Entirely Removing/Dramatically Reducing Dooku's Force Lightning?

It struck me that many Star Wars viewing orders (including Chronological and the excellent Machete) show us Attack of the Clones before its successor or RotJ, meaning that Force Lightning is introduced with Dooku. I don’t think his scenes using it are badly done, but it feels a bit disappointing to me to have such an iconic dark side ability introduced by a relatively minor sith. I also feel like it undermines just how evil Sideous is—RotJ’s lightning shows how far down the Dark Side he’s gone, representing the Force at its most corrupted (even compared to Vader), and I just don’t think Dooku’s at that level.

With that in mind, I have to wonder: is it possible to remove AotC’s lightning entirely (by VFX or clever cutting) while keeping the scene at large intact? I thought I’d pull up After Effects and give it a shot. Here’s what I had, mostly with just VFX rather than cuts:

https://streamable.com/gk965q
(Backup)

I think Anakin’s the biggest obstacle here; one could probably cut the lightning out of Obi-Wan’s encounter and have then just exchange dialogue before going to lightsabers. Yoda’s the easiest in this regard: just have Dooku resort to the lightsaber after throwing things doesn’t work. Lightning or not, though, the fact that he knocked Anakin out with one swing of his hand would bring into question why he didn’t try the same thing against the Jedi Masters.

To fix this, I decided to go the (slightly redundant) route of bringing the lightning back in—though just in small bolts, more foreshadowing Sideous than using the same power. Probably the biggest advantage this offers is explaining why Anakin’s covered in lightning, which I wouldn’t have any idea how to remove traditionally. I’m fine with Yoda returning the lightning at full force, although most of the sound needed to be replaced for the shorter scene.

https://streamable.com/h6ebi0
(Backup)

I like this better, but there are still a few issues, mainly in Anakin’s wide shot where Dooku’s hand still shoots lightning a couple feet. Are there any routes you think would work (for this or in general)?

I’ve always wondered this myself, for precisely the same reasoning as yours. Hopefully this can be achieved in the near future and incorporated by editors who concur with the idea.

Thanks!

I’ve just found a way to remove it from the more egregious shot, so one could consider the removal aspect finished; unsure if what’s already here would need more work, though:
https://streamable.com/6ed9yh
(Backup)

Nice work there. Although I don’t think the reduced lightning makes things better, it’s a good proof of concept. I’d chime in more creatively if I knew my way around VFX, but I’m afraid I can just opinionate on how it looks.

Okay; I’ve tweaked it since then, but nothing major enough to be its own upload (some very minor light improvements and a bit less lightning on Anakin in the wide shot). I could replace the lightning with an entirely different effect, temporarily ignoring the lightning covering Anakin, or even just change the effect to look less intense, but I’m unsure to what degree reskinning it would solve the problem.

I still think the scene wouldn’t even need a Force-based direct attack if not for Dooku taking Anakin out so quickly–lifting and throwing him into a wall by itself doesn’t feel like it would take him out for that long. Maybe Dooku’s hand motion sends a CG rock or machine part into Anakin, knocking him back? It’d take some time, but if the lightning on Anakin can be removed I could see it working.

I also have always disliked Dooku having a lightning force power, for the same reason: It should be saved for Palpatine to show he’s the most evil of the Sith.

I have been toying around with the scene myself in the past. It’s easy to remove against Obi with editing but the problem is Anakin. I tried to switch the lightning into some kind of force wind type power by taking the blue color out and blurring the lightning bolts. Better result could be to remove as much as possible, as you have done Mxylv, and use some kind of effect on top of it.

I would like to see how far you can take the removal. It would be a valuable asset for fan editors if you are willing to share the shots in high quality.

Absolutely; thanks for the interest! Here’s what I currently have for the full lightning removal, which cuts Anakin from the shot as well, apart from a hint of a shadow (no audio, partially because the sound would need to be redone):
https://streamable.com/ncxe8d | direct download link

Incidentally, I tried out the alternate concept I mentioned; it took some work and a bit of Blender (luckily, my 3D skill level only has 2002 CGI to contend with), but I think most of it works.
https://streamable.com/nvr2pq

It goes without saying that the biggest problem is still the lightning covering Anakin. Removing it using the same technique I used for the backgrounds is beyond my current skill level, so that would probably leave looking for footage of Anakin running/falling from roughly the right angle and trying to match the lighting/color grading from there (adding/recoloring the saber blade as needed). I could try and form a 3D model of him with some ragdoll physics in the wide shot, but I’m not sure whether the results would be worth the trouble of that process; I’m unsure if there are any other options, but I’d love to hear ideas anyone has.

The only other issues I can see concern the machinery: I haven’t placed the 3D cylinder thing anywhere else after it falls, meaning it suspiciously disappears for anyone paying attention (more inconvenient than problematic, since I’d just need to track more shots of that model until the viewer hopefully stops noticing). I’m not sure whether this actually needs doing or if the “fix” would be more distracting than helpful. Of course, the machinery being pulled off the wall is lifted (uh, so to speak) from Dooku’s encounter with Yoda; I tried flipping it for Yoda and the change in direction didn’t feel too awkward, so that’s probably good enough?

---- EDIT ----

Found some footage; here’s what I have so far! (still no audio)
https://streamable.com/kl4m3j

I think I’m done with the close shot; it helps that the Anakin footage didn’t need any color correcting, to my eyes at least. The wide shot… I don’t know. It’s probably enough if people aren’t looking for it, but it doesn’t hold up for me yet. I might just need different source footage; hard to say. I don’t think substitution is possible for Anakin landing, so I’ve replaced it with a shot of him moaning a little afterward–there’s still some smoke, but not as much of an offender as the landing would have been.

Okay; I’ve done some improvements, though probably the biggest update here is redoing the sound:

https://streamable.com/p2iqic

At least on the visual end, I think I’ve gotten as far as I can; I don’t think it’s perfect, but for me the biggest question at the end of the day is if it throws people out of the movie/scene.

Genuinely impressive work! The wide shot is a bit jank, but I’d say for a fan edit it’s passable.

Thank you for the comments, everyone!

NotTheDri0ds said:

Genuinely impressive work! The wide shot is a bit jank, but I’d say for a fan edit it’s passable.

Thanks! That shot also occurred to me as weird; Anakin’s footage is taken from Zam Wessel’s speeder, though I don’t know what other footage of Anakin would work. One option is to rig up a 3D model of Anakin and try to do something with that (similar to the the machinery in that shot), but I’m not quite sure if the results would be worth the trouble?

SomethingStarWarsRelated said:

Because there’s no close up of Anakin hitting against the wall, it comes off as comical imo.

Why not have the thing Dooku chucks at Anakin follow him and also hit the wall?
Both hit the wall (use the close up), recolor the lightning to yellow/white, add in some additional electrical sound fx…then it might come off as this object having excess electricity while hitting Anakin?
Just a thought.

I also noticed that it seemed comical, as did a family member (although he suggested that keeping it like that would be a fun change in tone lol).

That’s a good thought; I’m not sure I could have the machine follow him all the way to the wall while keeping the physics realistic, but if having it almost explode or damaged and scatter electricity around could be an option…

G&G-Fan said:

I liked how Dooku’s use of force lightning is contrasted with Sidious’. When Dooku uses force lightning against Yoda, he deflects it easily. When Sidious uses it, it sends him flying, and when he is finally able to block it, it takes a lot of strength to do. It’s a great way of showing how Sidious is superior to his (then former) apprentice.

When viewing it in chronological order, Dooku being the first one to be seen using force lightning is to show the audience that he has gained new powers due to joining the dark side. Then in ROTS, we see Sidious has a far more powerful version of the same attack.

I do like this approach (and I love how the lightning scene illustrates the difference between a Padawan, a Jedi, and a true master of the Force), although I recall being confused on first RotS watch as to why Yoda wasn’t able to deflect the lightning. I think the two Sith’s lightning uses look a bit too similar for me; the only real visual difference I could see was Dooku using one hand and Palpatine both, which I could see as a power difference or just a stylistic preference. Earlier on, I’d tried out something similar to what you mentioned (foreshadowing Sideous, one might say) by changing Dooku’s lightning from a constant flow to shorter bolts; how does this look to you? https://streamable.com/h6ebi0

Lucas pronunciation was better than the official one it’s a shame it wasn’t officially used it sounds cool unlike the official pronunciation.

Of Dooku as Doh-koo? I agree; it’s much closer to what he was apparently named after (Doku/毒, Japanese for “poison”).

Incidentally, I have a new version up! I decided to try out SomethingStarWarsRelated’s suggestion; the machinery’s physics is the same, but I desaturated the lightning and added some to the machine to look a bit more like it’s giving off electricity. How does this version look?

https://streamable.com/jclwcf

I think the biggest advantage this has is letting me use the original wide shot Anakin in addition to the landing, although the velocity in the former shot is sped up a bit to make it closer resemble physics instead of the Force. In its current state, At first I was wondering if I added a bit too much lightning, but on coming back to it in the morning I think it largely looks alright?

I wish someone could make it sound like people are calling him Dow koo it would improve him as a villain so he doesn’t sound lame name wise.