SilverKey said:Great work on the droidfactory, ben_danger and SSWR!
I think the original scene is pretty good, it makes for some nice Star Wars action. I'm always happy to see different cuts of this scene, because I think that had it been cut a little tighter, it would have been a bit more exciting. You both did that, and I liked both of your takes a lot! I have to admit I liked SSWR's cut a little better: ben_danger took out a bit too much, taking out whatever drama it had.
What I liked best about SSWR's version was Anakin calling after Padme. I agree he overdid it a little, but in the scene as it is, Anakin gets on the conveyor belt to rescue Padme, but as the scene progresses, he leaps from belt to belt, as if not concered by saving Padme anymore. I liked that your brought that back into the scene.
Great experimenting with the music too. Has anyone ever tried to put in the music Williams wrote for the scene? I have tried to put the scene together with that music, but I couldn't really make it work. The music is great, really fits with the look of Geonosis, but I think Williams wrote the music for a different cut of the scene (which happened throughout AOTC).
Here is how I would try to put the scene together (which I'm going to try once I'm finally done with school :P): I'd cut the scene a little tighter, mostly cutting out Anakin's jumping about, making it look like he is going after Padme. Anakin calling out to Padme like SSWR did would fit nicely here.
I like Williams' music for this scene, so I'd keep that too. Not the whole track, but parts of it to highlight the action here and there. The rest of the sound could be the sound effects, this could make the factory feel a bit dirtier. Darkening the scene a little might also help a little here (and mask some of the bad effects).
Most cuts remove them completely, but I'd keep in R2 and 3PO, because I don't think Anakin saving Padme with an out of context, casual Force gesture really works. I'd cut out all of 3PO's antics: he is pushed off the ledge, and we don't see him again untill the scene is over. After Anakin and Padme are captured, I'd try to rotoscope R2 and 3PO out of that shot after the arena battle (with 3PO saying he had a peculiar dream), put in a droidfactory background, and put in a line of 3PO saying something like "we'd better get out of here". This would also eliminate them from the arena battle.
Maybe this is a little too ambitious, but it's something I'd might give a try someday, because I think there is great potential in the droidfactory.
You make some interesting points, SilverKey. I guess it depends on what you want to achieve in your edit. I wanted to make Anakin more of a hero and not a whiny bitch like he is. So having him save padme certainly goes a long way...but I see what you're saying about anakin and his 'casual force gesture'. I just don't have another shot I can use there...sadly.
I think if I could add more dialouge to this scene it would be something along these lines:
-padme falls on the belt
anakin: "padme! stay right there!"
padme: "anakin!"
Anakin: "I'm coming!"
-fast forward. padme falls into the lava holder thingy
-padme cries out. anakin hears her and sees where it came from
anakin: "padme! Don't worry! I'm coming!"
I don't know...something like that. ;)
I think using that shot of the droids from the arena might be great...but IMHO having the droids in this scene just doesn't compute to me. Lucas was *trying* to bring back that OT "feeling" by putting the droids in there but it just screwed things up. Why oh why the CGI 3PO antics? Why does R2 save padme? I understand that it's not out of character for R2 but it makes anakin being in the scene pointless...unless R2 saved him as well...but that's going too far I think... ;)
Again, my 2 cents...