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Vader: A Saga Edit

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 (Edited)

So this is my first fan edit. Actually, I should say it will be my first fan edit. It’s a saga edit from Anakin Skywalker’s point of view. That means the only scenes that will be used is ones that include Anakin/Vader (well, there will need to be a few additional expository scenes without him). This will help to not only reduce the runtime, but to also accomplish the main goal of the edit: to have a film that focuses solely on the tragedy of Anakin. It will start on Tatooine in Episode II, and follow chronologically through Episode VI. There will be no flashbacks.

The problem is, I won’t be working on this for awhile. If I had the time and equipment, I could start at anytime, for I know exactly what I’m going to do. As is, the start date is estimated at maybe a year from now. So, the question is, why did I make this thread? Well there are two reasons:

  1. Archival purposes. I’m just really eager to get this thing on the record.

  2. If someone else wants to take over. This is a little more ridiculous. A fan edit takes a lot of time, and I can’t imagine someone would want to take that time working on a project that isn’t “theirs” so to speak. The thing is though, I really wouldn’t mind if someone else took over. The main reason I came up with this idea wasn’t because I wanted to do an edit, but because this was a way I wanted to watch the saga. So, if there’s anyone lurking out there who’s been thinking about doing a saga edit, this is all yours.

Anyways, that’s about it.

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Who's Anakin? (:D))

Seriously though, I like this idea. Very interesting.  

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Call me crazy, but I just started working on this. I don't know, it must have been starting this thread to get me to want to do something. Now, I was hoping to do a proper HD edit, but for now, it's just going to be a less than impressive SD rough cut. I'm really excited though. I've almost finished the Episode II segment.

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Care to expound on how you will achieved this edit?  I'm interested in particular with the OT segments which will obviously fewer opportunities to focus on him in particular.  For instance, how do you plan to maintain the narrative in ANH for the first bit without focusing on R2/3PO?  It sounds very interesting and I hopefully can at least provide a little input on the way.  Good luck, and I look forward to seeing your progress.

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darth_ender said:

Care to expound on how you will achieved this edit?  I'm interested in particular with the OT segments which will obviously fewer opportunities to focus on him in particular.  For instance, how do you plan to maintain the narrative in ANH for the first bit without focusing on R2/3PO?  It sounds very interesting and I hopefully can at least provide a little input on the way.  Good luck, and I look forward to seeing your progress.

I've actually watched ANH recently and I've found that all of the R2/3PO bits can be taken out without confusion. The way I'll have it, it'll be just Vader in ANH until the Falcon arrives in the Death Star. Then I'll have some of their perspective. It will seem at first as if they're just some rebels that have come to save the princess. I don't really know how I can explain this, you'll just have to trust me.

One interesting aspect of this edit will be that there will be no "I am your father twist." The real twist will come when the Emperor tells Vader that Luke is actually Vader's son. By focusing on Vader alone, the audience assumes that Padme dies before she gives birth. 

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Wow, this sounds really cool.  I'm looking forward to it.  I hpe you continue to make swift progress. :)

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darth_ender said:

Wow, this sounds really cool.  I'm looking forward to it.  I hpe you continue to make swift progress. :)

Thanks for the kind words!

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Interesting. Very interesting.

Some people try to do saga edits and just include way too much, but something like this could work nicely - and you could paint the picture you want without conflicting scenes.

 

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A video! Okay, before you watch keep in mind that when I say this is rough I mean it is really rough. In fact, since I uploaded it I've already fixed the first cut to be less jarring. I basically just want to see what people think of this segway from EpII to EpIII. 

http://vimeo.com/32883370

Keep in mind this basically just a rough idea.

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I don't get it.

It's out of order and jumps too quickly between events. Granted, it's only a 2 minute clip so you may be planning for there to be more context, but it feels very rushed and confused.

*2 cents*

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I really liked it, actually. It's very good at showing the Clone Wars as an event.
Here we have some clones, we have some Jedi - BAM - this is what they look like in action.

The only thing that concerns me is that some of the footage, particularly of Order 66, might need to be used elsewhere in its original context.

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 (Edited)

I made sure to put in the scene where Yoda says that the clone wars have begun right before the scene that starts the video (I just wanted the upload to be short). I hope that it helps explain what's happening a bit more. Actually, I might make Yoda's spiel a voice over the shots of the clone army preparing. I don't know yet.

As for the use of Order 66 stuff, that montage will not be in this edit. It will be implied that the genocide of the Jedi took a few years, not a few hours.

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Like another said, I may be missing context, but I feel like I'm watching a tv series and this video is a "This is what happened last week" montage.

Again, i may not have necessary context. If you like what you have keep going. Maybe we'll all get it later.

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The context is right after Episode II. I'm a little on the fence about the idea myself so I would honestly like to know if, after watching Episode II, would you understand what the montage represents?

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DominicCobb said:


One interesting aspect of this edit will be that there will be no "I am your father twist." The real twist will come when the Emperor tells Vader that Luke is actually Vader's son. By focusing on Vader alone, the audience assumes that Padme dies before she gives birth. 
Now that's an interesting prospect. Now to make Anakin a character we care about for that twist to have emotional impact! ;-)

I just realized how much more of an emotional impact "I am your father" is to a character we knew for two movies than that revelation would be to a character we've known for 5 movies by Lucas' reckoning.

Star Wars Revisited Wordpress

Star Wars Visual Comparisons WordPress

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doubleofive said:

 

DominicCobb said:


One interesting aspect of this edit will be that there will be no "I am your father twist." The real twist will come when the Emperor tells Vader that Luke is actually Vader's son. By focusing on Vader alone, the audience assumes that Padme dies before she gives birth. 
Now that's an interesting prospect. Now to make Anakin a character we care about for that twist to have emotional impact! ;-)

I just realized how much more of an emotional impact "I am your father" is to a character we knew for two movies than that revelation would be to a character we've known for 5 movies by Lucas' reckoning.

 

Which is why if you're introducing someone to Star Wars for the first time, I've always suggested you go 4-5-6 then 1-2-3. It's really the best way to watch the films.

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 (Edited)

Okay, so right now I got Episode II at 35 min., Episode III at 57 min., and Episode IV at 29 min. I still have some more editing to do throughout the three, the goal is to get them down to at most 110 min. (which would mean cutting another 10 min.) I don't think that should be too hard to do.

One interesting thing I'm going to do is completely remove the force ghosts. This goes as far as making Obi's death NOT on purpose. To clarify, that means making Kenobi's sacrifice NOT a sacrifice. I've actually already done this and I think it works well.

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I'd be happy to work with you on this edit from a narrative perspective if you'd like :)

The video you posted struggles for one main reason that I can see: including shots of Anakin and Obi-Wan saving the Chancellor during your montage defeats its purpose in showing the passage of time.

Complete the montage with footage from the Order 66 piece, then jump into the beginning sequence of Revenge of the Sith, and allow the story to flow with the death of Count Dooku and the battle with Grievous.

Obi Wan and Yoda's portions should be saved to show Order 66 in action, though the Battle on Kashyyyk works still in the montage.

I would leave more of Episode 2 than you intend to

-Start with a new opening crawl explaining politics and relationships,

-a shot of Padme's ship arriving on Coruscant (no explosion)

-then the elevator scene.

-The security talk takes place,

-the assassination attempt.

-a very shortened chase

-Split up Anakin and Obi Wan (seperate missions).

-Anakin and Padme on the Transport.

-Obi Wan leaves, arrives at Kamino and walks inside.

-Anakin and Padme arrive at Island on Naboo and Kiss

-Obi Wan walks out of building on Kamino, contacts council and explains about clones (he explains everything the Prime Minister just told him)

-Padme finds Anakin awake after nightmare. They leave for Tatooine.

-Obi Wan and Jango fight - Asteroid Chase

-Anakin talks to the Lars family, leaves to find his mom.

-Obi Wan spies, reports to council

-Anakin finds his mother, slaughters sandpeople. Cut Yoda sensing it.

-Obi-Wan/Dooku talk

-Anakins talk with Padme cut to be less creepy

... gotta go, but theres a starter.



Preferred Saga:
1/2: Hal9000
3: L8wrtr
4/5: Adywan
6-9: Hal9000

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nightstalkerpoet said:

I'd be happy to work with you on this edit from a narrative perspective if you'd like :)

The video you posted struggles for one main reason that I can see: including shots of Anakin and Obi-Wan saving the Chancellor during your montage defeats its purpose in showing the passage of time.

Complete the montage with footage from the Order 66 piece, then jump into the beginning sequence of Revenge of the Sith, and allow the story to flow with the death of Count Dooku and the battle with Grievous.

Obi Wan and Yoda's portions should be saved to show Order 66 in action, though the Battle on Kashyyyk works still in the montage.

I would leave more of Episode 2 than you intend to

-Start with a new opening crawl explaining politics and relationships,

-a shot of Padme's ship arriving on Coruscant (no explosion)

-then the elevator scene.

-The security talk takes place,

-the assassination attempt.

-a very shortened chase

-Split up Anakin and Obi Wan (seperate missions).

-Anakin and Padme on the Transport.

-Obi Wan leaves, arrives at Kamino and walks inside.

-Anakin and Padme arrive at Island on Naboo and Kiss

-Obi Wan walks out of building on Kamino, contacts council and explains about clones (he explains everything the Prime Minister just told him)

-Padme finds Anakin awake after nightmare. They leave for Tatooine.

-Obi Wan and Jango fight - Asteroid Chase

-Anakin talks to the Lars family, leaves to find his mom.

-Obi Wan spies, reports to council

-Anakin finds his mother, slaughters sandpeople. Cut Yoda sensing it.

-Obi-Wan/Dooku talk

-Anakins talk with Padme cut to be less creepy

... gotta go, but theres a starter.



Yeah, I see what you're getting at with the montage. I think I'll change it up a bit. As for where I start Episode II, I like where I have it. You want for there to be an explanation of the politics and the romance. I feel where I've started it (Tatooine) works for two reasons:

1. It simplifies the story of the Clone Wars. Politics is not the focus here. The way I have it, there's a war, and that's all that needs to be known.

2. Creepy romance = fixed. The way I have it, at the start of the movie Anakin and Padme are already in love with each other. No need to (painfully) go over why.

Also, because I start the film on Tatooine, the first line is Anakin saying "Stay right here," and the final line is Luke saying "I won't leave you." I think that's pretty awesome.

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Going with that concept, I can see how you could probably get the audience to emotionally connect with Anakin. Though does it leave room for an emotional connection with Padme? It seems like using that as a starting point would leave her as a very one dimensional character, rather than someone we care about at all and a driving point of Anakin's fall.

Preferred Saga:
1/2: Hal9000
3: L8wrtr
4/5: Adywan
6-9: Hal9000

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nightstalkerpoet said:

Going with that concept, I can see how you could probably get the audience to emotionally connect with Anakin. Though does it leave room for an emotional connection with Padme? It seems like using that as a starting point would leave her as a very one dimensional character, rather than someone we care about at all and a driving point of Anakin's fall.

Yeah, it seems many of the characters have become less dimensional so to speak. I think of this as unfortunate, yet a necessary evil and not altogether outrageous. Many epic films are somewhat lacking in the dimensionality of their secondary characters.  

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I liked the Montage also. One suggestion.

I'd include some shots of Anakin from the Arena fight at the beginning of the montage. So that you can show him with his Padawan haircut. Then I would use the shots of him flying the fighter at the end of it so that you can see his Sexy Jedi Knight haircut and really indicate that it has been a while. Then you can end the montage with them crash landing on the ship and him getting out. Calmly and that should seque nicely into the realization that he and obi are now equals.

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Oh yeah.

I actually meant to give an update on this a few months back. Some time in the beginning of December, I finished my initial rough cut of this. After that, I decided to put it on hold indefinitely. I'm fairly happy with what I did plot wise, but I think there are many ways in which I would like to improve it, namely the audio. Most of the transitions are fine, but there's definitely room for improvement. The biggest thing I would like to do, though, is some extensive music replacement. It wouldn't be a complete replacement, mind you, but it would be extensive.

Anyway, the thing is, it'll be awhile until I can obtain an editing software that can truly fulfill what I have in mind for this edit, so it has been post-ponned indefinitely.

@princethomas, that's actually a pretty good idea. I don't know if I would use that shot exactly, but I'll try do something along those lines when I come back to this.

To reiterate, I have finished a very rough cut that has a runtime of 2:56:37, not including credits. If anyone's interested I could try to find a way to post it online, but I don't think anyone would want to watch it. 

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Id be very interested in seeing it. I myself am working on a all 6 Saga version. My goal to get it in a 3 hrs. and 59 minutes. Going to try to get in more than just what you are doing. But I know I'll have to limit to a small amount of Story Lines.

Not sure about how to post it though.

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I hope you'll consider posting your rough cut somewhere, as it really is a unique and interesting telling of the Star Wars tale.