Return of the Jedi - The Spence Final Cut (Released) — Page 2

I'm probably going to try and rotoscope that saber when Luke jumps between the skiffs, but I'll be honest my effects knowledge is very minimal. I can just barely put the Death Star in the throne room window, and I can do basic matte's/rotoscoping, but that's the end of my capabilities. It still takes me a while to get that right. I have a strong hatred for all things Adobe. Powerful programs, but they don't let you do anything as your thinking of it. I feel like everything is more difficult with their programs than it needs to be. That's why I usually edit in Sony Vegas 10.

Basically, some of these ideas I love, but if I can't do them well, I'd rather not do them at all. I'm no Adywan, and I'm not going to pretend that I am. So huge alterations to effects and things like that, I'm going to stay away from. If someone that can pull that stuff off wants to use my stuff as a base, please do. I'm experienced in screenwriting and editing, so my focus is mainly to improve story and structure, not visuals. All of the effects I'm doing are a necessity of the story changes I am making.

I actually just a few days ago put "Trust me" back in. Such a better line!

The final version is a little different. I moved the droids jumping off the barge to right after Luke fires the gun at the deck. This looks really good, almost like they jump off just as it starts to explode.

I really love the new ending, it turned out so much better than I thought it would. I understand some people don't like the celebrations around the galaxy, but I thought it was nice to have some scope to the Rebels victory. Going straight from Han and Leia to Luke, then credits would sort of remove the significance of them winning. Pretty much I had to keep that or the Ewok celebration, and I don't know about you guys but I'd prefer to have the galaxy celebrations.

I never really noticed the Naboo shot was a flip shot, but it doesn't bother me much. I like a call back to Naboo. A lot of important PT events take place there.

I'm very curious and excited to see how this plays out. Sounds pretty cool.

I love the idea of having the Funeral at the very end of the saga, my only problem is the removal of the ghost scene, but still, fantastic idea!

Honestly, there's no force ghosts at any point in the movie.

That's not necessarily because I hate them, I just tried to keep things that were necessary to the story I was trying to do, and those scenes just weren't that important.

Right now I'm continuing my long standing battle with Adobe software (I hate it. HATE IT. hate it.). I wish there was an after effects-like program, except people who don't have a computer degree can use it.

Maybe that just makes me slightly retarded, but I've used Sony Vegas for years and I can do pretty much anything I can think of. I could never get the hang of Adobe's layout in either Premiere or After Effects. It's just not logical. It doesn't flow with your thoughts.

For instance, I want to lay part of a shot over another shot. So I cut half the shot off and drag it over the other one. That would make sense, right? But nooooooo, you have to have this setting, then that setting, then opacity, then animate, then pre-render 12 times, then make three seperate masks that can't touch, and finally by the time you get there you scrap the idea because it ain't worth the aggravation. I feel like if I did something the exact same way twice, the results would be different each time.

Honestly, I've read books. I've watched tutorials. I just can't make sense of the damn thing. This edit would be done, the only thing I'm missing is the effects shots, and I feel like I'm not making any progress. One step forward seems to end up being two steps backward on a daily basis.

It's very discouraging.

Hey Spence, I really liked the clips you posted.  

The ending worked for me.  It was nice to see Luke standing at the very end, facing the future as the last of the Jedi.  It was a nice little coda.  I've also never really like the Special Edition city montage, but with the ghosts gone, you need something there, so the cities work in this scenario.  
The ewok celebration seemed looped and was slightly distracting.  

I also really liked the sail barge treatment.  It was cool to see Luke and co. finally say, "Jabba, we came to kick some a** and chew some gum, and we are all out of gum" and then do it.  I think the audio could be tightened up, but visually, it really works nice.  
Luke's line about pointing the gun a the deck seemed off, but maybe that was the youtube.  

I'm interested to see how the rest turns out.  So far so good! 

Yeah, there were a lot of audio issues with that clip. That was an early clip, Lots of work has been done on that since then, I just thought you guys might like to see what I've been working on.

Anyone got a good, fairly simple way of doing a lightsaber cut/wound effect in After Effects?

ChainsawAsh said:

Aaah!  You kept Naboo!  *gasp*

Is there a way to put the Force ghosts at the funeral pyre scene, at the end?  With Sebastian Shaw, of course.

Hey Spence, I just watched your ending and it is vastly superior to the real ending. However, I agree with ChainsawAsh, is there a way to put the Force Ghosts at the funeral scene before the final shot. That would make the ending have a better close and come in full circle, in my opinion. However, I really didn't mind Naboo and with the new music, it's fine.

Anyway, I'll let you make the decisions. After all this is YOUR fan edit. Feel free to reject my suggestion. In any case, I can't wait to see the finished product. It sounds like such a big upgrade over v2 of the Spence Edit.

The last thing I'll say about Force ghosts - you don't have to have Luke look at them at all, just them watching Luke as he says goodbye to his father would be poignant enough.

ChainsawAsh said:

The last thing I'll say about Force ghosts - you don't have to have Luke look at them at all, just them watching Luke as he says goodbye to his father would be poignant enough.

 Luke somberly burning the body of his father, and Yoda, Obi, and his father's GHOST look on with goofy grins on their face. Might feel a little incongruous.

Thanks Ady, I'm starting to pick up on some of this stuff as well. I guess this is my first attempt at doing any sort of effects, and it can be very frustrating to figure out. One little switch or something can be the different between something looking right and not looking right, and there are a lot of switches to keep track of!

I'm pretty sure the force ghost thing won't be happening. Their reactions are just too cheesy to work in that scene. Maybe if I only kept Obi-Wan and Yoda, but I don't think it's necessary either way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yavbPiI15k

New clip. Sound effects aren't anywhere near finished yet.

I really like the way it all flows together, it makes the fight more exciting.

A few notes:

- Definitely lose the music, it just doesn't feel right at all.  I'd go for something much more subtle than that.  Maybe a rendition of the Emperor's Theme?
- I'd highly recommend working with the lightsabers to make them look more like they should be, especially in the shot where they cross in front of the Emperor's face.  I know, they're all screwed up on the official DVD, but that doesn't mean they can't look awesome in your edit, right?
- I don't know if this is your plan, but if you put the whole fight in one go like this, it makes it feel very short.  I'd cut away to Endor or the space battle after Vader throws his lightsaber, then come back to Vader hunting for Luke a few minutes later.  It'll make the fight feel longer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGF1gbWVmco

Here it is with a more somber song. Which one do you think works better?

I also correct Luke swtiching sides throughout the fight.

Thanks! I think I like the second version better. And yeah, it's staying all together.

Also, any effects beyond color correction and things that are absolutely essential (like the death star in the throne room window) I will not be doing. I can't bare to use After Effects any more than that. It's destroying my sanity and taking way too much time for me to do. I am just not good with adobe programs, and these little things don't bother me enough to spend another two weeks getting nowhere.

I'm sure Ady will be fixing most of these things when he does ROTJ:R, so I'd rather wait patiently and see what he comes up with than half ass do it myself.

I personally like the second version of the duel better. Admittedly, it does sound much less "Star Wars"-y than the first version, but it really emphasizes the dark mood of the scene. Although, please do make sure to do color correction as you have said. I simply can't stand those awful lightsabers anymore.