G&G-Fan

There can be multiple reasons a character does something.

The Emperor’s insistence on being there to witness the Rebellion’s defeat is a form of unintentional self-sabotage.

He spent his whole life on this conquest for power, and when he finally gets it… there’s no thrill. He spends all day sitting in a chair. How boring is that? He needs to put himself in positions where he can get a new high off of showing off his power.

That’s why he needs to be there for the Battle of Endor. He needs that high, because otherwise he’s just feels empty. And it’s ultimately his undoing.

Many say Vader got the short end of the stick in having to do the Emperor’s dirty work, but what I find interesting, especially in Canon, is you can tell that Vader does get a thrill out of his missions. He likes to show off his power, like the Emperor.

The Emperor and Vader are essentially in a toxic codependent father-son relationship: they can’t live without each other unless they have a replacement (for both, this is Luke). Otherwise Vader doesn’t have a mission, and the Emperor doesn’t have a throne to sit on. You can’t have politicians without enforcers, and you can’t be the Sith Master if you’re not the Master of any Sith. Vader may be a slave of the Emperor, but in a twisted way, the Emperor is also a slave of Vader. What’s he gonna do without him?

Thinking about how they could’ve done something like Transformers One where Anakin is knighted Darth Vader at the same time Obi-Wan is given the rank of Jedi Master (or names himself Ben Kenobi).

Ryan Golden’s read of lines for Vader for the Vader-Fett subplot discussed for the first act.
I incorporated the idea of Fett using the Sarlacc to capture Luke. The last line is my own idea: Vader kills Fett for his failure.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/159XcW70MwSRVj4Ce8ThuxNHrsO5Hkg87/view?usp=sharing

If one uses this lines, please always credit Golden, and do not use these to train AI.

Ryan Golden’s read of Vader saying “Your mother once thought as you do”.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Xcpjwvi5-6F5Gko15ldeUV3gvtqpnkWE/view?usp=sharing

Make sure to credit him for any usage, and do not use his lines to train AI.

AlbertKleppin said:

This looks pretty good and I really think more artists doing this could lead to a lot of great PT edits that bring them that much closer to the OT. My one critique is I feel I can see just a bit too much of the “painting” texture artifacts, as if it were actually painted. The amazing things about the mattes in the OT, at least most of them, and at least in my opinion, is that you can barely spot the fact that they’re paintings, and the painting/canvas texture is barely visible. Just my two cents, but nice work!

Thanks!
The painting texture artifacts are something I tried my best to keep on the down-low, but unfortunately that’s actually the least painting-like I could make it look.

One way to think of it is, I like the idea of trying to make the Prequels look slightly older then the Originals. As if they were actually made in order. I want this because the Originals are still gonna be the best no matter what you do, so trying to make the movies actually be able to be watched in 1-6 order is pretty great IMO.

Theatrical OT
Canon Marvel Darth Vader comics (2017 and 2015 runs, haven’t finished reading 2020 yet)
Rogue One
Andor
Mandalorian S1&2

First two shots of Padme’s Ruminations with classic style matte paintings.

https://streamable.com/hrrw0u

It is regraded, as will be the entire movie. I want to give Padme’s scenes this angelic yellow color.

SparkySywer said:

G&G Fan, can you give a clip of the matte painting being used in the movie?

That was just an initial test on a pic of I found to see if I could accomplish making a CGI image look like a matte painting.
So I started working on an actual scene. I decided to continue with Padme’s Ruminations. These are the first two shots.
The clip is regraded, as will be my version of the entire movie.
First thing I did was stabilize the shots. A user on thestarwarstrilogy.com pointed out to me that the OT shots are mostly stable, so removing the digital zooms brings it closer to that classic feel, whilst also making this more convenient. Then I took a snapshot of the shot within Premiere.
I imported the image into Photoshop, selected the backgrounds and used the Oil Paint filter, tuning it to my liking. I used Generative Fill to remove all of the traffic cars, not only because they don’t work as a painting and I don’t want to painfully rotoscope them. I also find them irritating: it makes the shots too noisy and distracting.
Then I exported those elements separately from the rest of the shot as a transparent pngs and placed them on top of the video, adding grain in Premiere so that they weren’t just flat still images.

https://streamable.com/hrrw0u

The next and more difficult step will be figuring out how to do this process when there’s a character standing in the matte. I can’t just slap the image on like I can these shots.

I have made a new version of this edit. The first post is changed to reflect this, as has the listing on IFDB.

My ADHD meds (Adderall) aren’t really working all that well anymore. My head is cluttered again and I’m not happy except for when I’m doing stuff related to my hobbies (Star Wars, Marvel, Paleontology, Godzilla, etc.) or talking to a friend, which doesn’t happen as often as I’d like. I’m cluttering myself with amount of hobby projects I’m working on bc my focus is gone, I want to do so much all at the same time, but I can’t. I have to focus and that’s hard.

I miss when my meds were new, when my own head felt like a nice place to call home for the first time.

1. If one wanted to add more monsters/creatures to the OT, you could take stop-motion creatures from classic Harryhausen monster movies. Not much more then a cameo, but it’d add some atmosphere.

2. Turn CGI backgrounds from the SEs into matte paintings using the same technique I used to make Coruscant look like a classic style matte painting (which I plan to do with the entire trilogy). This way you could keep the Cloud City windows and not have them be CGI.
   

3. Ambitious. Make to make some of the CGI creatures in the SEs look like stop-motion, like the Dewbacks for example. Would probably involve sharpening the textures and changing the frame-rate. The effects look so primitive I think with some tweaks you could convince a viewer that it’s stop-motion.

First attempt at Coruscant turned into a classic style matte painting

Mocata said:

It could just be the traditional stoic character type though. Emotions, particularly in male heroes, are expected to be kept inside. ‘True heroes shed blood not tears,’ etc.

It’s admittedly just my interpretation, as someone very into psychology.

Mocata said:

Very true, although he doesn’t show remorse at all after they leave the farm. He also seems only briefly upset about Obi-wan. Possibly just straightforward characterization, possibly just how the hero is written in this genre. Even Leia just says ‘we have no time for our sorrows’ before the final battle and moves on. Then again perhaps this is better than these days when every lead has to be full of trauma and regret.

My interpretation is that he inherited a natural tendency to go cold when experiencing extremely vulnerable emotion from his father. It’s one of the ways the ESB reveal adds a layer to SW77. Tendencies in emotional regulation have a genetic component.
The difference between father and son is that Luke then allows himself to feel and then lets go, so he gets to remain that warm hero we know and love. Vader doesn’t, so he remains stoic.

The people who go cold are actually the most sensitive, because they’re too sides of the same coin. I relate to that deeply with my ADHD.

G&G-Fan said:

Since we were discussing the odd lack of detail of the 1997 CGI shoots in the 2019 versions, I wonder if one could restore it using 4K97 for those shots? Since it’s be a scan of the actual film print it’d probably be the highest resolution out there for those shots.

Is this a valid solution or was I talking out of my ass?

JadedSkywalker said:

For me personally Battle of the Heroes is the worst lightsaber fight of the prequel trilogy. It’s too much style over substance. It’s supposed to be the most personal one in the entire Saga, but I can’t get over all the twirling they do its just ridiculous. And the cgi looks so bad.

I relate to this bc even tho I said earlier I enjoy that duel, I watched a version without music recently and realized Williams was hard carrying.
And I don’t think that’s unfair considering they didn’t include the music to the first part of the Vader vs. Luke ESB duel bc they realized it was better without it. Scenes are more then their music.
Maybe it’s my ADHD but it’s just overstimulating noise. The grounded swordfights in the OT, where you felt the stakes, the power of every slash, is completely gone. There are parts of the duel I like, I don’t dislike it I guess, but it should be cut in half. Maybe even a quarter.

It’s funny to me. For years I thought I loved the duel but it turned out half the time I was just jamming to John Williams. I guess I shouldn’t complain too much.

TiiN said:

In general a good idea!

A very simple solution: Text overlays

Rename the Titel in “The 100 Days of Revenge of the Sith” or something like this and start with
“DAY 1” with the battle of coruscant
“DAY 10” Nightmares
…

Padme deliberately hides her belly with loose-fitting clothes so as not to reveal her pregnancy.

The time spans in Star Wars movies are not defined. You also don’t fly to another planet within 20 minutes. Nevertheless, little time passes in Revenge of the Sith. It is said to be about 9 days.

Yeah, that’s my issue; Revenge of the Sith, the film that would benefit most from the timeline being more vague (so one could interpret Anakin’s psychological decline as far more gradual) has like, the most defined timeline. You can tell it’s supposed to be happened over the course of days, and it’s annoying.

My only issue is that text overlays are not in any of the other films, so it may feel like it’s too much of a stylistic deviation? Maybe?

Another idea, relating to AOTC: to completely remove Jango Fett’s connection to Boba Fett, he’s recontextualized as one of the multiple Mandalorian warriors used as DNA templates for the clones, and is named Jango Prax (idea came from a AOTC fan rewrite). His son is not Boba. This would likely require the Kaminoans to be dubbed in an alien language.

I like how Luke doesn’t join the Rebellion or become a Jedi because he wants revenge against the Empire for killing his Aunt and Uncle. He doesn’t blame himself, he accepts that it was out of his control and let go. He’s not shooting down stormtroopers out of rage. It’s for a noble cause, and out of self-defense.

A good contrast to his father.

Hal 9000 said:

Do you think he’d be willing to apply his filters to the AI line we have, as well?

Sorry for late reply.

He’s not a fan of AI, so likely not.

Spartacus01 said:

In the Prequel Trilogy, Anakin was in his early 20s, while in the Original Trilogy he was in his early 40s. It is natural that his behavior and mannerisms would have changed over time.

G&G-Fan said:

My issues with the Prequels is that they too often handle his vulnerabilities in an almost infantile way. Way less often then OT Luke. It works for him because it’s less consuming.
When Anakin flies off the handle, it’s less of an adult anger and more amateur and teenage. A 23 year old man should not be yelling “It’s not fair!” in the childish manner he does.
Compare Vader angrily commanding his troops in ANH to that scene. It’s just not the same.
While you can argue it’s because he’s young for 2/3 of the trilogy, that’s one of it’s fundamental flaws of the trilogy IMO.

ROTJ Luke never acts as teenage as ROTS Anakin does sometimes. And he’s also 23.
The point of ROTJ is that, despite how much he’s grown, Luke is just as prone to turning to the dark side as Anakin was.
Both trilogies are supposed to be about one’s personal responsibility in their choices to be selfless or selfish.

George Lucas:

“It was designed to be a film, like, mythology, of “this is what we stand for, you’re about to enter the real world. You’re 12-years old, you’re gonna go on into the big world, […] here is a little idea of some of the things you should pay attention to.” Friendships, honesty, trust and doing the right thing. Living on the light side, avoiding the dark side. Those are things that it was meant to do.”

(for the record, he says in another similar quote that the films are for everybody, but are also supposed to be made to be suited for 12-year-olds)

Anytime it seems like the Prequels are trying to divert responsibility away from Anakin for his fall, or make it look like he had more of a reason to turn then his son, is a misinterpretation as a result of poor execution on Lucas’ part.
The only difference between father and son in their battles with the dark side is that they made different choices. One chose power-hunger, the other chose love. Or at least, that’s how it should be.

Anakin doesn’t need to be exactly like OT Vader, but a younger version of the same character, recognizable as him.
Like 2017 Comic Vader: he’s cold, but at times more openly rageful, boastful, and impulsive. Yet, it’s handled delicately, he’s written like an adult, and it’s recognizably Vader. It’s a respectable younger version of OT Vader.

Lucas already made a trilogy where the character goes from a more youthful, teenage anger to a colder, more adult anger, and it’s called the Original Trilogy. It’s actually astounding that ROTJ Luke acts more like OT Vader then ROTS Anakin, especially considering the former is the one that rejects the dark side. There’s no reason Lucas couldn’t have done a similar thing again.

it is uncommon for individuals to retain the same attitudes and ways of behaving in their 20s as in their 40s. This is especially true in Anakin’s case, given that he fell to the Dark Side and became a Sith Lord.

The point of the Prequels is to show how Anakin became Vader. He fell to the dark side and became a Sith in the movies.

Spartacus01 said:

Furthermore, I do not remember any particular instance where Vader represses his emotions in front of Luke. Could you provide some examples?

Luke: “I’ve accepted the truth that you were once Anakin Skywalker, my father.”
Vader: (angry) “That name no longer as any meaning for me!”

Luke: “It is the name of your true self you’ve only forgotten. I know there is good in you. […]”
(Vader turns on Luke’s lightsaber as a subtle threat, reminding him who has the power in the situation, a defense mechanism against his son’s armor piercing words.)
Vader: (changing the subject, cold again) “I see you have constructed a new lightsaber. […] Indeed you are powerful, as the Emperor has foreseen.”

Luke: (compassionate) “Come away with me.”
Vader: (vulnerable) “Obi-Wan once thought as you do.”
(immediately goes cold again)
Vader: “You don’t know the power of the dark side. […]”

Luke: (firm) “I will not turn. And you’ll be forced to kill me.”
Vader: (cold as ice) “If that is your destiny.” (literally telling his son he will kill him if he doesn’t turn to the dark side)

Vader: (vulnerable) “It is too late for me, son.”
(motions his troops)
Vader: (cold again) “The Emperor will show you the true nature of the Force. He is your master now.”

He spends the entire conversation either ignoring Luke’s words, getting mad at him, or briefly admitting something before immediately going cold again, talking about the dark side, power, and the Emperor (the things that have defined his life to this point). Because Vader is a tyrannical egomaniac who loves feeling invincible, he refuses to allow himself to ever feel “weak” again. He’s a toxic-masculine character.
This conversation is the exception. He only opened up because his son showed him compassion and believes in him despite only knowing him as a Sith Lord who cut off his hand and tortured/killed friends. That was enough to weaken the armor (and thus his connection to the dark side) but not enough to destroy it, and he doubles down again and again. The armor can only be destroyed by himself by making the choice to be compassionate instead of cold by saving his son.

Vader represses his vulnerable emotions in the entirety of the first two movies and the rest of ROTJ until he redeems himself. One of the most on-the-nose examples:

Luke: (sensing the repressed conflict in his father) “I feel the good in you, the conflict.”
Vader: (cold) “There is no conflict.”

Channel72 said:

I know that Vader’s evil Mordor castle is a product of the 1970s, but since it never actually appeared in the OT, I guess I never really liked it. I don’t like things that make Vader closer to being Dracula or something. Vader to me is more of an efficient, dystopian villain, who spends his time in sterile, technological conference rooms and control centers. He has no interest in or time for melodramatic things like evil fortresses surrounded by lava. That sort of chthonic or infernal imagery is way too on the nose and thematically inconsistent with Vader’s story. Vader lives in an efficient, sterile world of starship technology and life support systems.

Vader’s the sci-fi equivalent of a wraith. Wraiths live in hell.

Yes, Vader’s cold. But he has a furnace heart, this boiling tranquil rage that surfaces when the opportunity arises to use it as a weapon to enforce his rule, when he conquers opponents and punishes his own men. Almost like lava.
When your heart is that scalding, all your blood goes cold, like a third-degree burn.

It’s not the first time he’s been associated with Hell imagery.

Two of the SE edits during the Death Star chase actually contradict the original plot.

The stormtroopers leading Han and Chewie into the barracks and “Close the blast doors”. Since they’re only pretending to try and kill them, and are actually allowing them to escape, it’s odd to lead them to a barrack since Han will then wonder why more troopers didn’t pursue them. And if the plan to close the blast doors on them worked, what are they gonna do then? It’s gonna be really awkward to make them think they escaped because of their own skills when you literally have them trapped.

And yes, I’m sure that plan was devised by that point. As indicated by Vader’s line, “[The princess] may yet be of use to us.” That’s why they didn’t terminate her immediately.

A way to have Luke have been on Dagobah between ESB and ROTJ without moving the Dagobah scenes to the beginning.
I prefer the scene arrangement in the original because I like the buildup of the first act, and the OT in isolation doesn’t need to have Luke train more, because it’s the original and therefore is free to establish how long Jedi training takes.
However, I think having Luke train for a year works as long as there’s a way to retain the scene arrangement of the original.

Take the deleted scene of Luke turning on his new lightsaber and putting it into R2. Background changed to Dagobah. Then simply wipe to the droids on Tatooine. Rest of the movie goes on as normal.

Luke returns to Tatooine after having spent a year on Dagobah simultaneously training and coordinating the plan with his friends using holograms.

Fortress Vader - the Perfect Star Wars Halloween Story

The story of a dark lord who obtains a haunted mask instructing him to build a castle on a lava planet to resurrect the dead