The Force Awakens: Starlight (V1.1 Released!) — Page 22

Nev, thanks for your responses to my bullets. All clear and interesting. On the Reydream, you say:
“After trying a lot of different approaches to a dream sequence on Jakku, I came to the conclusion that using actual footage of the island was a mistake. At this point in the story Rey should have little to no indication that she is Force sensitive.”

However, we are told in her dialogue (I forget which movie, but it does happen) that she dreams of an island. Explicitly showing her dreaming of an island really doesn’t contradict that. It doesn’t necessarily imply that she’s Force sensitive either, since it’s not confirmed prophecy until she actually goes to Ach-To, which happens after she first actively uses the force.

We are told in TFA that she imagines an island while trying to sleep, and in TLJ she says that she’s seen the island ‘in dreams’. You’re right that a dream sequence wouldn’t outright contradict anything, but the only prior time in which this type of sequence has been done in Episodic Star Wars has been Anakin and his Force visions. I think there’s a strong assumption in Star Wars that such a sequence would be Force related even if it’s not explicit, and that’s the sort of assumption that I want to stay away from at the beginning of the movie anyway.

More work on removing the Death Star hologram from the planning scene:

https://vimeo.com/323037027

Password: fanedit

It’s not perfect, but if you’re not looking for the change I think it’s fairly seamless.

Nicely done, Neverar - to me that was seamless.

Sir Ridley said:

NeverarGreat said:

More work on removing the Death Star hologram from the planning scene:

https://vimeo.com/323037027

Password: fanedit

It’s not perfect, but if you’re not looking for the change I think it’s fairly seamless.

Nicely done. Do you think the lampshading of there being “another Death Star” isn’t needed?

That’s a part of it. Another thing was brought up by someone here (I forget who), saying that they originally thought that the Starkiller was built within a planet to save cost compared to the Death Star. When they then saw how the Starkiller’s weapon emitter alone was almost the size of the Death Star, it negated that bit of cleverness.

That got me to thinking about how we never saw the Death Star directly compared to the size of a planet in ANH. If it were shown in proportion to Alderaan (assuming it’s an Earth-sized planet), it would be laughably tiny in comparison:

Even though the audience on some level understands that it’s the size of a very small moon, the way it is portrayed as large and imposing in the shot sells the threat.

So by removing comparisons to any object of reference, it’s easier to imagine the scale of the station to be whatever size makes the most sense for a person’s individual view of the First Order and their abilities.

RogueLeader said:

ChainsawAsh said:

Yep, that’s lampshading. And it very much does not work in this instance IMO.

Haha, you’re totally right, forgot that’s what that meant!

I know the whole concept is to maintain suspension of disbelief by being meta about it, I just don’t feel like it fits within this story. Like, it can work in certain stories, but I don’t think lampshading is appropriate every time when it can be done, you know?

Lampshading works really well in Marvel movies, since there’s always a wink to the audience as to the silliness of the situation, but I feel like Star Wars is more earnest than that.

Sir Ridley said:

NeverarGreat said:

RogueLeader said:

ChainsawAsh said:

Yep, that’s lampshading. And it very much does not work in this instance IMO.

Haha, you’re totally right, forgot that’s what that meant!

I know the whole concept is to maintain suspension of disbelief by being meta about it, I just don’t feel like it fits within this story. Like, it can work in certain stories, but I don’t think lampshading is appropriate every time when it can be done, you know?

Lampshading works really well in Marvel movies, since there’s always a wink to the audience as to the silliness of the situation, but I feel like Star Wars is more earnest than that.

Are you planning to keep Han’s line? “How do we blow it up? There’s always a way to do that.” That could work as a more subtle nod to the previous Death Stars and the line might be funnier if they didn’t compare it to the Death Star already.

Yep, and you’re right it might be funnier in this context.

As you may have noticed from the previous clip, I’ve moved Kylo’s watching of the Starkiller weapon to later, and put some work into Rey’s escape attempts:

https://vimeo.com/323990777

Password: fanedit

The shortened dialogue with Kylo at the end gives some ambiguity as to which sensors were triggered, hopefully lending more tension to Rey’s escape.

That’s pretty good! I like how you repurpose the few shots at the beginning that the ‘Restructuring’ had to exclude.

Hal 9000 said:

That’s pretty good! I like how you repurpose the few shots at the beginning that the ‘Restructuring’ had to exclude.

I have vowed never to rest until these shots are returned to the film 😉

RogueLeader said:

That’s pretty cool! That’s a nice new transition you’ve made, and it sounds good. I also like the quick cut to Kylo Ren’s face and the intense strings, during Rey’s second attempt.

In this version, you do lose that idea you had though about Han and Finn’s arrival distracting Kylo and buying Rey enough time to escape. Although I’m guessing you’re still trying to imply their arrival somehow encouraged Rey to try again, right?

It’s true that most of that idea has been lost, but it could still be up to interpretation as to whether or not Rey would have escaped the cell block if Kylo hadn’t been distracted by the Falcon’s arrival. I didn’t intend to imply that Rey could sense the Falcon here, but that is certainly one interpretation. Maybe if there was some dialogue from the Trooper’s intercom to that effect…

Another update to the Starkiller infiltration, continuing to weave the scenes into a more interconnected whole.

https://vimeo.com/325586676

Password: fanedit

So there are a lot of changes throughout, such as a shortened Falcon crash landing and additional lines for Phasma from the Battlefront game. The shortened crash was actually a suggestion of my girlfriend, who has been pushing for a less jokey final act. Her thesis for the humor of Star Wars is that by the final act of a movie the humor is almost entirely physical/situational rather than quippy lines due to the earnest tone, which I quite agree with. That is also why Finn’s dialogue with Phasma is shortened.

I’m still having trouble integrating comm chatter into Rey’s cell. Ideally it would inform her of the Falcon’s landing and add that final impetus for her escape.