The Acolyte Corcoran Cut — Page 2

Hello there!
As of now… I’m trying to complete a 163minutes version.
It should be ready by the monday…
I might send some links this week-end.
Your feedback here on this thread would be greatly appreciated!
Cheers! And tx for the support!
M

RandoMando said:

Hi, I’d love to get a link to download your edit of the acolyte

Hello there!
Please start a private topic and I’ll send you a link. Could you please give me an email address in private. Tx for the support!

Hello everyone!
I’m ready to let go a version 1.1 (after 5 versions and countless sound tweaking), before the “unofficial release” July 31 (not August 31! lol)

Those that started a private topic will be contacted soon via email. I have an mkv (3.2gb) file and m4v (5.3gb). I send the mkv first unless you want the m4v (both are h264). I suspect my dropbox won’t like the trafic. You might receive a Onedrive link. The links will be available for a short period of time (48-72hrs), so download it when you receive it please.

I await your feedback, comments, impression, after you watch it, here on this thread. And if you love it, spread the love, talk about it in your social network!!
Poster banner:
https://www.dropbox.com/t/P5Eys6bl1ViB5foK
Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99xnudxjILM

REMINDER:
Hello everyone!
I’m ready to let version 1.1 go (after 5 versions and countless sound tweaking), before the “unofficial release” July 31 (not August 31! lol)

Those that started a private topic will be contacted soon via email. I have an mkv (3.2gb) file and m4v (5.3gb). I send the mkv first unless you want the m4v (both are h264). I suspect my dropbox won’t like the trafic. You might receive a Onedrive link. The links will be available for a short period of time (48-72hrs), so download it when you receive it please.

I await your feedback, comments, impression, after you watch it, here on this thread. And if you love it, spread the love, talk about it in your social network!!
Poster banner:
https://www.dropbox.com/t/P5Eys6bl1ViB5foK
Poster:
https://www.dropbox.com/t/2dWUxk4mNoCVGXQl
Trailer fanedit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99xnudxjILM

Hi Everyone!

I hope you are all having a great summer, depending of where you are ;-p .

I just changed the title of this thread for my real fanedit title : The Acolyte’s Corcoran Cut

I strongly encourage all of you to see the original work on Disney+, and see for yourself what are the main changes that I’ve made. I think The Acolyte is telling us a great story, BUT buried under a confusing plot, bad pacing and editing. I didn’t care much about the politics and the “wokyness” stuff the series was accused of and criticized, I just tried my best to “fix the storytelling in post” lol by recutting the entire series into a 164 minutes feature film, with new musical transitions, and a new continuity. I’ve also heard the critics, what bothered the fans, and adjusted the edit accordantly.

For those who speak French I will talk about my fanedit and share my take about the series… Just tune in to Star Wars en Direct Live this Wednesday evening. https://www.youtube.com/@StarWarsEnDirect

For those who still want to look at my work, start a private topic and I’ll send you a link this wednesday July 31.

Cheers, and tx for the support!

Her are the modifications that I’ve made for the first 30 minutes of my cut:

• Lucasfilm logo added, with “A long time ago, in galaxy far…”
• The alien at the gate when May arrives, cut
• “Yes my child”. cut
• “Attack me Jedi”. cut
• The alien trying to draw his weapon and the table pushed, cut - for rhythm purposes
• “I have an unidentified force user”, cut - it adds nothing to the plot
• “A Jedi doesn’t draw her weapon unless prepare to kill”, cut … It should come from the Jedi to lower her weapon
• The short sequence when Mae throw her knife to the bar owner is entirely edited… When the knife is stopped just in time by Indara, we can hear the knife hitting her off screen, pull out camera… the knife drops on the bar… Camera pulls out from Indara and we see the knife in her chest… Her saber turns off and drops, and she drop her knee on the floor
• Title - different soundtrack
• 16 years earlier - Flashback from Sol POV
• Metal detector cut down to the minimum
• The discussion around the camp fire is cut down… “you must eat padawan”, cut
• The encounter with the twins under the tree with Sol watching is intercut with both flashback episodes
• Minor cuts here and there when Sol spies on them in the fortress
• The speeder bikes in the forest to reach the fortress are cut, keeping the mystery as to when the are going to arrive during the ceremony
• Many scenes from the twins POV were cut: when they come back tho the fortress and spice cream… when they are preparing for the ceremony, the discussion with their mother in their room - The idea is to keep Sol POV as much as possible… Because he is the one bringing the audience to knowing the twins.
• The ceremony was cut down - Example “The power of one the power of two…” sings by the witches is cut entirely!
• Sol presenting his Jedi weapon to Osha is cut
• Continuity here is altered: Wide shot - then we are in the Jedi ship - the “lying planned” scenes before is cut, we learn it through the Jedi and during the test, and it is confirmed later.
• When Sol speaks to Osha, we see Indara acting uneasy, and looking at her padawan Torbin, looking uneasy too…
• After the test, Osha passes it, … She gets out of the ship and Mae understand Osha didn’t lie (Show don’t tell!)
• Then next scene, Osha confess she didn’t lie because she wants to become a Jedi…
• The touching scene between the Mother is cut down a little, keeping the emotion and the impact of Osha decision on her mother…
• We learn the M count is high… then cut just after Corbin line “This is it” …
• Mother Korril incite Mae to act, with violence, in order to stop Osha from leaving. Which she does immediately after, burning Osha’s drawing book and locking her sister in their room.
• We see the Jedi ship hovering over the fortress… Koril confirms to Mother Aniseya she prefers to die before letting her children go…
• Sol and Torbin arrives. Sol draws his light saber and prepares to strike Mother Aniseya now transforming into a cloud myst with Mae… Cut just before the lightsaber hit Aniseya… To keep the mystery…
• 16 years later
• Sol teaches to young padawan - The introduction scene with Osha as mechnek is cut - remember that I’m keeping Sol POV to emphasize his guilt “maybe”? (Plus Yord introduction is cringe… with his Star trekky padawan - also cut).
• …… TO BE CONTINUED

My recut is officially available today, as of July 31.
Why I did it?
Like you, probably - if you are a SW fans or love to hate SW -, I watched The Acolyte, very uneasy, filled with many awkward moments and a plot stretched thin over too many episodes (short) and with too many fillers (useless dialogue, repetitive informations, and so on). It is the era of the professional fan fiction or what I call the pro-fan-sional era. As an editor, director, lecturer in cinema, I just couldn’t sit down and let it go by under my nose without doing nothing. I took on myself to make a fanfix! To fix the storytelling by rearranging the continuity, mainly. Because I think, besides all the politics and the modern ideology that gets in the way of good storytelling, that the main problem of The Acolyte is the pacing and the editing, we could also blame the format, to which Disney seems to thinks that telling SW stories through TV series is still a good idea (Skeleton Crew, and so on until…)
What I propose here - and I know there is a lot out there -, is a recut of the series into a 164 feature film with master Jedi Sol’s point of view in mind. I would like to prove my point stated earlier: the bad pacing and bad editing is what mainly plague The Acolyte.
The fanfix is now available through private topic. Please indicate your email in the request and a link will be sent. Thank you very much!

fidodido said:

Artan42 said:

MathisMando said:

Like you, probably - if you are a SW fans or love to hate SW -, I watched The Acolyte, very uneasy,

Not like me, no unease at all.

MathisMando said:

besides all the politics and the modern ideology that gets in the way of good storytelling,

Politics! In Star Wars! Gosh, Lucas must be turning in his chair!

Especially as, compared to other shows like Andor or TCW, Acolyte has basically zero political dimension beyond a small segment of showing the stagnation of the Jedi Order. Unless by ‘politics and the modern ideology’ you’re getting at something else that should probably be spelt out in the open…

MathisMando said:

to which Disney seems to thinks that telling SW stories through TV series is still a good idea (Skeleton Crew, and so on until…)

It is a fantastic idea; Ewoks, Droids, CW, TCW, Rebels, Resistance, Mando, Andor, Ashoka, and BoBF. There’s only OWK and possibly this that might have been better as films, but the TV show format has worked perfectly for the franchise since Droids and Ewoks first came out.

Skeleton Crew is, of course, not out nor has any substantial information being released for you to form any opinion on how well the format will work for it.

MathisMando said:

I would like to prove my point stated earlier: the bad pacing and bad editing is what mainly plague The Acolyte.

This was the only part that’s relevant to your edit.

Gods, this place is really in danger of turning into Reddit, having to trudge through paragraphs of low effort YouTube grifter regurgitation to try find out what’s been changed and why.

Calm down.

Here I thought this place was to talk about fanedit, with constructive criticism, and not Facebook to spit our bitterness. I could write another thesis just to comment every point that guy made, but I though this place was to have an exchange/criticism about fanedit, not about the content of our post. Oh well. Peace.

WolfsithSlayer said:

Any chance I can get the Corcoran cut 😄? Been waiting for a edit to pop up

I’d be glad to share it without you! Just start a private topic, with your email and I’ll send a link to download it. 😉

fidodido said:

Sorry for only giving you a review now – I didn’t get a chance to watch your edit earlier.

This is really great! Thank you for your review. Your are actually pointing out some excellent points regarding my choices… And to be honest, I’m listening, and will probably make a V1.3 version from what I hear… I’ve just exported a V1.2 with a title crawl at the beginning, with a sound tweak… But I feel that I may export another one!! ;-p

When I first watched the series as it aired weekly, I was, to put it mildly, disappointed. The pacing, in particular, made the story hard to grasp for me. When I recently watched the (cleverly edited) series in one go, it surprisingly had a lot of positives: there was actually a good story underneath it all! I was very curious to see if your movie edit could further improve the pacing and make the story even clearer:

Now to your edit (I won’t go into every detail, just what stood out to me): I like your opening, especially starting with the flashback. How Sol finds the girls at the tree is a bit abrupt, but otherwise, I find the flashback very well put together.

I agree with you. I tried my best because I wanted to cut the last bit of conversation they are having about Torbin… When Indara is saying “That’s why you don’t have a padawan” to Sol … And it makes the cut when Sol finds the twins abrupt, I think… I might put it back - 40sec it’s not much at this point! And if it help the pacing…

Your cut of the plot on Olega is masterful and makes everything much more mysterious. However, over all in the first half of your movie, at some points I was concerned that someone who hasn’t seen the series before might be a bit confused by the plot.

Thank you! Indeed, how much mystery is too much mystery? lol… That’s why I chose to establish the existence of the twins with the flashback early on. Hoping to avoid any confusion… The idea that Mae wants revenge is clear… But to be sure, a viewing by someone, free from bias, who didn’t watch to series might help to evaluate…

The second half on the other hand, especially the last third of the film, works just as I hoped – the story is compelling, and the pacing is spot on. Here, too, your use of the flashback fits perfectly. I especially liked your interpretation of the conversation between Venestra and Mae at the end. And the Plagueis cameo is perfectly placed!

Content-wise, there are still things that don’t match my personal taste (like the child actors or Basil), but those are hard to change. And after all, it’s personal taste 😉

It is tough… We are not free from bias, having seen the series… Basil is a tough one… But he is always around somehow… I kept it to the minimum just to make sure the audience doesn’t question his presence later during the plot… When Mae arrives at Kelnacca lair… Basil is there… Also Basil takes back the droid’s head, we assume that he bring it back to the ship, eventhough I don’t show it…

Technically, your edit is top-notch. There’s absolutely nothing to criticize here. Audio transitions are always tricky, but I didn’t notice a single weak point. Only the quality of the copy could be better, but that’s probably due to the export version I had.

TX!!! I worked many hours on that, to make sure it doesn’t sound like an amateur patchwork! lol

Overall, I’m still not sure if I prefer a movie format or a (shortened, more intense) series format for “The Acolyte”. You did cut a few things I personally liked, but understandably, they would have been too much for a movie edit. And a movie for The Acolyte definitely shouldn’t be longer.

My final question… Does the final payoff or emotional impact regarding Sol story arc works better that way… Or you felt the same as watching the series? Be honest ;-p

Your edit offers engaging entertainment and a gripping story – in that respect, I consider it my go-to version for now and give it 8 out of 10 points.

This is a great review, constructive, it makes me think… Cheers!
(sry for the typo, English is not my first language…)

fidodido said:

Thanks for your reply!

I’m glad I can help (but you’re definitely the pro here, so I trust your judgment more than mine 😄).

Yeah, Basil is probably one of those things you just have to live with, even if you don’t like it (but Star Wars has already taught us that lesson, so it’s not a big deal 😉 ). And don’t get me wrong, you’re already done a fantastic job!

Regarding your question about Sol’s arc: it’s coherent, understandable, and absolutely works. You’ve definitely made Sol a more interesting character than he would be in a pure series format.

With a fan edit of about 2.5 hours, though, this naturally comes at the expense of other characters (like the twins or Qimir). That probably can only be solved with a series edit.

In that sense, your (movie-) edit does exactly what it’s supposed to and wants to do (mission accomplished!)! I’m curious to see what someone who watches the story in your format for the first time thinks 😃
I’ll try to find someone who would want to be my lab rat… lol

Thanks so much for your great work and for sharing it with us!

Thank you! That exchange made me rethink a short scene I cut, which was making the encounter with the twins abrupt… I put back the scene just before when Indara expresses her worries about her padawan, Sol doesn’t seem to understand, and Indara tells him that’s why he doesn’t have a padawan (half joking)… I put it back mainly because it foreshadows Sol’s arc… Maybe he shouldn’t have had a padawan after all!!! 😉 So thank you! If you want the new version 1.2, I’ll send you another link…

New version 1.2
For those of you who received the version 1.1.
I made a slight adjustment, but important storywise, by adding a scene, a short one, just before the encounter with the twins under the tree. Thanks to the exchange that I had with Fidodido…!
For those of you who received the version 1.1., I can send you back another link if you wish!
Let me know in private.
Tx! Marc JC

Hi there, I just heard you on the SW en direct podcast, I’m very interested to see your cut.

Much appreciated!

Que la Force soit avec toi!

mMathab said:

Hi there, I just heard you on the SW en direct podcast, I’m very interested to see your cut.

Much appreciated!

Que la Force soit avec toi!

Hi there, start a private topic with your email and I’ll send you a link. Tx

ceduniverse said:

Bonjour,

Je viens d’écouter ton passage dans Star Wars en Direct.
Je serai curieux de voir ton montage. Comment puis-je m’y prendre ?

Mon mail : cedric.asna@gmail.com

Merci,

Ced

Lien envoyé. 😃

Thanks everyone for your kind words, in private and here.
Don’t hesitate to leave a short review if you liked it! Or not, and why!
Currently working on a version 1.3 with better file source quality, same res.

Also, I have done only one other fanedit besides this one, it’s The Mandalorian Season 1, which I recut in 3 parts (45min, 57min, 1hr07 - each with end credit). I follow the “Baby Yoda” storyline only. If anyone is interested, I’ll write a post in the main thread.
Cheers!