The ANH:SE Redux Ideas thread (Radical Ideas Welcome). — Page 25

I think it's safe to assume that Tarkin would have been kept informed of the Tantive IV's movements and subsequent events, anyway.

Just out of curiosity, in the novelization when Tarkin is informed about the captured Falcon and Mos Eisley, he seems pretty much clueless and goes something like "Mos Eisley? Vader, what is this about?!" :)

Alan Dean Foster often puts back bits from earlier script draughts in his novelisations.

I wonder if that was from an earlier incarnation of the script or just something of his own invention.

I just finished my proof-of-concept video for a revisited Alderaan attack. The basic idea was borrowed from MortenTrailerGuy's video, as is some of the low-res footage (I'm still working on replacing it with higher quality stuff, sadly). Basically, the concept is to give the scene more emotional punch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hMOG9qN5rg

I'm currently working on getting a high-res rip of the ion cannon scene from Command & Conquer 4, and I need to re-obtain my Chronicles of Riddick DVD since that was the video source for the destruction footage (and I think using it is a smart idea). Also, there's only limited / temporary sound for now. (methinks it needs more women and children screaming ^_~ )

The only things I can't change right now are Jar Jar Binks (who Adywan put in as a joke since he didn't originally plan on using that shot), and the Bespin footage. If I could have the shot of Bail any way I wanted it, I'd probably flip him and put him where Jar Jar currently is (after removing Jar Jar), since he'd have the audience's attention much better that way. As for the Bespin footage, I think that new mattes and new actors would be preferable, unless of course there's some footage gems out there that could just as easily take those shots' place.

I think it'd be great if we can re-imagine Alderaan's destruction as somethign more dramatic, epic, and emotional. It was always a dramatic scene, but it always felt downplayed at the same time. A whole friggin' planet just died. Billions dead, and we never ever saw any of their faces. I think that this concept is one worth looking further into. Maybe Revisited 4.5 wouldn't be such a bad idea, eh? ^_^

Millions, not billions. ;P

I think you'll have to do more than cut together clips from other shows in order to make it looks good. As it stands, I actually think the original explosion, the timing fixed as it was by the SE looks great. Better than Adywan's version actually.

But yeah, if you could show some vision of Alderaanians dying in the blast it would become more dramtic certainly. On the other hand, that scene really is mostly from Leia's perspective. So just having it explode from space does make sense narratively. It also better fits the more lighthearted tone of the film if I may say so.

Not bad, Tim... :) I was wondering if the first one to make a video like this was inspired by the manga adaptation of ANH, as the artist used this very idea (show the people on the surface, the laser hiting the ground, the escalating destruction before the planet finally explodes...).

I haven't read the Manga but I bet it was a source for inspiration for the guy who I borrowed the idea from.

In regards to what some people have said about the original version working better for the narrative since it's from Leia's point of view-- well, I think we don't really get all of Leia's POV in the current version, because we do not have the same emotional investment in Alderaan that she does. When Leia sees Alderaan destroyed, she is thinking about all the people on the planet who are dying-- everyone she grew up with, her whole family is now dead, and so are countless others. Also, Leia is force sensitive, so it's possible that this would make the ordeal even more painful to her. Not saying it definitely would, but I think that we definitely to have it conveyed to the audience just what a big deal the destruction of Alderaan and the genocide of its people is.

After a great deal of pain in the butt (and tinkering around with two different third party programs used together), I've been able to successfully rip a crystal-clear, 720p HD video of the ion cannon from Command & Conquer 3's game DVD. I've uploaded it to rapidshare on behalf of all my fellow movie tinkerers, so feel free to download it if you have any interest in fiddling around with it.

http://rapidshare.com/files/340246595/ion_cannon_hd.avi

This is the best quality you're going to find this video in, and seeing as it's only 35 MB I recommend grabbing it while you can.

I've been guilty of posting over-sized images myself in the past but it would be a good idea Tim if you reduced the size down in the image post menu by at least a quarter.

That way the who image will appear in the thread without dominating it and if people want to see them full sized they can open with a right click.

After a great deal of pain in the butt (and tinkering around with two different third party programs used together), I've been able to successfully rip a crystal-clear, 720p HD video of the ion cannon from Command & Conquer 3's game DVD.

Try Quicktime player. VLC was giving me that weird rainbow streaks jive, too.

What's the codec?

I'm not sure. A third party program ripped it from EA's proprietary file system. I could try converting it to something else, but I'm not sure how helpful that would be since I don't know what codecs people do or don't have. If all else fails, I sugges you just use MPEG Streamclip or some other such program to convert it to your preferred format.

Eh, you can't convert the file either if you don't have the apropriate decoder. Knowing would be useful.

Speaking of which, MPC should be able to report the codec used. At least I think so.

VP60, according to VLC (which played it fine for me), which is supposedly an On2 VP6 codec.

DE

I tried exporting as an uncompressed AVI file, but it took up 1.2 GB which for few seconds long clip is obscene (especially considering that the source file is only a few MB). What codec and file extension would you guys reccomend?

OK, here's the video encoded with Xvid. Most people ought to be able to play this without any problems.

http://rapidshare.com/files/340660203/ion_cannon_720.avi

I think it could use just a miniscule amount of color saturation. Just a tad. Oh, and remaster the sound to make it not as tinny. But other than that, I can't think of anything.

I remember commenting somewhere ages ago that I really wish Adywan had gone ahead and included the destruction of 'Jar Jar' in his edit, lol.

However, I also said at the time that I liked the overall short 'timing' of the sequence of destruction (and music cue) that we'd been used to over the years....so would have ideally liked to see only the brief shot of 'Jar Jar' and 'Bail Organa' inserted....which would have still kept the 'timing' (and music cue) of the sequence relatively unaffected, while still showing the drama of real Alderaan inhabitants being wiped out.

I've always been happy with the original sequence due to the grave way Ben describes what he feels has just happened, as it always seemed sufficient to 'sell' the events that went unseen....  However, this extra Adywan shot would have been great if inserted I reckon....not merely because I wanted rid of 'Jar Jar'....but because seeing the end of Leia's 'Father'-figure gave an added weight to the scene in light of the Prequels I thought....

Anyway, it turns out that ladyferry actually put up a version a while ago that shows this, which I've just come across!  :)   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4D-gYagJPA

(a request -  Is there anyone out there that is willing and able to cobble together another YouTube clip using Adywan's footage and explosion sometime?....again just inserting the 'Jar Jar' shot immediately after the planet is hit by the laser....except beginning at the point where Tarkin is pressuring Leia to reveal where the Rebel Base is, so we get the full build-up to the explosion....and ending after Ben tells Luke he fears something terrible has happened.  Just to get a better idea of how the whole sequence would look and sound with this single additional shot added.  Thanks)

In the meantime, here's my 2nd-favourite version of this scene....   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt3Sh8Fxv4U