greenpenguino said:
2. I've been trying to figure out how to have Anakin turn into Darth Vader without it being particularly obvious on screen. An idea I had is for Anakin to go into a cave ,like the darkside cave in 'Empire'. He would enter as Anakin, but exit as Darth Vader. I'm not sure whether or not that could be conveyed visually though.
I think any attempt at preserving the surprise that does not feature the on-screen apparent death of Anakin is wasting its time.
If there is any ambiguity about Anakin's fate, and if there's any mystery as to the true identiry of Vader, then any audience over 5 will have it solved in a parsec. (<- space/time joke)
That is, unless you avoid the Anakin turns to the Dark Side bit all together which begs the question of why are you telling this story in the first place?
Someone else has to be around that you assume is the Vader that Obi-Wan mentions in A New Hope. Or else Obi-Wan won't make any sense. You have to frame you Episode 3 so that Obi-Wan's notes in Episode 4 at least ressemble the truth.
Unless your last name is Lucas.