not only myself (which was the original goal) but also others that are unhappy with the prequels. I’ll try to get it done as quickly as possible (but not sacrificing any quality in the process), as this is a big thing. I’m not a real PC editor, I’m not very experienced with special effects, but I’d like to think that I understand music, pacing, synchronization, and dialogue to a certain extent.
Thanks for your kind words.
Oh, and BTW CC- you're an Astros fan...are you from Texas? I used to live there, you know. I still have relatives in San Antonio and Houston.