Octorox

Hal 9000 said:

I'd say if you're abandoning the titular "Episode I, II, then III," just make it one prequel film for the machete viewing order. That'd be a logical parenthetical flashback between ESB and ROTJ, given that the episodic numbering is being interfered with either way. 

 Good call. That would also probably put me at the 2:30-2:45 mark which I consider more acceptable for a Star Wars film than the typical 1:30 prequel edit.

I also might drop the idea of the Episode I prologue. It was a fun idea to test out but I don't think I'll be able to execute it professionally enough to make sense and feel seamless in the final edit.

However, my only concern with this approach is that the transition between between II and III will be disorienting. My current plan is to cut from Yoda's line "Begun the clone war has" to the opening battle of ROTS, with an accompanying "3 years later" graphic. I'm just hoping that new viewers wont be disoriented by the fact that the chancellor has been captured and the Jedi are trying to rescue him, since there's no crawl to explain that or who General Grievous is.

EDIT: The workprint is now up on Myspleen, if you don't have Myspleen access, PM me on how to get it.

So, this is going to be a cut I'm working on inspired by two things: the fabled Topher Grace prequel edit and the Machete viewing order, which suggest the films be watched IV, V, II, III, VI. I haven't decided whether or not this is going to be two seperate edits: one for Episode II and one for Episode III, or if it is going to be one combined edit of Episodes II and III. Either way, before Episode II there will be a short prologue summarizing some aspects of the Phantom Menace. Here is a very rough sample clip showing how this might play out in a sort of flashback structure.

The source for the rough clip is the Phantom Edit and Attack of the Phantom, simply because I had files of them on my computer. The real version will be sourced from the Blu-Rays and obviously will have a real crawl, not the Phantom Editor crawl.

I would appreciate any feedback or ideas, but keep in mind the clip is meant to be more of a proof of concept than representative of the real cut.

So I watched Kerr's EPIII edit. Some things I really loved and other things I didn't. Personally, I would have left in most of the Yoda/Palpy duel and the lack of Padme naming the children makes this edit not work so well for the machete viewing order. That said, I loved his take on Anakin's turn and all of the cuts were very seamless. I don't know if I could call this my preferred version but there was a lot that was done right. Next I'm going to move to watching L8wrtr's trilogy. I may end up making my own Hybrid II/III edit designed specifically for machete order (i.e. to be watched after V but before VI) if those don't completely satisfy me.

I've seen some other edits of Episode I and II and I haven't found ones that I enjoy. I'll look into L8wrtr's and Kerr's EpIII but are there any others you would recommend? My main issues are that a lot of editors are either too aggressive with their edits and the movies feel gutted and clearly chopped up (particularly with Jar Jar, having him never say anything at all feels weird) or they're not aggressive enough in places and try to salvage scenes that really aren't needed to tell the story (most of the Padme/Anakin love scenes in Ep II, several action scenes that don't really advance the plot).

So a few of the prequel deleted scenes that were present on the DVD releases have been invaluable to fan editors trying to improve Lucas’s movies. However, since the release of the Blu-Rays and the advent of HD edits, these scenes stick out like a sore thumb next to the Blu-Ray footage. I’m consistently amazed by the work people have done up-scaling the GOUT and was wondering if anyone has tried applying similar methods to the Prequel deleted scenes. Unfortunately, this is something that is beyond my capabilities but I would really appreciate anyone else taking a stab at it.

So, I’m a big fan of The Phantom Editor’s “Phantom Edit” and “Attack of the Phantom” and I’ve been looking for a good Revenge of the Sith edit to complete the trilogy. My main problem with most edits is that they tend to be more about cutting out things the editor personally doesn’t like rather than simply trying to tell the best, most economical version of the story Lucas set out to tell. They often feel like fan works rather than something that could have been in the theaters in 2005. I’m looking for an edit that is professional, high quality and respects the story Lucas was trying to tell while improving the pacing and clarity as well as removing elements that distract from or weaken the plot and characters. Anyone have any suggestions?

Overall I'm pretty happy with this cast. I bet Andy Serkis will play a CG character. 

The non-canon "Legends" banner would be a great excuse to re-release the OOT, if Lucas is really so concerned with only the 2011 Blu-Ray versions being canon.

http://www.slashfilm.com/star-wars-expanded-universe/

Out of all the existing Star Wars material, only the six films and the clone wars TV show are now canon, and all Star Wars content (books, films, games etc.) moving forward will be canon and overseen by Lucasfilm's story department. However, new content is able to draw from aspects of the EU if it wants (i.e. Rebels). So basically, Episode VII, VIII and IX are free to incorporate elements of the EU if they choose to but they aren't beholden to anything that has happened in the EU. Thoughts?

http://www.slashfilm.com/topher-grace-edited-star-wars-prequels-85minute-movie/

This is really interesting. I really hope it gets leaked.

I'm pretty sure that in "A New Hope" when Han, Luke, Ben and the Droids are hiding under the floor in the millennium falcon, one of the Stormtroopers says "Theres no one here" in some versions but stays silent in others.

Brahmmuel L Jackson said:

Out of curiosity, have you guys ever watched this video?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCjMGOvMghY

That was really well done and made me lol.

http://www.slashfilm.com/star-wars-fan-writes-108page-rebuttal-red-letter-medias-phantom-menace-review/

Not going to read it anytime soon but somebody provided a 108 page rebuttal to RLMs TPM review.

Gaffer Tape said:

I love Confused Matthew.  I was introduced to him when someone linked to his Star Wars prequel reviews on this site nearly two years ago, and I've been hooked ever since.  Yeah, he did get a lot of flack for his 2001 review, but, yeah, he was purposely avoiding 2001's historical significance because he felt it more important to judge the film by its own merits as a storytelling entity, not in regards to its places in the annals of filmmaking history, shot composition, and special effects pioneering.

On the contrary I really can't stand him. His Incredibles and Lion King reviews were awful. Also he's not funny at all, just angry, which gets grating after a while.

digitalfreaknyc said:

TRAILER IS UP!

September 2011!

 http://starwars.com/video/view/001175.html

colors still look terrible....It does look like they tweaked the blockade runner scene but everything else is still blue...

REALLY interested in this.

http://www.dorkly.com/video/2664/star-wars-re-remastered-the-control-panel-shot-first

The Control Panel shot first!

Opera scene is one of the best in the prequels. I thought it was great as is but you've done a nice job improving it. I like the ending "And the Jedi don't?"

Lets hope there are more deleted scenes where that came from.

“Releasing the originals is kind of an oxymoron because the quality of the original is not very good. You have to go through and do a whole restoration on it, and you have to do that digitally. It’s a very, very expensive process to do it. So when we did the transfer to digital, we only transferred really the upgraded version.”

Read more: Star Wars Blu-Ray Announced for Fall 2011, Deleted Scene Revealed | /Film http://www.slashfilm.com/2010/08/14/star-wars-blu-ray-announced-for-fall-2011-deleted-scene-revealed/#ixzz0wcpxnYMM

...meh

brash_stryker said:

Well I've been trying to get my head around after effects, just tinkering around trying to get a feel for the program. Colour correction is so hard if, like me, you don't have an eye for what looks right.

Nevertheless I had a stab at colour correcting Boba's battle with Obi Wan (This is just meant as part of the initial colour grading of the whole film (hence why he still has a blue visor).

A more radical colouring more akin to my old mockup below may be done at some point if possible (though it'd be a lot of masking work if I did it in the same way - altering the hue to get the orange sky also gave Obi Wan a Smurf's complexion, made his Lightsaber orange, and the laser bolts, fire and explosions blue.)

 

Color correction definitely looks a bit greenish/yellowish there. keep fiddling.

Doctor M said:

For the life of me though, I can not figure out what is "racist" about the scene.  IIRC, they also zoomed to remove the animated nudity.

Wow....it's pretty damn blatant to me :\

Saw Howl's Moving Castle. The Animation was amazing as expected, the characters were memorable and there were a lot of nice moments but the story devolved into a hot mess by the end. Not Miyazaki's best work, still recommended.

Also, just saw Despicable Me. Very Funny animated film with a zany Loony Tunes approach to humor and a cute and touching if very cliche story.

For inspiration in the area of Grevious:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1IVhMp2WPk

I always loved the way the original Clone Wars presented him as an absolute badass Jedi killing machine, more of a monster or weapon than the chatty moustache-twirling villain he is in EpIII