NeverarGreat

So the idea of Rey seeing the full map in her Force vision is something I’ve been hesitant to actually implement, first because it would require a fair bit of effects work, and second because it effectively removes R2’s only contribution in the movie. The trouble is that Rey has nothing to do with piecing the map together, rendering her quite passive in her own story.

Thinking about it some more, I realized that there might be a way to fix Rey’s passivity as well as keep R2’s contribution, considering Rey has seen R2 in her vision:

https://vimeo.com/330166072

Password: fanedit

For this concept, I would revert back to the theatrical version of the first R2 scene and cut the second one as shown here. What appeals to me the most about this as opposed to the map vision is that Rey doesn’t use an impressive Force power to find Luke; rather the problem is solved simply by her attention to and care for the most humble characters of the story.

BTW, here’s the shifted Leia scene:

https://vimeo.com/329946951

Password: fanedit

I went through almost a dozen different bits of music before finding something halfway serviceable.

RogueLeader said:

I’ve been away for a little bit, but I’ve been keeping up with your posts and everything keeps looking good. I think a discussion can still be had regarding the Finn dream inclusion, but I think it fits it wonderfully and I like the idea of Rey not answering with ‘Luke’, and letting it be open to interpretation (Luke? Finn? Ben?). I’m wondering how you’ll make a POV shot of Finn’s ship though.

That’s the real trick. I’ve been unable to find any decent shots of that pirate vessel from any other angle, so I would have to imagine what the front would look like, hand-paint it and place it within a photo of a forest clearing. Not impossible, just time consuming.

Honestly, I would say you should stick with this idea for the sole purpose of differentiating it from Restructured. Technically it still is the Restructured model, but with a twist. I will say that the one thing this addresses is the complaint of the extended Hosnian destruction kind of detracting from Han’s death scene. I’ve always seen it as a one-two gut punch sorta thing, but pushing the Hosnian destruction back allows for Han’s death to not have to share the spotlight, if that makes sense. I’m sure someone could describe this better than I could at the moment.

That’s definitely a big reason for this edit.

With that said, since the ‘Starkiller’ motif starts playing when Han touches Ben’s cheek and as he falls, will you replace the music with something else, or let it play out in relative silence before Chewbacca’s roar breaks it? What about when you cut to Leia’s reaction a little later? Will there be different music? New ambience?

It actually works fairly well to leave a few notes of the Starkiller theme and cut straight from the wide aerial shot to Chewie’s roar. It’s an immediate reaction in keeping with that character.

I also like how Poe doesn’t necessarily blow up Starkiller now, but the damage he did triggers it once it fires. It doesn’t make destroying it feel so easy. Also having the Starkiller motif play over the Oscillator blowing up and the planet crumbling makes Starkiller feel that much more powerful, that its cannon is literally ripping the planet apart. And I think this works better than the drawn out Resistance reactions from Restructured in some other ways as well.

I do have a few nitpicks though. One thing I wonder about is how having Hosnian blow up right after Rey’s victory over Kylo, which is sort of the climax of the film (like Luke blowing up the Death Star in ANH), will affect the ‘emotional flow’ of the film. So now the audience is like, “Yaaaaay- oh, wait.” Does that make sense? Maybe we’ll still get that when they escape and Starkiller blows up?

Actually, I think it would be interesting to cast Rey as more of a Darksider in this moment of brutality, whether that requires a music change or something else. But if the audience feels like Rey is going down a dark path here instead of righteously smiting her enemy, the shift to the Starkiller firing would make a lot more tonal sense.

I think there was a similar point of concern with Restructured, which was why having Starkiller target the Resistance Base afterward and then Poe stopping it was retained, right?

I think that was retained solely because of concerns that Poe would be acting out of vengeance, since the System had already been destroyed.

Now, if a goal was to escape with the final piece of the map though wink wink nudge nudge, it might maintain some semblance of victory. (Not trying to push that idea on you. The third act map idea might just be what I eventually add to the tapestry of TFA fan edits)

I really like that idea, and it might be something I include if the idea of Rey’s map vision falls apart.

Some smaller nitpicks, I know you had to trim Kylo and Rey’s duel a little because shit starts crumbling around them, but the cut stood out to me and I wonder if there is a way to retain any more of it. Secondly, the wide shot of Rey laying on Finn feels like it lasts too long. I wonder if you could keep the shot of Rey turning off the saber and running into the woods, as well as having the music end sooner, could help not make that shot feel as dragged out. That’s just my own personal feeling though.

Good points. I cut the closeup of Rey and her deactivating the saber/running into the woods because it felt weird with the music, which seems to require wide shots. The final wideshot of the dark woods is slowed down to something like 30 percent, which I agree is too slow, but I really wanted to linger on the shot and communicate that this is where Rey is willing to die.

There a few issues here and there but I think this could work with just a little more polishing. Great work on this idea, man.

Thanks! This was all sorted out in literally one day, so there’s a lot more polishing to do. 😃

Oh no, I’m skipping around again…

This time right to the end, with another work in progress:

https://vimeo.com/329739033

Password: fanedit

So why not keep the Restructured version of the Hosnian Destruction? There are several issues with that version which this seeks to fix.

First, the break in action after Han’s death always felt weird to me, even when it was just cutting to Leia’s reaction, and the Starkiller Firing exacerbated the issue. In this version the Leia cutaway happens instead of the ‘Two Minute Warning’ scene in the theatrical.

Second, and related, there’s now no need for another Snoke scene or recharging of the weapon. Poe and company do all they can, but fail to destroy the Oscillator in time, no need for a vengeful final run.

Third, the weapon firing now has a real effect on the plot since it does in the Oscillator, which then creates a planetary ticking clock and ends the lightsaber fight.

Speaking of clocks, I hadn’t intended to make the ‘Two Minute Warning’ accurate to the second but it just so happened to work after cutting the cliffhanger shots in the duel.

It’s part of a larger idea where Rey decides to go with Finn instead of simply running into the woods. I’ve also removed her saying ‘Luke’ in response to Maz’s insistence that ‘someone’ could still come back. In this version it’s ambiguous as to whom Maz is talking about. Finally, I’d like to create a shot of the pirate ship to place as a POV for Rey when she stops in the woods to catch her breath.

Putting Finn into Rey’s Vision:

https://vimeo.com/329166691

Password: fanedit

I’m hoping to get the fully complete version of this out soon, but in the meantime I decided to use the updated Color Correction tools in Premiere 2019 to see if I couldn’t improve one of the shots that I felt never got its due in version 1:

https://diff.pics/hPh52iqZu7jm/1

The second image is the Tech V1, notice the flat and orange skintones versus the update.

oojason said:

^ by https://www.instagram.com/camveefx

(a fair few more pieces of quality SW art on there too)
 

Now I imagine an alternate ending to Episode 8 where Rey is shown holding one half of the lightsaber on the Falcon. Cut to the Supremacy, where First Order salvage crews are evacuating before its demolition. As it is engulfed in explosions, Kylo watches from the bridge of one of the few remaining Star Destroyers, holding the other half of the lightsaber in his hand. Credits.

EddieDean said:

Can she wake only after the weapon fires (which with yours as with Hal’s, comes after Han’s death)? A bit of artificial camera shake?

Not sure I understand this.

Also, random idea: What if Takonoda had evidence of habitation? I’m thinking some cities visible from space and in the distance in the establishing shots. I think it would convey that Han is taking our heroes into the Republic proper, a more civilized place than for example a cantina on Tatooine. The patrons of this place already feel less dangerous than the pirates they supposedly are. The subtitled dialogue between Finn and the pirates could suggest this as well, something like:

‘I was told you could get me to the outer rim’
‘You’d be safer here in the Republic.’

JEDIT: Giving some habitation to the planet would also make Rey’s running away more logical.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHl75yymjBM&t=0s

So it’s an April 1st video, but actually kind of interesting.

Side note: The blue in ANH was often so degraded on the Blu-ray (which is why the milk just looks dirty here) that I had to isolate the milk in one shot of my Technicolor project to return it to its original hue.

Wouldn’t that have worked better as The Forks Awaken?

Indeed.

I’m struggling right now on the end of the movie. I’d like to move the final scene if possible, but there are limited options. The most promising to me is to place it after the interrogation:

https://vimeo.com/327124146
Password: fanedit

I tried including some dialogue from Kylo about the island, but it feels more powerful without dialogue. Also, should Rey hear Hux’s speech or should it transition without her waking up?

JEDIT: I’ve also tried to place the scene after Kylo witnesses the sun draining but before Rey tries to escape, yet the problem is simply that it feels too much like she’s actually on the island rather than in a dream. The costume is problematic as well. Really at this point I’m just interested in repurposing the music somewhere.

DominicCobb said:

Happened across this by accident, don’t think I’ve seen it before

Oddly similar to the possibly official Episode 9 Poster.

DominicCobb said:

On the other side of it, RO is obviously stretching the bounds of what could technically have happened with the dialogue from ANH in mind. But you know what? Who cares.

It’s not a dealbreaker and doesn’t ‘ruin’ either movie, but it does bug me that the fix would be so simple - just have the Tantive waiting on the edge of the battle somewhere, with the Profundity re-transmitting the plans as Vader fights his way to its comm center.

Tobar is technically correct, but I agree with Maul’s points nonetheless. There is a checkmark next to each box where RO connects to ANH, but checking the box doesn’t mean that the plotlines feel continuous. Taking Vader at his word, and assuming that the most important pieces of information are being conveyed, the scene in ANH heavily implies that the plans were beamed directly to the Tantive. It also implies that Leia thought that she could not be directly tied to the theft of the plans, for several reasons:

1. Leia is spending significant time to make a detour with vital intelligence, something that makes little sense if she knows she is being followed.

2. Leia’s cover story concerns a ‘diplomatic mission to Alderaan’ which does not explain this detour to Tatooine, implying that she was completely unprepared for this encounter and contradicts the state of play at the end of RO.

3. Vader’s conversation with the officer makes clear that the Empire is on thin ice by detaining this senator, which would not be the case if the Empire has overwhelming evidence of the Tantive undocking from the flagship of the Rebel Alliance carrying traitors to the Empire.

Mocata said:

DuracellEnergizer said:

NeverarGreat said:

That is far and away the best fan film I’ve ever seen.

Are you saying it isn’t a lightsaber duel in search of a plot?

I gotta admit this aspect of it is pretty impressive. Was this story ever told somewhere in the old EU?

I’m sure it was somewhere (Tales from Jabba’s Palace?), but I haven’t personally read anything of that nature.

http://donatoarts.com/science-fiction

Ah, I see 😃

Hal 9000 said:

Wow, that’s some great work, NeverAr! It’d be sad to lose Han’s hilarious line “If I get any higher they’ll see us!”

Well the impetus for the cuts in that scene was more to do with the time spent away from Rey than any humorous content; because her two escape attempts happened on either side of that scene I didn’t want the crash to be so involved that it sapped significant tension from the escape.

Hopefully the feeling of this scene is more akin to a car crash - violent, out of control, and over before anyone can really react.

Another update to the Starkiller infiltration, continuing to weave the scenes into a more interconnected whole.

https://vimeo.com/325586676

Password: fanedit

So there are a lot of changes throughout, such as a shortened Falcon crash landing and additional lines for Phasma from the Battlefront game. The shortened crash was actually a suggestion of my girlfriend, who has been pushing for a less jokey final act. Her thesis for the humor of Star Wars is that by the final act of a movie the humor is almost entirely physical/situational rather than quippy lines due to the earnest tone, which I quite agree with. That is also why Finn’s dialogue with Phasma is shortened.

I’m still having trouble integrating comm chatter into Rey’s cell. Ideally it would inform her of the Falcon’s landing and add that final impetus for her escape.

https://i.imgur.com/UQg03Nd.mp4

Hal 9000 said:

That’s pretty good! I like how you repurpose the few shots at the beginning that the ‘Restructuring’ had to exclude.

I have vowed never to rest until these shots are returned to the film 😉

RogueLeader said:

That’s pretty cool! That’s a nice new transition you’ve made, and it sounds good. I also like the quick cut to Kylo Ren’s face and the intense strings, during Rey’s second attempt.

In this version, you do lose that idea you had though about Han and Finn’s arrival distracting Kylo and buying Rey enough time to escape. Although I’m guessing you’re still trying to imply their arrival somehow encouraged Rey to try again, right?

It’s true that most of that idea has been lost, but it could still be up to interpretation as to whether or not Rey would have escaped the cell block if Kylo hadn’t been distracted by the Falcon’s arrival. I didn’t intend to imply that Rey could sense the Falcon here, but that is certainly one interpretation. Maybe if there was some dialogue from the Trooper’s intercom to that effect…

As you may have noticed from the previous clip, I’ve moved Kylo’s watching of the Starkiller weapon to later, and put some work into Rey’s escape attempts:

https://vimeo.com/323990777

Password: fanedit

The shortened dialogue with Kylo at the end gives some ambiguity as to which sensors were triggered, hopefully lending more tension to Rey’s escape.