EddieDean

I really like these. It’s not sacrilege to people like me, who grew up with the OT but would still prefer to be able to think of every episode as part of a whole.

It’d be my preference that any such edits used Adywan’s as a base (at least for ESB for now), given the huge progress he’s made in polishing them up to the best possible standard -though I don’t know how possible that is for editors.

RogueLeader said:

[Incomplete Death Star II Dish Chat]

This is an absolutely fantastic idea and solution.

In that case I revoke my joke and turn it back into a legitimate offer. My voice is hella posh.

I’d be happy to lend my voice to dub any stormtroopers Ady wants to dub back over with the original voices later.

I’m definitely on the ‘pro’ side of the droid head. The prequels happened. This is a very very subtle nod.

One of the options I think was considered a while back was removing Phasma from the end of TFA, so the Finn/Phasma arc starts in TFA then ends in TLJ, rather than starting and ending in TFA only to restart and re-end in TLJ. You then have the practicality of an alternative to bring the shields down in TFA, though.

What would be an appropriate recolouring? I imagine technical limitations will be the major decision maker there, but being ignorant of what those might look like I’d vote for black, with hints of green, effectively applying the colour scheme of the Death Trooper armour from Rogue One to Phasma’s armour. Looks like we’re not going to see black troopers in the sequel trilogy, so it’d make this new trooper distinct as a clearly important trooper while still being consistent with other imperial schemes.

That’s really fantastic - the only comment I have is that in the scene where Luke turns to her it’s a bit too foggy that the whole background looks white, as if you were going for an unreal dreamscape, but then you get more details. It was a little jarring, I’d tone down the fogging just a little.

Incredible, Nev.

Over a year ago I think he said it’d be all new, rather than the cargo shuttle from Rogue One. Though I’d certainly vote for the latter.

I don’t think you should be including bears on Ach To.

Yesssss!

BleuAsh said:

I really like what you have done here. I do think a jarring wake up right after she holds the lightsaber out and luke spins to see her is critical to bring it all together, it can just be a zoom in with her eyes snapping open. Then R2 can “wake” and then Rey can be in that meeting with the map because she already is awake and the following scene will establish how she will get there to Ahch-to.

I agree, missing a wakeup was just a touch jarring, I think it would be a necessary bookend to that scene. A little more dreamy visual effect could be good too, I think it was just a little too subtle.

Sir Ridley said:

DZ-330 said:

I’d love for SirRidley to make a version of the crawls with the actual titles if possible. Would be cool to have both versions for those who prefer the original titles.

I’ll consider it! Others have asked for that as well. I doubt Hal would make a separate edition of the films just to change a few words, but maybe he could have the crawls with original titles as separate downloads that could be edited into the films by those who want them.

I respect Hal’s right to title his own films how he rights, but selfishly I’d love to be able to trick my daughter into thinking that Hal’s are the versions as originally released.

Excellent, Hal. Looking forward to it.

As a big follower of Smudger’s, a fan of the Clone Wars content (fat trimmed), and of the MCU style approach as a focusing lens for an anthology-style show, allow me to say:

YES. DO THIS.

This is absolutely a great idea and I’ll help in any way I can. The Clone Wars deserves to be moviefied, fat trimmed, and refocused.

Colour correction isn’t a bad idea either.

Christ, Nev, how are you able to turn ideas into reality so quickly?

No particular opinion on that last shot, but I just want to throw my hat in the ring in terms of awe and support. Keep up the good work.

OK

It is kind of amazing. I don’t begrudge Ady at all, since it’s his meticulous dedication that’s making the absolute gold standard for fanedits, but the timescales here (enough to generate nostalgia) are nuts. I’m sure there’re a handful of us that check these threads not far off daily, and yet, for all we know, we’re looking at another decade or so until we see Eps 4 and 6. And yet we’re all along for the ride, because we know Ady is going to deliver something incredible for the amount of time spent.

NeverarGreat said:

EddieDean said:

Can she wake only after the weapon fires (which with yours as with Hal’s, comes after Han’s death)? A bit of artificial camera shake?

Not sure I understand this.

Nor me; I was pretty tired when I posted it and it doesn’t make sense in the light of day.

Can she wake only after the weapon fires (which with yours as with Hal’s, comes after Han’s death)? A bit of artificial camera shake?

I’m just echoing what’s already been suggested, +1ing that idea.

I’m about to have the time and setup to start pursuing a PC-based hobby, and I had thought about getting into fanediting, having been a big consumer for a decade or so. And I’ve been a fan of Smudger’s Clone Wars edits for that long too, advocating them for friends and making guides on what he’s done and where it fits. I can’t promise the community that I’d get to making any edits myself, but I would certainly love to help keep the momentum up on these at the very least, in Smudger’s stead.

Smudger, that’s tragic, this has been a wonderful project for a long time. Totally understandable that you’d want to drop it after these frustrations, but I’d like to echo the request that you share all you can about your plans. If you’re willing, I’m sure there’d be plenty in the community who’d consider picking up the flag (myself included, in the medium term) and perhaps this could become a community project.

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.

I went back through your proposed changes, NeverarGreat. The vast, vast majority seem wonderful - this will definitely become my archival version. I have a couple of questions about a few of your items:

• Edit out Finn’s accidental activation of the Falcon’s game table. - I was going to advocate in favour of keeping this (nothing wrong with a cheeky easter egg so long as they’re not overdone), but then realised you are including it as part of Rey’s link with Kylo, which makes a lot of sense. So is the main reason you’re taking it out here just so you don’t repeat a shot? Or for the benefit of not putting a joke in that earlier scene for its tone? Or for using its lightness to contrast with the threat of Kylo overshadowing it in the interrogation? I don’t have an opinion either way, I’m just interested to know the thought process.

• Re-score the in-universe music in Maz’s castle to something more in keeping with the Byzantine decoration. - This is the only one I have a strong objection to! I really love this song. Which is subjective, and perhaps you don’t, but I don’t feel like the song not matching the decor (in a fictional universe only borrowing from our own) is strong enough to justify the change, especially weighed against the quality of the song.

• Kylo’s conversation with Snoke is bereft of Hux’s intrusion. Snoke does not learn the location of the Resistance Base in this film. - Sounds perfectly reasonable since this is using Hal’s edit as a foundation. Do you expect to need to do anything to TLJ (which AFAIK you don’t have plans to touch yet) in order to accommodate this? TESB didn’t need to explain ‘oh btw they’ve been found’, but again I’m just interested to know what if anything your plans are here.

• Remove the final journey to Luke’s island. This material is instead repurposed as the dream sequence preceding the interrogation. The final shot of the film is the Falcon jumping to Hyperspace. - Perfectly good suggestion (coupled with buying the start of TLJ more time for the acquisition of bombers, etc), but again, just interested to know what knock-on effect you think this might have. Do you foresee needing to amend the opening of TLJ to get Rey in front of Luke?

• Edit: You also mentioned withholding the Poe reveal on Takodana. Will you still be showing as much as possible of those lovely water-skimming shots, but just be cutting the cuts to Poe’s face?