Jar Jar Bricks

Since it’s been roughly a month since I last posted here, I thought I’d just clarify that I’m still fully intent on finishing this edit. However, I think I may end up taking things further “in a few places”, if you get what I’m saying 😉

With The Bad Batch show directly referring to things such as “M-Counts” it’s only a matter of time before they finally say the darn word out loud again. It’s really interesting how they want to use the concept of them in that show but refuse to name them out loud because of the stigma behind it. I think I’m gonna say “screw it” and make the connection to ROTS as clear as possible through Kylo’s revelation speech to limit people being confused:

“Rey… I know the rest of our story”

“Tell me.”

“Palpatine influenced the midichlorians to create… life. First my grandfather, and then you. Both were his chosen heir. You… are a rightful Palpatine. Now, the Emperor wants us to fight each other, so the strongest can inherit the throne. But he doesn’t realize we are one in spirit, by the power of the Force. We can end him, and the Sith. And create a new order, together.”

In my opinion, the problem with midichlorians is that they served no narrative purpose in the grand scheme of things. Sure, they tell the characters who has strong potential, but they could have done that with a more abstract concept. I feel as if mentioning the midichlorians would make the concept of somebody being born without relations more understandable, and retroactively justify their entire existence. Luke’s dialogue about nobody being able to claim what the Force made would remain unchanged, but that’s only because the “how” and “why” the Force is able to conceive life has been explained. The biggest problem with the way I had originally worded things here was that more casual fans would be completely confused how a mystical Force could influence such a purely biological process.

Besides, the ultimate message of this edit would be that, ironically, the midichlorians don’t define you. Sure, Palpatine might have used them to create Rey, but Luke would be telling her that she is the only one with the right to define herself.

I agree. There’s a similar problem in TROS with Dom Gleeson’s character. There’s a line he says in the background as Rey is grabbing the Jedi texts: “There were always whispers, of his hunger to cheat death.”

The idea that the galaxy “always” knew Palpatine was a Sith Lord is outright lunacy. Palpatine purposely did not want anybody to know that. I suppose it isn’t really a problem that the galaxy came to learn his true nature after ROTJ, thus why nobody questions his allegiance with the Sith fleet and Exegol in TROS, but the aforementioned line is problematic because it’s something nobody in the galaxy would have even considered while the Emperor was ruling.

I made two takes of your line, although I made another wording that’s personally my favorite (labeled as PREFERED):

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ytA9EU11nYZANGJYGB38D7wE5xNtRpsA?usp=drive_link

I think, to blend seamlessly with his other line, it needs to evoke that same sense of awe and wonder in his tone, which I think is effectively captured in the one I prefer. I think the concept that he is having his own “delusions of grandeur” is hilariously ironic.

Gotta agree with DZ on this one. Now, that being said, I think edits like these do have a certain reason to exist, that being to draw more casual people into the fan editing community. Yes, it all sticks out terribly, but it’s flashy enough to draw people in and have them rally around the message behind it. Once the excitement fades, though, people will realize that it doesn’t particularly fit in, and will probably go looking for alternative works that are more tame but fit in nicely.

Think of it like a gateway drug, lol. This is basically how I found this site. I saw a bunch of fan edit materials on YouTube and then went looking for where a lot of them originated from.

I can’t bash this guy all too much because at least he’s going about this in the right way, from what I can tell. No pay walls to see content they don’t own the IP for. But yeah, Ascendant is in a whole different league compared to that video.

Thanks! 11labs actually just released another model that can create sound effects. It’s basically like having a Foley artist in your back pocket at all times. Should be fun to see its various applications on this forum when it fully releases. I can’t think of anything that would make it immediately helpful on v5 of this edit but it’s worth considering.

To clarify my intent with that statement, I was merely pointing out that many have a problem with how the prequel choreography looks like a dance. This is particularly relevant in Duel of the Fates. If you were to slow down what they’re doing in TPM then you’d end up with the same problem that many of the sequel fight scenes have. Granted, there’s really no reason why they couldn’t have also sped things up in the sequel fights, particularly when it’s lightsaber v. lightsaber, except for the fact that Daisy and/or Adam clearly weren’t as invested as Hayden and Ewan in perfecting that stuff.

That being said, it makes sense that the Knights are attacking so slowly and deliberately because they have massive metal weapons. If you’ve ever held a heavy weapon before, you’ll know that once you go in for a swing it’s not like you can stop it super easily. Combine these two points I made and I really don’t see what the issue is.

Lmao one of them rests a lightsaber on his shoulder like it’s no big deal.

Sorry, I think this is a genuinely strange concept. If anything, it just gives the audience more questions in a movie that is already perplexing in a number of ways.

Plus, it’s not even complete, as many shots were cut away due to the creator not liking much of the choreography. I’ve never had an issue with the choreography, it’s literally no different than the largely telegraphed moves from the prequels. The only difference is that they are being rather slow and deliberate in their actions here so it stands out more, while in the prequels they were moving so fast that it wasn’t as obvious.

I agree with DZ that what I’ve already got there has the makings of a pretty classic line. In a hypothetical world in which this was how the film was released, it’s a pretty meme-able thing to say whenever somebody asks who you are and/or what you’re doing there.

The only other alternatives I can think of atm are the following:

Trooper: “Who are you?”

“I had hoped you might be able to tell me?”

OR

“That’s precisely what I’m trying to figure out!”

Trooper: “Then why are you… what?”

Both of the alternatives are funny in their own right, but I think the idea of Threepio coming to the sudden realization that he’s “some sort of spy” and saying it in front of a stormtrooper like he’s proud of it has a slight edge. Plus, it lines up the best with his subsequent line about “his first laser battle” so we wouldn’t necessarily have to change that one, too.

The 3PO TROS voice is up and operational. What lines did we want? I can also redo some of the lines I’ve previously submitted. Here are some example lines to demonstrate the new voice:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ytA9EU11nYZANGJYGB38D7wE5xNtRpsA?usp=drive_link

If some of these don’t sound fully robotic (11labs tends to remove that voice filter slightly), I know the technique used to apply it back. I just figured I should get some feedback first.

Yeah… that’s really rough. I guess some people just aren’t too perceptive to these kinda things. Which is why AI lines really ought to be undetectable for the average person.

Anyways, here is the test of the added drums. It’s really satisfying to listen to because it lines up perfectly with Rey’s percussive landing on the metal:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/179x-Gup3y6ReTpQWzc7J8tHVqZSCKWes/view?usp=sharing

Definitely feels like it was always intended to be there.

Probably just timing and pacing reasons. The movie already spends an obscene amount of time on Tatooine rescuing Han. They could have easily done it with about 10 minutes of screen time and saved more room for the good stuff, which is the Luke/Vader/Emperor scenes. Which is why I’ve never been a huge fan of Episode 6.

I do feel like DoTF is more fitting thematically, though. If it’s just the same song as the one from TFA that doesn’t really tell you anything extra. Them fighting is just an elaborate spectacle for Kylo to get Rey to tap into the dark side again. Sure, the track from TFA makes those parallels more apparent, but I’d much prefer the track to add another level of interpretation to the fight.

Consider that Rey has had a vision of herself on the Sith throne. And the end result of the fight is that Rey thinks her fate is inevitable. Therefore, I think it’s extremely fitting to place a track called “Duel of the Fates” over top of their fight. Especially since their duel also leads Kylo to reconsider his destiny and he chooses to become Ben Solo again.

I isolated the drums with some online AI service. I didn’t want to pay just to be able to download it, so I just did an Audacity loopback recording of the output they gave. Hopefully that doesn’t affect the quality too much?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ja7sBTEoH7slfpVTI_-mx2cWiTeWnUMd/view?usp=sharing

For what it’s worth, I’ve already tested this before even without the isolation, and due to the sound of the water you couldn’t make out any background music to begin with. I think this will sound fine. I’d test it myself but I’m a bit busy tonight. I couldn’t help myself with doing this part, though, haha.

I’ve listened to a bit of their podcast so far and it’s given me an idea for v5. How do we feel about reinstating the Hux/Pryde/Chewie exchange as a sort of Force-vision that Rey experiences as she stares up at the Kijimi sky? So we are actually seeing what she is seeing just like the rest of her visions in the movie?

I also think this brief drum beat from TPM would go hard at the part where Kylo is slowly approaching Rey on the Death Star wreckage after that huge wave came. There is currently just silence there before the music kicks back in.

Completely fair. I think somebody did some upscaling work on it in this forum, though. Might have even changed that matte painting. But AI upscale can only do so much.

I will say that inserting deleted scenes isn’t entirely unprecedented for a special edition, as proven with the ANH Jaba scene. But that scene really sucked, so it’s a good thing it got removed from Revisited.

If this edit wants to be the definitive remaster of RoTJ, I think that scene could definitely be cool to see. Especially since Vader reaches out to Luke in a manner very similar to Kylo and Rey speaking to each other from across the galaxy. I really like the idea that Vader could have been trying to form a dyad in the Force with Luke.

But it does take away from Luke’s mysterious appearance at the palace, I suppose. I dunno, I think I prefer being able to see somebody making a lightsaber in a live action movie over that, though. Also makes it more clear what the plan is exactly to rescue Han.

Both of those you can draw up to Luke simply being an inexperienced and sheltered young man - referring to things by either the wrong designation or a slang title. But if I ever get access to a cleaned center channel of Luke speaking around those scenes I suppose I could take a look at it.

Jar Jar Bricks said:

Thanks for testing that, Ady. I’ve added a different take which I think sounds better. I’ve tried putting the unmodified line in a rough test, and I definitely see what you mean, it’s missing that robotic quality despite it sounding like JEJ:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1zlE34aGJd-yL0S_f52YbJwPko4fPAUQb?usp=drive_link

As you’ve made clear enough, you don’t feel it necessary to change this. The only reason I’m posting about it again is because I’m sure this will go in an alternative audio track project made by Octorox (or somebody else) at some point. What will likely end up happening is just replacing “Obi-Wan” with “Your mother” in the audio track to minimize any noticeable loss of that robotic quality between the sentences themselves . But all posts I make about this topic from now on will go in Octo’s miscellaneous projects thread, instead.

Reposting this here.

Is anybody familiar with the voice filter that they applied to JEJ’s voice for Return of the Jedi? The voice line sounds just like him but without the filter. I actually encountered this same issue with my C-3PO voice clone, where I had to apply the Threepio voice delay effect (I learned how to do this online) in order to get him to sound like a robot and how he usually does. Alternatively, like I said, we could just replace “Obi-Wan” with “Your mother” and splice the new line with the original dialogue in a manner similar to Hal’s work in Ascendant with Kylo Ren. Although I’m sure that approach could be improved even further with the aforementioned voice modulation effect.

One other thing I have a question about is related to Hal’s custom special edition of ROTJ. What did he end up using for Boba’s grunts and “What the…?” line. I’m assuming it was Tem, so that’s why I ask. I’d love to see a test of this because I seem to recall something like this existing at some point.

Thanks for testing that, Ady. I’ve added a different take which I think sounds better. I’ve tried putting the unmodified line in a rough test, and I definitely see what you mean, it’s missing that robotic quality despite it sounding like JEJ:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1zlE34aGJd-yL0S_f52YbJwPko4fPAUQb?usp=drive_link

As you’ve made clear enough, you don’t feel it necessary to change this. The only reason I’m posting about it again is because I’m sure this will go in an alternative audio track project made by Octorox (or somebody else) at some point. What will likely end up happening is just replacing “Obi-Wan” with “Your mother” in the audio track to minimize any noticeable loss of that robotic quality between the sentences themselves . But all posts I make about this topic from now on will go in Octo’s miscellaneous projects thread, instead.

The problem is that none of those sentences feel immediately intuitive with each other. It feels like a bunch of random thoughts stitched together haphazardly, unless you understand Padme also lost everything and still chose love despite it all. But that might not come to a casual viewer immediately, much less Rey.

It also doesn’t account for Leia’s look of grief/sadness.

I didn’t know you still had access to that Zorri line. Yeah, I tried it myself but wasn’t fully satisfied with it due to the voice modulation being gone.

I can try to regenerate all of the Kylo stuff again at some point for further tests, along with the dagger thingy. Something like “That dagger showed me what happened to them.”

You bring up a solid point about the Leia flashback. I think a part of the reason I had originally brought hatred/anger into all of it was to account for that look she gives him. Positive connotations like Leia having close attachments with a lot of people doesn’t necessarily match her expression. And I do agree that if we were to solely do AI voices over the flashback that it would blend in nicely. Granted, the tail end of Luke delivering the monologue is over a shot of Rey looking at Leia’s lightsaber, so it would still have an AI voice in “the room”. So perhaps it isn’t something worth worrying about until we know for sure how this would sound.

I’m wary of reverting to prophecy to handwave away the reason why Leia feels it necessary to give up being a Jedi. That would mean both Luke and Leia gave up on important stuff because of worrying about the future. I guess that matches with their father screwing up because of worrying about the future, but it still kinda sucks for the Skywalker fam. I think it’s more simple to point out that Leia is in clear violation of a core Jedi tenant being practically married and having a child. As for why they even started training? Perhaps she didn’t realize she was pregnant until they were already a long ways into it.

I think the attachment statement works best being a part of the sentence concerning Leia choosing diplomacy. Diplomacy is all about getting to know everyone around you on a deeper level. Also, after “But” you should ideally be giving a reason for why Leia isn’t suitable for being a Jedi, rather than simply admitting it was personal preference (which feels more like a cop-out). Who knows, perhaps Luke was partially in favor of Leia stopping the Jedi path because of being with Han and having a son? As we see in Book of Boba, he wants Grogu to completely forgo Mando and his past. But I think we can all agree this isn’t the right way to do things as a Jedi at the end of the day. This edit would give the example of Leia to prove that.

So the lesson in the sequels is finally what it should have been all along: defining yourself by your attachments (Rey Skywalker) is a really good thing, even as a Jedi, but you have to have the strength to let go when the time comes. And to not fall into hatred or anger when they are taken from you (Anakin and the Tuskens). It was actually George’s intention to convey this lesson through Star Wars, I believe. Hopefully Rey’s new Jedi Order differs from Luke’s in this way for her upcoming film. It kinda sucks that in the EU this was precisely the lesson Luke incorporates into his own new Jedi Order, but this is the path Lucasfilm has chosen, so it’s best to just embrace it at this point.

Yes, the DOTF dialogue is as follows:

Luke: “This is why the Jedi live in isolation. The pain of loss only leads to the dark side.”
Leia: “I’ve lost everything, and everyone. But I’d still choose to love.”

As for the whole Leia knowing thing, we can certainly keep giving that more thought. I believe the last line we left off with was:

“Because you’re a Palpatine. Leia sensed his power in you.”

But, yeah, this doesn’t effectively convey that it was something that happened between episodes 8 and 9. Off the top of my head, the next best thing would be “Leia sensed his power as she trained you.”

I think I’ve figured it out. We need to make Leia the antithesis of her father. Bound by attachments, but strong enough to not let them bring her to darkness.

“She was quick to learn in our training. But Leia was defined by her attachments, choosing to lead the galaxy through diplomacy, as our mother once did. Throughout her life, Leia lost everything, and everyone, but, in the end, she still chose love. A thousand generations live in you now. Leia’s legacy will guide you on Exegol.”

I’ve come to accept the fact that Padme has to be a fan-service reference, because it’s almost impossible to weave her into the sentence in any other way. That being said, I suppose it isn’t entirely fan-service, as it clarifies the type of diplomacy she favors (political). As for the connective tissue between the two phrases, it’s now a juxtaposition. Stating that Leia is defined by her attachments, and then subsequently stating that she lost all of them, yet she still chose to love, is powerful stuff. It brings the saga full-circle, where Anakin’s daughter is able to succeed in overcoming loss, and his grandson is able to save the one he loves from certain death in the first place.