Thanks for replying, Trooperman! a few thoughts...
"Yes, that’s a major, major problem. It bothers me a great deal. I’m still considering how to fix it. It would be great if there was a long shot with all 3 of them, but of course there isn’t, because this scenario never even happened in AOTC. So I painted myself into a corner…"
-Hmmm...maybe you could talk to Angel about this...? Or Adywan? ;)
"People may think they don’t advance the plot…actually, they do. Without them, you don’t buy that they fall in love. They are necessary."
-After watching it again and reading your quote above...I'm starting to agree. :D
"Also, after they land on Naboo, if you notice, I reinstated the deleted parts of the scene and cut out most of the lines they used in AOTC, the supposedly “plot related” lines. Why? They’re falling in love. All I did in that particular scene, by the way, was kept the conversation on personal details, and cut out any time in which Padme berates Anakin like a little boy. Watch the scene in the original cut to see the difference."
-Actually, I noticed this right off the bat and loved it! The only deleted Naboo scene that I really felt didn't have to be there was Padmes bedroom scene. I personally don't care for all of the forshadowing Lucas did for Vader in the PT. Plus some of Padmes line delivery is terrible: "They were so full of life...they all were."
"Neither am I. I do like the droid factory. It went from looking really cheesy to looking really artistic and dangerous looking- almost like a painting sometimes. I think the music also helped there. Before, it was a mishmash featuring the love theme prominently (Oh, look! Padme’s in danger! Let’s play the love theme.). The approach I took, though, was that if this were in the OT, the effects and the “newness” of it all (all the machines and everything) would be such that the music would be emphasizing the adventure and the incredible nature of it all. That’s the thing. I think the prequels took too much for granted. Like that flying scene. The effects are so good now that we’ll just use this light, trivial, music. WRONG. Even with CG effects, we need this kind of, “What I’m seeing right now is incredible!” type of music to keep it fresh and innocent, and new. That’s what I did with the speeder chase in Coruscant. Watch the old one from AOTC to see what I’m saying. "
-Yes! Definantly. You accomplished this throughout the movie. There is now a feeling of adventure you get...which is pretty much lacking throughout the entire PT. You certainly know you're way around music! That is something lacking in most edits I've seen...including my own :P