NeverarGreat

RogueLeader said:

Nev, I like the ending shots! Good idea to use that extra shot to make it fit with the music. Totally dig it.

I wonder if there are some effects you could add to the “dream shots” that wouldn’t be over the top. Throwing out ideas, what if you played with the stuttering frame effect of the Dagobah cave, or the wispy vignette of Anakin’s ROTS dreams?

In the latest version of the dream sequence I’ve significantly slowed the first handful of shots to achieve a similar effect. I think that plus the different TLJ aesthetic gives an otherworldly feel to the scene. I’ve also done away with Finn being medic-ed and shifted some shots for the finale to cover the weird transition from the Falcon in the clouds to it flying past the rings.

https://vimeo.com/335299081

Password: fanedit

I think the stuttering framerate idea might feel too Dark Side for the dream.

So in a hypothetical TLJ edit for you, you might have Rey reach the Jedi Village, then she’d hear the hut door slam maybe? Having Rey dream of an idealized Luke at the end of TFA, but then our first real intro to Luke is him holding himself up in his hut like a hermit, you’d still be getting that subversion Rian wanted without being beholden to how JJ ended TFA.

Something like that. I imagine her going to the cliff, maybe using some of the TFA footage of her climb, then taking the shots of her looking confused and walking back down as if she expected him to be standing there like in her dream.

Lesser said:

RogueLeader said:

I wonder if there are some effects you could add to the “dream shots” that wouldn’t be over the top. Throwing out ideas, what if you played with the stuttering frame effect of the Dagobah cave, or the wispy vignette of Anakin’s ROTS dreams?

You beat me to it. I was also gonna highly suggest, recommend, whatever adding the wispy dream vignette from ROTS.

https://youtu.be/7Mvzb5gHANA

The vignette is kind of weird for TFA since this movie establishes a different style for Force Visions - Rey essentially just finds herself in a different environment.

This edit also adds the echo to the VO, and while there isn’t VO in that dream sequence edit, maybe changing the Jedi Steps track to a slightly softer (or slower) dream-like variation of the track? After watching these final scene clips I feel like the momentum is at an increasing montage-like level where there’s not too much of a breather once they blow up Starkiller and are back on D’Qar? That’s just me assuming from what’s been posted here after silently watching, and I don’t really know if softer music would make any difference.

The latest video is the entire D’Qar sequence so you can judge for yourself whether it feels too rushed or too slow. I’ve debated moving the R2 map reveal scenes to before or after the dream, but if the dream is placed before the map reveal it seems strange for Rey to not be present (or to be present but in another costume) and if the dream is placed after the map reveal it feels weird for Rey to wake up for the map reveal then go back to sleep for a dream then wake up again in the space of a few minutes.

ziggyonice said:

NeverarGreat said:
Two versions would be tricky unless you also prefer the original version with R2’s coincidental awakening, since I’d have to make two entirely different versions of an edit-heavy sequence.

Eh, I don’t think it would that difficult. Obviously things are still set to change, but going with your idea of having Rey fix Artoo — that works fine. In fact, I think I’d keep everything after that.

Basically, keep everything immediately after Artoo wakes up.

But that’s just it, in the newest versions R2 waking up is interspersed with the dream.

The only thing I can think of that could be questioned is where is Rey when Artoo shows the map. Granted, she wasn’t in the original scene either, so I don’t really know if this matters.

Rey is in the original map reveal scene though.

…What I’m trying to say is that JJ makes the search for Luke the point of the movie when Luke’s role should really be about what his legend means to others.

I certainly do understand what you are saying, and they are good arguments. What I disagree with you about is that I don’t think JJ made the “point of the movie” to be about the search for Luke. Just because Luke is the focus of the ending scene doesn’t mean that what the movie is about has changed. Also, I do kind of feel like it is necessary because he is a legend, a myth. When the audience sees the mysterious that surrounds him, when we experience that same build-up of curiosity that Rey feels, that’s how you know that the scene is successful.

I can’t argue with the scene being cool. I’ll just have to try my best to keep that mysteriousness and if it still doesn’t work for you, you’re more than welcome to use this edit to create your ideal version 😃

Rodney-2187 said:

Rey has definitely been challenged. She just deals with it differently.

Her entire life on Jakku was a challenge just to survive. Luke had an aunt and uncle with a home, food, and jobs, and he had friends. He even had a Jedi master watching over him, waiting to take him under his wing. Even though Anakin was a slave, he still had Shmi and even Watto seemed to treat him decently. He even had his own racer.

Rey was left alone, got captured by the First Order, mind probed by Kylo Ren, watched her friend Han get impaled on a lightsaber and her other friend Finn get his back sliced. Luke was negative about training her. She felt helpless as the First Order targeted resistance escape ships and Kylo refused to call them off. Yes, Luke and Anakin both experienced adversity and great losses too. I’m just pointing out so did Rey, but she faced her’s without family or a mentor. There are no force ghosts talking her through anything.

Rey has had plenty of reasons to give up but she simply just does not quit. I love Luke Skywalker, but he was very whiny. Anakin was too. Rey just sucks it up and gets it done. She makes it looks easy because instead of complaining, she gets straight to solving the problem. I don’t think Luke or Anakin would have survived long on Jakku alone with their attitudes. If you dropped a young Rey, Luke, and Anakin into the middle of a zombie apocalypse, I’d put my money on Rey being the one who survives and probably becomes the leader.

The Force enhances your abilities. Rey was already shown to be a proficient fighter just to survive on Jakku. Of course she defeats an emotionally distraught Kylo who had just been shot by a weapon that we’ve seen can send bodies flying. She knows a lot about mechanics and ships from salvaging, so I have no problem with her being able to repair the Falcon. There’s no training better than experiencing something first hand. Kylo probes Rey’s mind aggressively, so her being able to get inside a weak minded stormtrooper for a second doesn’t seem surprising to me. It would be more surprising if she just sat there and did nothing while waiting to be rescued. Her abilities are no more surprising than a small boy being the only human that can pilot a podracer or a rural farmboy flying a combat mission in space or blocking lasers with a blast shield down just from a suggestion to reach out.

A great deal of the Jedi training we see in the movies deals with focus. Luke and Anakin both lacked focus. Rey is extremely focused. She is strong willed and determined. She is task oriented and has a can do attitude. All of that can take you a long way.

I disagree that Anakin lacked focus. He was confused, yes, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t constantly striving to become stronger in the Force, to become a master.

Anakin and Rey are actually very similar characters, where their formative childhood years are concerned. Young Anakin was a ‘Leave it to Beaver’ incorruptible child who saw the good in everyone, despite being a slave. This makes his descent into the Dark Side tragic, and really it’s the only way to make his character interesting. How boring would it have been if he had stayed the hopeful decent person he was as a child, never succumbing to the darkness all around him?

Rey is the answer to that question, at least so far. I’m sure some people enjoy this about her character, but for me it feels entirely undynamic. Thus her proficiency is a bit of a red herring because it simply masks the deeper issue that she doesn’t undergo the dramatic character change necessary to drive the story forward.

ziggyonice said:

NeverarGreat said:

I agree that it’s a great scene, it just doesn’t really work for me as a literal cliffhanger at the end of TFA.

What could I do to convince you to consider more than one version of your fanedit?

Multiple versions of the same fanedit are not uncommon. You have so much very good content that you’ve worked on here. I just believe that the ending scene with Luke is a defining moment for the saga. However, opinions like mine here are not uncommon — everyone has their own take on things and are looking for their “go to” version of their favorite fanedit, after all.

If there’s any way I can convince you or help you make an alternate version, please let me know. It isn’t terribly difficult, especially with the cost of storage being so cheap. Plus, you’d be opening the door to more people being able to enjoy your work based on their version they most enjoy.

You don’t have to answer now, but please at least consider it for the future.

Two versions would be tricky unless you also prefer the original version with R2’s coincidental awakening, since I’d have to make two entirely different versions of an edit-heavy sequence.

ziggyonice said:

NeverarGreat said:

However, now that I have R2 find the map at night with Rey nowhere in sight, it begs the question of what she’s doing at that moment. Sleeping would be the obvious answer, but what better place to put the dream of the island? Honestly I didn’t intend for this when making the night shot though it probably should have occurred sooner:

https://vimeo.com/334596045

Password: fanedit

This is an interesting concept. I don’t dislike it. I like that we’re still getting this feeling of mystery that comes with the Luke reveal in the original.

However, I do think I’m going to have to agree that it is considerably more complex. I feel like movies generally need to be pretty simple and straightforward. Weaving these two sequences together isn’t impossible, but I just think it’s a little unnecessary.

Again, you know my love for the original ending based on my comment above and previously. I’m open to changes to it, but I believe that whatever changes are made needs to ensure the sense of mystery powerful build up to Luke’s reveal remains intact.

I hear what you’re saying for sure. It is complicated, and difficult, and might lose something of the mystery and power of the original. But in trying to come to terms with my issues with the scene, I realize that it comes down to a simple question: is this movie essentially about Luke, or about our new heroes? Because ending TFA with an unspoken plea to Luke ends up making everything else feel inconsequential. Leia and Poe and Finn are now half a galaxy away and all that matters is whether or not our human MacGuffin will save the day. And it’s not about Rey’s feelings about Luke, not really. All we as an audience care about is fanboying/fangirling out over that magical unicorn of a character and his cool, mysterious reveal, and a glorified ‘tune in next week for the exciting conclusion’ TV cliffhanger.

Placing the scene in the context of Rey’s subconscious allows the story to more obviously be about Rey and her image of Luke as a magical Jedi master, resplendent in his Jedi robes and contemplating deep Jedi thoughts. It’s a proper setup for the inevitable subversion, rather than having Luke really standing on that cliff in his Jedi robes which he immediately puts away in the next scene (in an ideal edit of TLJ the lightsaber scene never takes place). What I’m trying to say is that JJ makes the search for Luke the point of the movie when Luke’s role should really be about what his legend means to others.

Hal 9000 said:

When the dianoga has Luke in the trash compactor, he calls out, “Blast it, will ya? The gun’s jammed.”
Did anyone else always hear it as, “Blast it, will ya, for god damn”?

It was only very recently that I actually understood what he was saying there, so I would have believed either one of those interpretations growing up.

Anyone who has watched Digmod’s Heir to the Force edit has seen the end of the Jedi Steps cue used for the Falcon leaving the base, and while it’s integrated quite well it still feels odd. The only good place to iris out is on top of the Falcon jumping to hyperspace, and it’s quite abrupt.

In light of this, I found an alternate cue which I think works better and gives a moment of silence before the credits:

https://vimeo.com/334803527

Password: fanedit

For a final implementation I would like to have the Falcon jump across the frame with the added camera movement following it into space.

No worries, I appreciate your constructive criticism 😃

The un-dreamlike nature of the shots is the biggest problem for sure, but the length of the ending is actually shortened from the original, which was almost exactly 6 minutes from the shot of Chewie grieving to the end credits. My version right now clocks in at 4:45.

BTW, the entire edit sans credits is 2 hours and 13 seconds on the timeline, cutting 7 minutes from the original.

JEDIT: Updated the map reveal sequence slightly. Rey should probably be erased from the first shot of that scene since she’s supposed to be asleep and in the new costume, but that’s in the realm of the possible.

https://vimeo.com/334596045

Password: fanedit

ziggyonice said:

This is random but I was just reviewing your original changelist. Not sure how much of this is still accurate, but I really hope you’ve changed your mind about removing Rey’s journey to Ahch-To to meet Luke.

That entire sequence — the build up to seeing Luke’s face and the haunting sounds of “The Jedi Steps” — is probably among of the most defining moments in the entire saga. I think it’s up there with Han shooting first, Anakin burning in lava, and Vader’s reveal as Luke’s father.

Getting rid of that ending is something I just don’t think I can get on board with. It’s probably my favorite part of The Force Awakens. Your other changes, however, have been very well done. Just my opinion.

I agree that it’s a great scene, it just doesn’t really work for me as a literal cliffhanger at the end of TFA.

ChainsawAsh said:

What are your thoughts on not erasing the ending entirely, but moving it to the beginning of Episode VIII?

That would be okay if I were sure I was doing a TLJ edit but that’s far from certain (although it’s not for a lack of ideas!). Moreover, TFA feels incomplete without some resolution to the search for Luke in that movie.

StarkillerAG said:

ziggyonice said:

This is random but I was just reviewing your original changelist. Not sure how much of this is still accurate, but I really hope you’ve changed your mind about removing Rey’s journey to Ahch-To to meet Luke.

That entire sequence — the build up to seeing Luke’s face and the haunting sounds of “The Jedi Steps” — is probably among of the most defining moments in the entire saga. I think it’s up there with Han shooting first, Anakin burning in lava, and Vader’s reveal as Luke’s father.

Getting rid of that ending is something I just don’t think I can get on board with. It’s probably my favorite part of The Force Awakens. Your other changes, however, have been very well done. Just my opinion.

He isn’t removing it completely, just repurposing it as a dream sequence right before Rey’s interrogation.

That was the plan for a while, but it didn’t really work.

However, now that I have R2 find the map at night with Rey nowhere in sight, it begs the question of what she’s doing at that moment. Sleeping would be the obvious answer, but what better place to put the dream of the island? Honestly I didn’t intend for this when making the night shot though it probably should have occurred sooner:

https://vimeo.com/334596045

Password: fanedit

Acbagel said:

This is looking like it might be the best TFA edit out there. Can’t wait for the full product, thanks for taking the time to do this!

Thanks, it’s much appreciated!

One of the defining aspects of Star Wars is its apparent timelessness, both in its mythological themes and in its setting. It is designed to remove itself from the contemporary in order to access the universal in everyone, and this is probably why the humor is such a big point of contention for these new movies.

Comedy as a genre is notoriously difficult to sell to a wide audience because many jokes rely on the absurdity of specific things taken from contemporary culture. Poe’s jokey bit at the beginning of TLJ relies on an entire subgroup of crank call jokes, and while the joke isn’t new, it isn’t exactly ancient enough to disappear into this aforementioned universal experience. I think this is why the original trilogy rarely makes jokes, opting instead for more generalized situational humor and physical (often droid) comedy.

TL;DR Star Wars should be generally funny, but not not specifically jokey.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5b0cxF8HOE

Love this channel, and this video in particular. I’m sure some fanedits could use these models to great effect.

R2
chasing down Stormtroopers
on speeder bikes
with his jetpacks.

ziggyonice said:

Man, that sequence looks beautiful. I mean really, it is nearly perfect. It has come a long way since you first worked on this scene, and I really think it’s possible for the viewer to connect it with Rey’s “Forceback.”

The only thing that might further enhance it is that, after BB-8 gets Rey’s attention (after the medical lady says, “Your friend is going to be just fine”), I think we need a tighter shot on BB-8 and Artoo. This was difficult to explain, so — I hope you don’t mind — but I took your video and then cut it myself to show you what I mean:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pTw6TzuCPAPO0i2ki53XZEhJGzeznURn/view?usp=sharing

I just reused the previous shot and then reversed it. The only tough thing about this is that it would require putting an “eye” on BB-8 or rotating his head. However, I think this change helps the audience focus a little more on what BB-8 is wanting Rey to look at: Artoo.

Great idea! It would take some doing to swivel BB-8’s dome, but the shot it replaced wasn’t entirely effective either so I wouldn’t mind it being replaced.

RogueLeader said:

I’m still not 100% sold on the Rey/BB-8 stuff, but it could be my own bias. Unrelated to the vfx work so far, I guess it doesn’t feel totally like it actually fits in with the movie yet. Like it isn’t completely seamless logically.

I could go either way on this. I think the shocked look on Rey’s face and the close up on Artoo helps to connect the dots.

If we wanted to make it more obvious, there’s only one thing I can think of: have Rey say Luke’s name. You could maybe use a voiceover from when she says Luke’s name during her conversation with Maz. But I kind of feel like a voiceover would make the edit seem rather amateur. If she says Luke’s name, we need to see her say it. Maybe some rotoscoping magic by cutting her out of the scene with Maz.

This is why I haven’t even attempted it here, since it didn’t work in a similar situation earlier in the edit (Rey’s dream sequence).

RL, it’s true that this whole concept is a bit more nebulous than the movie it’s in, but that may have to do more with the obviousness of the movie than this execution, if you know what I’m saying. Like the audience has been primed to expect everything to be explained and right at the end we’re hit with something different. My argument for keeping the change anyway is that R2’s waking up is already unexplained (or merely coincidental in Restructured). Either way this change is the first one to actually explain why R2 wakes up just in time for the end of the movie. That, as well as the previously mentioned benefits to Rey’s agency, means I’m still pretty happy with it.

ziggyonice said:

NeverarGreat said:

Going back to the R2 scene, BB-8 now explicitly includes Rey and I think it works much better this way:

I agree that I do think this is better. I think that the wipe from Artoo to the nighttime shot comes a little too quick though. I feel like the timing of the music and the shot of Artoo needs to be fixed somewhat. Can the Force theme that’s playing maybe start a second or two later than where it is currently? That way the camera can be fixed on Artoo for another second while the theme comes to a close and before the wipe comes?

Agreed.

Here it is shifted and tweaked a bit, and I’ve also pretty much finished the nighttime shot (done with live action within a matte OT style):

https://vimeo.com/333644596

Password: fanedit

Hal 9000 said:

Bringing back Palpatine in order to allow Ben Solo to recapitulate Vader’s sacrifice from ROTJ in order to once again kill the very same being would make the ST feel pointless. It would seem that ROTJ’s ending was broken down to be kicked a couple movies down the road and then redone.

If they have to bring Palpatine back, I hope it’s a vision or something rather than a true post-mortem consciousness. If Lucas had any say in it, I doubt that’s what would happen.

I really don’t think they’d go that route though, since it is so pointless.

Maybe Rey gets possessed by the spirit of Palpatine and Kylo has to save her.
Maybe the McGuffin is that they have to find the first Sith temple, where Palpatine is reborn.
Or heck, maybe this is the movie to introduce literal time travel to Star Wars so that JJ doesn’t have to write a true ending.

The bashing has also taken on political overtones which adds another dimension of malignancy.

RogueLeader said:

I think it works pretty well! I kind of liked how you made the shot of Kylo on the ground start glowing red like in the last version you did. The cut back and forth between Kylo, Rey, then back to Kylo feels a little too quick to me. But I think the music works well there, it flows with the scene.

You mean the cuts right before the base fires? I agree that it’s too short, but there’s not much to work with and I artificially lengthened them as much as I dared.

SomethingStarWarsRelated said:

Just curious, has anyone attempted to speed up the slo mo shots and make them “real time”?

Do you mean the ones I slowed down, or some others in the scene?

Going back to the R2 scene, BB-8 now explicitly includes Rey and I think it works much better this way:

https://vimeo.com/333180383

Password: fanedit

DominicCobb said:

Anyone who says TFA was nothing but “pure fan service,” go watch Avengers, come back, look at this picture and tell me if you still think that

My ideal Sequel Trilogy would have centered on a group of young new leads and their adventures together, with the old generation forming either mentors operating on the fringes of the story or outright antagonists.

Specifically, I would really have dug a trilogy where Leia/Mothma/Rebellion leadership has formed a new regime which is hailed as a return to the Old Republic but lays bare the inadequacies of such a system. Despite this Leia clings to the dream of the Rebellion and vengeance against the Empire and goes further and further to justify her increasing oppression. Han is estranged, crippled by emotional and physical wounds suffered by fighting beside Leia for thirty years, and secretly hates everything he has become. Similarly, Luke has tried to replicate the Jedi order but finds that their strictures fail to capture the essence of the Force. It is up to our new heroes to break free from these systems which have so trapped our old heroes turned adversaries and forge a new path.

It’s deeply frustrating to see the actual ST come so close to this and time and again miss the mark.

Rey being a nobody is the one ‘twist’ that actually worked in TLJ, so that would be a nah from me.

yotsuya said:

We don’t know what experience either of them have, but they both obviously have quite a bit. We only see either of them using speeders and are told that Luke has used a Skyhopper before. So Rey does a much worse job than Luke at the start and they both fair about the same not too long later (Luke successfully dogfights with highly trained Imperial pilots who in the end take out 27 of the 30 rebel craft).

The difference, though I don’t know why I must reiterate Luke’s characterization in ANH, is that Luke is established in multiple instances to be a good pilot before we see him pilot a fighter. Ben compliments his ability, He boasts of it to Han, and his best friend says that he’s basically an ace pilot. Before he becomes a Jedi it’s his most defining skill. With Rey we are only given a brief mention that she is a pilot moments before boarding the Falcon, then a brief garbled justification after she has flown the Falcon, at which point it’s too late to justify for many in the audience. In short, ANH does the work of cultivating audience expectation and TFA simply does not.

Now if she did everything perfect the first time and didn’t have to try a few times, their might be a point, but she does struggle as much as Luke did learning any particular skill.

Um, what? She clearly learned a more long-distance levitation than Luke on the first try, and learns in a few minutes the mind trick that Luke doesn’t even attempt until the third movie.

TK42-WAN said:

Threepio does say “afraid” often though, that’s how they had Alec Guiness say Rey in TFA.

Very true, which means it’s technically possible. Twist my arm why don’t you 😉

As for the ‘darker’ music when Rey defeats Kylo, here’s how it might sound:

https://vimeo.com/332376936

Password: fanedit

pleasehello said:

NeverarGreat said:

Luke is the best stunt pilot in the outer rim territories, and has clearly been flying for years. And it’s notable that even he never does anything terribly flashy in the OT. Rey’s handling of the Falcon is about how you’d expect in the first few moments, but after that she successfully executes maneuvers far in excess of anything we’ve seen before. If anything, the contrast between almost crashing and ace-level piloting makes her abilities all the more noticeable.

I can’t defend her force abilities, but her piloting abilities being superior to Luke’s can easily be explained. TFA was made in 2015 when anything is possible with CGI. The film-makers didn’t care about making her abilities realistic relative to her circumstances or what has previously been seen in Star Wars. I think they just wanted to make a modern action scene for their modern action movie that modern audiences have come to expect.

They needed an exciting scene with spaceships flying loop-de-loops in the desert that makes me nauseous. So eeny meeny miny moe, let’s have Rey fly the ship.

That’s why I don’t have an issue with this scene apart from the inconsistency when compared to the OT - it feels like an almost necessary change for modern audiences. The immediate Force abilities on the other hand…

ziggyonice said:

Is there any chance you could have Rey say some sort of dialogue? Maybe she could say something, off camera, to Artoo? I’m picturing her saying something about “I saw you in a dream” or something.

Didn’t she say something like that in The Last Jedi? Does any of her dialogue reference dreams or flashbacks or anything that might be edited to fit the context of the scene? Just trying to find ways to piece it together.

Off-camera dialogue is hit and miss at the best of times, so I’m reluctant to go this route. It’s also nearing the end of the movie, and it feels more ‘Star Wars’ to begin minimizing dialogue in favor of imagery.

RogueLeader said:

I do think that the issue is just coming back to the fact that the audience might not put two-and-two together and remember that Rey saw R2 in the dream, and because of R2’s relation to Luke, it made her realize he might have the rest of the map. Maybe if 3PO could say to Leia, “Rey’s found some much needed good news.”

That would be nice, but I don’t know if 3PO ever uses her name in a sentence. I didn’t find anything of use in the TFA Lego game, though there might be later game recordings?

Veering off in another direction a little. We discussed before the idea of putting the Hosnian destruction right after Rey defeats Kylo, and how I was concerned if the high of the duel’s climax could clash with a somber moment immediately after, and Nev, you speculated on the idea of possibly changing the music to be a little darker and less heroic, if that makes sense.

I’ve thought about this some more, and I wonder if you could possibly replace the latter half of that track, starting with the Force theme as they are fighting for each other’s blades then Rey slices his face, with the alternate track for Han’s death scene? It is basically a darker version of the Force theme, and I think the way that track ends would flow really well into the ‘Starkiller’ track. Not sure if the timing would be right but might be worth experimenting with.

Interesting, I’ll give that a try.

yotsuya said:

I just found this and read the first post. I had to laugh at the idea that Rey flew the Falcon so well. She practically crashed the thing trying to take off. Once they were in the air she did pretty good, but when you compare that to Luke, he flew his X-wing like a pro from the beginning.

Luke is the best stunt pilot in the outer rim territories, and has clearly been flying for years. And it’s notable that even he never does anything terribly flashy in the OT. Rey’s handling of the Falcon is about how you’d expect in the first few moments, but after that she successfully executes maneuvers far in excess of anything we’ve seen before. If anything, the contrast between almost crashing and ace-level piloting makes her abilities all the more noticeable.

Rey has to try things before she succeeds, pretty much the way Luke did. And she does have a teacher. She learns just about everything she does from Kylo Ren.

She has never seen Klyo use a Jedi mind trick or even successfully gain his desired information from interrogation, though she manages a successful and proper mind trick after a minute or two of trying.
She has never seen successful telekinesis or levitation, yet apparently learns this on the first attempt after only a moment of intention from Kylo. Interestingly, Kylo never indicates that he is aware of teaching Rey ‘You need a teacher! I can show you the ways of the Force!’ and Rey never acknowledges that she has gained knowledge from Kylo ‘The Force…’.

I’d still like to know who taught Luke to lift his lightsaber in TESB.

If only there was some sort of Jedi mentor which has been established to help Luke from beyond the grave, or a time jump of several years to help the audience suspend their disbelief. Or both.

dahmage said:

devils advocate: but when sunlight filters through snow, isn’t it gonna be blue?

Somewhat, but less than you might think:

CarboniteSolo said:

I used Darth Lucas’ template using his spines, slightly modified. Here’s all nine episodes, I haven’t completed the rest, but I have finished Episodes I-IX. I hope you like them. I love the artwork and I didn’t want to cover them up with words, so this is kind of inspired by those old Star Wars VHS tapes of the 90’s and the classic Star Wars toys of the late 70’s and early 80’s. I left the back covers blank. You can add what you like to them, enjoy. Thoughts and comments appreciated, good or bad.

The last one is for fun.

If only the lightsaber from TFA was edited out of this, it would be perfect.

RogueLeader said:

NeverarGreat said:

Just need to figure out a way to desaturate the planet while keeping the color of the explosions.

Maybe someone could tweak those explosion shots enough to find a good in-between to maintain the explosions color but still be desaturated enough to not make a huge difference from the rest of the shots?

If not, you might have to rotoscope around the explosions to maintain their color. I think it would be worth trying, but I don’t think you’d have to go with the blue star angle, Jakku could just have a different atmosphere or something, like Mars.

I think this, and the potentially more challenging idea of adding MORE wreckage to Jakku are the best methods of differentiating Jakku that are somewhat feasible.

NeverarGreat said:

This would effectively establish Starkiller Base and its range and accuracy using a Rogue One style ‘single reactor’ attack. It would be dramatic enough to substantially raise the stakes, but still modest enough when used on this remote pirate base to justify the Republic’s continued inaction.

This is a cool new idea! Coming full circle. It could fit into the idea of Maz’s Castle being like a safe zone, neutral ground, except instead of just the castle it is the planet. Maybe you could use the subtitled aliens with Finn to provide some additional context for the defense platform as well!

But yeah, it would definitely require some new vfx for sure. I’m not sure how you would do that. And the platform would have to appear significant enough that it would require something as drastic as using a giant laser and exposing Starkiller rather than just attacking it with a Star Destroyer. Like, one Star Destroyer wouldn’t be strong enough to take it out. But they would have to use it in order to get the map.

I do think the important thing would be to make this idea as simple as possible, because if it is too complicated it might be confusing for the audience. So however it works, I would go with whatever is the easiest to understand visually.

EDIT: Establishing Takodana even more as a Switzerland-like neutral planet with some sort of defense would also help explain why Han felt comfortable with waltzing into the castle, since he would think they were safe there.

To explain why the base fires on such a small target first, it might work just to slightly alter Hux’s pitch to Snoke: ‘The weapon. It is ready. I believe the time has come to use it. Then we will destroy the government that supports the Resistance…the Republic.’

That would make it seem like this is really just a test to be followed quickly by the destruction of the Republic before they lose the element of surprise.