Hi all, happy Star Wars Day!
There was some discussion earlier about preserving Hux dying in this edit. (The original plan was to scrap his death entirely, along with half of the Finn/Poe/Chewie escape.) I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and here’s where I’m at:
Hux is shot twice in the film, poor bloke; unfortunately, I don’t think either “shot” (ahem) will work in this edit. The first time, when Finn shoots him, the framing and pacing (and setting) of the shot is all off. It’s designed to be a comedy shot, and I don’t see a way of repurposing it to have the proper dramatic weight.
The second shot also wouldn’t work. Hux is bandaged - which doesn’t make sense if Finn and Poe and Chewie are never re-captured, and Hux never has to break them out. And there’s no way to cut around that costuming, because it’s all one continuous take.
So instead, we’re going to have to get creative.
I’ve been experimenting with the idea of Pryde shooting Hux as part of a coup. This is my progress so far. Obviously, it still needs a fair amount of cleanup before I’m ready to officially include it, especially with the composite masking and the lip sync; but before I waste time trying to do that, I wanted to get people’s opinions: How do we feel about this scene? Does it make sense? Does it add anything worthwhile to the overall story? Will audiences be confused about Pryde’s motivations?
(For context here, I’m planning on moving the Leia scene up in the film - so it would go Hangar Scene -> Leia Scene -> Hux/Pryde Scene.)