WOW! There is A LOT to talk about lol. So glad to see HAL and Poppasketti here!!! I literally yelled with joy when I saw the two best editors around make an appearance 😉.
From my limited experience I think most of our perceived problems with the show stem from how characters are speaking/acting and subsequently affecting each scene. Although some small plot shifting will likely be necessary, I find that a “less is more” approach is always the best way to go when starting off. I am always very wary when a project starts changing/cutting large elements of the original story (even if we don’t necessarily like them). On the flip side take for instance Poppasketti’s edit of TLJ (Rekindled). Regardless of whether or not we would have liked a better product we don’t really have the resources (most of the time, looking at u Shamook) to make a completely different product feel as convincing as a billion dollar company’s. All of that to say, I humbly think we should focus on making the product as good as it can be, rather than changing it. Sorry if that was obvious to some, I just felt it should be said.
Below are a few points and my humble opinions on them.
- DARTH APPEARENCES
I agree with the idea to cut the scene between Reva and Darth while he’s on his throne. Serves little if any purpose for the story…DUH the inquisitors want to be promoted we get that from any of the previous scenes, Reva’s especially.
I like the idea of Darth sensing Obi wan because his necessity to save Leia! phenomenal idea there. With a bit more polishing and contribution from other editors this among many other edits might flow perfectly. I just wonder if it would flow better than an edited/improved end scene from the original.
- MUSIC CHANGES
With ALL the respect Anjohan, it seems you have your heart set on the introduction of Vader to be a heart wrenchingly sad scene. If you are going to pursue this direction, I would (humbly) recommend cutting off the “Anakin’s Dark Deeds” after Vader stops, and leaving things as is, if not (like others have said) mute the music to be pulled into the moment with obi wan further.
I appreciate the “burning Ani” theme (lol) while Obi is burning very poetic, the sudden burst of music when the shot is fired is a bit too jarring though and it might be best to leave that be.
- CONTINUITEY/EDITING
I am fully on board with keeping the two timelines during the fight more succinct. However in the current clip Obi travels from cutting the smoke pipe to being immediately grabbed by Darth in an unknown location. You’ll need at least an establishing shot so we know where they are after returning from Reva.
To be clear I think we should stay away from investing much time into edits that may be rendered useless later as we are only 3 ep in (i.e. Padme references, completely editing out ep 3 etc).
- LESS IS MORE
I think most of us can agree that Disney’s dialog/writing is treating everyone like children. As for the “LESS IS MORE” like I mentioned before, this is mostly regarding scenes with unnecessary dialog/camera shots. many of the lines by the Inquisitors can be cut as well as like you have already done cutting the useless 4th scene of obi cutting meat. Its a bit ridiculous that we have to rectify the editing in this show so as to not slap the audience with the most obvious dialog, but here we are.
All this to say, I think we should at least focus on making these characters feel like they belong in Star wars and not a fan film, before we start changing the way this story is told. Because its very possible to realize down the road, that after editing the dialog/camera shots, those scenes don’t really need to be cut. And if this is going to be for an audience outside of us fan edit aficionados preventing people from being pulled out of the movie/show with unnecessary cuts/edits is in my opinion our # 1 priority.
Anyway, sorry for the essay, I just want to see this show get what it deserves…in the good way. In the future I’ll focus more on adding specific ideas, lol.