Like, here is a quick deepfake i did (10 min literally) of Ewan McGregor as Old Obi-Wan:

https://streamable.com/lltjip

It’s mediorcre at best. The eyes need more work, and Alec Guinness has a bigger face than Ewan, but this was 10 minutes without me pinpointing it in the right direction to fix these issues. If Alec Guiness’s eyes and beard were CGI, the deepfake would STILL look shit with the best of deepfakes because it would imprint on the computer-generated strains rather than the real-life human.

CGI Artists of 2016 just couldn’t replicate human eye movements and wrinkles around the mouth well enough for a plain deepfake on-top to work wonders, no matter if they had the camera for tracking. It just wasn’t precise enough. You can see this in the eye and mouths in Planet of The Apes movies as well (even the newest one). But of course they can’t deepfake monkey faces (yet) - and they’re not humans, so they get an easy pass.

BUT! With a CGI Mask made with AI (some of them are insanely good models for facial movements), you could replace the awful CGI MASK of 2016 with a 99% believable face trained on millions and millions of faces around the world. And then! A deepfake would do wonders.

And to bring this back to the main topic;

my theory is that they filmed scenes with Guy Henry for deepfake, but some in the production said it wasn’t far enough along and they opted for CGI. The irony is that the latter option would be so much easier to fix post-release (but of course this is not relevant to them, at least not at the time).

If they released Guy Henry’s POV shots from the camera that filmed his tracking dots, a 100% believable Tarkin could be produced (Luke in Mandalorian season 3, but better).

Mocata said:

Oh that’s been done ages ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CXMb_MO3aw

No, that’s just a deepfake on the Disney CGI mask. The facial movements are off - you can see it in the eyes. It’s not the fault of Shamook - who is brilliant, it is due to the CGI mask of Tarkin on the actor’s face. It still has the uncanny valley effect.

With AI, you could replace the original CGI “Tarkin Mask” with one with better eye movements and facial details, and then add a deepfake on top of that - then you would get a pretty lifelike result.

We could re-do Tarkin with a new CGI face with AI, followed by a well-textured deepfake.

Perhaps I’d bother in the future.

I don’t mind CGI tarkin since his family approved of it. I care about the bad execution of it.

Probably didn’t want to give away the Tarkin reveal so they used an alternative shot? Perhaps filmed right before they opted for CGI version.

SparkySywer said:

Anjohan said:

Now, give us a Anakin and Obi-Wan Clone Wars live-action series with Andor’s writers (I haven’t even seen Clone Wars, but I love the concept) - and let’s delve into Asajj, Dooku (recast or deepfake), young Ahsoka (i have no interest for “current Ahsoka”, the performance and characters are sleep inducing) and some of the clones and Republic Troopers. I know, i know: “it’s all there in the animated series”. I don’t care! It’s live action for me, babe.

We also need a full-scale 5-minute recreation of Anakin’s slaughter on the Tuskens as a recurring nightmare he’s trying to suppress. I always hated how it only gets 4 seconds in AotC, but we’re supposed to feel the full extent of it.

“But Anjohan, that’s kind of brutal for a kid’s show!”

• Anakin is burned to a crisp in RotS, kids scroll through creepy videos on tiktok from the age of 8, the world has gone mad and I want me some more psychological Star Wars. This is a no biggie.

Are you trolling

I would never

I agree on the Andor to Rogue One transition, but also don’t forget that Rogue One was insultingly cut down and tweaked and edited. The tonal shifts are probably a result of this. It was still in Disney’s “Original Trilogy fanservice galore”, which, to be fair, only calmed down now during Andor - and hopefully continues. Gilroy and Edwards should go straight back to the editing room and re-release a Director’s Cut with Andor in mind.

Rogue One should be re-cut to remove all of Vader - except perhaps him staring out on the destruction of Scariff, and calm down Jyn’s rushed arc in act 2 to balance it better off with Andor’s story still going on. He takes the backseat in RO in certain portions - and the main problem with Rogue One was the lack of emotional connection to its two leads. Now that one is fixed, don’t sacrifice him for the lesser character.

Now, give us a Anakin and Obi-Wan Clone Wars live-action series with Andor’s writers (I haven’t even seen Clone Wars, but I love the concept) - and let’s delve into Asajj, Dooku (recast or deepfake), young Ahsoka (i have no interest for “current Ahsoka”, the performance and characters are sleep inducing) and some of the clones and Republic Troopers. I know, i know: “it’s all there in the animated series”. I don’t care! It’s live action for me, babe.

We also need a full-scale 5-minute recreation of Anakin’s slaughter on the Tuskens as a recurring nightmare he’s trying to suppress. I always hated how it only gets 4 seconds in AotC, but we’re supposed to feel the full extent of it.

“But Anjohan, that’s kind of brutal for a kid’s show!”

• Anakin is burned to a crisp in RotS, kids scroll through creepy videos on tiktok from the age of 8, the world has gone mad and I want me some more psychological Star Wars. This is a no biggie.

Thank you.

Hopefully early summer break I will release Film X. I just need a break from work to gather my thoughts.

I won’t start work on DH before the summer break. Same goes for Game of Thrones final.

Thank you for your continued interest, guys ❤️

Color Grade and multiple tweaks

https://vimeo.com/1084113719/d604753950?ts=0&share=copy

The comparison doesn’t give justice to the work in the details, the faces, the selective upscaling and all other work that has been done - but it does show you the difference in tone and modernization.

Tattooine is the struggle of most of the modernization process, due to the very dated cameras struggling with light input and focus in the harsh sun. Most of this has been fixed, but will not be easily spotted in this particular preview.

Thank you to Tony Gilroy and Co. to actually bring tears to my eyes, laughter to my face and happiness through my heart over a Star Wars presentation once again. I haven’t felt this since Revenge of the Sith. I really do care about the universe for the short while the show has left.

Thank you.

Mocata said:

Well what can you say, it was great. Especially that one Dedra scene, as I remembered the trailers, and suddenly thought they might use the gas on her from part 6 during the revenge plot. This was way more interesting.

Not sold on the “oh wait we gotta bring this horrific thing along with us so it’s in RO” part, but that’s just me, could have been more natural. There’s my nitpick.

I do agree to a certain extent, but then I recall Luthen (or someone else) saying something about using the enemy’s own weapons to defeat them. I think that is the only foreshadowing that was needed and I’ll give them a pass.

Finally watched season 2.

I’m convinced that Luthen - and almost certainly his formidable partner - will stake everything, including their own lives, to secure Mon Mothma’s escape when she’s most vulnerable. We’ve already watched Luthen shed his trademark composure for a fiercer, more desperate edge: he bent his “code” by allowing Mothma’s sister to defy orders and rejoin her partner, and he tactically nudged Bix toward her vengeance. Meanwhile, Mon Mothma’s simmering rage has even pushed her to openly confront Director Krennic himself.

In the episodes ahead—after the ISB’s ruthless assault on Ghorman and the Empire’s cruelty reaches new heights—both Luthen and Mon Mothma will snap. I can vividly imagine Mon Mothma’s polished façade cracking in a flash of raw emotion, and Luthen, without hesitation, stepping into grave danger to shield her, sacrificing himself so she can continue the rebellion.

I can see something like this of a structure:

• Ghorman massacre
• Mon Mothma holds speech
• Krennic deems Mon Mothma a threat to the Empire, and calls her to his office/ISB Headquarters/shows up to her whereabouts
• Luthen hears about the Massacre and Mothma’s speech, tries to get reach of her - realizes she’s in danger
• Mon Mothma confronts ISB/Krennic in raw emotion, shit hits the fan, Luthen shows up, escalation - Luthen and his partner reveal themselves for who they are; rebels, gives the impression that Mon Mothma is some emotional senator he doesn’t respect to divert attention, kill some ISB men, injure Krennic and dies.

Modernization Process - Tattooine

One of the biggest challenges in modernizing this edit of A New Hope was Tatooine:
alongside the outdated center channel audio, its sun-baked exteriors really highlight the original’s age. The cameras of 1977 simply struggled with such harsh light: you’d see blurred faces, out-of-focus areas, shadows that vanished and reappeared, overly pink skin tones, and droids glowing with lens flare as the camera panned past. Each of these issues has now been carefully corrected.

Next came the color grade. Today’s films—think Denis Villeneuve’s Dune—carry a refined, sun-washed palette that feels like a modern Tatooine, so I used that as my visual benchmark. But one single grade can’t work across every scene in a forty-plus-year-old movie, so each sequence was masked and treated individually: varying grain levels from my master blueprint were applied, then backgrounds and faces that remained soft or low-res were upscaled, remasked, and graded again to match the crispness of the rest of the film. It’s a complex, iterative process—but the result is spectacular.

Seeing A New Hope in this updated form is genuinely thrilling. The film retains all the magic of the original, but with a level of clarity and polish that feels right at home on a modern big screen. Now, of course, 720p with a comparison line inbetween doesn’t give the crispness or scale of the work that has been done, but it does give the main impression:

Video Preview:

https://streamable.com/bmfy4n

Now, I’m not finished - there is still more work to be done on the center channel (dialogue), I still want to compress the music, and there are still a couple of overly exposed droid reflections in some background areas. But it’s nearly there.

Luke Twin Suns

In one of Star Wars’s key scenes, the twinsuns scene, Luke’s face is unfocused and blurry - in almost every single version out there. Not anymore.

https://streamable.com/au48s4

oojason said:

An insightful and informative 9 minute video on how Andor came about, Tony Gilroy’s involvement, and how it all evolved…
 

[… rest] …

Man, I love this guy. I have immense admiration for him: he not only grasps the depth of his universe and breathes life into his storytelling, but also embodies the art of filmmaking — seamlessly fusing these three pillars into a truly fulfilling experience for everyone involved and for the audience.

I’m not going to find myself interested in anything Star Wars-related for a long time after this (i saw the upcoming projects recently and nearly fell asleep), but if this guy was to be hired for a Star Wars movie set between ROTJ and TFA or something… i’d buy popcorn 4 years in advance. Or, when I think about it, maybe not 4 years with Disney’s history of firing directors. Heuheu.

This thread is dedicated to discussing and reviewing Andor, where I’ve shared my genuine appreciation and my relief that everything—from performances to promotional materials—remains focused on the story itself. It’s astonishing that this simple point has been missed amid your well-turned phrases. And yes, that was a compliment - you sure know how to write, you just can’t seperate what you write and believe in from being opinions to educational masterpieces.

If you’d rather have a battle of wits and political beliefs, send me a private message. Ever since I argued - about three years ago now - that Star Wars needed to dial back on its gender-politics emphasis and “this actor wants to change the world from this to this”, you’ve persistently tried to bait me into derailing my original review or critique - with you obviously getting triggered behind walls of text because it contradicted your belief system.

You’re probably a great person - non-binary, a guy, a girl - whatever you are, i really don’t care - but you gotta let is rest, dude. Oh my. Let it rest. My screen is bleeding through with whatever it is that angers you so much.

Anyway, I’ll keep on being me and you keep on being you - different people, different beliefs - and hopefully both in the end good people. But this is the last time I’m ever going to let you derail my views and thoughts into some meaningless battle of wits.

I don’t know where you’re going with this, but the way i’m seeing it:

Tony Gilroy calling Andor “the most important work I’ve ever done” isn’t a dig at other Star Wars shows or a signal that it’s merely a political stunt. It’s an admission of how deeply he invested in its storytelling—from the moral complexity of rebellion to the echoes of past (and some current) authoritarianism—and how that creative challenge has meant more to him personally and professionally than anything else he’s made. In short, he’s celebrating its narrative ambition and real historic resonance, not turning it into a gender-politics spectacle or a stage for some unknowns to shout out chants of their personal conflics and goals in life. It’s just a bunch of people collectively going in on one goal; a good fucking story.

Him and his team are literally re-telling WW2 Nazi Germany in space, but unlike George’s Star Wars it isn’t just on surface level - it’s digging deep, hence the emotional and historical resonance he must’ve felt writing it.

Omni said:

Anjohan said:

In other words, brilliant job, Disney, and keep hiring and focusing on Star Wars stories and character above anything else - and leave the real-life politics to the politicians. This is for the fans. ❤️

Hilarious comment considering that these three episodes are BY FAR the most political Disney Star Wars has ever been. It’s not very subtle, either.

1. I’m refering to season 1. Yet to start season 2.

2. You glossed over my key words: real-life politics - trying, at least, to refer to the current geopolitical climate at this current time, although i left room to misinterpret - whether you wanted to do that purposefully or not.

3. I shall rephrase: they are not announcing Andor as a gender empowerment or a geopolitical landscape on which actors can change the world on; they’re just trying to make a good story, and that is what the series is, has been presented as and has left the audience with.

Finally watched Andor and it is sure the best Star Wars Disney has produced. It has the details and patience of better call Saul (although I suspect it will go total speed run now after ep 3) and the charm and grittiness of Empire Strikes Back.

I would never think that putting story and characters above anything else would bring out so much value for the audience. 😉

I hope the final scene of Andor ends just before the opening of Rogue one, but with The Emperor showing up, telling other Governors to leave the room, and frying the absolute shi* out of whomever will inevitably fail him (either the female or male antagonist for sure, or both). Watching it in the context of Andor where not a single force user is present would give so much earned shock value to what most people would find a cheap and predictable trope.

In other words, brilliant job, Disney, and keep hiring and focusing on Star Wars stories and character above anything else - and leave the real-life politics to the politicians. This is for the fans. ❤️

Thank you, lads. Appreciated.

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Thank you Patali and Hal. We’ll see how far i get before the summer break - but at least then i have more hours to crunch.

CamSMurph said:

Anjohan said:

Update - Destruction of Alderaan

Thanks for the patience.

Here’s a little update, Alderaan:

https://streamable.com/n9ry01

Looks like you’re doing more than modernising the audio and visual look, bro! 👀

In my new line of work, I’ve… been cursed with a lot of new tools. Hehe. But yes - you know me.

Thank you so much.

Film 10 is almost done, but i was T satisfied with the pace. All visual effects are done, and audio 98 percent.

But the pacing felt off to me, although my gf felt it was good enough for release. But I disagree.

This one only. Dont have enough time or interest for more unfortunately.

Thank you.