Hal 9000

Yeah, for thematic reasons it would be better to have the narrator say “Skywalker” rather than “Luke Skywalker.”

And Dominic, I just meant that one could walk away from seeing the Luke puppet disappear (quickly be pulled below the stage) thinking they were laughing at his apparent demise. If the TLJ scene were set right before this, I don’t think it’d be a problem at all but it could be misread.

Perhaps if the walker sends a fireball toward Luke but he disappears and the ball continues on its path without hitting him.

Yes, we could make the puppet show a few seconds longer if needed for the idea being pursued.

Also, if we slip “Skywalker” into the alien dialogue or replace the dialogue altogether, the name ‘Skywalker’ should be said before cutting to the stage so that the audience has a better chance at registering what it is meant to convey. We already get the hint that it’s about Luke’s exploits in TLJ ala Broom Boy.

Hopefully we can still allow that shot to make sense as it is, in context.

yeah, there’s no downside. Replace a background figure that doesn’t mean anything with something that either does or at least doesn’t any more than the original.

Ideally we could communicate something worthy of the laughter of the child crowd, but if not we could resort to cutting the shot.

As usual it’s hard to imagine what to do here because I don’t know what will end up being possible for you guys. Luke hitting a home run and taking down a walker? Having a walker collapse in sync with lowering his hand? Kylo Ren’s pants falling down?

Wow, MR, I’m beginning to worry about you. That looks insane. I’m sure the rest can be covered by foreground puppets or objects.

And lol @ just having them watch TLJ on a CRT.

Octorox said:

I like this idea. I’d love to see the Luke puppet brush the dust off his shoulder, eliciting a laugh from the children.

I had the same thought, but I can’t imagine how you’d convey this so quickly.

What’s so funny about the original puppet thing anyway? Seemed like they were chucking a kid into the fire.

TestingOutTheTest said:

So you guys are apparently discussing an idea of Rey turning to see the children watching a puppet show of Luke’s actions in TLJ; I disagree with this. Why, you may ask?

The point of the scene with the Aki Aki children is to establish the stakes for the movie, to drive home our connection with the galaxy (especially in the context of this film alone) and show what the heroes are really fighting for; reducing it to a payoff of the events of TLJ undermines that.

I don’t see how that would be the case at all. I read the scene as hammering home how Rey grew up orphaned and without a sense of community. She sees a communal experience with children laughing together and is then asked her family name, to which she has to admit she has none.

Star Wars hasn’t really ever cared about tying stakes to anything solid; it’s always been abstract or related to the main characters’ own connections, from Alderaan to Naboo and ever on.

Tying this moment to the Battle of Crait isn’t a payoff, it’s carrying that idea forward. We see how the legend leads to a revival and rise of Skywalker that coincides with Rey taking the name. It is thematically important for this film, building on the previous one, which makes it even more valuable IMHO.

At the end of the day I’d say go for whatever is doable, as having something will be better than having nothing but a good idea.

I imagine the Luke figure batting fire toward the walker would be the best bet for about a second of footage followed by laughter. If Luke vanished without reappearing it may seem like the children are laughing at the defeat of this traitorous Jedi figure.

Even so, there’s probably a better idea in one of our heads.

Thanks for the kind words, and it’s always the best feedback to hear about someone seeing one of these and not noticing anything.

The Force speed was never removed from prior versions, and has been there all along. It’s a fair issue with the original film, but I never tackled it as such.
The second thing is indeed something altered. The snippet where Anakin pulls alongside Sebulba only to get flamed was added after being upscaled from the DVD deleted scenes reel. In that reel, a snippet of Tusken Raiders shooting at Jawas was set between those two shots.

To me the prequels are very much finished products at this point, so I don’t foresee going back yet again. Seven versions is enough for me, I’m pretty sure.

Right. This project isn’t an indictment, it’s making kick-ass spiked lemonade.

Damn, you guys are on it! Nothing should surprise me anymore.

Rey looks thoughtfully at the children watching after this shot, so it would really feel like it belonged there to begin with.

Man, I’m looking forward to what you madlads can do with real props and filming. Holy shit.

JEDIT: Aaaaaand, what does a cute little alien ask Rey right after this?

I would be more than happy to include such a thing if it can be done and feel relatively seamless. Crazy to me that there’s anyone out there who thinks, “Yeah, that sounds like something possible for me to do.”

That was a weird episode. What were those random zombies? lol

Yeah, it’d be nice for something more substantial to Luke’s effect beyond a new opening crawl and “For Skywalker” during the attack.

And MR, that saber clip is gorgeous. Beautiful introduction to it!

Hey, that’s a cool idea! I think it would be just a little muddy to have the First Order seeming to invade the galaxy all at once while Palpatine’s announcement goes out. Seems like they’d already have done that well before this point.

I don’t think I’ll go for it for this project, but it’s certainly cool!

Yeah, while a little confusing on first viewing, those are supposed to be First Order Destroyers, as the ‘Final Order’ fleet was still relegated to Exegol. Except for one ship that just left on its own to blow up Kijimi.

Is there footage of this idea? First I’ve heard of it.

I’m not sure I really notice a difference between the two! Although when I look at the mp4 you send I do see banding on the right side of the frame.
I don’t suppose it’d be possible to render out only the added light effect so I could try overlaying it myself? Highest quality, preferably an mov or avi.

Sure, why not?

sherlockpotter said:

Maybe my monitor just isn’t very good, but I don’t see any color banding in the most recent screenshots. Is that not the case?

Well, it looks okay but it seems like compressing it introduces the banding. Maybe tonight I’ll try exporting it exactly as I will for a final product and see how it looks.

I’m with Icecream on this one. Having a quick shot to show the medal ties a few things together well. I just hope we can get it so there’s no color banding, even if it means avoiding adding a light effect.

Me neither. Never say never, but I imagine V2 will accomplish everything we set out to do with this project.

Well, that and the Rey Nobody version, too.

And then I’ll try not to cry while burying the sabers in the sand, I guess.

Don’t worry, I already have the footage for after the saber is teleported so that’s no problem.

And take your time, MR. I’ll be ready whenever you are able to get it.

Yes, could a blue be applied or something to the added light?

And this is just to test placement; I was playing with overlaying the original shot to try to reduce the banding I was getting. And I’m going to have to reapply the LUTs again once the editing for V2 is done because of the weird workflow I have. So nothing to worry about there; it’ll be the same in the final product.

And yes, removing that Finn line was easy. I shortened the shot of Poe just a little so it doesn’t feel like a pause.

Mildly-yellow said:

In all honesty I think adding in the medal is unnecessary. I think having the shot on Ben not cut is a more emotionally resonant, him realizing his mother I find more compelling. If it was me I wouldn’t worry about the medal.

It’s a little thing but I feel it’d be good to do unless it causes a problem, as it ties Leia into the Han scene more closely, helps you to notice the one shot the medal was present in that scene, and makes Chewie receiving it not come out of nowhere.

That said, there is severe color banding present in the right side of the frame, especially when compressed while exporting from my NLE. Sherlockpotter, I don’t know how you applied the effect to the shot, but I don’t suppose there would be a way to export ONLY the added stuff and not the shot itself? Or, is there a way to export in a higher quality than the mp4 wrapper you used?

Here’s what I’m leaning toward as far as placement: https://vimeo.com/515582857