Thanks to everyone with positive feedback, but I'm just going to address the helpful criticisms (not much time):
Music in the nightclub sounds a little too clinical. maybe adding some echo to it and maybe dampen down the top end would help make it sound more like it is eminating from the club.
Done. It was a quick fix, and after comparing it to the catina in "Star Wars", that's what felt weird about the music. After mellowing it out a little and cutting off some frequencies, it sounds a lot better.
I was just thinking... maybe you should just axe all the dialogue between anakin and obiwan as they saunter into the club like gansters. I remember watching an old movie that had characters enter in a similar style and they were also talking, but you couldn't hear what they were saying amongst all the surrounding crowd voices until we moved into close-up and they became more audible...
That's actually a really good idea- only I don't think I'll just axe all of it (their lips are moving). I think I'll have it audible up until Anakin's "Don't say that, Master". Then, I'll dial the other three lines so low in the mix that their inaudible, because they really aren't necessary. And having the dialogue drowned out at that point is just another step in the attempt to make the voice seem recorded "on-set".
The dubbing of Hayden is really well done, but it's just too distracting for me. I hope I'm the only one. That one thing sort of detracts from the other beautiful work you've done, and I don't know that it's something I could get used to. I tried to get used to the american version of Mad Max for 10 years and I never could. If you had an alternate audio track with Hayden's real voice, I think you'd have a home run. If the other feedback on the voice is good and you're happy with it, please ignore me. The "vibe" of the scene was truly excellent.
I'm sorry to hear this- as for me personally, I'm more used to the new voice than the old voice- in fact, when I play back the original voice, it's almost a little jarring for me now. Of course, that's because I've been working with this so much. I can see how the voice might be jarring, but I hope you can get used to it; the problem with reinserting Hayden is A) We're right back to where we started with Darth Vader being badly acted/portrayed, and B) There are several scenes that have an entirely different meaning which would be impossible to replicate with the available Hayden dialogue.
I'll be experimenting with "garbling" the dialogue to make it sound more natural- but that's all I can do at this point.
I'm not sure I understand the last shot of a stream of smoke rising from somewhere and going somewhere-- what is it? I kind of like it, but wish I knew what it was.
Just smoke coming out of the chimney- an establishing shot. It was an attempt to give it some kind of style, but I'll reconsider whether it really needs to be there. It could be that I originally inserted it because of music timing- I'll have to check.
The only time I really noticed it was the front shot of Harrison drinking that martini looking thing.
I'll just use this quote to represent all of the comments about Harrison Ford. Watching it, I do agree that that third shot of Harrison drinking goes too far. It's funny, because I thought about this, but thought it'd be okay because we never have a full frontal shot of him. Funny how easily identifiable he is just by his eyebrows and his haircut! The question then becomes what to replace the drinking shot and the second Harrison shot with (the one with the woman smoking behind him). I need to fill that time because I worked out the (ambient) music timing very specifically.
Also, I don't have that new high-quality DVD of Blade Runner that came out recently; the only shots I have were actually ripped from the HD broadcast of BR by ShiftyEyes, another member of this forum. But if anyone has any suggestions for replacement shots, I'll see if that would be possible...
Plus, have it start (or be in progress) at the Jedi's entrance to the club, not a few seconds later.
Good idea.
The sound is the real miracle here. All of the mish-mashed dialogue and chattering and laughing... All of that combined with the new lighting goes a LONG way in altering the viewer's perception of the club as actually being populated. The club is alive now, and even better than that, it feels threatening.
Hi, ID! I was hoping someone would bring this up. The background sound in the club is almost entirely all new elements, recorded by myself, Sluggo, and a couple of Sluggo's friends, and I think it's clear that this gave a hugely different effect to the scene (combined with the music).
Also, one thing I've changed was that after Obi-Wan slices Zam, in the original version, there was almost non-existent music and close-ups of people looking shocked. You hear some woman say "Oh my god!" in the background, in a perfect 21st century voice.
For SOTDS, I had silence, and then everyone starts laughing before we cut outside. It may seem like a small thing, but it made a huge difference in the "threatening" nature of the scene, I thought.
Anyway, thanks again to everyone for commenting- I really appreciate it and I hope to have this film available as soon as possible.
Oh, and I really like your sig, MTH!
-TM