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Darth Lars

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7-Mar-2004
Last activity
28-Oct-2017
Posts
368

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Post
#225320
Topic
Info Wanted: Has anyone done a Super 8 preservation of Star Wars?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/225320/action/topic#225320
Time
There have been several official releases of Star Wars on Super-8.
These editions are very short, either 4, 8 or 17 minutes long.
I think it is likely that the reel/s in question is one of these. These reels are not too rare.
The full film has also been transfered to 8 and 16 mm film on occasion, but these reels are very very rare.

However, I have heard that some shot in these short editions might be unique to Super-8, not available in any other format. If this is true, then that itself would make it worthy for preservation. Some fan-editor might want them.
Post
#224870
Topic
BFI preserving OOT!!
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/224870/action/topic#224870
Time
There are other film institutes in other countries that do the same thing as the BFI.
Some film institutes also teach various aspects of filmmaking, and they some times show films from the archive to the class. I have a friend who studied at the Swedish Institute of Film who told me this, but she also told me that not all of them were in acceptable condition either, which is why they also use DVDs.
If a professor wants to requisition the OUT from the archives, it can be done.
Post
#224356
Topic
Episode I: PaulisDead2221's Edit (* unfinished project *)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/224356/action/topic#224356
Time
I would include the queen rescue from Theed, because I like to see as much of the Jedi as possible.
In my opinion, one of the best points of TPM is that it shows the Jedi at the height of their strength. I especially like how the Nemoidians are scared of the Jedi on board the Trade Federation cruiser, but I agree that if the scene has to go, then it has to go.
To make Jar-Jar's sudden appearance make more sense, maybe it can be established later that Jar-Jar and Padmé are close friends already from the start, by removing shots later in the movie where the two don't appear to be?

I wonder also if there could be shots of Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon sneaking around in Theed that could be added to the beginning of the queen's rescue. Perhaps from later in the movie, or from the deleted Bongo/Waterfall scene? (I have not seen it myself, though. Got only the VHS of TPM)

Another question:
Would it work to (re-)insert (parts) from the deleted scene where Qui-Gon slashes a probe droid in half just before running for the starship?
I have read reviews of the scene that make it appear that it could explain better why Qui-Gon and Anakin are running.
Post
#223567
Topic
Remember when everyone hated Return of the Jedi?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/223567/action/topic#223567
Time
Originally posted by: vtpeters
I remember Lucas explaining in some ROTJ Making Of documentary that the Ewoks were at one point in the development of the script supposed to be Wookies. In Episode III we finally get to see an Empire vs. Wookies battle...


They were in the early drafts for Star Wars. Funny details (after the facts) are that the wookiees/ewoks were called "jawas" and they had a princess named "Jamilla".
The fact about the early drafts does not counter that the Ewoks could have been chosen for inclusion into ROTJ as an opportunity to sell merchandise.

GL created many plot elements and names for the drafts, that have been used (and reused) here and there in the various movies. Even the opening space battle and the disintegrating ship in ROTS can be traced back to an early draft.
However, none of the drafts contains any story that tell ESB or the prequels, only disparate elements. GL must have made it up as he went along.
Post
#223559
Topic
Should Wedge have been tried for cowardice?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/223559/action/topic#223559
Time
Originally posted by: Scruffy
Wedge and Biggs were assigned not as underlings, but as bodyguards. Luke didn't have de jure command authority over them, but his status as the designated shooter gave him de facto authority. We can see Biggs and Wedge questioning his orders ("Are you sure we can pull out in time?" "Are you sure the computer can hit it?" "What about that tower?"), which is consistent with my theory. They're trying to keep the whiz kid alive long enough to hit the exhaust port, and it's painfully clear to them that maybe the kid can hit the target, but he knows almost nothing about staying alive in a starfighter.


Good points.

Before the simulator, there are also the TIEs that Luke had shot down from the Falcon. Before he seats himself in his X-wing, his helmet has already got the markings to show it off. I assume those TIEs had put him in high esteem among the other pilots.
Post
#222501
Topic
John Williams' Music
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/222501/action/topic#222501
Time
Like painters have their "blue periods" and whatnot, John Williams has also his periods where his compositions sounds almost the same. I think this is the largest reason why the PT and OT music feel so incoherent to eachother.
You could compare the soundtrack of ANH (1977) with that of Superman (1978). When I was a kid, I was a fan of both soundtracks and used to hum and whistle them constantly, but I often mixed them up.
I remember in 2002, some people from TFN's music forum went to see Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets only to get a hint of how AOTC would sound ... and they did!
You can hear similiarities between the music during the Bounty Hunter chase through Coruscant and the music during the Quidditch match.

John Williams is not perfect in the OT either. I don't know when Luke's theme became "The Force" theme, why you hear the "Han and Leia" theme during the end of ESB when it is Luke holding his arm around Leia and why you hear a variation of Yoda's theme during the skiff battle in ROTJ.

Btw, the PT music I like the most are:
* Anakin's Theme
* The funeral theme
* The Order 66 music
* Most of all: The merging of the funeral theme with the Imperial March, in ROTS when we see the Death Star.
Post
#220783
Topic
Peter Jackson the new Luca$???
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/220783/action/topic#220783
Time
I like the idea of seemless branching for releasing multiple versions.
Someone should make a seamless branching version of OCPMovie's discs and send it to Lucas with a note: "This is how it should be done!"

Back to LotR: the gift sets of the EE (with figurines) are still available here and there for reduced prices, probably just as much as these new discs are going to be sold for.

About fullscreen vs. widescreen:
Personally, I prefer 16:9 aspect over 2.35:1. Fullscreen on a widescreen TV, that is, ... but that's just me.
Post
#218835
Topic
Remember when everyone hated Return of the Jedi?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/218835/action/topic#218835
Time
I was inspired by this thread to watch ROTJ again. In-between viewings I tend to forget how great it really is. The space fights are better than in any other space opera or sci-fi movie. I love how the movie is full of twists and turns and I adore Han Solo's dialogue.
I have a difficulty ranking the movies in the original trilogy against eachother. The original movies are so much greater than the prequels that the difference in quality between the old ones becomes minisqule in comparison.

I can agree that the ewoks are maybe too cute, but I choose to see them as ruthless savages
(like the Zulu tribe of the GFFA) and that works for me.

TipTup: I can challenge most of your points, but that is for another thread.
Post
#214189
Topic
Idea: Personalized preservation possible with September 2006 OT DVD's
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/214189/action/topic#214189
Time
I have had an idea not far from this, for fan-edits.

The idea was to allow fan-edits to be distributed legally as data files (".edit") containing no copyrighted material. Instead the files would have to be played on a computer using special player software which would play scenes from DVD in an order specified by the file.

The file format would be based on a zip archive.
The main file inside the archive would be a play list - a text file with ordered commands to the DVD player/s on what frames and audio tracks to play. A somewhat smart subsystem in the player would cache frames in memory (not break only on GOP boundaries). It would also cache entire sequences on the local harddrive so that users would not have to switch discs more than once.
The .edit-files would also be able to contain video sequences, but these should have to be encrypted with DVD data as decryption key (XOR algorithm = simple, superfast, yet totally secure).

Subtitles would have been stored as .srt-files. Menus would be HTML with the usual features of pictures, scripting and Flash. This would be OK for realtime playback on a computer.

There were two major problems:
1. The legal issue of breaking DVD copy protection. There are no 100% legal DVD players on Linux that I know of. There is no public DVD-API on MacOS. I don't know about Windows.

2. For realtime playback, the computer and DVD-playing subsystem has to be fast enough to decode two streams in realtime. If you circumvent DVD copy protection, do you still get hardware acceleration? Does hardware acceleration support multiple streams and cutting in the middle of a GOP?

Problem 1 still persists if you make a Live CD.
Post
#213823
Topic
Strange question: Combine Fullscreen and Widescreen sources?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/213823/action/topic#213823
Time
Originally posted by: Jaiman Tuckuh
The P&S & Widescreen, taken together, would contain information that falls "between" the pixels scanned for either.

Yes, matching the two images is difficult. It has to take film wobble, lost details and artifacts into account.
When the match is done, the letterbox image would be upscaled using the fullscreen image as 'hint', color correction could be done automatically and the fullscreen "window" could leave high-res details behind when it scans left and right. These extra functions would contribute to mask the borders of the fullscreen image, but they all depend on the initial match having been done right.

If the match was done badly, then there would be visible artifacts, especially when the camera (or even just the fullscreen image) is panning ... and those are only the problems that I have thought of so far.
It is possible that this automatic approach would be a total waste of time, and not produce a better result than manual compositing. I don't know much about manual compositing. That is why I ask.
Post
#213601
Topic
Strange question: Combine Fullscreen and Widescreen sources?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/213601/action/topic#213601
Time
This is a question for you video editing/compositing wizards:

Is there a good way to combine letterbox and fullscreen sources into a single video clip in higher resolution that has better detail in the fullscreen-area?

I have an idea for an algorithm that could do it, but I think there would be a bit of work to realize it and I would like to know if it would be worthwhile before I continue.
Post
#212941
Topic
The Official Lucasfilm Response
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/212941/action/topic#212941
Time
I am almost expecting us to get the same automated reply to our angry/sad replies.
I assume that these publicity people are not much more than drones, not really connected to the DVD release and not very knowledgable about it either. I think it is likely that they could have written the reply without consulting anyone outside their own department.
To restate the obvious: We need to contact people whom are likely to be actually working on it, both managers and technicians. I think these letters need to be on paper, be polite in tone (nonetheless), and offer constructive ideas. Perhaps mention that the bootlegs are better products.. maybe that would scare them, hee hee hee...

btw ... a Star Trek reference in a Star Wars forum?
Post
#212634
Topic
Convert letterbox -----> anamorphic
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/212634/action/topic#212634
Time
I think it is possible that Lucasfilm's technicians would be so short-sighted that they used an old NTSC master for the US DVD release and an old PAL master for European/PAL DVD releases.
Because PAL has higher vertical resolution, it could make sense to make anamorphic NTSC discs from the PAL sources, for those who have equipment that don't handle PAL.
I live in Europe, and over here most equipment supports NTSC too. I don't know about the US.
(yeah, I know PAL/NTSC is technically more about composite signal than resolution... but anyway)

Also, when doing upscaling in software, advanced upscaling and post-processing algorithms could be used that are much better than those used by any TV or DVD player.
Post
#211209
Topic
Should there be an ULTIMATE EDITION!
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/211209/action/topic#211209
Time
I think it is better to replace Sebastian Shaw with Hayden Christensen completely in both scenes than to have them both playing Anakin in different scenes. The point is to have consistency. Luke knows only Shaw's Anakin. Someone who sees only ROTJ knows only of Shaw's Anakin. Shaw's scenes were not bad. If it aint broke, then don't fix it.

Same thing with Biggs in ANH. Include both Toshi Station and Biggs at Yavin, or none of those scenes. No more "Who the hell is that guy?"-moments, please!

Even though I prefer the O-OT, there are many improvements in the SE and 2004 editions that I don't mind, such as digital compositing, removed matte lines, flipped rank badges etc.
However, there are still many goofs left in the movie that I would not mind if they were fixed: Stormtroopers whose armor is falling apart, Vader's chest box being flipped in one shot.
Han Solo is also drawing a different blaster when he shoots Greedo than the one is wearing during the rest of the movie.
But if you are going to make a change, don't make it stand out!
Post
#207684
Topic
Discussion: Lightsaber Replicas
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/207684/action/topic#207684
Time
If you want a lightsaber made from your own design, check out Random Sabers.

There are practically no unlicensed builders of replica lightsabers any more. Besides, none of them made saber replicas that were as accurate as MR, although some of those sabers are nicer in some ways... You can find some on eBay.

For Luke's saber in ANH or ESB get a Graflex replica from Parksabers. Then get a conversion kit from Blast-Tech. Building it is easy.

Anyway, MR's Force FX sabers are actually very nice and affordable. And on the ROTS models, you can actually unscrew the saber and push out a retaining pin. Then the blade becomes removable! (see tutorial on TFN JC/FF boards)
Post
#179862
Topic
Why not 24p?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/179862/action/topic#179862
Time
When 24 fps source material is encoded in PAL (25 fps), it is often encoded frame by frame. This means that the movie is a little bit faster and often also a little bit higher in pitch.
Some DVD player software can slow down playback to the original 24 fps. I don't know of any stand-alone DVD player that can do this though.

My hope is that the coming HD-formats will do as you say. I think hardware is ready for it. It would save disk space also..
Post
#179859
Topic
Looking for some Star Wars "Promo Photos" please...
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/179859/action/topic#179859
Time
I know this site has a few promo shots of Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan (and Obi-Wan with characters) in great resolution: http://www.cswu.cz/obiwan/eng/fotoobi.html

I used the site a lot for reference when I made my Jedi costume a few years ago (yes, I am a cost u ming nerd )
Also check out costuming sites, such as http://www.padawansguide.com