Thanks very much, pleasehello! I will take a look at the clip tonight, though I don’t anticipate there being any problems with it.
So, I guess Hux being humiliated in front of the other officers by Snoke will remain in the edit ? Darthrush posted an interesting - albeit not 100% perfect imho - take on it.
Yes. I’m not out to rescue Hux from being made fun of; he ought to be. They aren’t taking potshots at him because he’s a white man, but because he’s a Nazi egomaniac. That little scene sets up Snoke’s line, “Tied on the end of a string, indeed,” and his smirk toward Kylo as they pass each other by.
Thanks for the ETA, Ridley. I still look forward to seeing how that shakes out, but I will likely allow the Frank Oz original to remain for my cut. I’ve gotten over the initial shock of the Sesame Street-ness of it. Sort of like how 3PO felt so weirdly out of place when he first appeared in TFA because of how modern everything else was handled. He is very 1930’s retrofuture, even in 1977.
I might already have this one in the can. I did something similar for my edit.
Do you want to wipe from Poe back to the island after the “dead heroes, no leaders” conversation with Leia?
Awesome, I appreciate that. Yes, that is the point at which we would transition back.
And yeah, I’m still using Final Cut Pro 7, actually. And you’ll pry it from my cold, dead hands. If I take on a fan editing project of any seriousness going forward, I will dual-boot a copy of Mac OS 10.12 in order to keep running it. Final Cut Pro X can bite my shiny metal ass.
Also, I snuck in a Wilhelm scream. It’ll be up to you to find it, once this thing is released. I didn’t try to add someone saying, “I have a bad feeling about this,” because BB8 says the line (I guess) and because I doubt there’d be a way to do it that isn’t jarring.
So, if you can accept BB8’s delivery of the line, this edit will also keep the Wilhelm tradition going.
If we could address the radial wipe, I am very pleased with the current state of affairs regarding this edit and might render out a second workprint. Not that I’d recommend watching the whole thing again yet, mind you, for those who watched the first one.
Things that remain -
I still need to find a way to apply DrDre’s LUT to my footage.
There are pros and cons to using the package deal of ‘Luke has a Moment’ and ‘Finn and Poe’
Would be nice to rescore that scene, but the music fits it much better than the tree scene and the tree scene would be very difficult to rescore (might be okay as is)
Radial wipe from Poe back to the island (would be nice)
Sir Ridley’s upcoming augmented Yoda puppetry (might just be better to leave it as is)
Still wish there was a way to remove Poe’s “big ass door”
Yeah… I am very doubtful that I’ll be able to pull off reinstating that snippet scene to my liking. It’s all right, though. The three of them bounding off in their AT-ST serves as a scene bumper fine as it is.
If you have Premiere yourself, pleasehello, would you terribly mind creating a radial wipe for me from Poe to the island? The precise timing is not important, since the audio on both sides is pretty easy. Just try to conserve as many frames as possible while doing a reasonable match for the original in terms of timing.
It really is the little things. If you can’t or would prefer not to, I understand. But I can’t seem to stack clock wipes in a way that will yield the correct result.
Okay, Plan A at this point is to go ahead and restructure those few scenes. We’ll get Luke’s moment, then cut to Leia, the whole bit.
The problem is that the “where you belong” scene sets up the snippet as Finn and Rose escape the destroyer. As you can see below, what it seems like I would have to do to get that to work is pretty rough, audio-wise. What do you guys think about keeping the Finn and Poe deleted scene and NOT using the Finn and Rose snippet?
https://vimeo.com/270257073
password: fanedit
Also, does anyone know what the right name is for the wipe transition effect as we go from Rey saying, “I’m not leaving without you” to the ‘day in the life of Lonely Luke’ sequence? It’s similar to a clock wipe, but from both directions at once. I don’t believe my NLE can replicate this effect. Right now I have a horizontal center wipe as we go from Poe back to the island. I’d prefer to use the same wipe as in the theatrical, but it’s not a big deal.
Well, we’ll see. I’ve got an idea of how it could go, so whenever I can I will try to implement it. If it’s seamless, I could include just the scene between Finn and Poe and the snippet after Finn and Rose escape the destroyer.
He’s still a big player in the movie, with a throughline of committing to a cause and giving himself to it, being tested by DJ and Phasma along the way.
Someone could certainly take this edit and plug some more deleted scenes into it, though this one will probably only end up featuring less than a minute’s worth altogether. I think, if they were going to cut the Finn scenes with the fleet, it makes sense to order the final cut as they have. So, I’m going to preliminarily conclude that the ‘Luke has a moment’ scene really stands or falls based on whether to include those other scenes. Which I would rather not do. Or perhaps I could render an alternate cut with them. We’ll see, I guess.
I would prefer to allow the removal of most of Canto Bight to lessen the bloat of the movie, and I feel that adding that stuff back in would counteract that benefit.
JEDIT: Dumb typo
You could always try and find other places to put the scene. You could even place it after Rey leaves with the Falcon and Luke feels like he has hit an all time low. I think it would be a great placement as well since it really gives you a sense of desperation before we enter the end of the Second Act.
I would not want to place that scene anywhere else in the film.
The Luke scene is very important. Rian’s excuses for cutting it make no sense.
I missed why you’re opposed to cutting to Leia as was intended?
Cutting to Leia would dictate that I would need to cut back to Luke and Rey before the fleet is attacked. Without committing to re-adding 2 or 3 deleted scenes that all rely on each other, that would make for a very quick, abrupt transition back to the island.
Worst case I just don’t put the scene back in; it was designed to be juxtaposed with Leia and the island sequence in the theatrical was designed with that scene having been removed.
Just saying if it doesn’t work out, no big deal.
Well, at any rate, I think I got it more or less how I remember it being done by whomever it was.
The only thing is the music. I left in a terrible audio shift in this clip, and it is NOT finished. I need an idea for a piece of music to use for the ‘Luke has a Moment’ snippet, which I won’t be able to tackle tonight.
https://vimeo.com/270009825
password: fanedit
I remember seeing a clip of the ‘Luke has a Moment’ scene being reintegrated into the film without cutting to Leia afterward. I can’t seem to find this clip, though I remember it being executed very well.
Anyone know whose clip I am remembering?
I agree with Octorox. Thanks for the suggestion, though. It is well executed.
I can definitely play around with that. I sort of agree.
Flows nicely. I like it!
Glad to hear it! I replaced the link with one with better picture. Looks bluish, so I’ll have to play with it to get those 3 or 4 shots to blend in.
This still needs a little tweaking with the color correction, but here’s something.
https://vimeo.com/269908890
password: fanedit
Try again. Was it still just processing the video? Or maybe try removing the s from the https.
Very nice idea, Ash! I think it works wonderfully. Thankfully, those two shots each work well with a little extra reversed footage.
https://vimeo.com/269775409
password: fanedit
Notes on the workprint, which I finally watched today:
Excellent; thank you for doing so.
- Hux joke is as good as it’s gonna get, I think
Agreed. Hopefully it threads the needle.
- Still hate the milking scene
Still love it. Ties in with the ‘harmony with nature’ theme as seen in the crystal foxes later. Also perhaps ties in weirdly with the sexual undertones of the movie. Also shows Luke regressing back to drinking weird colored milk. It’s a great bit of bizarre body image stuff that Star Wars is good for. (Looking at you, Sarlacc.)
- Something really needs to be done with Space Leia…
Nothing I’ve seen done feels like an improvement to me. I wish she weren’t frozen in place; I think that might have looked better. But, it’s our final opportunity to see Leia use the Force in a tangible way, and I don’t hate the scene.
- Chewie eating Porgs edit is exactly how I would cut it, it works wonderfully
Very good.
- Luke and Artoo edit is seamless, love it
I see what the line is going for, but it’s pretty blunt.
- Trims to Finn and Rose’s first scenes work great too
I’m iffy on it, since it seems slightly odd for Finn to volunteer “I’m not a Resistance hero” when Rose merely implied she was surprised to see him. I think it works well enough, though, keeping his “big deal” ego at play, giving him some room to grow by the end of the movie. Worth it to remove Rose’s “The Office” line which felt (explicitly, according to RJ) out of place in a Star Wars movie. A lot of Rose’s stuff like this has been cut, so it feels congruent with the rest of the edit to do so here.
- I think you might be able to cut straight from Rose’s “But who knows where the breaker room is on a Star Destroyer?” to Poe’s “Give it to me again,” bypassing the “guy who used to mop it” comment (I’m still not a fan of the Finn being a janitor backstory and it really doesn’t matter, he was a stormtrooper so there shouldn’t be a question of how he knows)
Eh. I guess it makes sense not to have had Finn be experienced in combat with the First Order, considering how quickly he changes sides and has no qualms killing his own people. Makes more sense he was sweeping the place and internally loathing what was going on around him but just keeping his head down.
- I think Maz’s sex joke can be cut without losing anything
And lose the one good thing about the scene? In the theater I said to myself, “This scene is going if I can at all help it.” But, it seems to contain important information and needs to remain. If it’s in there, the one thing I enjoyed about it must also. Besides, more sex stuff in a fairly sexual (for a Star Wars movie) Star Wars movie.
- Caretaker removal is flawless. Great work Snooker!
Agreed; that visual FX shot was the ticket. The audio was very tricky to get right, so I am glad it works as well as it seems to. The Caretakers don’t seem to have a purpose in the final cut without that deleted scene, and are just there for some yucks.
- Still think the reed joke should stay, but I can’t deny the scene still works with it gone
Agreed; it’s already been reinstated.
- Agree with others who’ve said that the specific references to amount of fuel left (“18 hours” etc.) should be cut to make it seem like the movie takes place over a somewhat longer time span
I’ll look at this. I can only think of two instances when this is mentioned: right as Finn and Rose leave the fleet, and when they are in their cell.
- Think you need to keep more of Rose’s description of Canto Bight to Finn before they land, it feels abrupt
Yes, already been done as well. Initially, I wanted to remove the implication that we’d be getting follow-up about her line. However, we sort of do from DJ as he gives Finn the facts of life.
- Otherwise, the cutting down of Canto Bight works well, though I think a little bit of restructuring may be in order to address the pacing of intercutting between stories with so much of it gone now. I think restructuring will already be necessary when adding the Luke Has a Moment scene anyway, which could have a ripple effect when you get to the Canto Bight part anyway.
I just took some time to map out the scenes, and I don’t see how reordering sequences would help, unless you have something specific in mind. While I do still plan to use the ‘Luke has a moment’ deleted scene, I do not plan on cutting directly to Leia afterward as was originally intended by RJ.
- Has someone suggested adding foley between the two shots of DJ in the cell when he has his collar up in one but down the next?
No, and I reeeeaaaaallllllly don’t care, but if someone does and has a fitting sound effect I could drop in, I guess I will.
- PLEASE don’t reinstate the cowl line, it works so much better without it!
All right, fine. The people have spoken, but I’ll only do it because the point about her being uncomfortable is still made by her body language.
- Maybe add a wipe transition after “Live free, don’t join”? The movie is a bit light on them as it is, and transitioning to the fleet like that seems like a good spot for one.
Not a bad idea, but it will depend on whether I can do so without shortening the transition by looping footage or something. We’ll give it a try, at least. I do like this idea.
- Please cut the iron gag. It makes me groan every time, and not in a good/endearing way.
I’ll see what I can do. I like the gag, but it does contribute to that uncanny feeling that something is wrong in Star Wars.
- The small trim in the Rey’s parentage reveal scene is welcome and quite seamless
Good; I’m not trying to alter anything, but it seems like that detail muddies the water unnecessarily. Without it, it seems like they sold of Rey in order to leave the planet and carouse.
- Something must be done about BB-8 in the AT-ST…
Yeah… yeah. I’m not sure what can be, though. With the film being given the Hal9000 treatment up to this point, perhaps its more palatable. I did leave in BB8’s gag during the opening battle with the circuit breaker in order to gently set up that he’s going to be somewhat cartoony, since we see him gag and bind guards and hijack an AT-ST later.
- LOVE the new placement of the Yoda scene! Maybe use a wipe to transition to Crait after it?
I think a straight cut is preferable here, especially since it’s a bit tight as it is. I also love the new placement for this scene; seems like the obvious place to put it.
- Maybe cut the Poe foot gag in the Crait assault sequence? Felt very prequel-y to me.
Eh. Never minded it. What I would much rather have been able to cut seamlessly was the “big ass door” line. Argh!
- Not sure how much of Finn’s suicide run you cut, but it felt right to me
You can thank noodle_flinger on Reddit for that one, as he did it first, and I merely replicated it, though tweaked it slightly. Helps cut down on that “subverting your expectations” thing a little.
- I’m very okay with the loss of Rose’s “saving what we love” line
Me too, now that the music is handled seamlessly. It’s all there; it just starts earlier. 😃
- I still don’t like Luke’s shoulder brush moment
I still love it. What little of “badass Luke” we get shouldn’t be diminished.
- I think broom boy works fine, even without showing him earlier at Canto Bight, but I’m still not a fan of the “decoder ring”
I can agree with that. I’ll see what I can do, but I imagine what would have to be done to remove it would feel weird. As it is, the kids are just big Star Wars fans. They even have old memorabilia, similar to Rey in TFA.
Overall I liked it a lot, but think it didn’t quite go far enough in some areas. I think when losing so much of Canto Bight, you need to restructure more liberally and add some of Finn’s act one deleted scenes and, if it can be polished adequately, the Finn/Rose shuttle scene as they escape the Star Destroyer. And I still think restructuring is necessary anyway if you plan to use the Luke Has a Moment scene, which the early Finn scenes might help out.
I was not planning to restructure anything in order to use Luke’s moment scene, and I don’t see how moving any scenes around would help the Canto Bight plot. If you do have something specific in mind, let me know, though. The Canto Bight plot was a very large, episodic digression during the first half of the second act. With it trimmed down and becoming less of a complete loop in its own right, the film seems to progress more smoothly (better pacing I guess you’d call it). I like the way the Luke and Rey scenes are clustered, so I don’t see merit to shaking these up.
Thanks for taking the time to give me some great feedback!
I’d suggest not bothering to keep it “chronological,” if it’s going to be a spinoff. Even moreso than numerical prequels, I would imagine it would be understood that the audience is already familiar with what came before.
And, just because I’d like to see it as part of a finished 3-in-1 edit, I’d advocate for Octorox’s opening framework: fade in with Lucasfilm logo, though perhaps no 20th Century Fox fanfare given your motif, and on the frame at which the opening STAR WARS logo would be, cut to the establishing shot of the ending TPM duel which originally followed Padme and company ascending via window. This duel would serve as a way to intercut bits and pieces of Anakin’s story so far. Works without a crawl.
He never finished his 3-in-1 edit, but I really like his opening.
Best of luck to you with this. I’d be more interested in it than the other two, given that it’ll be different enough from mine. While I’m pretty burnt out on these three movies, I’d be happy to help in any way which doesn’t involve watching the whole thing through in one sitting. 😃
Here’s a slight tweak. I didn’t actually remove any audio, just brought it down a little as I add an additional sound effect over top and use rear tracks to smooth out the music volume.
https://vimeo.com/269396140
password: fanedit
JEDIT: Obviously… obviously just kidding.
The “reveal” of Palpatine’s fist name was regarded with humor in nerdy circles, and people sometimes refer to him by it half-sarcastically.
But, hey, it’s not funny if I have to explain it. It seems the joke wouldn’t land with as many people interested in Frink’s work as I imagined.