One concern that I do have is the use of the name “Darth Grievous” throughout Episode I. I much prefer “Darth Maul”- it’s so much better aesthetically that it’d almost be worth it to me to just leave General Grievous as is in Episode III.
The only other concern I had was that the Nemoidian dialogue was great, until I heard one of them say, “Allah”. Even if I was the only one who heard it, it was kind of distracting (I understand why it slipped in, though). Could you remove it? And by the way, when it comes time to write the subtitles, I would very much like a chance to make suggestions/polish before finalization.
THANK YOU, whichever of you listed all that Christopher Lee dialogue. It’s very much appreciated. I’ve also seen Narnia- and I just jumped when Aslan made a terrifically ambiguous comment about the “prophecy”. This would fit right in.
I’m also very pleased that you’ve decided to go with my plan to title this film “Star Wars”. I’m not as happy about the omission of the prologue. Thinking back, I didn’t really care about having a LOTR style narrator and accompanying video. Even a series of blue sentences (in the same font as “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away) that fade in and out would be very nice. We could have eerie music- or just fade the very brief and succinctly worded cards in and out. Kind of like the beginning of “2010”. I just think we need something for the beginning of everything, telling us about a war between the Jedi and the Sith in which the Sith were completely wiped out. “But there were whispers ever afterwards that the Sith had survived…”. Fade to black. “STAR WARS” logo appears, with familiar music.
Perhaps this could be handled with seamless branching technology? A choice to watch it or not?
MTH in particular- GREAT conceptual ideas and great bits of script you’ve posted. I especially like the new Boss Nass. How intelligent and wise he is now! The only issue is the cartoonish imagery, which I suppose is cured by taking the eyes off of the picture and onto the subtitles.
“I've volunteered to do the editing on this project, as long as you guys (MTH and CC) take the responsibility of making this into your TPM dream-project. Going through the whole movie by committee is not going to work. But, if you guys (MTH and CC) can write the script and direct me where you want it go, and we can iron out any controversies as we go along, then I'm ready to start knocking this puppy out.”
This sounds great! I’ll continue to follow this thread- however, I’m not going to be able to give consistent feedback and ideas on this, as I don’t have a clear picture in my head of what Episode I should be like. It’s such a flawed film, but there are so many interesting ideas to fix it. I liked MF’s approach to Jar-Jar; cocky and arrogant. However, I also think that some charm and wit is in order for his character, along with some British or Australian type of subtitles. That’s my picture of Jar-Jar (and the alien voice certainly needs to sound more normal in pitch). As far as the imagery- I would REALLY think to yourself with every shot- how is the cinematography? Is this classic filmmaking? Are these good compositions? Are the colors ridiculous, does the CG look like a cartoon, and are the colors oversaturated? That’s one big issue I have with this movie, particularly with the end battle. I don’t think they could have made the imagery more phony. We need realistic and muted colors, better and more dramatic lighting, impact flashes and lighting fluctuations during the battle, etc.
I’m not sure how you’d feel about this, but perhaps when InfoDroid and whoever else is helping completes this movie, I could get hold of a copy before release and edit it to my own liking before it is released. Depending on how it is, these may be very small and subtle changes. Of course I don’t want to butcher any of InfoDroid’s work, or take away any of the credit or praise that is rightfully his for doing this film, but I really think the film might benefit if I was able to edit it based off of InfoDroid’s cut (and of course in keeping with everyone’s suggestions). I think it might also provide even more stylistic consistency throughout this new PT, if I was physically involved at the end like this. After I was done, InfoDroid would get a copy of the revised movie, and he could keep or lose any changes that he wanted before the release. There’s just something about actually sitting down and editing the film yourself that you can’t do through the forum suggestions or the script. Of course, this would mean three cuts for the archive: InfoDroid’s original cut, Trooperman’s revised cut, and InfoDroid’s revised cut. Only the revised cut would be put on DVD for the general public. Just an idea- maybe a desirable one and maybe not… I just realize that this project is a lot more difficult to produce than SOTDS because with the latter, I came in with a plan, and it was more geared towards making suggestions to an editor who already knew what direction he was going in, rather than a system where the creators, visionaries and the editors are two different entities. Granted, so many things in SOTDS were influenced by the likes of MTH, CC, InfoDroid, Twister, and so many others; but I guess the difference is that I already had the concept and the plan.
I can try to share with everyone the specifics of using the full-screen DVD for anamorphic widescreen shots, but it generally just involves an anamorphic math calculation, making the choice of what part of the full-screen frame you want, and sometimes, a bit of sharpening to counter the softness sometimes apparent using the method. I think the advantages in storytelling and cinematography far outweigh the technical issues.
“The best 20% can be preserved, and the rest will have to be dusted off and prettied up... And turned into a classic.”
YES- and this is the most important to me. I’ve realized that to some people, believability in the PT is a big thing. To some, it’s the storyline. To some, it’s the excitement of adding new scenes, or changing lines, or what have you. To me, it’s the overall aesthetics, the cinematography, and the music that is most important. When I’m editing, this is first and foremost on my mind. Occasionally, I will make a decision to keep a beat, or to cut something out, not because it makes a lot of sense, but because it is dramatically effective. There are many, many things in these prequels where people might ask, “Why did you change this? There was nothing wrong with the way it was before.” There may not have been anything wrong with it before, but why settle for mediocrity when you can make it breathtaking, exhilarating…classic?
I’m off on a tangent. I will try to comment on some more specifics later. I still don’t know how a dream will advance the story any. If anything, it would seem to be a break stylewise from SW, especially for a stand-alone movie like the original. Yes, I know it will be done in SOTDS and in Ep. III, but there is a very important purpose in these cases. I would still need to be convinced that this is important to the story.
I love the idea of the first Anakin/Padme scene being a haunting moment, with the force theme playing and no dialogue. I would not abuse this technique of using little to no dialogue in a scene, though; I think part of what makes it special is its contrast with everything else, which could be lost if it is overused.
Anyway, thanks very much for reading. I can’t believe the number of responses this thread has gotten in such a short time- why didn’t you guys do this for my thread?
Maybe because I sometimes don’t respond for days on end! (my fault). And a new “Ranch” website- wow! (I still think we can generate a better name). Anyway, with the new interest in this new fan-created SW saga, it doesn’t look like we’ll have trouble securing voice actors for whatever we may need (sinister, Ensligh speaking battle droids, perhaps- to cut down on subtitles, Jar-Jar, maybe even someone’s son to dub Anakin? That’s certainly pushing it). Until later!
-TM