Very good ideas in there. I’ll have to play around and see how it strikes me in finished form.
I don’t currently have the time to edit and upload a clip of the version without the ‘sky fireworks’ shots I described previously. Perhaps you (or someone) may be able to give it a go instead, if you have some time.
However, I forgot to mention in my previous post that the reason I suggested putting the ‘Han & Maz’s denizens looking upwards’ shot BEFORE the ‘Finn looking upwards’ shot (rather than the OTHER way round as they appear in the movie)…is because I reckon the louder background ‘shrieking’ during the ‘Finn’ reaction shot kinda gives the impression that we’re hearing the ‘increasing shrieking’ of some of Maz’s denizens that initially started to look up in the ‘Han & Maz’s denizens’ reaction shot, if they’re placed this way round…and then that ‘shrieking’ background audio is then superceded by the sound of the TIEs when we cut directly to the ‘Apocalypse Now’ shot - this is still a very ‘stylised’ way to include these particular shots inbetween Rey starting to run back, and then finishing off running back towards the ‘palace’…and it still involves a ‘jump-ahead-in-time’ to Maz, Han, Finn, and Chewie having regrouped in the lower level of the ‘palace’ of course, but I’m hoping it may work well enough for me.
(by the way, I’m sure it’s possible to actually REMOVE the ‘Apocalypse Now’ shot of the ‘TIEs approaching against the sunset’ if anyone wishes, considering it seems a jarringly ‘stylised’ shot compared to the way the rest of the ‘daylight’ shots look during that whole sequence… But personally, I love it, whether it seems jarring or not, and think the brief ‘cutaway’ to it is ENOUGH to allow for the feeling of a ‘jump-ahead-in-time’ to where Maz, Han, Finn, and Chewie have regrouped)
To be honest, I had high hopes for that short ‘Apocalypse Now’ scene when I saw an early preview of it before the movie…and am still miffed that it only lasted a couple of seconds. I’d originally hoped to see a LOT more footage of the TIEs set against the distant sun like that!
ADDITIONAL EDIT: I’ve had another look at this since I posted the above yesterday, and have now thought of another possibility which involves REMOVING one of the shots I was going to use altogether -
Without actually getting the chance to cut this myself at the moment to see how it looks and sounds, I’m not 100% certain yet if it would work better to have the ‘Han, Chewie, & Maz’s denizens looking upwards’ shot immediately before the ‘Finn looking upwards’ shot (as I suggested in my previous post)…OR the other way round after all…before then seeing the ‘Apocalypse Now’ shot of the TIEs against the sun, as Maz then leads Han, Finn, & Chewie towards the lightsabre (and ends with her saying “Those beasts!”), before seeing Rey & BB-8 finish off running back through the woods to see the TIEs attacking the ‘palace’.
Because, as it’s mainly the reaction shot of ‘Finn looking upwards from the ‘pirate’ ship’ (not including the ‘sky fireworks’ shot, of course) that I’m keen to include, I’m thinking I might not need to include the ‘Han, Chewie, & Maz’s denizens looking upwards’ shot in this scenario at all. I’m not sure yet as I say, but the whole sequence might end up flowing quite effectively overall if I EXCLUDE that particular shot altogether, so that it now looks like this -
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…we see Rey begin to stop running through the woods as she turns to see BB-8 has followed her, and she then notices the ships flying overhead, before she starts to run back through the woods again as normal…
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…we then see Finn starting to board the dirty, yellow ‘pirate’ ship, as he turns to look upwards (and we hear some ‘shrieking’ - which can be imagined to be some denizens from Maz’s ‘palace’ on seeing the ships arrive too)…
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…we then see the stylised ‘Apocalypse Now’ shot of the TIEs against the distant sun…
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…we then ‘jump-ahead-in’ time a bit to see Maz now leading Han, Finn, & Chewie towards the lightsaber (as the shot ends on Maz only saying “Those beasts!”)…
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…we then see Rey & BB-8 finish off running back through the woods to witness the ‘palace’ being destroyed by TIEs…
In this version we’re still seeing a ‘jump-ahead-in-time’ to a point where Finn immediately rejoined them inside the ‘palace’, but I kinda like this new juxtaposition of first seeing Rey run back set against the shot of Finn turning and looking upwards, when it’s done like this…as I’m not particular bothered about including that ‘Han & Denizens’ shot to begin with.
Just a thought.