logo Sign In

The legendary "Starkiller Ranch" Thread — Page 47

Author
Time
CC, I enjoyed your ROTS edits. I agree with just about everything Musicman said. The ESB music for when the crane falls feels a little out of place. And Obi Wan does need a moment to "reach out" to Anakin in some way. The part where they slowly cross that narrow pipe (and the stupid droid flies by) is a great quiet moment, and would be a great place for some dialog. But I don't know how some dialog can be put there without some serious rotoscoping.

And BTW, great "Kick to the Head"!

You know of the rebellion against the Empire?

Author
Time
Wow, CC! I'm impressed! I have to say, that was fantastic and totally unexpected!

Very well done!!!

Author
Time
Thanks ID. Glad you liked it.

There's been a lot of discussion and examples of the Epsiode III Dooku Duel in Darkhelmet's thread, so I thought my edit of that sequence would be appropriate for my next upload:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCcZTrxi8ck
Like I said on YouTube, this is a pretty solid rough cut; the only thing I'd want to alter for a final version would be a couple more seconds of Anakin pondering before killing Dooku.

PS. I just realized the line, "He was an unarmed prisoner," has some irony to it. Tee-hee.
Author
Time
Especially for such an off-handed remark.
Author
Time
Oh, get a grip of yourselves lol... it's just a handy little edit.

I like the edit... I sense you took some ideas from my edit? :-p that's cool... I might steal one from yours lol...

Anyways I like it... I think some of the shots could still be tighter but overall, cool!

So anyways, I'll hand it of to you guys now...


Is it not sad that in this time, we are more surprised by acts of love than acts of hate?
-Me

Author
Time
An overview of my edits:
-Dooku's jump is no longer a front flip, rather a straight jump downwards.
-The "He's a Sith Lord" exchange is cut. I suppose it was meant to be ironic, but I didn't like it.
-If I knew how to rip video off the Episode III game I would have inserted Dooku's extended line, just to give him more dialogue. As it stands though, I like the placing of "I've been looking forward..."
-All of the cutaways to Palpatine are gone.
-Dooku no longer crushes Obi-Wan with the catwalk; it tests believability. If he really did that Obi-Wan would be seriously injured. This creates a slight continuity problem when Anakin goes to check on him, but I think it's worth it.
-Anakin silently ponders whether to "Kill him now," as Palpatine suggests. This is far more effective than "I shouldn't" and "Do it!" So much for subtlety, eh George?
Author
Time
Originally posted by: GoodMusician
Oh, get a grip of yourselves lol... it's just a handy little edit.

I like the edit... I sense you took some ideas from my edit? :-p that's cool... I might steal one from yours lol...

Anyways I like it... I think some of the shots could still be tighter but overall, cool!

So anyways, I'll hand it of to you guys now...

I applaud your hand references, my friend. Get it, applaud...with my hands? That was probably stretching.

Believe it or not, I edited this sequence a while ago. The only idea I shamelessly copied from yours which I went back and changed before uploading was the placing of "I've been looking forward to this." As I mentioned, I had originally hoped to use the line from the Episode III game, but after seeing your clip and deciding I'll never get around to capturing the video off the game, I just...shamelessly copied yours.

I'm all for the exchange of ideas if you are.
Author
Time
Which game has the line and what is it? Does i have any more un-used scenes like that?


Is it not sad that in this time, we are more surprised by acts of love than acts of hate?
-Me

Author
Time
Ah, so here's where everyone is!

Just a brief remark on the 'end duels' -- aside from saying they work really, really well even at a rough cut stage, there's one note that struck me. I realise the reasons it was done, and you've got Obi-Wan's remark that "I will do what I must" to justify it, but Obi taking out Anakin's legs when Anakin was trying to save his own life is actually on a bar for sheer low-blow value as leaving the poor bugger to burn was. I mean, wow, that takes the phrase "attack of opportunity" to a whole new level.

On the other hand, thinking about it, I actually like it. Obi-Wan's not portrayed as a complete goody-two-shoes through the movies anyway; after all, he does wind up terminating a lot of sentient beings. It just had a big impact, that's all.
"My teaching is like a raft used to cross a river. Only a fool would carry the raft around after he reached the other side!"
--Buddha
Author
Time
Originally posted by: Saintheart
Ah, so here's where everyone is!

Just a brief remark on the 'end duels' -- aside from saying they work really, really well even at a rough cut stage, there's one note that struck me. I realise the reasons it was done, and you've got Obi-Wan's remark that "I will do what I must" to justify it, but Obi taking out Anakin's legs when Anakin was trying to save his own life is actually on a bar for sheer low-blow value as leaving the poor bugger to burn was. I mean, wow, that takes the phrase "attack of opportunity" to a whole new level.

On the other hand, thinking about it, I actually like it. Obi-Wan's not portrayed as a complete goody-two-shoes through the movies anyway; after all, he does wind up terminating a lot of sentient beings. It just had a big impact, that's all.

Interesting observation. I'm glad it had that unexpected impact; obviously being the editor that kind of "surprise" is lost on me as I look over the footage for the thousandth time.

I've got another clip for you guys, this time focusing on Anakin's return to Coruscant after the crash of the Invisible Hand:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCnvNzIPKgk

The edits here are veyr subtle, and I wanted them to be. I think the scene plays much more effectively now.
Author
Time
I do not remember the original scene, but I like your edit CC.

A Goon in a Gaggle of 'em

Author
Time
It's great to see things going on in here again And thank you for posting all of those clips, Commander Couarage! They are a really good start.

I was impressed by the Dooku sequence in the theatre - I agree that it doesn't need much work to be good. If there's a way to cut out Dooku's backflip and have him walk down the stairs instead (I think footsteps in the sound mix were mentioned in another thread), then that would be great.


I'm running out of time to edit Star Wars, but I think finishing the Ranch saga is very possible. I think Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back are wonderful as is, but a viewer could swap in any number of the OT.com edits in their place (especially Adywan's).

Episode II: Shroud of the Dark Side is finished in content. Adywan and I will are working on the audio, and when that's done the film is done. I'm very excited about that.

Episode III: Just thinking about fixing the whole Grievous section of the movie gives me a headache, but I'm thinking that the scenes featuring Anakin would be too much fun not to do it myself. I'll probably finish those scenes myself and then send them to another editor who takes them and puts them into a final cut. This other editor will figure out the whole "Does Grievous=Maul" issue. Or maybe there's a way to cut him out completely, I don't know (although that would make an extremely short movie). It's a big pain and I think I'm already burnt out on that problem. But I'd really like to do the dramatic scenes with Anakin.

Figuring out if Maul=Grievous clears the way for Episode I. By then MagnoliaFan's new version of Balance of the Force will be out, and I think that perhaps for time's sake we should use this as a starting point (with his permission) and get the SOTDS voice actors back to do the Nemoidians. 3PO can't be introduced (he first appears in Ep. II). Something must be done about Jar-Jar. Really, though, you can do almost anything with this movie because it's not really tied in to the others much at all.

All that's left at that point is a non-mandatory edit of ROTJ and the saga is complete.

So there are two movies left that will require a lot of work, one of which I will be helping with. And the remaining movie (ROTJ) should be a much quicker job.....

Episode II: Shroud of the Dark Side

Emperor Jar-Jar
“Back when we made Star Wars, we just couldn’t make Palpatine as evil as we intended. Now, thanks to the miracles of technology, it is finally possible. Finally, I’ve created the movies that I originally imagined.” -George Lucas on the 2007 Extra Extra Special HD-DVD Edition

Author
Time
Again I'm probably jumping in to rehash something that's already been discussed, but when it comes to the Anakin scenes in Episode III, I'd actually hope that there isn't a lot of work done that needs to be done to the scenes he has with the Emperor -- in particular the "opera house" conversation.

I've heard rumours that Robert Towne, the writer of "Chinatown", was brought in to script some of the scenes between Anakin and Palpatine, and if that's right, it shows here. Out of all the scenes in the movie -- if not all three PT movies -- that one holds me most. Ironic that in a movie busting with CGI madness, duels up the wazoo, and Ralph McQuarrie paintings, the one scene with greatest impact is just two guys doing nothing but sitting down and talking philosophy. It says a lot for Ian McDiarmid, who basically has to deliver backstory exposition the whole way through that scene, and yet does it with such wistfulness and menace it actually compels you to watch. And it also comes from that low, evil tone that forms the soundtrack -- that tone is part of the opera, of course, but it unsettles you in the same way that ambient sound in the Bespin carbon chamber did during ESB. I know it's got the friggin' midichlorians in it, but please, guys, I beg you not to razor it more than you absolutely have to. It's one of the few scenes worth anything in the whole PT.
"My teaching is like a raft used to cross a river. Only a fool would carry the raft around after he reached the other side!"
--Buddha
Author
Time
Saintheart, you and I are on the same page.

The scene in question is probably my favorite in the film. The irony you point out cannot be missed; similarly, my favorite scene in Episode II is the Dooku/Obi-Wan scene. Great actors can make something out of anything, and these scenes are examples of that. A pity there wasn't more McDiarmid, Lee, and McGregor (and Neeson) in the films instead of Jar-Jar, Boss Nass, and General Grievous. But we have to work with what we're given.
Author
Time
As long as we're talking Episode III, does anyone know of anyone who could sound like Ewan McGregor? I know the idea of adding some lines for him wasn't confirmed, but I'd love to play with that. It could really help a lot with just a few lines. I don't have time to post more right now, but, again, it's good to see some stuff going on around here!
Two-Face - A Batman:The Animated Series Movie
Author
Time
Here's my latest video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPFbnWeroZs

The prequel trilogy set to "Hindi Sad Diamonds" from "Moulin Rouge."

My goal was to relay everything important about the prequels in as little time as possible. To that end, you'll notice many things omitted not only for time, but for being unecessary. I think it ended up being a pretty cool montage that *shows* you everything you need to know about Episodes I-III.

(In Starkiller Ranch related news, I've been doing some radical experimenting with the Anakin/Obi-Wan/Yoda/Dooku confrontation, and I'll have a rough clip so share very soon.)


Author
Time
Originally posted by: musicman
As long as we're talking Episode III, does anyone know of anyone who could sound like Ewan McGregor? I know the idea of adding some lines for him wasn't confirmed, but I'd love to play with that. It could really help a lot with just a few lines. I don't have time to post more right now, but, again, it's good to see some stuff going on around here!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WjN9eCzpF4
Author
Time
[Amidala]I hope not.[/Amidala]

We were looking at ROTS, but things just kinda collapsed. I don't know who's still around. I know we were looking to see SOTDS, as we were trying to coordinate with that. Any of the Ranchers still out there?
Two-Face - A Batman:The Animated Series Movie
Author
Time
I don't think its fully gone. Last time I can remember we decided on using Adywan's OT with just some minor tweaks. So we just have to do TPM, and ROTS.
I think its just on hold for a little.
I hope it doesn't die, this was the greatest Fan Edit idea EVER!
Author
Time
I am actually looking forwards towards the edit of ROTJ the most.

It seems that the leadership of the Ranch is in transition and no one really has stepped to run the thing. And since it is a group effort, I'd imagine we wouldn't want or necessarily need one single editor, but instead have a few folks editing video (but not until we can agree on source material, output format, aspect ratio and all the technical items. It would be great to have a set script in place, assign footage out to members to edit and then have a master editor combine all the clips and audio into one film. [knock-on-wood]It shouldn't take too long to finish a film that way.[/knock-on-wood]

I know erikstormtrooper has been good at assembling notes etc. I'd nominate him as Ranch Manager, if such a thing is appropriate.
Author
Time
Originally posted by: SluggoI know erikstormtrooper has been good at assembling notes etc. I'd nominate him as Ranch Manager, if such a thing is appropriate.


Golly Thanks, Slugs.

Sure, I guess I can do that, until someone else comes along who wants it more.

The main thing we need is someone with a real fire in their belly to see this through to completion. At first that was InfoDroid, and then Commander Courage. But that role is pretty vacant at the moment.

I think it would be a good idea to create a Starkiller team. Things have just been too come-and-go to get anything concrete done. And we need to have some way to vote on issues that are unresolved (like Maul=Grievous). That's not to say that we wouldn't take input from those not on the official team. One of the best aspects of this project has been its openness to new ideas from just about anyone. But I think a voting team is needed to make the final say. What do y'all think?

A lot of work was done on Episode I in terms of story, but I don't know how much editing was done. Since Episode I is a kind-of standalone story (aside from the C-3PO angle), I don't see why some work couldn't be restarted on it. I still have the proposed "script" if anyone cares. Any takers?

You know of the rebellion against the Empire?

Author
Time
Originally posted by: Erikstormtrooper
Originally posted by: SluggoI know erikstormtrooper has been good at assembling notes etc. I'd nominate him as Ranch Manager, if such a thing is appropriate.


Golly Thanks, Slugs.

Sure, I guess I can do that, until someone else comes along who wants it more.

The main thing we need is someone with a real fire in their belly to see this through to completion. At first that was InfoDroid, and then Commander Courage. But that role is pretty vacant at the moment.

I think it would be a good idea to create a Starkiller team. Things have just been too come-and-go to get anything concrete done. And we need to have some way to vote on issues that are unresolved (like Maul=Grievous). That's not to say that we wouldn't take input from those not on the official team. One of the best aspects of this project has been its openness to new ideas from just about anyone. But I think a voting team is needed to make the final say. What do y'all think?

A lot of work was done on Episode I in terms of story, but I don't know how much editing was done. Since Episode I is a kind-of standalone story (aside from the C-3PO angle), I don't see why some work couldn't be restarted on it. I still have the proposed "script" if anyone cares. Any takers?


I'd like to be involved (to some extent) with story development. The scripts that I read were good for starters but can certainly be improved on.


"The main thing we need is someone with a real fire in their belly to see this through to completion."

I think this is true. Wasn't LTH really interested in doing Ep. I? I ought to contact him.

The problem CC and others were running into was this- you can't just write whatever you want in the script without having the special-FX capability to pull it off. Now, Adywan is hard at work on his own trilogy right now, and although he did offer to help with some shots (as time allows), I wouldn't want to put a burden on him. On the flip side, it's probably hard for him to agree to anything without knowing what it all entails.

I have gotten by in SOTDS by cutting together FX footage from other films (with a couple new shots from Ady), but for Ep. I and III, which are more fundamentally flawed, more FX work would be needed.

Off topic a little, but my original idea for Ep. III was to completely redo the opening battle of Ep. III, even though I know a lot of people liked it. It's just way too cluttered and inconsistent with everything else, and it introduces a bunch of new ship designs that are never seen again. Keep the cockpit shots, of course, but with new FX create a tight and controlled dogfight sequence with actual TIE fighters and X-Wings, in the style of the OT. This idea has come up before. The fighters are brand new in Ep. III, and then you see them in Ep. IV and they're all beaten up. The rebel's ships are then seen as out-of-date in Ep. IV.

Ordinarily this would probably be really difficult, but after seeing Ady's new clips, I know he is the master of the TIE fighter/X-wing shot Maybe it would be possible to work something out once we have our act together at "the Ranch." I've found that you don't really know what shots you're forgetting until you really start cutting it together. But I think that if we finalize a script, or at least a collection of notes, for Ep. I, then we can come up with a master list of FX shots that would be required. Only when we know exactly what we want should we go to Ady for help. I don't want to speak for Ady, but I think he would be very willing if we gave him plenty of time to work.

But yeah, I would really like to see someone come forward with as much enthusiasm for fixing Ep. I (or III) as I had before I started on SOTDS, to see this through to completion.

The problem with Ep. I is not how to fix it, because there are at least a dozen edits of that out there, many of them very well done. The problem is there are so many options, it's hard to make a definite decision on what course to take with issues like "Does Maul=Grievous. If so, how?"

The problem with Ep. II was bad editing, bad use of music, and unlikability of the main characters, especially Anakin. But at its heart, the story was cohesive. That was a fixable problem.

The problem with Ep. III is that it's a complete mess on repeated viewings because Anakin's turn is bad, Padme's death is bad, and a lot of the movie is blown on Grievous, Obi-Wan, and the giant lizard. Besides being completely out of place, they aren't even good as stand-alone scenes. My idea to elevate the quality of this one was to take out the whole Obi-Wan and the lizard somehow, as well as the Emperor/Yoda fight, and put in narration for Anakin as he slips to the Dark Side (although the narration might be too great of a stylistic departure from the other SW movies). When he becomes evil, the narration stops.

And remember that since Yoda never fights in SOTDS, in keeping with his original character, if we remove the Emperor/Yoda fight, nobody will protest because there is no reason to believe that Yoda is capable of using a lightsaber at his age. And I don't begin to know what do about Palpatine's ridiculous voice and makeup after he turns.

From my point of view, Ep. III requires the most amount of thought and of major script changes to be succesful. Episode I just requires a lot of foreign dubbing. The main ideas are already there, not only in the scripts we've worked out, but in edits like "Balance of the Force."

So as a stand-alone flick, Ep. I fundamentally works, while Ep. III fundamentally does not.

Any thoughts? A discussion of this stuff would be great.

Episode II: Shroud of the Dark Side

Emperor Jar-Jar
“Back when we made Star Wars, we just couldn’t make Palpatine as evil as we intended. Now, thanks to the miracles of technology, it is finally possible. Finally, I’ve created the movies that I originally imagined.” -George Lucas on the 2007 Extra Extra Special HD-DVD Edition