Hal 9000

Count Dooku is 400 years old.

This may be a longshot but I’d like to request from anyone able and willing, to take the counseling scene between Anakin and Yoda and turn Yoda into a hologram.

I feel it’s an important scene and I hated to lose it. The only reason I had to was because Yoda has already left the planet by the time Anakin has his first nightmare.

But I wouldn’t put anything past us these days, compared to 2014.

Add questions to the opening crawl to make them more engaging to the audience.

Jar Jar Bricks said:

• I really enjoyed the scene in Hal’s edit where Hux suggests to Snoke that they target the Resistance base next. Also, that part that mentions how long it will be until it is recharged. It makes Poe’s attack on the oscillator much more than just an attempt at revenge. I would prefer it if this were reinstated.

To the best of my recollection, the reason I didn’t adopt his version of the destruction of the Hosnian system is because the reordered sequence didn’t leave room for that new scene.

I just flipped through the workprint and I couldn’t really think of a good reason not to adopt this as my own personal go-to version. TFA:R isn’t going anywhere, but I was re-floored to rediscover the intricate and masterful threading Nev has done with this project. It makes this movie sing.

Ascendant V3 will feature its only shot of Jakku made to match Starlight so that a viewer of any version of TFA would not be thrown. (Granted, I’d be gobsmacked by a hypothetical viewer who would have THAT to complain about while walking out after TROS.)

Just like Harmy saying, “Hey guys, watch 4K77,” I feel that way about this project. Very proud of our Neverar; he’s great!

It looks pretty much like that in the Leia flashback already, and it seems to have been the Exegol scene only.

Oh gotcha then! Maybe soon we will have a music generator trained on John Williams’ corpus.

I gotta create an account and play with this sometime. Hope the clips help with tailoring it to what we have to work with. But I think we could just replace every single line for Poe in the scene, with two (or ideally three) that have to be dubbed over his face speaking.

Also, I love Leia’s two new lines, “He’s too dangerous,” and, “A Jedi needs her weapon.” However, when mixed directly into the movie opposite other lines of dialogue, I can hear some AI cruft. I would NOT even sweat it were it not Leia in TROS, which had all viewers’ eyes and ears primed to hone in on “Gee, how did they repurpose scraps to contrive Leia being there?” They are short lines, and even if that AI cruft has to remain, I still think they work well enough.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1a3oq8BMJxapMMnsRXEE6MfX7lbIoUZXn/view?usp=share_link

This one hasn’t been fully tucked in, but has most of Poe’s lines replaced with the AI. The only snippet original to TROS is, “The Emperor and his followers have been–.” And even that line could be replaced. The one available from JJB was too wordy to fit into the footage available. (I could use the longer line if the line, “His followers have been ____ something for years” could be tailored to closely fit his mouth movements, because in these tests I had to use a cutaway shot of Rey when he says this. If I could dub this shot of Poe, I could use that shot for the removed ‘16 hours’ line.)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/149clMZ5a9FsFFGqS1mfCq5IO6sSY_NsM/view?usp=share_link

Here’s how those Poe lines sound in context. It really comes close to working. I wonder if the AI could be directed to deliver the lines sorrowfully, like its delivering bad news.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jqyj3hhj-j1Qwqs7yfPCKGsMkl2zAZRb/view?usp=share_link

I meant that, at least in your test clip from a year ago, some of the music in bordering sequences jumps all over. The one that stood out to me most was jumping from the space battle to the bit where Jar Jar and Tarpals are arrested.

I agree it’s good on paper but there are a few points, most prominent being going to the Gunguns being marched around in surrender.

It’s a coherent request to make of an algorithm to generate an alternate Star Wars Episode III which meet certain criteria, from scratch. You just need a shit-ton of information to input for it to complete its “this is to this and that is to that” math. Maybe someday computers will get there, centuries down the road.

Would such a thing be a fan edit? I don’t know. But the AI voices might be a missing link to enable possibilities in fan editing to let editors get over pesky hurdles about a character’s existing bits and pieces of dialogue not allowing something to be done. Analogous to being able to have the actors come back in to record pickup lines. Think Tarkin answering the phone at his Death Star desk a few times in the movie, and an officer delivering exposition to him.

Wow, man, that sounds unbelievably good. 😮

The only remaining niggle about this change overall is the cannons mounted to the bottom of the destroyers. I don’t know, could Poe say something about the stockpile being experimental or a special class of ship? Even if that were the case, it may not make sense for him to state it as such. It’s no weirder of a thing for fans to have found out about in the visual dictionary than half of what TROS gave us anyway.

I appreciate the feedback and am glad you enjoyed it! I’m less willing to make further changes to this one than Episode I, but let’s talk through your feedback.

DarthFwoot said:

• I can see an argument for pieces of the “I don’t like sand” scene to be re-added, to use as a relationship bridge between the scene at her home to the suddenly very romantic picnic, or in another location. I think the scene works until “not like here” before it gets overly awkward. I think the contrast between their view on sand is quite poetic as it shows the difference in their upbringing.

This sequence in TAS follows a fan edit by Slumberland, replacing the fireside scene of deciding not to fall in love with a modified, nighttime version of the lakeside kiss. Their love develops more organically, which admittedly may be less dramatic but I feel works better onscreen.

• I think the Geonosian conveyor scene works so much better than the original, but it still feels a bit clunky to me. Particularly 3 moments:
  A) The way the shots are ordered make it unclear which container Padme is in before the lava falls. I can see why this may have been done on purpose, but I think it would probably still work better if we knew.

This is an aspect of the original scene, so I don’t have a problem with it.

B) Having Anakin drop the container with the force is a clever change but I didn’t even notice on first watch. The other viewers thought that the Geonosians caused it to drop. I wonder if there’s some way to imply they caused it to drop so they could capture her?

Even if I removed that shot of Anakin releasing the container, it’d be a solid enough inference that the Geonosians did it since they approach her immediately.

C) Warning, Nitpicky. The droidekas roll up with Jango, then we go to Padme, then back to Anakin and they roll up again. It feels awkward. I’d say start that last shot a second later than you do, to show that at least the few near Jango are already stopped.

I see what you mean, but it’s something with the original and I don’t see anything to do without undoing how I had made the scene to end. Doesn’t seem like a big problem, though.

• I don’t know the whole deleted scene of negotiations between Padme and Dooku, but the way it’s currently edited feels awkward, it definitely feels like there’s missing lines. I do like its inclusion for pacing and Dooku’s characterization.

I’ve used the deleted scene as presented to us, but I get what you mean.

• EC Henry made a sort of psuedo-translation for the Geonosians. It’s completely fanmade, but it’s very interesting. It could be a neat change for Poggle the Lesser’s subtitles, to give the arena opening some more grandeur. Here’s the video if you’re interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vqsJC4sYig
  “Settle down, settle down” becomes “listen, and let your speaking be silent!”
  “Let the executions begin” becomes “Behold, the Barahunde”

I’ve seen it, and always admire what that guy does. I don’t necessarily want to change the subtitles to a stilted use of language, especially since he doesn’t say nearly as much here as in the theatrical.

• Just curious, what’s the reason for removing the shot of Mace Windu walking up to Dooku?

So it’s more of a surprise when he is suddenly there a few shots later.

• I feel stupid. When I watched this, I didn’t even realize the Yoda/Dooku duel was gone. The only criticism I have is that the twinkle sfx starts on the last Dooku power, but it’s cutoff abruptly. I recommend replacing it with a new sfx that can carry over into the shot of squeezing the pipes, or just remove the sfx.

That’s good, that means it’s working! I don’t remember specifically but I think that sound was intertwined with the music and had to now lead into him using the force to pull down the pipe.

• Nitpick alert: I suggest removing “welcome home” from Palpatine to Count Dooku. Feels out of character.

Eh, it quickly cements that these two are deeply in cahoots.

Overall, great edit! Makes the film actually watchable! I’m looking forward to my watch of The Labyrinth of Evil tomorrow. Thank you!

Hey, I look forward to hearing your thoughts. That movie is the most different of the three.

Someone has expressed interest in tweaking some visual aspects of COD, so that’s what I was referring to: https://originaltrilogy.com/topic/TGWNNs-The-Cloak-of-deception-revisited-WIP/id/102358

There have been several edits, especially more toward the film’s original release, which have dubbed and subtitles the neimoidisns and/or Jar Jar. I won’t be doing that, but it can be interesting. The best edit to do so IMHO is MagnoliaFan’s Balance of the Force and The Clone War.

“And then Palpatine turned out to be behind it all, Rey found out she was his granddaughter and she blew him up. FIN”

I say this with no understanding about how adjectives can direct this, but is there a way to direct it to speak as though it had to project its voice somewhat?

To be fair, I was dragged reluctantly (mostly by my own self, but still) into fan editing TROS, which is an inherently optimistic endeavor. I still feel like all TLJ needs is an epilogue to feel like a good ending.

Not suggesting we overhaul this, but what’s the logic with the Resistance and the Senate? The line for Leia saying that the Senate is their target, seems to beg the question of why the Senate does not seem to be warned or begin to evacuate.

Those are interesting ideas. Since TMWNN is doing some VFX of his own accord anyway, I’ll see if any of these make it into that revision.

You’re 100% right about the droid control ship issue.

The only R2 moment I could see to re-include is the queen asking his name, but I can put that in, as it does feel like what a prequel would do for that character.

Would you mind sending your specific ideas about the podrace? I don’t think it’s too bad, but can hear you out.

Also, I like the idea of the duel of the fates playing out after other plot threads in order to heighten its tragedy, but I’ll have to play with it to see how it functions.

Thanks for the interest and suggestions, man!

Wow, that’s amazing how one can direct it.

That turned out better than I thought it would, and thanks for continuing to do these.

I’m having a hard time imagining what it’d sound like in context, so I look forward to my next good chance to sit down at my computer with some time and peace.

You’re right. Even the cop show.

I need a psychoanalyst.

EDIT: From ChatGPT:

From a psychoanalytic perspective, dreams are seen as representations of unconscious desires, conflicts, and anxieties. In your dream, the setting of Star Wars Episode 9 could represent your internal world, and the avant-garde and unconventional elements of the movie may symbolize your own creative and unique ideas.

The absence of familiar characters from the other movies could represent a desire to break away from past experiences or relationships that have been limiting or unfulfilling for you. The use of YouTube Poop techniques and footage set on Earth, including a cop show, may represent your desire for humor and entertainment, while also reflecting a sense of playfulness and experimentation.

The cutting to the end credits while they are already in progress after making a joke about how no one wants to even see the credits could symbolize your own self-deprecating humor and feelings of low self-esteem. You may be doubting your own ability to achieve success or recognition and may be afraid of failure.

Overall, the dream may represent a conflict between your desire for creative expression and your fear of failure. It may be helpful to explore these feelings further and work through any underlying issues that may be holding you back. A psychoanalytic therapist or mental health professional could help you explore these deeper aspects of your psyche and gain greater insight into your dreams and their meaning.

That could work well with what we have been kicking around for Ach-To.