Mr Ghostface

Bingowings said:

timdiggerm said:

Honestly, I'd do the opposite and eliminate the glider. The trip ropes, the log rolls and the log-smash I can understand. But a glider? really?

I can't see why not.

The Ancient Greeks had clockwork mechanisms but this was unknown until relatively recently.

It's a modern conceit that technology follows a straight line.

Just because the Ewoks have stone aged clubs and live in trees (some of which may be ideal for making gliders) it doesn't follow that they invented everything in the same order that we remember ourselves doing.

Davnes007 said:

Meh.

Wow, thank you. Ordered that already! I can't wait for it.

Hey guys, what is this new Blueprints book? I couldn't seem to find an expensive new title with that name...

Thanks.

RoccondilRinon said:

A life, eh? Where can I download one of those?

 Ironically, less downloading...

;-)

TV's Frink said:

Mr Ghostface said:

TV's Frink said:

Mr. Ghostface?

Weren't you banned?

 I don't recall ever being banned. Very interesting...

I did a little searching back and it was your buddy (?) Darth Venal.  You just kind of disappeared....

 Yeah, I got a life. But it didn't work out.

He's been busy compiling lists.

TV's Frink said:

Mr. Ghostface?

Weren't you banned?

 I don't recall ever being banned. Very interesting...

}{eywood said:

doubleofive said:

 

timdiggerm said:

When does she use the accent and when doesn't she? (Note: Brits on the forum have been known to insist it's not British, but posh-American or something like that)

Whatever it is, its only in the scene with her talking with Tarkin.

 maybe it is on purpose, but more as her mocking him

Bingowings said:

A) Carrie's voice is an artistic decision not an accent creep.

B) It doesn't sound British if you are British.

Carrie Fisher herself said she spoke inconsistently during the film and it was entirely down to her having spent a lot of time in London (where she trained as an actress). There is no in-universe reason for her speaking this way, it's just her performance being, shall we say, variable. It isn't an English accent as such, it's an American slipping into received pronunciation for a few seconds, that's all. As for not sounding British if you are British, well, I'm British and the way she begins her line "Governor Tarkin" sounds a hell of a lot more like RP than any American accent.

Yeah I'm back on site permanently now I'm done at Leavesden, as I see you are. Awesome. And guess who's got access to the broadcast library..?   :-)

Don't worry, I'm onto it.

Back on topic, I was wondering if anything can be done with the remaining original Wampa shots? As much as the SE shots are a bit distracting, they certainly look more realistic. I'd love to see that first Wampa jump into shot improved if it were possible.

DV, you remember the Alien Queen puppet they put up in the restaurant a while ago? That was awesome, and what else was there?

GE Predator:

I believe that I can explain that.  For 19 years, Luke and Obi-Wan lived on Tattooine, a desert planet with two suns.  My theory is that those who are not native to Tattooine may experience some excessive aging over a period of years due to the two sun.  And as we know from the prequels, Luke and Obi-Wan were not born on Tattooine.

Works for me. After all, look at Owen and Beru. Those harsh Tatooine desert winds and blazing sunshine "is doing murder to mesa skin".

The scene can probably be trimmed to remove the needle altogether. If you cut away before the camera zooms over to the needle, Leia's reaction of horror should be enough to suggest that this robot isn't going to be good for her.

The idea of a needle isn't in itself so bad, as the torture device Han in put onto in Cloud City is full of needles, but the needle on the Death Star droid just looks like a syringe, and far too Earthly.

And anyway, unless you have really good source material for restoring pre-Special Edition scenes then there's not much point.

Darth Venal (nice name, mate) is an excellent matte painter, I hope he does post some of his stuff. He said he actually showed some to Adywan, said Adywan was very impressed. He's just done a matte painting of the Ivory Tower from The Neverending Story, which is incredible.

And no, no alter egos to defend myself. I can do that well enough on my own. And besides, Darth Venal is about the most pacifistic man I've ever known, and would shy away from any conflict. I'd hope those who form my fan club in here can be mature enough to respect that.

C3PX,

Thanks for that. Yeah, I should have known better, really. You and a few others have shown intelligence and responded rationally, even if you don't agree with everything I said; it's a shame being balanced is so one-sided on boards like this.

Well, I won't stop posting anyway, because I will be sharing some screencaps from my own edit (which is in conjunction with another forum member) and I'd like to know what the more mature members of the board think.

I already apologised for my error regarding fanedit, and haven't mentioned it since.

But as the previous poster said, calling me a whiny bitch and then daring to criticise?

And my comments were completely constructive, and balanced.

You need to grow up.

Troll indeed. Read my previous posts and then consider whether I'm a troll. Unless, of course, a troll is someone who dares to offer a counterpoint to blind praise...

Plagueis:

"Ady, you've done an AMAZING job. I and all the other fans owe you SO MUCH."

Baaaaa.

You make it sound like he created the entire movie in the first place.

Monroville:

Forget that this is the definitive version of STAR WARS or whatever.. ONE MAN did this for FREE.   Jesus Christ on a tap dancing pogo stick, is there really anything to complain about, being that he did the work and provides us the movie FOR FREE?!?!

Definitive? If you think so, I'm happy for you. And about providing it for free, do remember that's piracy, won't you. And yes, there is plenty to complain about, when people like you and Plaguis post things like this. It's embarrassing.

Erikstormtrooper said:

Mr. Ghostface,

What are your thoughts on the official Special Editions (either the 1997 or 2004 versions)?

Well, now there's a question. I'm almost out of time right now, but I'll elaborate later. Generally speaking, I thought most of the changes to Star Wars were pretty good, but one or two are downright awful. Both CGI Jabbas are dreadful, although the 2004 version is leagues above the 1997 one. That scene adds absolutely nothing to the narrative and should have stayed on the cutting room floor. The reinserted scene with Luke and Biggs was welcome, but seeing as it was damaged there is the dreadful masking near the end with the tech guy walking in front. It should have been kept out, too. The new CGI models were for the most part very nice, but then they look glaringly inconsistent with the traditional model shots that weren't replaced.

Empire, thankfully, had the least done to it. The new CG shots just before and during the Bespin scenes are very nice. The Wampa looks great, too, but I feel the inserted shots break the momentum of the original edit. And again, why replace some but not others? That's just asking for trouble.

As for Jedi, well, I think the original movie is deeply flawed anyway, by far the weakest of the three. So as much as I don't like the changes much (Jedi Rocks!) they don't really spoil my experience of the movie, which I never really liked.

Adywan is absolutely spot on with the issues he has with the colour.

I'll add more later.

Thanks guys. Again, I do apologise if I came across as a little aggressive (too sodding busy with work to notice the tone, gah) as I'm really not an aggressive type. As for the other, less balanced responses to my comments, I will never apologise for saying I think someone's work could be better. I will always try to be balanced, and balance does include criticism.

I haven't looked back through all the posts, so I'm not aware of any previous wars of words over Adywan's work.

As for my perspective on fan edits, maybe my work does make me expect too much. I guess that just goes with the turf. But a friend of mine, who is also not a professional editor (and was in touch with Adywan a few times, I believe) has also done some brilliant work. I've tried to get him to post on here, but he's not big on forums. I'll ask him if I can show you some of his matte work. He's done stuff for me, and I've seen some of the stuff he's planning for his own ANH edit and it's really, really nice. I'll see what he says, but he's the shy type.

Anyway... so who here has done some editing and who hasn't? And what do you use?

DarthBo:

I'm sure that by now he understands this wasn't done by a pro but by an average joe (+1 for rhyme). When we see an edit like this, we are amazed because we wouldn't know how to do it ourself. That isn't true for everyone though, so it's understandable some people react differently.

Can't we all just get along? :p

Sure we can, and I hope we will. I do understand that most fan edits aren't done by pros, although I'd argue some are almost as proficient. If you haven't ever tried it, honestly, give it a go. Once you learn the basics of digital editing using a timeline, you'll be rubbing your hands...

Well, Bingowings, we can go on like that forever. I have no intention of doing so. By all means continue to pick out of my posts whatever allows you to object the loudest, but I'm not engaging in that exchange any further. It's pointless.

I love how you continually ignore the positive things I say about Adywan's edit, of which there are many. Anyway, good luck with that.

By the way, when I said a lot of this stuff is easier to do than a lot of people imagine, I was referring to people who themselves have never tried and therefore are prone to awe. Digital editing is a piece of cake. If you want to argue that it's not, go for it. I edited for years before anyone even thought of a digital timeline, and I think most people who also did will agree that digital editing, once you learn the software, is easy. Yes, Adywan added many more elements, and some of them are excellent. Some of them are not. But the editing part is nothing special, almost anyone can do it if they try.

I do offer sincere apologies if Adywan was offended by my comments. It's nothing personal. If I had no idea who he was (or where he lived hehe) I'd still make the same comments. He's put more effort into his edit(s) than anyone, absolutely. Are all his changes successful? No. Sorry, but they're not. The guy's made a stupendous effort and I'll buy him a beer if I ever get up to his neck of the woods, but I'd happily tell him over that beer that some of his stuff can be improved.

C3PX, I appreciate your balanced response greatly. I will always be as balanced as I can, and make no apology for expressing an opinion which others may feel isn't positive enough. Bingowings, I have no intention of justifying further any "negative" criticisms I have made because I don't have to. I'm as entitled to criticise a fan editor's work as I am the work of professionals, as are we all.

Going back to the "big TIE reveal" and why I don't think it's very good...  As I said previously, there is no disputing the work put in, the technical proficiency etc. My criticism was not with the realism of the image - far from it, I thought the model work and lighting was excellent. But the actual framing was dreadful. When ANH:R cuts to the money shot, there are TIE fighters bunched into the frame all over the place; it appears there was little consideration given to the spacial relations of the models. If there was, then it's just poorly design. Yes, the rendering is lovely, I agree, but they just look messy. The pan as the nearest TIE goes by and the rest of the shot are great, but the initial reveal, the key moment of that new shot, is ugly. FX shots can be crammed, they can be chaotic, but they still need to look right in the frame. I don't think the big reveal does. Now, Bingowings, you may consider this opinion to be out of order. Well, I'm sorry if that's how you feel, but I'm entitled to express it.

As for the other things, like the added score. Why add it? First of all, Williams' score for A New Hope is very, very different stylistically to the scores for all the other Star Wars movies, just as Empire's is. Outside of the main theme, the scores for Empire and Jedi are really not compatible with ANH. So putting Duel of the Fates or any other cue behind Ben and Vader's duel just doesn't work. That music doesn't sound anything like the original score for A New Hope. Just as the brooding Emperor theme from Jedi doesn't. I remember many people cursing Lucas for blurring the identities of the original movies with little things like putting the shuttle in Empire, putting Jabba into A New Hope when he doesn't belong there etc. Well, to me, putting the music from other movies into A New Hope is just the same thing. Leave each movie to be its own thing. They were that way for a very long time, and we didn't complain then.

I have nothing against fan edits at all; in fact I find them intriguing. But when I've heard a decade and more of Lucas-bashing for his "meddling", I'd like to think we can avoid making similar (or the same) mistakes in our own work. Some of the responses to my comments seem to imply that I have called Adywan a talentless hack and everything he's done is garbage. Well, I didn't, and it isn't. His colour correction is incredibly good, and yes, a hell of a lot better than the DVDs. Many of his little tweaks - Greedo blinking, Yavin in the background of the battle, cleaned up lasers and sabres, lots of stuff - is brilliant. But is it all good? No. Should we pretend it is?