I like it. There are some very cool concepts here, CC. I've wished the Emperor's Theme was used for the Yoda vs. Palpatine duel since Day One, so it was cool to see that used here. If we could eventually get to the place where the Imperial March isn't in any Yoda/Palps scenes, that would be the best. If I were choosing, though, for the Emperor's first shot of lightning at Yoda, I would've tried to use the music from The Battle of Endor II (on the Special Edition 2-disc release) at roughly 2:34-2:44. That just always seemed perfect for me. I also love that you put the two office scenes together into one. It flows wonderfully!
One thing about the office duel: it's been said before, I believe, and I agree, that the lightsaber tipping shot (at about 2:38 or 39 on your clip) should go. It looks ridiculous.
Great job with cutting straight to them hitting the console and leaving the room. That gets rid of one of the worst shots in the duel (character wise) where it looks like Obi-Wan's about to impale Anakin on the table. Grates on me every time. Good solution!
If we can paint out that little droid (what in the name of crap was he thinking?!!), that would be the best case scenario, as that's a pretty nice shot in the crossing. I also liked where you were going with the transition at the clash in front of the volcano going to Yoda landing on the Senate pod. Very cool. I would personally like to explore the possibility of having more specific music for the Senate duel, including the Emperor's Theme and possibly Yoda's Theme, but thus far, it's pretty cool. Your syncing works much better, for instance, when Yoda throws the senate pod at Palpatine.
Speaking of which, one shot that I think we should try to rework in some way is the one from 2:24-2:27 on your clip, where Yoda catches the pod. It looks SOOO much like a computer constructed shot in the way it moves down to him that it's disgusting. Especially given the goal of the Ranch, I think this shot needs fixing.
It's pretty cool the way you cut it so Yoda doesn't hang on at all, he just falls. Did you have anything else in mind for the musical transition back to Anakin and Obi-Wan, though?
Not sure about the ESB music on the falling crane section, but there are some interesting syncs, to be sure.
BTW, I think the chunk at 0:41-0:54 on your clip would be a good place for new dialogue, if we were able to go that route, and having Obi-Wan trying to reach out to Anakin.
I was surprised at how well it worked to have Obi-Wan jump from the crane to the bank. Very cool! Unfortunately, in doing that, you lose some good character moments, such as the "Don't try it." In your clip, it seems very sudden for Obi-Wan to just chop off Anakin's limbs like that--kind of cold-blooded, given his actions up until that point. But with some of the other dialogue that was there originally, there's more indication of Obi-Wan formulating and dealing with the idea of stopping the duel that way, if you see what I'm saying.
I'm going to do my best to make a rough cut of my ideas soon. It'll be hard, as my ideas are a bit more high maintenence (dubbing, painting, etc.), but I'll try to get at least some of the cuts right. Don't hold your breath, but hopefully I'll be able to make a test or two soon.
Definitely some interesting ideas, and we should certainly get some discussion going. Good work!
