Octorox

It would require changing or extending the music, but I wonder if, for the “Just Rey” version of the ending, you could have Ben appear to Rey alone when she is mulling over how to reply to the old woman, but then have Luke and Leia join him in an additional shot while the Falcon takes off. I feel like that would keep it from feeling like she’s “rejecting” their name while still allowing all of them to have a presence.

While they all have Skywalker blood, Leia is first an Organa and Ben is a Solo. Luke was briefly a mentor to Rey, but never really a father figure, and their relationship was overall quite messy. I feel that the “Rey Skywalker” moment is largely unearned and emotionally manipulative. It makes sense from the perspective of the audience but falls apart when considering the internal logic of these characters. She only takes the name “Skywalker” because of what it means to us, not what it means to her, and the same can honestly be said about most of the nostalgia-baiting that happens in this movie…

But I’ll stop ranting. 😂 Obviously it’s Hal’s edit and he can do what he wants. I’m sure there will be multiple permutations delivered by different editors, and if not, I can always make my own!

idir_hh said:

Since we’re re-scoring the film, what do you guys think of using tracks from games like KOTOR, STOR and Shadows of the Empire (an absolute masterpiece of a soundtrack).

I’m pretty much against using any non-Williams music unless it fits like a glove. Something from Shadow of the Empire could maybe work depending on context because it’s fully orchestrated and fits Williams’s style. KOTOR doesn’t fit the style of a Star Wars movie score imo.

That’s why I think it would work well to have just Ben’s ghost, since Ben is the one who initially pushed her to confront the fact that she’s a nobody.

As for titles:
Duel of the Fates
Throne of Darkness
Secrets of the Sith
Secrets of the Empire
The Phantom Fleet
Rise of the Scavenger

I don’t know that I agree with the idea that the “just Rey” ending would only work in the context of a Rey Palpatine edit. Regardless of what we find her lineage to be, Rey’s arc has always been about self-acceptance and the realization that it doesn’t matter who her parents were: she can forge her own path forward. I think her becoming comfortable with the fact that she’s “just Rey” is equally poignant if her parents are nobodies. “Rey Skywalker” is just her latching on to new parental figures, which I don’t think shows any growth for the character. I do wish there was more in this movie to sell it though, since TLJ does all the heavy lifting.

Hal 9000 said:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ZwFZ2dos1-qbGqxX1512Ri787Lc5WU4e

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1TzgLt6l4LmMp4z9PTiA_PNvNiVjXs7cz

Updated Sarlacc links!

Are you just looking to remove the tentacles/beak? I’ve just started learning how to do stuff like this so I might be able to give it a shot later this week.

poppasketti said:

I have an idea audio-wise on how to sell that, so I can show a fuller context later, but just wanted to share something I’m playing with.

Don’t get me wrong, it looks awesome for a first pass!

DominicCobb said:

They were nobody:
https://vimeo.com/414948227

Really promising, although I think the conversation feels a little disjointed now. Kylo goes from talking about Rey’s power to talking about her parents without much build up. I wonder if it would possible to preserve a little more of the original scene while still excising the problematic elements? Is there a way you could work in Poppasketti’s “you were right. They were nobody” line without the “because they chose to be”? I also wonder if the cutaway to the rest of the gang could be moved, as I think it interrupts the flow of the scene, especially since you’ve made it quite a bit shorter.

poppasketti said:

Octorox said:

I almost wish there was a final shot of her flying off in the Falcon while the twin suns set in the background, since so many people interpreted the ending as her “settling down” in the Lars Homestead, which would indeed be bizarre.

May the fourth be with you! (just an early pass, wanted to share)

https://vimeo.com/414985184
pw: fanedit

Ooh, thanks for putting this together! The only thing I’m concerned about is that Rey walking offscreen, followed by the Falcon flying off in the next shot will be too quick a transition. I wonder if it would help to add a shot of Rey in the cockpit or something to bridge the two shots.

poppasketti said:
https://vimeo.com/414395138
pw: fanedit

It’s so close to perfect! Now the “t” in just sounds a little bit cut off, like the word is being artifically shortened, although I’m not sure how you could go about fixing that.

I mostly agree with Poppa on the ending, but I almost wish there was a final shot of her flying off in the Falcon while the twin suns set in the background, since so many people interpreted the ending as her “settling down” in the Lars Homestead, which would indeed be bizarre.

I almost wonder if it would be better to have her just see Ben’s ghost in the “just Rey” version and remove the ghosts of Leia and Luke entirely. The reasoning being that Ben is the one who convinced her to “let the past die” and in kind of a perverse way, set her on the path to self-acceptance. Maybe it’s just because we’re aware of the theatrical version, but the way it plays out currently it seems like she sees the Skywalkers, they expect her to take their name, and she’s like “nah eff that- too much baggage”

I could also see a version with just Ben and Leia. That way Ben is reunited with his mother, and we already get Luke’s ghost (along with Anakin and the others) earlier in the movie

It looks like a lot of people have already given great feedback but I just wanted to say that I love how ambitious this edit is. Your ideas are pretty much uniformly great, and go a long way toward making these characters feel less wooden. I do still think the execution still needs work in a few of the clips you posted though. I’ll try to post more detailed thoughts at a later time but here are a few things that jumped out to me:

-The presence of Clone Troopers in the first Kashyyyk scene would imply that they are already receiving Jedi/Republic help, no? Unless the idea is that Yoda and his troops will supply additional reinforcements.

-I feel like some of the clips where you try squeeze in a bunch of extra lines during what was originally silence feel a little frantic. Similarly, when you try to construct entire sentences or conversations wholecloth it can sound a bit like a Star Wars character soundboard. I would try to be a bit more selective about employing these techniques.

-One thing that didn’t work for me in any of the clips was the color grade. I’m not exactly sure what you’re trying to accomplish with it, but the warm “instagram filter” look doesn’t really resemble any other Star Wars media, so I wouldn’t say it’s helping your goal of making the movie mesh well with The Clone Wars or the OT. Frankly, ROTS is probably the best looking prequel movie already, with natural colors and a clean digital look that complements the animation in Clone Wars well.

DominicCobb said:

Death Star Duel/Ben and Leia:
https://vimeo.com/414119429

Changes

• Swapped in the Force theme for Leia sensing Ben
• Added Duel of the Fates
• Cut out Finn’s last “REEEEEEYYY!”
• Added a few frames using shots from the trailers
• Drastically extended and re-scored Leia contacting Ben

As always keep in mind this is rough.

Awesome stuff. The rescore is seamless.

Bobson Dugnutt said:

And also, here’s a (final?) cut of the Star Tours clip with some new SFX and score added to try and seemlessly cut 3 clips together

Works really well! It’s a shame about the quality though 😕

Cinefy said:

I think it would be better to just extend the celebration scene instead of removing the Endor/Wicket scene, the celebration itself didn’t really feel long enough anyway; I don’t think removing parts will make it better, it was so short for a final celebration of the Skywalker Saga, I felt it needed to be more grand and have more locations from across all the movies. I hope someone eventually does something along those lines in an edit.

I think the Endor scene is only being removed because the footage is being repurposed earlier in the movie.

I’ve tried doing a 3-in-1 of the prequels back in my earliest fanediting days. I think it’s hard to accomplish as long as you hold on to the precept that it needs to feel like a Star Wars film. If you let yourself go crazy with titles, music etc. like the Neon-Noir edit from a few years back it can work.

Bobson Dugnutt said:

benduwan said:

do you use for your edit “making of” and “behind the scenes” parts too?

Is there any specific shots or clips that would be workable?

Jar Jar Bricks said:

If I may, I would recommend your alternate Shaak-Ti clip with the extra space battle shot before the scene. This way, nothing needs to be cut, and it follows the original script better.

I don’t know if the clip works, the camera work isn’t quite like anything in the film, and is a bit short. I’d like it if it was a bit longer but currently its not going to work, sorry.

Here’s the probably the final cut of the Shaak Ti scene, I’m happy with it unless anyone else has some suggestions on what else to do with it

I think you should cut to Grievous after the shot of the battle droids falling to the ground, not before. As of now, it’s kind of an abrupt scene transition. I also agree with everyone else that the graphics on the console showing them running through a hallway need to be replaced with new graphics showing them in the hangar if you’re going to stick to this sequence.

Also did you get my PM by any chance?

Jar Jar Bricks said:

I know you said that the clip wouldn’t work but I went ahead and made an example of it just to show you what I meant. >The camera work is actually quite similar to the intro of the movie, but I know what you mean that it might not fit.
https://youtu.be/AKYW9SBfUUI

I’m actually surprised at how well that works, although the cut out of the footage feels a little abrupt with the camera movement.

I mean, Tatooine was just a desert, Hoth was just snow, and Endor was just California. Outside of Cloud City, “alien” or fantastical looking planet designs were really just a prequel thing. I’m not saying this is good or bad, just that it isn’t unique to the sequels.

RogueLeader said:

Ajan Kloss’ environment matches up rather well with the swamps and jungles the Gungan’s hide in towards the climax of The Phantom Menace. With appropriate color grading and ambiance, the idea could be that the Resistance are now using this old hiding place.

That’s fair. Maybe I was just a little put off by the Theed palace appearing so close to the “jungle” one of the mockups.

As much as I would like a Shaw ghost, the sad fact is that I think it would confuse a bunch of people under 30 who grew up on the DVDs and Blu-Rays (I say that as one of those people). I think it would honestly be best to try to find a recent film with Hayden and use the head from that to make it look as if it was a cameo shot just for this movie. Maybe something from this movie? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCrPUy0IQak

I hate to be a debbie downer because the mockups certainly look good, but isn’t Naboo typically shown to be more temperate or “mediterranean” in climate rather than tropical like Ajan Kloss? I don’t know that all that jungle foliage really screams Naboo to me. (Yes, I know that planets can have more than one climate but this is Star Wars damnit 😛 )

I think these ideas are pretty cool and I was thinking of something similar. I would probably use a straight extended cut of RoTS instead of the New Canon Cut though, just to keep things as close to true canon as possible and appeal to people who want the longest possible cut.

Hal 9000 said:
Resistance headquartered on Naboo

Did I miss the discussion on this? How do you plan to accomplish it?

So for V1 of this edit, I went with opening titles that mirror the sequel trilogy approach (no 20th century fox logo or fanfare, new Lucasfilm Ltd. logo)

For V2, I’ve decided that I want to bring back the Fox fanfare, but I have a few options in terms of what direction to go:
-use the original Prequel-era Fox and Lucasfilm logos from the Blu-Ray
-use the Fox logo sans “A News Corporation Company” and new Lucasfilm logo from the 4K release
-Use the “updated” 2011+ Fox logo and new Lucasfilm logo from Adywan’s ESB Revisited

No matter which direction I go, I’m probably going to be taking out “A News Corporation Company”, but I’d appreciate everyone’s thoughts on the matter.