Adywan, I don't know how important the 'continuity problems' in this sequence below are to you, but here's a more detailed look at certain 'STARDESTROYER 'AVENGER' CHASING THE MILLENNIUM FALCON' scenes for you and anyone else interested to look at, since it was proposed recently that the 'Avenger's' Bridge 'interior' shot is the wrong way round... (I've always really liked the shots in this scene, but some scrutiny does throw up a few little moments that could be improved a bit possibly. Perhaps you can check to see if you agree with some of the following thoughts, where the 'positioning' of certain Stardestroyer elements are concerned. Whether you then change anything is up to you, as always)
Bear with me, as some of this stuff 'aint easy to get across. Because some of the shots in this sequence are brief, and since it is tricky to try to explain certain things about this whole thing clearly, I needed quite a few specific screenshots to better show what I mean. So I'd like to thank doubleofive once again for his sterling efforts on my behalf, in getting those to me. :)
Firstly, here's a link below to the scene in question, for everyone to see the current onscreen 'movements', 'pacing', and 'editing' of the relevant shots again, that screenshots alone can't convey properly. (Note: this is an older clip, and only has Ady's colour correction and great new 'camera shake' on show. He has since improved on it, adding the likes of new TIE lasers during the asteroids, among other things!)
The shots I'm going to go through in this instance, only occur between approx. 15 secs. - 45 secs. into the clip -
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=uTp8mKFxmbg&feature=PlayList&p=4DB0EA9A58709519&index=34
I'm now going to show the start, middle, and end of certain individual shots, in the correct sequence of order they appear (along with 'descriptions' of any intervening shots that are not shown here), so that things can be scrutinised easier -
TO RECAP - At approx. 15 secs. into the above clip, we see a 'close-up' shot of Leia and Han inside the Millennium Falcon's cockpit as it is being chased by Captain Needa's Stardestroyer 'Avenger' (the 'Avenger' is seen going after the Falcon since it tried to evade the Stardestroyer 'blockade' above the Hoth planet). During this 'close-up' shot of Han and Leia, we see Han saying to Chewbacca - "I saw them! I saw them!" Leia, who is seated behind Han, and who has been distracted looking over at what Chewie is doing, then gets up and leans over Han, asking - "Saw what?" before the shot ends.
When the shot above ends, we then immediately cut to the single shot (shown in Shots 1 and 2) below, where Han points quickly towards the front-left of the cockpit with his left hand, answering - "Stardestroyers, two of them coming right at us."
Shot 1 (The start of the FIRST 'oncoming Stardestroyers' shot, which lasts approx. 2 secs. - this is the shot described just above) -
Shot 2 (Near the end of the FIRST 'oncoming Stardestroyers' shot) Note: The Stardestroyer on our right goes up just slightly higher yet, before the shot completely ends.
When we first see them during this shot above , the 2 'oncoming' Stardestroyers are VERY close together, and the one on our RIGHT nearest to Chewie, rises UPWARDS from it's lower starting position at the start of the shot, and ends up 'somewhat level' with the other one, by the end of the shot. This is the 'oncoming' Stardestroyer that the Stardestroyer 'Avenger will end up underneath shortly....
(due to the cockpit 'window spar' shaking in front of them both, I was never sure if the one on our LEFT actually went LOWER....but I checked by holding a pen horizontally underneath them, against my TV screen!)
*** However, to avoid cluttering-up the 'sequence of order' of all these shots, and to hopefully confuse things a little less, I will need to post a short FOLLOW-UP comment (along with a reference shot I want to show from elsewhere) after these ones, which will concentrate on the first shot above only, shown by Shots 1 and 2. (I will be coming back to the 'pen' before then, though...) ***
Okay, to continue on....when the shot above ends, we then immediately cut to a viewpoint inside the Falcon's cockpit again (NOT shown here), but this time our viewpoint is of various 'close-ups' of Chewie, Leia, Han, and C3PO (these 'close-up' shots last approx. 10 secs. in total), where we see C3PO now enter behind them into the cockpit, saying - "Sir! Sir! Might I suggest--", before Han cuts him off, telling Leia - "Shut him up or shut him down!", before then telling Chewie - "Check the deflector shield.", and then saying - "Great, well we can still outmanoeuvre them."
When these 10 secs. worth of 'close-up' Falcon crew shots (described above) end, we then immediately cut to the single shot shown in Shots 3, 4, and 5 below.
Shot 3 (The start of the SECOND 'oncoming Stardestroyers' shot, which lasts approx. 2 secs.) -
Shot 4 (The middle of the SECOND 'oncoming Stardestroyers' shot) -
Shot 5 (The end of the SECOND 'oncoming Stardestroyers' shot) -
I'll come back to the shot above shown by Shots 3, 4, and 5, shortly.... *
As this whole sequence stands at the moment, there seems to be room for a few possible improvements scattered around, but the shot above is an awkward one to judge 'distances' on, considering the way the 'angles' and 'perspectives' of the Stardestroyers in it are arranged. (The same goes for some other 'combined' Millennium Falcon/Stardestroyer shots in the movie, too!)
As a way of having a proper 'reference point' to compare from, without spoiling the 'sequence of order' shots shown here (and so that you can understand what I'm trying to get across here a bit easier), can I ask you to now scroll down to Shot 12 near the end of this post....which shows what I consider to be the true 'EVENTUAL DISTANCE APART shot' of the 2 'oncoming' Stardestroyers. This is the 'positioning' shot that I believe should ideally be used to guage the rest of the shots throughout the scene, and the one that I'm going to use here to compare all the other's for consistency against, while hopefully offering some possible improvements. ....Oh, and once you've looked at what I mean, please come back to here, before you continue on. :)
So to continue on again....as you will see, it's the START of the last shot in this particular sequence....the one which shows the final moments of the 2 'oncoming' Stardestroyers, as they 'converge' INWARDS closer together, during their approach towards the Millennium Falcon (and the 'Avenger' chasing behind it) in a sort of 'pincer movement' (before 'diverging' OUTWARDS away from each other again, when they have to veer slightly off from each other at the critical point, and where the 'Avenger' has to dive DOWNWARDS to avoid collision).
(Coming back to the 'pen', if you were to place 2 pens against your computer screen, aligning them correctly with the underneath 'middle lines' of the Stardestroyers shown in Shot 12....you would get a good indication of just how much of a surprising 'angle' that the 2 'oncoming' Stardestroyers are 'converging' at, towards each other at the start of this shot)
* Anyway, to now go back to the shot above, shown in Shots 3, 4, and 5 -
Firstly, it's difficult to tell just HOW FAR APART the 2 'oncoming' Stardestroyers are at the moment, in this shot. But bearing in mind the supposed 'massiveness' of their 'scale', and the fact that the Millennium Falcon in the shot can actually fit onto the back corner of the the pursuing 'Avenger's horizontal top 'tower', with plenty of room to spare, then I reckon they appear to be reasonably far-enough apart at this point to tie-in consistantly enough with the 'eventual distance apart' shot, as shown in Shot 12.
Secondly , I also think that the shot above can be seen as giving a reasonable impression that the 2 'oncoming' Stardestroyers could be 'converging' INWARDS towards each other at this point too, which also eventually ties it in well with the one in Shot 12 too.
However....I don't think that the SMALL 'prow' tip that enters the frame on the left is 'positioned' HIGH ENOUGH to tie-in properly with ANY of the shots that come after it. I reckon that if this 'prow' tip was moved a little bit HIGHER UP on the left of the frame, it would match with it's following shot shown below in Shots 6, 7, and 8 a LOT better, and give the impression that the 'Avenger's' prow COULD have cleared underneath this 'oncoming' Stardestroyer on it's RIGHT at that point (which happens BEFORE the 'evasive action' dive DOWNWARDS that then occurs in Shots 10 and 11). The thing is, the 'Avenger' in the above shot doesn't 'dip down' in any way, and is just continuing to move forward on the same 'horizontal plane' as the 'oncoming' ones at this point, making things a little 'jarring' by the time we get to the shot that comes immediately after it, shown below, so that's why I think that the SMALL 'prow' tip should be RAISED a little here.
When the shot above shown in Shot 5 ends, we then immediately cut to the single shot shown in Shots 6, 7, and 8 below.
Shot 6 (The start of the THIRD 'oncoming Stardestroyers' shot, which lasts approx. 2 secs.) -
Shot 7 (The middle of the THIRD 'oncoming Stardestroyers' shot) -
Shot 8 (The end of the THIRD 'oncoming Stardestroyers' shot) -
The shot above has a problem too, when compared to when we reach the 'eventual distance apart' one shown in Shot 12 below.
Using the principle that ALL shots of the 2 'oncoming' Stardestroyers that come BEFORE Shot 12 below in this sequence, should seem to be 'converging' CLOSER TOGETHER from a slightly WIDER DISTANCE APART to BEGIN with....means that the SMALL 'prow' tip that enters the TOP-RIGHT of the frame in the above shot, seems to be TOO CLOSE to the 'prow' tip of the Stardestroyer beside it at this point in the sequence, as the 'Avenger' goes undeneath in this shot....
I think this SMALL 'prow' tip would match-up better with Shot 12 below , if it was moved a little further along the top-right of the frame, to seem a further distance away from the 'prow' of the other 'oncoming' Stardestroyer at this point.
I also reckon that the SMALL 'prow' tip shown above is running TOO PARALLEL to the other Stardestroyer 'prow' as well, compared the 'angle' it seems to be at by the time we get to Shot 12. So as well as needing to be moved further away, it should ALSO be at a slightly more 'converging' angle towards the other 'oncoming' Stardestroyer it's beside.
When the shot above ends, we then immediately cut to the single shot shown in Shots 9, 10, and 11 below.
Shot 9 (The start of the FOURTH 'oncoming Stardestroyers' shot, which lasts approx. 6 secs.) -
Shot 10 (The middle of the FOURTH 'oncoming Stardestroyers' shot) - Note: Adywan has improved on things at this point, by introducing a fine 'camera shake' effect as the 'Avenger' takes sudden 'evasive action' at this critical point, and 'dips downwards'.
Shot 11 (The end of the FOURTH 'oncoming Stardestroyers' shot) -
So it DOES seem like the shot above is the WRONG way round in the scheme of things in this sequence!!....
Adywan, I don't know if you've planned to do anymore with the shot above (or if it's even possible), or if you are happy with it the way it is after your current 'camera shake'....but it sure would be neat if you would consider giving a further tweak to this shot by perhaps trying either of the following -
EITHER keep the 'Avenger' interior 'Bridge' shot the current way round, but instead add a view of the other 'oncoming' Stardestroyer outside the windows, rather than the one it's 'supposed' to be going under now....
OR 'flip' the 'Bridge' shot into reverse, keeping the current view outside the windows, which would now be more consistent....
Unfortunately, the current shot is certainly suspect in the way it fits into the sequence, as it stands.
(As an aside....I used to think that the 'Avenger' had a very 'near miss', and that it was the sudden 'evasive action' movement downwards at it's 'prow' tip that unbalanced all it's crewmembers. However, having watched this shot closely again now, it does have a sort of 'collision/scraping' sound effect at this point, and on the subtitles it DOES state [CRASH] just before it states [ALARM]....so it seems it wasn't supposed to be a 'near miss' after all, but rather a slight SCRAPING TOGETHER, at this point, as they veered apart!)
Whatever you decide, for the sake of interest, I'll show a 'flipped' version of the shot above in another seperate post afterwards, so as not to clutter the 'sequence of order' here at the moment, either.
When the shot above ends, we then immediately cut to to the single shot shown in Shots 12, 13, and 14 below.
Shot 12 (The start of the FIFTH 'oncoming Stardestroyers' shot which lasts approx.
At last, my IDEAL 'positioning shot!
We can see in the shot above shown in Shot 12, that the 2 'oncoming' Stardestroyers are at their OPTIMUM 'nearest position together' at their 'prows' here, just before they start to veer apart.
Because of the 'angle' that they are pointed towards each other at, by this time, it seems that they should have been made to be slightly WIDER APART than this shot, during ALL of the previous shots leading up to this point.
Shot 13 (The middle of the FIFTH 'oncoming Stardestroyers' shot) -
In the above shot shown in Shot 13, we can now see that the 2 'oncoming' Stardestroyers finally start to 'diverge' APART from each other, as they eventually veer off outwards from each other, and that the 'Avenger's' prow is 'dipping downwards' in it's attempt to avoid contact with the one that came closest to it.... (I can never make up my mind about which Stardestroyer misjudged the manouevre....the 'oncoming' one....or the 'Avenger')
Shot 14 (The end of the FIFTH 'oncoming Stardestroyers' shot) -
....and by the END of the shot above shown in Shot 14 (and the end of the sequence in general), we can clearly see the 'divergance' of the 2 'oncoming' Stardestroyers now.
Okay, I'll now be going back to the FIRST shot in the sequence, and will post some comments and shots to do with that again shortly.