DominicCobb

It is kind of funny how I’ve found myself being one of the first batch of editors on this. With the PT I didn’t come around to editing them until well after everyone else, and with the ST my changes were so minimal that no one would ever want to see them (including myself, I guess, since I never came remotely close to finishing them). But it’s a perfect storm here for me, where I was really invested in this trilogy and found this film to be a big disappointment, so there’s a sort of urgency to this. I’m hoping that as long as I turn it into something I find worthwhile, others will too.

Yeah, I’m definitely trying to avoid the choral parts, at least. And TPM, between the concert track and the various uses throughout the climax, has a variety of statements of the theme to work with (although this poses other challenges).

The trick is really that, when editing the scene in isolation, it’s easy to lose track of how it feels in terms of the larger picture. So you can cut it one way and it’ll seem like a great fit, but in context it’s all suddenly bombastic out of nowhere. So… working on it.

stevepaynter said:

This is a really smooth edit and really enjoyable to watch.

Thanks everyone!

Also, I was just wondering were you still thinking about adding Duel of the Fates theme to the Kylo vs Rey battle on the DSII in your edit?

Yes, and I’m trying a few different ways to do it at the moment.

Samuel Kim has released a new version of the DotF theme today that’s pretty epic and may fit the fight scene.

https://youtu.be/-qa6bvZM348

That guy makes great stuff, but I have to say I have a picky ear when it comes to music, and I don’t think his style would mesh well with the rest of the film. I will say as well part of the struggle with adding DOTF to the fight is making sure it’s not too epic, since it’s a relatively short fight in the middle of the film, and not the epic sort of climactic duel that the music belongs to in TPM.

Hal 9000 said:

(Just wanted to point out that the use of Luke and Leia’s theme at the celebration seems to serve to imply that Lando and Jannah are family.)

Yeah I guess that’s probably right. Too bad they didn’t include the deleted scene that actually set that moment up so I could use it…

Rey v. TIE:
https://vimeo.com/407939026

Another one where hopefully you don’t even notice the changes.

spoiler

To sum up…

• 4 shots added using the trailer, with sequencing matching the trailer a bit more closely
• 3 shots extended using the trailer
• TIE interior shots color corrected to remove sickly green light
• Money slow mo shot color corrected to better match surrounding footage

CarterStarkiller said:

Everything here is looking and sounding great but there are a couple things that has bothered me in the film which I think can be fixed/changed that hasn’t been mentioned.

1. The moment when ailing General Leia walks away and Maz Kanata tells R2 “Leia knows what must be done R2…”
   Everyone reacting to Leia just stands looking at her. I suggest adding a couple “General?” or “General Organa?”s to the audio track so it doesn’t seem so awkward. Also changing R2’s beeps from sad to more neutral as it doesn’t make sense that R2 would be sad just from Leia walking away. It would also make Maz’s line a little less clunky.

It’s a weird moment. I’m rescoring it, in a way that will hopefully make it seem less lackadaisical. I’ll look into those ideas, though I don’t know if I’d like someone butting into Leia having a moment by trying to talk to her.

2. Has someone thought of rescoring Yoda’s theme out of the victory celebration? While I love John Williams’ score this was the one cue that really confused me.

I think he’s sort of just rounding up classic themes for the finale. He also plays Luke and Leia’s theme which doesn’t fit either (although you could argue at least Luke and Leia were involved, though it’s not like Williams didn’t use Yoda’s theme without his presence in TESB too). That said, with things being moved in the celebration scene, things are up in the air in terms of music editing. If there’s a way to seamlessly remove the egregious themes, I will.

3. The final line of the film
   I’ve disliked the “Rey Skywalker” line since my first viewing of the film. Because Lando’s “Well let’s find out.” is being cut, C-3PO’s “Did you hear that?” should be the final line due to the call back of the first line of A New Hope and also the final line of Revenge of the Sith (“Oh no.”). I’ve done a very rough (and I mean VERY rough) edit of taking the old woman out of the epilogue and it makes Rey taking the name of Skywalker more implied which I prefer.

I spoke to this a few posts back…

There is a chance, depending on what I do with the final scene, that the moment will be cut.

I had the same thought and it would be a nice symmetry. I suppose this was probably intentional on the filmmakers part too (either the dialogue in the final scene wasn’t always a definite, and/or they considered it an epilogue so it didn’t count).

Keep up the gook work to everyone involved and I cannot wait to see more of the great progress of this fanedit!

Thanks!

Quick test:

Before

After

Nicely done, although color seems to be washed out in general in your clip.

Could you share a clip of your Rey vs. TIE scene? I’m using trailer shots too, I’m curious how you’re going about it.

RogueLeader said:

Star Wars is for 12-year-olds. It’s a fairy tale. Most kids don’t have genocidal tyrants as parents, but a kid that has a rocky relationship with his dad might relate to the struggles between Luke and Vader. The physical scar of Vader cutting his own son’s hand off is meant to reflect the emotional scars a parent can deliver to their child (perhaps some physical ones as well). I don’t know if I could forgive my dad if he literally cut my hand off, or if he killed my own mother, or tortured my sister, or was a literal serial-killer but seeing Luke forgive his father, and still have faith in his inner good, could help me be able to forgive my own father for things he’s said and done in the past.

It’s the exact same thing with Ben Solo. Ben Solo is the kid that has gone down the wrong path in life. They’ve lost their way. He’s hurt or disappointed the people who love and care about him. Ben Solo represents the idea that even if you’ve done bad things in life or have disappointed your loved ones, you can still come back from that and make amends. This message would be much stronger if Ben Solo actually survived and had to continue his life on a better path. Paying for your actions through self-sacrifice works for a paternal figure like Vader, but the same ending for a coming-of-age character like Ben is, in my opinion, weak and lazy writing. Paying for your actions through death is a rather pessimistic resolution for a character that younger audiences are meant to relate to. I’ve seen so many people get hung up on this idea of Ben Solo being a war-criminal or mass-murderer in-universe, but it seems to me many Star Wars fans forget what purpose Lucas always intended for these stories to serve. They measure Star Wars on the standards of reality rather than allegory.

Well said.

Revised first half of Ahch-to:
https://vimeo.com/407441816

Please keep in mind, as always, this is a rough mockup, just to give you guys a sense of what I’m doing.

spoilers

• Added new establishing shot
• Extended nearly every shot pre-Luke, to varying degrees
• Drastically reduced Luke’s blueness
• Reinserted original establishing shot to break up the two scenes
• Cut out mention of Rey Palpatine
• Added Luke walking in front of Rey (weird edit, but they do the same thing in the theatrical)
• Closed Rey’s mouth for one of the shots (if anyone wants to take a crack at doing this better than me, be my guest)

I think they’re all just groupies.

Seems a little convoluted to me, personally.

Didn’t hate myself enough to read that guy’s whole post but I thought is was funny that he said that Leia was never written as “running around calling males names.” It’s like these people have never watched these movies. Anyway, carry on.

Yeah, removing him from the climax is too extreme for me, plus Adam Driver as Ben Solo is basically the best part of the movie.

poppasketti said:

EddieDean said:

I’ll say it again: Representation is not politics. Representation is not an agenda.

This. So well said, EddieDean.

Agreed.

That said, hate to backseat mod, but politics aren’t allowed here and I think we all would rather we got back on topic.

ray_afraid said:

Plinkett (Mike) went to film school & knows what he’s talking about.

Trust me when I say plenty of people who went to film school don’t know what they’re talking about at all. Most, even.

KumoNin said:

Kind of a weird, possibly pointless note considering what you’ve set out as your goals, but considering you’re changing the lore anyway, I think leaving Kylo’s ultimate fate ambiguous, i.e. cutting away before he dies is kinda a good idea (thus avoiding repetitive “redeemed bad guy dies instantly after doing good thing” trope, and also not requiring fx to add him to Tatooine or anything like that).

I’m definitely considering alternatives to Ben’s fate, although personally I think cutting away after the kiss and never showing him again may be a step too far in terms of ambiguity.

And a question: are you planning to keep the way Rey defeats Palpatine the same as in the movie: by blocking force lightning with 2 lightsabers? (it’s super dumb)

I with you there, although I can’t really think of any alternative. I’m all ears though if someone comes up with something.

Thoughts, anyone? I understand it may be out of this edit’s scope, but on the other hand to me these elements are nearly as ew as rey palpatine and “Rey Skywalker”, speaking of which, is that final line staying? Changing that goes together with preserving “Rey the nobody”, does it not?

I don’t really see it as contradicting Rey Nobody, in fact I think it works well with it. In either scenario, she’s adopting the name because she’s fulfilling the Skywalker legacy, regardless of her upbringing.

That said, there is a chance, depending on what I do with the final scene, that the moment will be cut anyway.

Broom Kid said:

idir_hh said:

So they used two takes of the same scene back to back.
I’m amazed
…and insulted.

Lucas/Chew/Hirsch did the same thing more than a few times in 1977, IIRC.

I don’t think it’s insulting really. It’s just editing. The whole thing is a trick. Some tricks are better than others.

That there’s a big Zapruder-like YouTube video “exposing” it seems odd, to me. “They’re trying to fool you, but we see through their attempts!” Of course they’re trying to fool you. They’re filmmakers.

That said, I don’t really like the sequence. But re-using shots isn’t why I dislike it.

Nailed it. There’s quite a few things wrong here but none of them have to do with clever editing tricks that some Youtube geniuses think they’ve exposed.

StarkillerAG said:

DominicCobb said:

Get over it.

We’re in a fan edit thread. Not getting over things is the only way we can fix them. I think he should be allowed to criticize. Whether his criticisms are valid is another question, but you shouldn’t just try to shut him up like this.

In fairness, it’s not just that his criticisms are bad, but there’s no way to accomplish what he wants. In which case my suggestion is legitimately the best thing he can do.

Get over it.

NFBisms said:

Even if you believe Star Wars is just supposed to be about the Skywalkers, there’s nothing wrong with having the last trilogy be about the influence of that family and their story. That’s still ostensibly about them.

Rey Nobody, a girl who becomes a hero from being inspired by their legend, is a meaningful way to cap off their legacy. It’s a lot better than a daughter inheriting her father’s responsibility and just seeing it through. (also why Kylo/Ben not seeing his through was interesting!)

Exactly.

NeverarGreat said:

Eh, you can’t convince me it would have been worse than what we actually got.

It’s not as fun to disagree, especially when it’s in defense of a film I don’t care for, so I won’t.

krausfadr said:

DominicCobb said:

The goal is to make it more past-focused, justifying his decision to rebuild the mask. It’s sort of a contrast with Rey where she’s seeing a future she wants to prevent and Kylo’s seeing past mistakes he’s trying to reconcile with.

Ok you’re right so really no way around the TLJ flashbacks then. If they can be shortened though similarly to the Rey vision flashes (but maybe not quite as insanely quick) then it wouldn’t feel as fanedity to me at least.

Yeah, that’s what I’m working on now.

That last shot you added of Rey (from the Rey vision), was that behind the scenes, the one of her in the hood looking to the left side of the screen because it looks fucking great.

Yep! With some basic color correction to have it fit the other footage.

OutboundFlight said:

All due respect Starkiller, but I found it cringe-inducingly obvious that TFA was setting up Rey as an important person. Evidence -

1. When BB8 says his identity is a secret, Rey says “me too”. Supposing that’s sarcasm, there’s no need to say that and confuse the audience.

There’s no supposing, she’s being sarcastic, there’s no other way to read the line. That’s the whole point, and there shouldn’t be any confusion as to what they’re telling the audience.

2. When Kylo is told a girl helped BB8, he asks “what girl?” as if there’s a girl on Jakku that is important. I guess he was just curious?

Yeah, why not.

3. Maz asks Han, “who’s the girl”. Why would they cut on this when all Han says is “idk just some person lol”.

Why show him say that if we know that’s all there is to say?

4. Kylo and Snoke both seem confused in TFA as to how Rey is so powerful, suggesting lineage.

I don’t think they seem very surprised at all, just intrigued.