(Concerning dawn on Endor) An excerpt from my overview of what could be/needs to be changed from ROTJ:
-The Endor strike team completely disappears from when Luke, Han, Chewie and the droids find Leia's discarded helmet until the morning of the attack on the bunker. Perhaps a few cutaway scenes to explain where they've been and what they're doing during the night (this is easy to do as it does not require any main characters and can be accomplished by shooting extras in Endor gear). Additionally this next part of the film is missing crucial types of shots/scenes that make up basic film mechanics and make for good story flow, so these additions wouldn't be just for the sake of adding something new, there's an actual structural reason for including them. My suggestions are as follows:
a) The scene where Luke leaves the Ewok village to turn himself in to Vader is immediately followed by the scene where he is delivered into Vader's hands. Usually a film has whats called a cutaway shot, or scene, to allow for the passage of time in the viewer's mind, but in this instance it is lacking. A simple night scene of some rebels in a hideout or encampment, hunkered down, staying out of sight, perhaps as an AT-ST goes by in the distance. They could even be discussing how they've received a message from Han and co. about where to meet the next morning to attack the shield generator. (this does not have to be a full scene with multiple shots and dialogue if one does not want it to be, but can all be achieved in one shot of the rebels hiding from the Empire during the night...simply to allow for some time to pass so that it is generally believable that Luke has had the time to turn himself in)
b) Vader tells the AT-AT commander who delivers Luke to "continue his search", then has his conversation with Luke and then in the next scene Han and co. have joined back up with the other rebels and are already on the attack. The attack scene starts off WAY too suddenly. What is missing in the beginning of the "attack on the bunker" scene is a series of establishing shots. Sentries or scouts watching distant Empire movements, engineers setting up traps or mines (perhaps with the help of Ewoks), men gathering their equipment for the battle ahead or taking down their camp and just generally getting ready (or perhaps THIS is where you'd want to put a quick shot of someone running up to the rebel in charge to tell him that Han has made contact). All of this could be done in early morning hours....maybe with some mist....and THEN you have the opening shot of Chewie, Han and Leia peering over the fallen tree at the landing platform a little bit later in the morning.
OR c) Both. (This section of the film not only does not have enough coverage on some of the background elements but is also rather badly edited in my opinion. When Han and co. are with the Ewoks its almost as if the story in progress just stops, and the Empire ceases to be a threat.....almost as if the Ewok village is a secret dimension or a place that the Empire cannot get to. Even when Vader tells his commander to "continue his search" you never see the consequences of that order. There is no feeling of urgency for them to get the shield down for the imminent attack. That sense of drama/suspense only comes back the next day when the attack starts. If there were a few cutaway shots of the Empire hunting through the forest for the rebels at night or some Ewoks avoiding Imperials in the dark woods it would add that ever so slight reminder that the Imperial forces are still out there looking for them) Using both these scenes adds some suspense back into the film at a point when all suspense virtually disappears, but it also has an interesting side effect, in that it increases the surprise when the Emperor's "best troops" show up at the bunker. If you show the Rebels interacting with the Imperials during the night, and then prepping for battle the following morning, you're building a sense of apprehension and/or suspense for the coming battle....and don't forget, at this point the Rebels think they're attacking the shield generator head on, so they think they have quite a fight in front of them, but then there's the relief of finding out that there's a back door, and probably a much smaller fight (that they can probably easily win). So we're torn from worry, to relief, and then back to worry when the Imperial troops show up after all. It adds more impact to a scene already in the film if you make a couple of small additions probably totaling no more than 10-15 seconds of screen time.
