The Rise of Skywalker: Ascendant (Released) — Page 694

I can get her to whisper it instead to make it completely seamless:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1prxAlqCmTX6gZR2zfD1OTU3HovEkb4sW/view?usp=sharing

I don’t mean to be rude or blunt, but if you seriously don’t think that this sounds 99% natural then you’ve clearly got some sort of preconceived biases going on. There’s a lot of negative discourse around AI in the media, so I understand trying to minimize it so as to not alienate skeptical people (as we just witnessed with bbghost). But this project wants something that could have been released in 2019 with no one the wiser had they never been told the specifics of how things were manufactured. You have to imagine yourself in the shoes of that casual 2019 Star Wars fan who has no idea what AI even is. If that isn’t enough to convince you, then consider this. Going into this movie, nearly everybody was aware of Carrie’s passing, which allows for an abundant amount of grace. I don’t see how this is any different than CGI-ing Grand Moff Tarkin and Leia herself in Rogue One or CGI Luke Skywalker in the TV shows.

Ultimately, this movie is supposed to be respectful of both Carrie Fisher’s legacy as well as Leia Organa’s. I don’t see how the Woody doll treatment (pull the string to see what random archived line comes out!) is in any way respectful to either. I firmly believe that any way to alleviate this issue is worth pursuing. Especially in this scene, since it’s so awkwardly quiet and is lacking that “beat” which would cause Kylo to drop his lightsaber.

To help narrow things down concerning the line itself, consider that, beyond justifying Kylo dropping his lightsaber, it gives a whole new meaning to the new final scene/track of the movie “A New Home”. Since Ben joins his mom and uncle there, it means that is where they’re being laid to rest in peace. Their “new home” together. So “come home” takes on a whole different meaning than what you initially expected.

Concerning your other point, it is especially poignant considering the fact that OpenAI just unveiled AI video that’s like 90% there. However, I don’t think you’re considering the two different ways you can employ all this technology:

1. First, as you stated, you could completely morph a story and its points into something completely different and unique to you. This is what I’m doing in my own thread.
2. Alternatively, you can sprinkle in the AI creations to emphasize and clarify certain interpretations that were already present in the original film itself. This is what Ascendant ought to be doing as much as possible, imo.

This new line touches on the second point far more than the first. Leaving the scene devoid of audio allows for more interpretation, sure, but it’s also confusing and dissatisfying compared to how they could have honored Leia and Carrie.

I really think you should make #2 into the official stance of this edit so other ideas can come through. The Zorri stuff about Poe being undercover is definitely #1, as this is a completely different plot point, and thus shouldn’t be included. Her line establishing that Luke started the chaos on Kijimi would be #2, because it’s true even in canon from a certain point of view. Now if only I could get her voice to work 😉

I’ll upload the Leia line shortly. I just need to access my computer.

The raw line as well as the one I applied the echo effect to is in the following folder:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1HJVzot6mTzlUYWbOqXKVzwsRvxk0UqrW?usp=drive_link

To reign things back in, the line sounds perfect and has been something others have wanted to hear. I’ve never actively wanted the line to be included, though. I’ll consider it and see what discussion happens about it here. Thanks for doing it, and can you send a link for the raw audio?

As much as I don’t want to chase a possible V5 of this edit, the AI addition is fantastic.

Cool. I’m gonna get to work sometime soon on ripping Threepio’s lines from this movie for a more accurate clone. I’ll also re-generate all of the Kylo lines as the new voice model is practically flawless compared to what came before.

I’m hoping Kylo’s voice will be seamless enough to avoid having to splice lines together like they are in v4 for “become a dyad” and “Captain Hux”. The latter case isn’t super noticeable, but the former stands out a lot at the moment.

I do really like the “Ben, come home” line. It is subtle, but I think works and shows Leia despite all of “Kylo’s atrocities” still thinks her son can be redeemed. Something her husband literally laid his life down for as well. I think it is poetic and rhymes as Lucas would say. Also is mirrors Anakin’s redemption, both being too late to actually make amends for their trangressions due to the death of themselves or the ones that they love. Something very tragic in that.

Just my two cents, but AI has come such a long way in such a short time. Truly impressive work, Jar Jar Bricks! Ultimately this is Hal’s baby though and this edit has already given me much more love for an intially lackluster trilogy ending film than I thought possible so I will defer to Hal’s judgment in this home stretch.

PS: I still would love the inclusion of the Kylo/ Luke convo proposed in this edit to pay off TLJ “See you around, kid” line.

As for the Kylo/Luke convo, I definitely agree that this movie should have given some closure to the betrayal that Kylo felt from his uncle so as to make their appearance together at the end more meaningful.

Unfortunately, that modified scene definitely falls under philosophy #1 that I stated earlier. Which is why it only really belongs in my other thread, and not necessarily here.

Besides, one of the reasons for that scene modification was to remove the reminder that Palpatine wants Rey dead. This edit is taking the approach in that it wants to make it abundantly clear Palpatine always wanted Rey dead until Kylo is redeemed, which is why the default scene needs to stay. In my other thread, I’m taking the exact opposite approach in that Palpatine wants Kylo to fight her because he knows she will more than likely kill him, but even if Kylo wins, Palpatine himself doesn’t lose. It’s a win-win scenario for him. Definitely a more nuanced approach that speaks to Palpatine’s genius. But I think one of the goals to this project was to streamline things and make them easier to understand.

Here are the Kylo lines I’ve got so far:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ytA9EU11nYZANGJYGB38D7wE5xNtRpsA?usp=sharing

Again, keep in mind that if some of these aren’t quite there yet I’m more than happy to generate more options. A lot of them you won’t be able to tell for sure until they’re actually in the movie itself, but I think in this case it doesn’t hurt to work backwards so we know what kind of delivery we want.

Also, I still firmly believe that v5 should take the approach that Leia managed to sense Rey’s bloodline as she trained her, which only served to double her efforts. I think that this thread is essential because it means Leia’s unconditional love is the throughline for both Ben and Rey’s arcs in this movie, meaning she truly is at the heart of Episode IX. She was meant to be at the center of the finale while 7 was still being written, and George’s treatments also wanted her to be extremely important in 9.

To make this point even more clear I’d recommend pairing this with the new Luke/Leia flashback voiceover I shared awhile back, and also making it abundantly clear that Leia knows something is up with Rey earlier on. It was such a weird choice to place so much emphasis on death omens and lightsaber prophecies in the original flashback instead of what really matters about Leia’s character. So, basically, watch the following 3 tests in order:

1. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GBVdK7MAawRusH451b-mwzNdoVUDwxux/view?usp=sharing
2. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LDX3H05d7ZA22lMHj2OWK2mF2gly4qTd/view?usp=sharing
3. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SH4R3i8wNuwrP8bN85aLe82Tn5E87vBj/view?usp=sharing

My goal with the first line was to make it clear that Leia is fully aware of everything that Rey is experiencing, desperately trying to get her to admit the truth so that she can teach her a lesson. But instead Rey chooses to lie. It’s also another scene that is extremely awkward and feels more like a one-sided conversation in the original. Even when Leia finally says something to Rey (who clearly needs more emotional support than that), it’s evident that it’s taken from her asking for a status report on Poe and BB-8 from TFA. The goal here is to recontextualize the line so that it actually feels like a natural part of the conversation. In this case, you could place both sentences together and they make sense independently of Rey speaking: “What’s troubling you, Rey? Don’t tell me what things look like, tell me what they are.”

Agreed on the second line’s delivery, I’m going to continue adjusting that for a take I’m more satisfied with.

As for your third point, that’s certainly part of it. Basically, she chooses the path that she feels is least likely to lead her to the dark side and hatred (being a public figure like her mother). Instead, Leia still lost everything and everyone. Prime dark side stuff. But, regardless, she choses love in the end over hatred for all that happening. So it’s up to Rey to deny that being a Jedi and taking action can be something which makes you fall (why she’s on Ahch-To in the first place), and instead choosing love/acceptance is a universal trait anybody can do to overcome the darkness they struggle with.

Rey takes this lesson to heart when she says this to Palpatine later on: “All you want is for me to hate. But I won’t. Not even you.”

EDIT: How about this for the second line - “Leia sensed his nature in you…” I think this would evoke the nature vs. nuture debate quite well. What is better - to be born good, or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?

That’s definitely the most reasonable take for the first line, seeing as how my other one opens up a big can of worms concerning science we know little about.

I like that second line, but I do kinda miss no longer having her fear of becoming like her father mentioned as for why she abandons the Jedi path. That was a critical part of Luke and Rey’s conversation earlier, about what they’re most afraid of and how it made them want to abandon their duties. Tying Leia into that as well brings things full-circle.

DZ-330 said:

Quick fix…?

"She was quick to learn in our training. But Leia felt she could better serve the galaxy through diplomacy, as our mother once did.

Our father’s past troubled Leia too, but she knew that choosing to love would always overpower any darkness.

A thousand generations live in you now. We’ll always be with you, but this is your fight."

Just because someone is “troubled” by something doesn’t necessarily mean that they fear it. I think we have to use analogous language to make the connection clear. And honestly, the first sentence in v4 always felt like blatant fan-service to me. The fact that the sentence can stand on its own without “as our mother once did” makes me feel icky about it. Why does Rey need to know this shoe-horned comment about Padme to understand why Leia left the Jedi Order? It’s completely useless information to her. Thus why I feel both of her parents need to be the reason behind Leia leaving the Jedi, not just inspiration.

“But Leia feared giving in to hatred like our father, choosing instead to follow our mother’s path” cannot function without understanding those two characters and their journeys. Which is bad for casual fans, but honestly those aren’t the people who are gonna be critiquing character motivations at this capacity, anyways. And if they are, their arguments are moot because they should have an understanding of the whole Skywalker Saga, first.

I think the second line’s delivery is perfect, but the first can definitely be improved. Unfortunately, the second one kinda needs to have improved wording in order to bridge the two sentences together in a more understandable way:

Something like - “But Leia feared giving in to hatred like our father, choosing instead to follow our mother’s path. Yet Leia still lost everything in life. And everyone. Despite this, she always chose love.”