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Star Wars Episode I: Cloak Of Deception (Released) — Page 50

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Hi Hal I’ve been watching a couple of fan films and edits and yours are the most recommended, I would love to watch your prequel and sequel cuts and episode 1 was always a guilty pleasure of mine.
Thank you

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Not sure which version I have of this but it’s from 2016, but it’s definitely not the latest one! Something I can check out?

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 (Edited)

Hal 9000 said:

Sending you a PM so you can delete that pile of crap and download the latest version.

Pile of crap!? 😆

The name’s Lawson. Noah Lawson.

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Hi Hal, I’ve been looking for your edit everywhere and I found this forum. I would love to see your cut if you’d let me. Thanks either way.

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Hi Hal! I’ve been dying to see your cuts of the prequel triology since I heard about them. Would you please be able to send me a link to them? No worries if not.

Ta very much.

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Just popped in here to send this as a link to my friend as my favourite edits - hadn’t checked in here in a good while and didn’t realize you were still working on these! I would love a link to the latest as well, my copies are from 2018

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Well hello there, Hal. There is someone relatively new to starwars who unfortunately saw the disgraceful trash fire disney trilogy first, AKA the trilogy that could never be redeemed by any sort of edit. Because of that, I’m trying to introduce them to a more civilized version of Star Wars with the best possible versions of the OT and Prequel’s. I want to get them to appreciate why Star Wars was so beloved in the first place.

For the OT, it’s Harmy’s NH, Adywan’s ESB and Harmy’s RoTJ. They have already just recently saw Harmy’s A New Hope and they really enjoyed it!

I would really appreciate links to all of your Prequel movie edits, so I can line up Hal9000’s prequel edits for viewing for a possible new fan of the OT Trilogy and perhaps the Prequel Trilogy as well. Thanks!

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Just watched Cloak of Deception this evening. It was a great watch. It had me really enjoying the film, I even laughed at the Jar Jar stuff since it was so unexpected in this edit.

A few possible critiques I have off of first viewing:

  • I’d imagine that for someone’s first time viewing of this, seeing R2D2 in it but giving him zero attention may come across strangely. CoD seems to act like he’s just a random astromech droid. It probably works better for tone and pacing to have it they way you do; but, I can’t help but feel 2-3 moments should be added back in for him. Especially since C3PO gets a few of his own moments. It’s not out of character for him to make a few snarky beeps, we see that in the OT.

  • The podracing scene is certainly improved from the original which just drags on, but this version still lags particularly in the middle of it. There seems to be no tension for a solid minute or two. I imagine it could still be shaved down a little. Perhaps, you could get rid of the ramp moment which seems outlandish; or, see below:

  • The other issue I have with the podracing is in the current cut, it’s extremely hard to follow what is happening, since each cut goes to a new location and focuses on a different racer for some portion of the race. It may be better to just have a quick reaction moment from Qui-gon and then skip to something interesting. If you would like me to go into specifics about where I think this problem is I can.

  • I think there should be some way of communicating that the command ship will shut down the droids, because it kind of comes out of no where. In this edit I even asked myself “why are they getting in the ships”. It has nothing to do with the plan they previously laid out, and it just seems like a coincidence that it deus ex machina’d them at the end. I do like how you connected that thread to saving Padme and the gang though. (tldr. A bit of exposition)

  • I have to admit, the climax didn’t quite work for me here. I feel the constant intercutting with the gungans and Padme, and Anakin, cheapens the Duel of the Fates, which is by far the best of the bunch. This may be a stretch: what if, instead of going back to the duel at 1:31:52 (just after Padme scales the wall), you just keep cutting between the other 3 plotlines. I think it would work really well to just keep it light-hearted for a bit. Resolve those 3, which are all directly connected. Then, once everything seems good, we come back to the duel and let it playout in one long sequence until its conclusion. It really plays into the tragedy of the scene, and contrasts more poetically with the rest instead of being undercut by the other parts.

  • I suggested 1:31:52 specifically because there’s a big gap in where they are dueling between what we saw before and that point, but I think it could work anywhere as long as the sequence from the red shields till the end is one long sequence. What are your thoughts on this? This is definitely the change I desire most.

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Those are interesting ideas. Since TMWNN is doing some VFX of his own accord anyway, I’ll see if any of these make it into that revision.

You’re 100% right about the droid control ship issue.

The only R2 moment I could see to re-include is the queen asking his name, but I can put that in, as it does feel like what a prequel would do for that character.

Would you mind sending your specific ideas about the podrace? I don’t think it’s too bad, but can hear you out.

Also, I like the idea of the duel of the fates playing out after other plot threads in order to heighten its tragedy, but I’ll have to play with it to see how it functions.

Thanks for the interest and suggestions, man!

My stance on revising fan edits.

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Hi Hal, thanks for the response!

Even a few beep boops in other places, particularly in response to Anakin during the climax could work for R2D2?

Sorry but I’m not aware of who TMWNN is?

Also, not sure if you’re able to do this, but I found this interesting edit that adds an alien voice to Nute Gunray and company, so that they can make all their lines subtitled. They do the same for Jar Jar but it’s not done very well. Here’s a link to it if you’re curious: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXPUCh6M_pg&t=554s

I will have to come back with the podracing scene specifics. As I make my notes on it, I’m realizing it’s quite a bit.

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Someone has expressed interest in tweaking some visual aspects of COD, so that’s what I was referring to: https://originaltrilogy.com/topic/TGWNNs-The-Cloak-of-deception-revisited-WIP/id/102358

There have been several edits, especially more toward the film’s original release, which have dubbed and subtitles the neimoidisns and/or Jar Jar. I won’t be doing that, but it can be interesting. The best edit to do so IMHO is MagnoliaFan’s Balance of the Force and The Clone War.

My stance on revising fan edits.

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hello Hal, as others have written, would love access to your edits!