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Star Wars Episode VIII: The Eyepainter Fanedit (Released)

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 (Edited)

Episode VIII Intro_1 34 1

Star Wars Episode VIII: The Eyepainter Fanedit is now online

Here are the technical specs for my 1080p and 720p versions:

Lossless 1080p
Codec: H.264 - MPEG-4 AVC (Part 10)
Resolution: 1920x804
Frame Rate: 23.976fps
Audio: AAC 5.1 surround and 2.0 stereo
File Size: 10.6gb
Running Time: 1:33:56

Lossy 720p
Codec: H.264 - MPEG-4 AVC (Part 10)
Resolution: 1280x720
Frame Rate: 23.976fps
Audio: AAC 5.1 surround and 2.0 stereo
File Size: 3.80gb
Running Time: 1:33:56

…And for those of you who like comparing color grades, here’s the specs for Episode VIII in Glorious Blue!

Episode VIII in Glorious Blue!
Codec: H.264 - MPEG-4 AVC (Part 10)
Resolution: 1280x720
Frame Rate: 23.976fps
Audio: AAC 5.1 surround and 2.0 stereo
File Size: 8.32gb
Running Time: 1:35:32

I would also like to give a big thank you to CaptainFaraday and GMatias for their advice and support through this edit. Their contributions made a big difference in the making of this edit. May the force be with you guys! 👍😌

It’s time for the Jedi to end…

(Updated 1-24-22)

The biggest problem with The Force Awakens is that it’s too much like Star Wars. The biggest problem with The Last Jedi is that it’s too little like Star Wars. Now, I liked VII enough that I was highly anticipating the next film in the saga, called The Last Jedi. I enjoyed a lot of Rian Johnson’s other indie flicks (Like Looper, for example), and knowing that he was directing and writing this movie, I was filled with hope that the force would be strong with this one.

You can imagine my disappointment when I saw the movie that fateful Christmas of 2017. When I left the theatre that night, my first reaction was “Huh. That was complicated.” And the more I thought about it, the more I began to realize the terrible truth: this film was a disaster area.

The Last Jedi is, to me, the film that singlehandedly broke the sequel trilogy. I know some people like to defend it saying that it’s “different.” But different isn’t always good. And make no mistake, TLJ is the bad kind of different. If VII was a scoop of vanilla ice cream, VIII is a scoop of feces. It may be different, but I wouldn’t call it delicious by any means. I almost shouldn’t call it a Star Wars movie. But there are lightsabers, Luke is in it, and it takes place in space, so it can just barely be called Star Wars. Just barely.

This is the one that really motivated me to take on the sequels. If any of these movies needed to be fixed, it’s this one. Hang in there, kid. This movie deserves to be compared to a real good ice cream flavor.

This is also the hardest one to edit thus far. Given that this is the middle film in the trilogy, I’ve had to check for inconsistencies across the board since this is the one that takes us from point A to point B. Not just for this movie, but for all three. With the prequels, I was working on one episode at a time. But because of this film, I’ve been constantly looking back and forth between all three films as if they were one. No, I’m not doing one of those 3-in-1 edits here. This is Lord of the Rings logic. I’m treating all three movies as if they were one movie, even though they will still be a trilogy. It’s only because this movie really is that broken and I have to check to ensure that it makes sense with the logic of the rest of the trilogy.

Of course, there are some things I definitely didn’t have to think about too much. Luke Skywalker’s character is the first thing that comes to mind. I also didn’t have to think too much about removing Poe’s conspiracy theory subplot. I’ve also removed Rey’s decision on whether she joins Kylo Ren or not to ensure a more ambiguous ending, and I’ve made some unusual editing decisions to keep the rest of the ending ambiguous and leave Rey’s decision more open-ended, even though she still saves the rebellion in the end.

A general list of changes (Updated 12-5-21)

I decided to take a page from my friend, CaptainFaraday, and release a general overview of the basics in my edit. I still have a lot of work to do on some of the little things (especially since it’s all in the details with this movie). However, the biggest changes and alterations are complete. I will release a more thorough list when I’ve gotten the tiny things taken care of. For now, though, this should give off a more detailed idea of what my edit of The Last Jedi is gonna be like. Enjoy!

I’ve placed the list under the spoiler tag below. “–” means removed, “/” means changed or altered, and “++” means added or extended, because the algorithm has changed so that a singular plus sign looks like a bullet point instead. Hence the double plus symbol will be used until further notice.

/ Changing the opening crawl
– Removed some of the jokes
– Attempting to lessen the snooty british tone of the First Order fleet, especially General Hux
– Removed Poe’s bad blood with Leia
– Lessening Paige’s role in saving the rebellion as well as the overly patriotic tone of the scene
/ Changed Luke from murderous psychopath to a jedi who fell to guilt and self-hatred over his failure to train Kylo Ren
++ Added “Luke Has a Moment” deleted scene
– Attempting to remove the “flying Princess Leia” moment
– Removed Poe’s conspiracy subplot revolving around Holdo
/ Changed Holdo to a more heroic figure
++ Added “Caretaker Village Sequence” deleted scene
/ Altered and removed scenes and lines about Rey’s parents for consistency with Episode IX
– Removed all moments of Luke using his lightsaber on Kylo Ren in flashbacks
++ Added “Alternate Opening” deleted scene to introduce Finn
– Removed Rose and Finn’s romantic relationship
– Removed all of Canto Bight
– Removed DJ
– Removed all of Finn and Rose’s episode on the First Order frigate
– Removed Captain Phasma
– Removed Snoke’s speechin’ about how Kylo won’t change and how he can sense him turning the lightsaber and so on before he dies (Inspired by HAL9000)(Updated 1-11-22)
– Removed Rey’s rejection of Kylo Ren’s offer to join
– Removed Kylo and Rey’s force fight for Luke’s lightsaber, including its destruction
/ Re-edited so that Holdo’s kamikaze run on the First Order fleet interrupts Rey’s decision
– Removed Kylo’s lie about Rey killing Snoke
– Removed most of Kylo’s angrier scenes during Crait battle to create a more ambiguous ending
– Removing Finn risking his life to stop the battering ram cannon
– Removed Rose’s “saving” Finn, as well as her line about “saving what we love”
– Removed most of Rey from Crait battle up until she has to move rocks to create a more ambiguous ending and tone
/ Soften up Kylo Ren slightly during his Luke Skywalker confrontation to create more ambiguity
– Removed ending scene with the jedi children on Canto Bight

I have altered Lucas’ visions. Pray I don’t alter them any further.

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I hardly think it’s analogous to a scoop of feces. Poppasketti seems to have done a fine job with it.

I think any fanedit made by someone who hates the film they are editing is destined to fail. The best fanedits are made by those who have the ability to be critical but still have at least some respect and affection for the source material, as well as regard for the filmmaker’s vision.

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This is the edit I’m most interested in seeing, because it sounds like it’s going to be more drastic in scope. I look forward to hearing more about it.

But we can’t turn back. Fear is their greatest defense. I doubt if the actual security there is any greater than it was on Aquilae or Sullust. And what there is is most likely directed towards a large-scale assault.

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Servii said:

This is the edit I’m most interested in seeing, because it sounds like it’s going to be more drastic in scope. I look forward to hearing more about it.

I hope it meets your expectations!

I have altered Lucas’ visions. Pray I don’t alter them any further.

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I’ve just scrapped the version where Finn doesn’t show up until near the end credits. Mainly because a lot of important bits during the Krait battle have Finn. So, instead of juggling between three different versions, I’m now juggling between two: One where Finn is brought back to life about two-thirds of the way through (and conveniently skipping the romance between Rose, Canto Bight, and the codebreaker episode altogether), and the other which has Finn’s theatrical journey, but heavily edited. I’m leaning more towards the first, but I’m gonna have to take look at both versions again before I come to a final conclusion.

I have altered Lucas’ visions. Pray I don’t alter them any further.

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Just looked at the two remaining versions of my edit, and my conclusion is this: Much of Finn and Rose’s journey together makes little sense without Poe’s conspiracy theory subplot intact. And because I’ve always intended to remove that subplot from the beginning, I have no interest in bringing it back just to give Finn some more screentime. I also think that Finn and Rose’s big showdown with the first order (and Captain Phasma) muddied up the story’s already messed up structure even further (and don’t get me started on BB-8’s hacking of a walker).

Taking out Finn and Rose’s sequence on the first order fleet did a much better job at simplifying the ending, since all we have to focus on for the first ending is 1. Rey, Kylo and Snoke, and 2. The resistance escape combined with Holdo’s kamikaze attack. Taking out Rose’s crashing into Finn during the Crait battle doesn’t hurt, either. And because Episode IX ditches Finn and Rose’s relationship anyway, there’s no point in trying to keep that love story in.

Bottom line: I’ve made up my mind on how to edit Finn. I’m going to add the alternate opening deleted scene at around two-thirds of the way through the film (Just before the first ending begins), and have him do a few things during the second ending on Crait, including trying to stop the battering ram (and before you panic, you can rest assured that I’m still cutting out Rose’s “rescue” of Finn, and keeping as much of Finn’s sacrifice for the greater good out of my edit since there’s no way to resolve it now).

I still have to take care of a lot of small edits with this one, but now that I’ve decided how to handle Finn, I have the big stuff taken care of. So, I’m going to steal a page from my friend, CaptainFaraday, and release a general overview of the major changes first. Then, once I’ve taken care of the tiny things, I’ll release a more thorough and detailed changes list later on down the road. Be on the lookout. I’ll be releasing the changes list soon!

I have altered Lucas’ visions. Pray I don’t alter them any further.

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General changes announced. Here’s the list in the spoiler tag below. “–” means deleted, “/” means altered or changed, and “++” means added or extended, because a singular plus sign now looks like a bullet point, so I’ll be using a double plus sign until further notice.

/ Changing the opening crawl
– Removed some of the jokes
– Attempting to lessen the snooty british tone of the First Order fleet, especially General Hux
– Removed Poe’s bad blood with Leia
– Lessening Paige’s role in saving the rebellion as well as the overly patriotic tone of the scene
/ Changed Luke from murderous psychopath to a jedi who fell to guilt and self-hatred over his failure to train Kylo Ren
++ Added “Luke Has a Moment” deleted scene
– Attempting to remove the “flying Princess Leia” moment
– Removed Poe’s conspiracy subplot revolving around Holdo
/ Changed Holdo to a more heroic figure
++ Added “Caretaker Village Sequence” deleted scene
/ Altered and removed scenes and lines about Rey’s parents for consistency with Episode IX
– Removed all moments of Luke using his lightsaber on Kylo Ren in flashbacks
++ Added “Alternate Opening” deleted scene to introduce Finn
– Removed Rose and Finn’s romantic relationship
– Removed all of Canto Bight
– Removed DJ
– Removed all of Finn and Rose’s episode on the First Order frigate
– Removed Captain Phasma
– Removed Rey’s rejection of Kylo Ren’s offer to join
– Removed Kylo and Rey’s force fight for Luke’s lightsaber, including its destruction
/ Re-edited so that Holdo’s kamikaze run on the First Order fleet interrupts Rey’s decision
– Removed Kylo’s lie about Rey killing Snoke
– Removed most of Kylo’s angrier scenes during Crait battle to create a more ambiguous ending
– Removing Finn risking his life to stop the battering ram cannon
– Removed Rose’s “saving” Finn, as well as her line about “saving what we love”
– Removed most of Rey from Crait battle up until she has to move rocks to create a more ambiguous ending and tone
/ Soften up Kylo Ren slightly during his Luke Skywalker confrontation to create more ambiguity
– Removed ending scene with the jedi children on Canto Bight

I have altered Lucas’ visions. Pray I don’t alter them any further.

Author
Time

I have decided to release workprints for all three of my sequel trilogy edits soon. Two reasons: the first is to try and keep things consistent, specifically with TLJ and TROS. The second is because I feel I could use a second or third opinion to weed out any more inconsistencies that I may have missed or overlooked.

I’m currently rendering the first drafts of the opening crawls as I type this, and just like a lot of other things, they are a work in progress. I will most likely rewrite them before the official release. Other things that aren’t complete yet are the wipes, crossfades, and color grading.

If you want the specifics, keep reading. If not, you’ve got the cliff’s notes version of this post, and you can PM me for the workprints when I successfully release them.

I made some cuts in the middle of a few lines. I erased what remained of those lines for the workprint so that only the lines that I plan to keep will be featured.

I also started work on the color grading for all three edits. TFA and TLJ are both getting a more orange tinted D55 film look LUT, mainly to fix the not-so-Star Wars-y cyan tint that was prevalent in all three movies. I’m currently using a Kodak D55 LUT for TFA, and a Fuji D55 LUT for TLJ. TROS is the bluest of the three, so I decided to apply a more neutral Kodak D60 LUT instead. Since all three LUT’s are overly bright, I have temporarily readjusted them with the primary color wheels until I officially begin work on power grading them. They still look bright (at least, on my computer monitor), but the readjustment I’ve done should keep things from getting overly bright on most screens. Nevertheless, the color grading is incomplete in these workprints.

I haven’t worked on the wipes yet, so don’t expect any Star Wars style transitions. I know, and I will get to those.

Aside from the lines of dialogue I have removed, most of the sound editing is still incomplete. I’ve only added a couple crossfades throughout all three edits so far, and thus I have a long way to go. So, if the audio cutaways sound choppy or abrupt, it’s because I haven’t polished them up. I will take care of them, so ignore them for now.

I think that’s the gist of what to expect from the workprints. If you want to take a look at them (and give your two cents), feel free to PM me and I’ll send the links when they’re released.

I have altered Lucas’ visions. Pray I don’t alter them any further.

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I’m interested to see how some of your changes play out - I like the theatrical cut a lot more than you do, but I agree, it’s a movie with some notable issues. I’ll wait until there’s a V1 though, cos as much as I’d like to watch the workprint, my time is completely dominated by Real Life Again for the next month or so.

“It’s like rhymetry. They poem.” - Leorge Gucas

TROS Novelisation: The Faraday Edit, TLJ: Stoic Edition, ROTS: The Faraday Nudge, ROTS Ultracut: Order 66, Kenobi: Faraday Cut, Godzilla Vs Megalon, Godzilla Vs Gigan, Godzilla: Final Wars, The Light Rises, Faraday Jr.'s Star Wars

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CaptainFaraday said:

I’m interested to see how some of your changes play out - I like the theatrical cut a lot more than you do, but I agree, it’s a movie with some notable issues. I’ll wait until there’s a V1 though, cos as much as I’d like to watch the workprint, my time is completely dominated by Real Life Again for the next month or so.

Understood. Take care of yourself, Cap. Hope things are going well for you.

Anyway, I just uploaded the workprint. It’s available for anyone who wishes to PM me.

I have altered Lucas’ visions. Pray I don’t alter them any further.

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Just watched HAL9000’s fan edit of TLJ, and I liked the approach to

Snoke’s death

enough that I wanted to try a similar thing with my edit of VIII. I’m not sure how I’m gonna do it, but I’ll think of something.

I have altered Lucas’ visions. Pray I don’t alter them any further.

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Well, that was faster than I thought. Turns out all I had to do was remove Snoke’s long speech about how Kylo won’t change and how he can sense Kylo turning the lightsaber and blah blah blah blah blah. It’s nowhere near as polished as HAL9000’s edit, especially without the musical cue, but I’m not HAL, and I don’t consider myself an expert at those kinds of musical tricks. As long as it works, and it gets the same point across, it’s good.

Another thing I’m reflecting over after watching HAL’s edit of VIII is where to place Luke’s meeting with Yoda. If you watch the workprint, it’s the theatrical placement, right after Rey leaves the planet. HAL9000 took a different approach by moving that scene to just before the Crait showdown. It works for HAL, because his approach was geared more towards Luke Skywalker. However, it may not work so well for my edit due to the more ambiguous tone I plan to set for the ending. My ending isn’t quite as centered on Luke, and gives things more of a “cliffhanger” feel due to leaving the plot of Rey and Kylo up in the air by the time the credits roll.

I also wanted to move the scene where Luke uses the force on a hospitalized Leia to just after Luke’s meeting with Yoda, showing the beginning of his change (Something that another fan editor did, but I can’t remember who, unfortunately). Moving the Yoda scene near the Crait battle scraps that idea, because Leia is no longer unconscious by that point in the film.

I’m torn on this one. On the one hand, I can see how moving that scene would be nice for structural reasons, but I’m not sure it works for the direction I have in mind for my edit. I’m curious about what others think. Should I rip off HAL again, or stick with the theatrical direction?

I have altered Lucas’ visions. Pray I don’t alter them any further.

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While I’m still thinking about what to do with Yoda, I’ve moved General Hux’s exposition-heavy scene regarding why the First Order can’t blow up three tiny cruisers to another spot. The original placement occurred rather awkwardly, because it occurs after Leia gets blowed up real good. I’ve moved Hux’s scene to the beginning of the battle, just after Poe gets permission to “jump into an X-Wing and blow something up.” This placement feels more natural, and with my removal of the flying Princess Leia moment, Leia and pals getting the explosion treatment becomes the end of the scene, throwing quite an emotional impact on the audience.

I have altered Lucas’ visions. Pray I don’t alter them any further.

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I decided to do something a little… Unusual. I exported my edit to an MP4 file, then I started a new editing project on DaVinci Resolve, added the MP4 file, and started reworking the edit by moving the Yoda scene. This gave me a quick and easy way to access both the original and HAL9000/Poppasketti ideas for Yoda’s scene. I sat down and watched the HAL/Poppasketti version, which moves the Yoda scene to just before the Crait battle. Here are my thoughts at the moment.

The second half of the film has been the most challenging part of the edit so far. A lot of this has to do with the film’s unusual structuring job. In most movies, there’s only a need for one final showdown, not two. Unfortunately, there’s no way to really fix that gaping issue, because the first ending takes you into the second ending. So, my hope was high that moving the Yoda scene might fix that issue. And to my disappointment, it didn’t.

I don’t think it’s a bad change, per se. Moving Yoda’s moment does an interesting job at making a lot of things take place over the course of one night, which strangely enough, gave the film a faster pacing. I was surprised that Luke’s scene when he wakes Leia up from her coma actually worked well, especially since it’s placed after the “caretaker village sequence” deleted scene I’ve added in. The end of that scene, where Rey gets mad at Luke for abandoning “some old failed husk of a religion” gives the next scene, where he communicates with Leia, some much-needed character development for Luke.

And yet, the whole thing just felt so… Off. Like I said, the edit still suffers from the hair-pulling double ending, and I’m not sure there is a way to fix it even with the placement of Yoda. I suppose the advantage is that the two endings now take up roughly the second half of the movie, while previously, it took up the last 45% of the film, but the structure still feels a little messy. I think I’ll go with the HAL/Poppasketti arrangement, but I’m not gonna call it a life saver for the movie. I’ll see if I can come up with more ways to fix the structure of the film before I commit to the HAL/Poppasketti arrangement.

I have altered Lucas’ visions. Pray I don’t alter them any further.

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Just made a few more tiny changes to the opening space battle. I’ve cut out the last remnants of Poe waiting for the X-Wing to charge up so he can take on the dreadnought. It wasn’t needed that much, and I don’t think anyone will miss it that badly.

I’ve also taken out the lines, “He’ll never penetrate our armor.” and “He’s not trying to penetrate our armor. He’s clearing out our surface cannons.” These two lines are a little too exposition-heavy, and our focus needs to be more on Poe at the moment.

I’ve also trimmed the shot of all the bombs dropping out of Paige’s ship by a few seconds so that it doesn’t drag too long.

I have altered Lucas’ visions. Pray I don’t alter them any further.

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With the “two endings” thing, I found that extremely truncating the speeder battle on Crait helps a lot. You’re not asking the audience to emotionally engage in a third big battle with fresh stakes all over again, and, it keeps the energy up briefly while saving the emotional investment for Luke vs Kylo.

“It’s like rhymetry. They poem.” - Leorge Gucas

TROS Novelisation: The Faraday Edit, TLJ: Stoic Edition, ROTS: The Faraday Nudge, ROTS Ultracut: Order 66, Kenobi: Faraday Cut, Godzilla Vs Megalon, Godzilla Vs Gigan, Godzilla: Final Wars, The Light Rises, Faraday Jr.'s Star Wars

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CaptainFaraday said:

With the “two endings” thing, I found that extremely truncating the speeder battle on Crait helps a lot. You’re not asking the audience to emotionally engage in a third big battle with fresh stakes all over again, and, it keeps the energy up briefly while saving the emotional investment for Luke vs Kylo.

I like this idea, and in some other edit, I think it would work very well. However, because of what I’ve done with Finn (he’s resurrected just before the little transports fly off for Crait in my version), the speeder battle is now the only scene where he gets to do anything. I don’t feel comfy cozy removing a lot of stuff from that battle and giving Finn nothing to do on Crait.

Maybe I can salvage it a little by placing as much of the focus on Finn (and bringing back some of the footage of him that I’ve deleted so far), while leaving everyone else during the speeder battle on the cutting room floor as much as possible. I would still have to come up with an explanation for Rose crashing into him, though. Maybe I can turn it into an accident with some careful editing.

I’m not sure if it’ll work, but I’ll give some time to entertain this train of thought.

I have altered Lucas’ visions. Pray I don’t alter them any further.

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I think there’s two directions you could go with it:

One, you leave as much of Finn in as possible in the Crait Battle. That’s basically what I did - I cut it all down as much as possible, but I didn’t really change any of Finn’s parts. If you have a look at my workprint you’ll see how I handled it (and I can always send it to you at native resolution if you wanted, but I’m working in DVD quality, which I think is lower resolution than you are).

Two, you go the other direction, and trim as much of Finn out as possible. This would gel with him being absent from the rest of your edit; treat him like Rose in TROS, a main character in the previous film, now a minor Resistance character.

Or, if you want to split the difference down the middle, keep him in the Crait Battle as much as possible, but leave his suicide run out entirely. Poe tells everyone to pull back, then the next time we see him is back inside the mine talking about the vulptexes. Since he’s absent from your version, his suicide run isn’t the thematic resolution to a journey he’s been on, so leaving it might feel weird.

“It’s like rhymetry. They poem.” - Leorge Gucas

TROS Novelisation: The Faraday Edit, TLJ: Stoic Edition, ROTS: The Faraday Nudge, ROTS Ultracut: Order 66, Kenobi: Faraday Cut, Godzilla Vs Megalon, Godzilla Vs Gigan, Godzilla: Final Wars, The Light Rises, Faraday Jr.'s Star Wars

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CaptainFaraday said:

I think there’s two directions you could go with it:

One, you leave as much of Finn in as possible in the Crait Battle. That’s basically what I did - I cut it all down as much as possible, but I didn’t really change any of Finn’s parts. If you have a look at my workprint you’ll see how I handled it (and I can always send it to you at native resolution if you wanted, but I’m working in DVD quality, which I think is lower resolution than you are).

Two, you go the other direction, and trim as much of Finn out as possible. This would gel with him being absent from the rest of your edit; treat him like Rose in TROS, a main character in the previous film, now a minor Resistance character.

Or, if you want to split the difference down the middle, keep him in the Crait Battle as much as possible, but leave his suicide run out entirely. Poe tells everyone to pull back, then the next time we see him is back inside the mine talking about the vulptexes. Since he’s absent from your version, his suicide run isn’t the thematic resolution to a journey he’s been on, so leaving it might feel weird.

Just did an exhaustive re-edit of the Crait battle, and so far, I’ve gotten it down to mostly Finn, with Poe occasionally mentioning something important. Still, I’d love to take a look at your workprint just in case I’ve missed something (Which I might have). Oh, and it’s okay if it’s in DVD quality. My computer is running out of storage space at the moment.

I have altered Lucas’ visions. Pray I don’t alter them any further.

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Eyepainter said:

CaptainFaraday said:

I think there’s two directions you could go with it:

One, you leave as much of Finn in as possible in the Crait Battle. That’s basically what I did - I cut it all down as much as possible, but I didn’t really change any of Finn’s parts. If you have a look at my workprint you’ll see how I handled it (and I can always send it to you at native resolution if you wanted, but I’m working in DVD quality, which I think is lower resolution than you are).

Two, you go the other direction, and trim as much of Finn out as possible. This would gel with him being absent from the rest of your edit; treat him like Rose in TROS, a main character in the previous film, now a minor Resistance character.

Or, if you want to split the difference down the middle, keep him in the Crait Battle as much as possible, but leave his suicide run out entirely. Poe tells everyone to pull back, then the next time we see him is back inside the mine talking about the vulptexes. Since he’s absent from your version, his suicide run isn’t the thematic resolution to a journey he’s been on, so leaving it might feel weird.

Just did an exhaustive re-edit of the Crait battle, and so far, I’ve gotten it down to mostly Finn, with Poe occasionally mentioning something important. Still, I’d love to take a look at your workprint just in case I’ve missed something (Which I might have). Oh, and it’s okay if it’s in DVD quality. My computer is running out of storage space at the moment.

I sent you a link to the workprint. I’ll be keen to see your version of the scene once it’s done!

“It’s like rhymetry. They poem.” - Leorge Gucas

TROS Novelisation: The Faraday Edit, TLJ: Stoic Edition, ROTS: The Faraday Nudge, ROTS Ultracut: Order 66, Kenobi: Faraday Cut, Godzilla Vs Megalon, Godzilla Vs Gigan, Godzilla: Final Wars, The Light Rises, Faraday Jr.'s Star Wars

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The first stage of my move begins. I will be starting work on the move tomorrow, where I will be moving to a friend’s place. I’ll try to get my computer back up and running as soon as I possibly can (I hope to get it all ready sometime next week). Then I can worry about what to do next for the move (and keep working on my fan edits when I have the time). So yes, I will be absent on this site for a bit, but I hope to return as soon as I possibly can!

I have altered Lucas’ visions. Pray I don’t alter them any further.

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GLogus said:

I hardly think it’s analogous to a scoop of feces. Poppasketti seems to have done a fine job with it.

I think any fanedit made by someone who hates the film they are editing is destined to fail. The best fanedits are made by those who have the ability to be critical but still have at least some respect and affection for the source material, as well as regard for the filmmaker’s vision.

This is a lot nicer than what I would have said…

As a lover of this movie, I’m going to try not to come from a defensive place. It’s fine that it didn’t work for you. But the reason to “fanfix” a film is because you feel the film has potential, and that its potential can be brought out through editing. It sounds like you don’t have respect or admiration for any aspect of this movie, so you might as well save yourself the time by just not watching it.

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Octorox said:

GLogus said:

I hardly think it’s analogous to a scoop of feces. Poppasketti seems to have done a fine job with it.

I think any fanedit made by someone who hates the film they are editing is destined to fail. The best fanedits are made by those who have the ability to be critical but still have at least some respect and affection for the source material, as well as regard for the filmmaker’s vision.

This is a lot nicer than what I would have said…

As a lover of this movie, I’m going to try not to come from a defensive place. It’s fine that it didn’t work for you. But the reason to “fanfix” a film is because you feel the film has potential, and that its potential can be brought out through editing. It sounds like you don’t have respect or admiration for any aspect of this movie, so you might as well save yourself the time by just not watching it.

Wow, I didn’t expect to come back from the move to address some controversy, but I guess I need to talk about this before it gets worse.

Here’s the thing. I am not a big “fan” of the whole “if you were a real fan you would love it” line of logic. I’m sure it’s well-intentioned, but it suffers too much from the “no true scotsman” fallacy, and it raises too many questions on who or what a fan even is. If I were a Batman fan, for example, does that mean I have to like Batman & Robin in order to fix it? Let’s reverse it. If I liked Batman & Robin, but I didn’t like anything else related to Batman, does that mean I’m a “real” fan and all those other people who love the mythology of Bruce Wayne are not? I personally would say no, but that’s debatable. The point is that there is no clear definition of who does and doesn’t count as a fan, and I think it’s arrogant to assume that you know who does.

I’m not going to pretend that I’m editing TLJ because I have warm and fuzzy feelings for it (although I suppose I was being too harsh on the main topic, so I guess it needs a rewrite), but I am editing the film as a Star Wars fan, and as a fan of cinema. Personally, I think those two criteria are good enough to call this a fanfix, which is what the term means. I’m a fan, and I’m fixing it.

Also, any fanedit made by someone who hates the film they are editing is destined to fail? On what evidence? I don’t know what edits you’re watching, GLogus, but we aren’t watching the same ones, honey. I’ve seen plenty of edits that were made by people who weren’t “in love” with the film itself. The Phantom Editor is one notorious example that comes to mind, and he has stated both in his opening crawl and in his own commentary that he edited Episode I due to his own (and many other fans) disappointment with the film. An attitude that I’m utilizing for this version of Episode VIII.

I have altered Lucas’ visions. Pray I don’t alter them any further.

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Anyway, moving on.

So after looking through the Crait battle once again, and seeing the changes I’ve made to the battle, I still found myself feeling like something was off. So I decided to watch the Crait battle again to monitor my emotions during the climax, and I found out that the thing setting off my “Uh-oh” sensors was

Luke’s lightsaber confrontation with Kylo.

I decided to remove a few major lines from that confrontation, and I think my issues have been resolved. I’ll have to look it over again just in case, but I think I’ve done it.

With that in mind, here are the lines I removed from the confrontation:

The first two are “Did you come back to say you forgive me? To save my soul?” and “No.” I’m not sure what it is about these two, but they came across as redundant after all the changes I’ve made. Surprisingly, the removal of those two lines makes the beginning of the fight completely told through visual, which made it more effective. I’m still looking for a concrete reason why it works, but maybe it’ll make more sense after I watch it again.

The next line is “I failed you, Ben.” I have no idea why it took me this long to realize it doesn’t work, but it did. I think I already mentioned in the general changes list that I cut out Luke’s lightsaber bits from the flashbacks, which pretty much means that Rey was right. He didn’t fail Kylo, Kylo failed him. So now, all Luke says to Kylo is “I’m sorry.” which comes with a more plausible feel to the moment.

The last line I’ve cut out is a gigantic one. “The rebellion is reborn today. The war is just beginning. And I will not be the last jedi.” I had already cut out “The rebellion is reborn today. The war is just beginning.” in the workprint, so I don’t think that requires much of an explanation. However, I want to focus on “And I will not be the last jedi.” This goes back once again to my intention of creating a more ambiguous ending. The cutaway to Rey after that line gives off an implication that either she is “the last jedi”, or that she will bring about a new generation of jedi. This doesn’t work so well for what I have in mind. So, I’ve reduced Luke’s entire speech down to just the part that was foreshadowed during Rey’s training: “Amazing. Every word of what you just said was wrong.” This leads to a reaction shot of Kylo, then cut to Rey. I like this approach. It’s effective for foreshadowing reasons, and it makes the sparkle of hope that Rey will stick with the rebellion not quite as on the nose. I’m fine with offering just a glimmer of hope that she won’t join Kylo. Not a lot, but just enough to tease and foreshadow the next film. Otherwise, lessening the effect of Rey being the last jedi is good for what I want to accomplish.

I have altered Lucas’ visions. Pray I don’t alter them any further.