Yeah. If anything, it makes it a little less weird (on an intuitive, totally non-scientific level) that the new star appears to be as big as the planet, rather than much larger as clearly visible earlier in the movie.
It’s… it’s weird no matter which version you’re talking about.
Okay, guys, it seems like this issue is indeed simply the result of sheer compression. It doesn’t matter the method, just the amount of compression needed to fit onto a single-layer BluRay disc.
So, I’m going to encode it at full bitrate and release that. If you want the best quality, that’s gonna be the way to go. It’ll be the more future proof option, keeping the quality as close to the source material as possible. If you already downloaded the first 1080p release, it’s fine as is, just had to be compressed a little.
I see the compression that you’re talking about. I will pull the 1080p release I’ve already started to put out, and replace it with a new one. I tried to use Compressor 4 this time around, but I guess Compressor 3.5 will have to do its thing again. I’m glad you pointed this out so quickly.
after SKB destruction, when they arrive back to the resistance base, people seem too happy considering the Republic has been destroyed just a few minutes ago. The complete landing scene (including Leia hugging unknown Rey while Chewie is in the background walking…) should have been removed; following shot to be “sad Chewie and the others mourning”.
I felt the semi-happy scene was acceptable; the same number of planetoids blew up as in the original and they did destroy the base. The only thing I removed about this was the short beat when the X-wings spot the Falcon taking off. Porkins Jr.'s, “Yes!” was too giddy, but the rest seems acceptable given what sort of movie this is. I wasn’t trying to radically altar the feeling of “Success! We blew up their new Death Star.”
By the way Hal I’ve taken the 21 Go file and I’m surprised by the video quality, which is heavily compressed (it’s really noticeable during “dark scenes” such as Snokes; even with daylight interior scenes); an issue which does not appear on your PT edits (this edit weights roughly the same for a 30 minutes longer cut, resulting in a very lower bitrate). I don’t know if it’s feasible but if you happen to have a less compressed file I would very like to keep it in my SW achives (even if it’s a 30/35 Go file). Thanks in advance.
Are you doing a direct comparison to the BluRay itself? Also, for context, be aware that there are four shots that have been upscaled from 720p due to Jackpumpkinhead’s computer limitations: First shot of the first interior scene with Snoke, the shot where we see Hux and Ren looking up at Snoke in the second scene, and the two TIE descent replacement shots.
Please confirm whether you still see a problem given this insight and comparing directly against the BluRay. (Not sure of a better method of exporting the project, so I hope this’ll clear it up.) Thanks.
Also Hal, I noticed there are a lot of nitpicky continuity errors with Kylo Ren’s hair/hood in the edited Snoke scene, will this be fixed? No worries.
We knew about this but decided it wouldn’t have been a big deal, even if the filmmakers switched the scenes around like this and left it. I’m not sure how Jackpumpkinhead would do it anyway.
Additionally, if you make another version, would it be possible to have the STAR DESTROYER move in the sky, even if only at a slow pace?
I don’t see the reason for it. It appears for a few brief shots. Any orbital movement would be indiscernable.
By the way, I’m working on getting this listed at Fanedit.info, but in the meantime it’s already hit other parts of the Internet in a torrential downpour.
Yeah, the strength of the edit is its simplicity and elegance. I wouldn’t have much to say in a commentary. But I’m flattered you’d care to hear me prattle on.
Tiny thing: The BR cover doesn’t mention that the audio is 5.1, like the DVD does. But I think it’s arrive otherwise.
Yeah, for the DVD cover please remove the specs; I think pretty much all DVDs are 480p and AC3 audio is nearly a given. But I’m happy with them otherwise. Thanks so much!
EDIT: If you do include specs for the DVD, they’d be 480p video, 448 Kbps AC3 5.1 audio.
Well, everything is ready. The 1080p mkv, 720p mp4, and DVD5 are sitting on my hard drive ready to be uploaded.
To fanedit.info?
¡Sí!
Here’s a cover:
What do you think?
Looks great! A few text things I’d have you change, though:
Can you remove the BluRay copy protection and recycled material icons? They don’t really seem applicable to this fan edit. (Same goes for the dts-hd icon.)
Where you list the specs, howabout: “1080p video, 640 kbps AC3 audio, English and French subtitle tracks.”
Could you also remove the “Fanedit by Hal9000” and replace it with something like, "A production of FanEdit.org and OriginalTrilogy.com"?
Make sure to put your own name on there somewhere.
And can you do a DVD version too?
Thanks very much!
It does indeed seem weird, and was only seen once.
Oh, that was not intentionally removed just to remove it. I replaced it with the stormtroopers doing an about face, because otherwise we won’t be able to see this happen. I felt it was more elegant to replace their salute with their about face, rather than have the salute (which only ever is shown the one time) and then not see them get to the position they are in a few shots later.
In other words, it’s tied directly in to removing Hux’s line, “Fire!”
lol, yes, yes. I removed Threepio’s line, “It is very doubtful that R2 would have the rest of the map in his backup data.” What’s the other change?
Maybe for the next Special Edition, modern day Mark Hamill could reshoot his ROTJ scenes after being hit by lightning.
I misunderstood what you were saying. But like I had said somewhere earlier, I don’t think a music less track would have helped this particular project. There aren’t that many edit points and none felt limited by the music.
Well, perhaps someone may want to take this and mash it up with other things. For me, this project was a compromise between really liking the idea, and also really resisting going into fan edit territory with TFA. The solution: strictly limit the edit to just that one thing, and get out and don’t look back.
Well, everything is ready. The 1080p mkv, 720p mp4, and DVD5 are sitting on my hard drive ready to be uploaded. I just need one good set of cover art to clothe them in.
Since this project was born out of a single idea, I don’t foresee the need to do a V2 later on. If anything awesome is put forth in other TFA edits, I’ll join in enjoying them, but the only things that would have a place in this project would be drastic improvements in making the single idea work more effectively.
That being said… one of you clever people should really put together a sweet cover.
Anyone have suggestions for audio output formats? I’ll do a 448 kbps AC3 track, and something less lossy. It seems like the best option from Compressor is PCM, but that results in a nearly 5GB audio file.
Unless someone wants to buy me the $1400 DTS audio encoder suite, I think we’re going to need to find a different format.
Personally, I’d be fine with a 640 kbps AC3. But I know that HD audio would be preferable, since the source material is 99% DTS audio anyway.
I’m beginning the process of exporting the final product. What remains now is to create chapter stops, modify the subtitle track to remain in sync, and write up the description.
Now is the time for cover artwork submissions. I can include as many as people care to generate, and will pick one to serve as the icon. Ideally, there’d be a handful of DVD covers, BluRay covers, and posters.
Specs include: 1080p BR video
2 audio tracks (regular Dolby Digital, and whatever HD format I can get out of Compressor, possibly PCM)
Chapter stops
English Subtitles
And let’s just go with “The Force Awakens: Restructured” as the title.
Here’s what I have so far for a writeup. Feel free to include as much or as little as you believe will be fitting for your cover:
"Tagline: It’s another Death Star…
Brief synopsis: It’s the same Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens you fell in love with, only restructured slightly so that Starkiller Base does not fire until close to the end of the film.
During the battle over Starkiller Base, the stakes are no longer protecting the Resistance base, but preventing the destruction of the Republic Capitol. Even though they destroy the First Order’s superweapon, they fail to do so in time to save the day.
Intention: Simply to move the destruction of the Hosnian system (Republic Capitol) to the climax of the film, and all the little things needed to facilitate it seamlessly. No other changes.
Additional Notes: How does this single change help the film?
- The second act, centering around the events of Maz's castle, remains focused on the characters and their struggle to keep the First Order from finding the map to Luke. The First Order catching up to Han and Rey is sufficient motivation for Finn to decide not to leave, without the Hosnian system being destroyed.
- Starkiller Base firing upon the Hosnian system in the third act links it very closely to Kylo Ren's resolution toward the dark side by killing Han, and pairing these events magnifies each. Han taking a risk motivated by love for his son and thereby causing costly failure is a dark mirror of Vader doing the same in Return of the Jedi and helping save the galaxy.
- It alleviates the plot's very close parallel with the original Star Wars.
- Starkiller Base is depicted as functioning in an intuitive way: it drains the nearby star (or "the Sun," as Finn describes it), which covers it in darkness, and then fires on the Republic Capitol. Gone are the awkward questions about why the planet was still in daylight when it fired the first time during the second act, and whether the base is mobile.
- It avoids depicting the Hosnian system clearly visible to the naked eye, very large in the sky, from lightyears away. The official Lucasfilm canon answer is that Starkiller Base created a "space-time disruption," an obvious bandaid answer to apologize for a wanton move on the filmmakers' part. One wonders whether these are common, because no one who witnessed the destruction had the slightest trouble identifying what was happening.
- It avoids raising the question of why the Resistance did not begin evacuating their base during the third act when they know they are the target. In the original Star Wars, the Death Star was looming overhead; here, there's no obvious reason why they could not have fled.
This project was born of the emergent idea from all over the Internet after we all saw the film. Numerous people at OriginalTrilogy.com suggested this idea immediately after release, and William Gillis laid out a detailed blog post about it here: https://humaniterations.net/2016/03/26/how-to-fix-the-force-awakens/
Other sources: TIE sound effects, stills of TIEs and transport ships
Special Thanks: Everyone at OriginalTrilogy.com who contributed, including:
Jackpumpkinhead
Octorox
Smithers
Chris Solo
Ben_danger
That_OT_Ruler
RogueLeader
Kexikus
Bingowings
Darthrush
ImperialFighter
Yuri_Kenobi
Littlev87
Tomo
NeverarGreat
Cheebo
DominicCobb
TK251
SkywalkerFan01
Rpvee
MalàStrana
Scott109
William Gillis for his blog post summarizing the rationale for the idea
Release Information: NTSC DVD-5, 1080p mkv, 720p mp4
Special features: Subtitles (English)
Editing details: My goal was to restructure the film to place the Hosnian system’s destruction in the third act, and to do so as seamlessly as possible.
Cuts and Additions:
Removed General Hux from the first scene with Snoke, where he suggests using the weapon to destroy the Republic. (FX by Jackpumpkinhead to paint out Hux walking offscreen during first shot)
After Rey flees Maz’s castle after her Force vision, replaced the Hosnian system being destroyed in the sky with a Star Destroyer and approaching TIE fighters. Finn and Han now gaze up to see that the First Order has caught up with them, as they feared.
When Finn is introduced to Leia, removed mention of the Hosnian system’s destruction.
Removed Threepio’s line, “It is very doubtful that Artoo would have the rest of the map in his backup data.” (This is the sole deviation from the stated goal of restructuring the film to move Starkiller Base firing to the third act.)
After Rey resists Kylo Ren’s mind probe, added the portion of the Snoke scene from earlier where General Hux suggests using the weapon to destroy the Republic. (FX by Jackpumpkinhead to overlay Kylo Ren’s face over where his mask was for one shot)
Moved General Hux’s impassioned speech to after Kylo Ren overreacts to Rey’s escape from her cell.
After the speech, the nearby Sun beings to be drained, as Hux and the troops gaze upon the stream being sucked into the planet. (Recolored to yellow-orange, and reversed so as to appear to be going down into the ground)
During the briefing scene at the Resistance base, removed Leia identifying their base as the Starkiller’s next target, Threepio lamenting the prior loss of the Republic fleet, and well as mention that the First Order is charging the weapon “again.”
During a brief cutaway to the Resistance base as Han and Chewie infiltrate the oscillator, removed Threepio’s line, “It would take a miracle to save us now.”
Immediately after Kylo Ren kills Han, the Starkiller fires and destroys the Hosnian system, as Leia senses it through the Force.
As Finn and Rey start to head outside the oscillator, cut to the battle in space where the fighters notice that the oscillator has been damaged. Cut back to Rey and Finn at this point, before the X-wings begin their descend toward the trench.
As Kylo Ren and Rey duel, cut to the X-wings descending toward the trench, skipping over the portion of the sequence used earlier.
As the Falcon flies away from the imploding planet, removed shots in which the fighter pilots appeared more joyful than the galaxy’s fresh loss would lead one to expect."
Interesting idea, but I don’t think it would work because the audio is indeed configured incorrectly inside FCP7. I’ve tested the solution and it will work. Thankfully there are few places in the timelines where it goes more than two levels deep, so it shouldn’t take an enormous amount of time once I can get to it.
There’s some good stuff whether you use a Mac or not in the Mac Guides section of the FanEdit forums. I started a thread in 2013 and got quite a bit of wonderful help getting off the ground for the first time since the Womble days.
Isn’t that how it should be? You should be able to assign tracks to outputs, but they are discrete channels of audio.
Oh yes, I definitely corrected that one right away, in case I ever needed to export again, such as now.
Pretty much anything that’ll let you cross fade audio should work. I’m on the Mac side but there should be plenty of choice on that front, I should think.
MalaStrana, thanks! If anyone there has any ideas for a plug-n-play color correction based on the source, that’d be cool. What I plan to do, when I get there, is try getting the BR to at least get closer to the HDTV version and post some screencaps. It won’t be perfect, just closer hopefully.
The line, “You’re exactly the way I remember you,” was deliberately cut short, and so there’s nothing there to change.
Can you post a time code for the Ep3 audio glitch? I remember you pointing it out before and I dismissed it since it was minuscule and I thought I was finished at that point!