RogueLeader

I was thinking he could just say nothing. I think it works without anything else said. But there might be something that could fit there, though.

When Colin Cantwell popped over on the discussion side of the forum, it reminded me of the Solo deleted scene where one of his designs got cut. If the TIE Fighter half of the Naval Academy deleted scene was able to be recreated from scratch, who here thinks it would be worth the effort to do?

Really in that half, you still don’t really see Han being an amazing pilot, unless you count him managing to crash land into a hangar and surviving (which I guess is a very Han thing to do). You could add more to the “dogfight”, but would too much make it too obvious that is isn’t ILM-level CGI?

Basically I had the idea to replace the TIE interior shots with TIE interior footage from 4K77 (Similar to what they did with Red and Gold Leader for Rogue One). Then use the TIE cockpit POV shots, rotoscope the windows out, then use either a Star Destroyer model OR this Cantwell’s Arrestor Cruiser model this guy made if he has it available anywhere to show where Han is flying toward.

And instead of using the TIE/rb (TIE Brute) since I can’t find any models for it, I thought it would be cool to use EC Henry’s TIE Vector concept in its place.

The scene would also need a new voiceover as well for whoever Han is talking to.

It would require a bit of work (especially for myself considering I have never done 3D animation work before), but I think it is possible. I just wanted to see what the consensus was on if this scene is really worth it or not. What are the pros and cons, basically.

Mr. Cantwell! Thanks for stopping by to chat with us!

I don’t know if this would ever interest you, but I think it would be really cool to see a video of you sharing your kitbashing process, maybe you and an assistant could try to build one of the ships from your CoreFires novel that you recently published. It would be a great way to share your experience with future model makers, and also promote your book.

Adam Savage, who did some model work for the prequels, has done kitbashing videos a number of times on his YouTube channel that provide a good example of the process. I think people would love to see something like this!

Also guys, Mr. Cantwell has a pretty solid Instagram if any of you are on there.

Thanks for your contributions in inspiring the imagination of children (and adults) for the past 40 years! It wouldn’t be the same without your creativity.

Has anyone been able to use the 4K version of the film for potential cropping, yet?
I think poppa is satisfied with not having the Space Walk in his edit and I respect that. I do remembering though back when we both had discussed the scene, that poppa speculated on cropping that one particular wide shot when she starts moving toward the ship. His idea was that if the shot was tighter, that maybe it would work better. Having the 4K version of that shot would help make that seamless, for a future editor who did want to keep that moment.

Had small thoughts about dialogue changes for Kylo and Phasma.

At the Jakku village, when Phasma says, “Sir, the prisoners?”

Kylo responds, “Kill them all.”

But I was thinking that could be changed to, “I leave that to you.”

Then Phasma could continue on with, “On my command.” with some slight edits to the shot of Kylo and the troops raising their blasters, etc.

Kylo’s role seems pretty specific within the First Order, so I think he would care less about the collateral damage of his goals, and it also lets Phasma get some bad guy points for making the call herself. Kylo just killed an old man, so he already has demonstrated his ruthlessness.

Also, when Kylo says, “I leave that to you” to Hux later in the film, it doesn’t really make much sense if you think about it. Getting the map is Kylo’s one objective. Why would he “leave it to Hux”? He didn’t leave it to Hux when he made his dramatic entrance at the Jakku village. I think it would actually be better if he just didn’t say anything at all. It really doesn’t effect the story whatsoever if we remove it in that scene.

Building off dialogue changes, I remembered that Gwendoline Christie actually voiced Phasma for the battlefront game, so she also has a number of alternate lines that could be used to give Phasma a little more character/personality.

https://youtu.be/SMwKnDdA9TI

Here are a few that I personally like:
5:49 - Individuality does not suit you.
[this one could be funny after Han calms Finn down when he says “I’m in charge! I’m in charge now!”
It also could be used when she is at the computer terminal]

2:27 - Whatever you call yourself, you’re FN-2187
[this would be another good response after he says, “the name’s Finn.” Her performance with this line is good. Definitely could use either this line or the previous one in this scene]

Traitorous whelp.

You’re nothing without the First Order.
Everything you know, I taught you.
[These two are solid and her delivery is probably the best out of the lot. I think these would fit during the Finn and Phasma fight potentially. Maybe right before the fight begins or during their dramatic close up, and just replace the line “You’re a bug in the system!”] [“You’re nothing without the First Order” could fit with the “I’m in charge” scene too.]

The First Order will conquer you all. [Could replace “my troops will storm this block and kill you all”. That doesn’t happen, but the First Order does still end up conquering the galaxy so this would make her right in this version. But maybe it would make less sense in this moment.]

2:46 - The First Order is eternal.
2:47 - You’ve been surprisingly troublesome.

3:11 - Your Death has been authorized.
3:25 - I offer no mercy.
You have already been judged.
[I feel like these would all fit around when Finn and Rose are going to be executed. I think if there was a line in the vein of making an example out of them, it would fit in as well and explain why they’re brutally executing them in front of a platoon of Stormtroopers.]

Also, if one kept Han’s “trash compactor” line, I would remove Finn’s “yeah, there is”, and just leave it on Phasma’s head turn. I think that answers their question.

There’s a lot of viable lines there, though, that could possibly make her brief moments stand out a little more. For example, I think part of the appeal of Boba Fett is that 1) he looks badass, and 2) he has a handful of quotable lines. I think some of these lines potentially have that quotability factor, if that makes sense. Just some ideas though.

EDIT: Also, I think Nev’s idea of having Phasma also sound the alarm is a must-have change too. It makes her at least a little bit defiant in the face of death.

Haha, I am not going be able to unsee that comparison now.

I might be wrong, and Ady or 005 can correct me if so, but I think Ady has said the ending is going to be entirely different, so it’ll be neither Yub Nub nor Victory Celebration. I think he was planning on the final scene being Luke and the funeral pyre, so the tone will be more bittersweet than joyous, if I had to guess. But he might not be 100% on that.

EDIT: If I had to personally pick between just those two options, I prefer Victory Celebration. It’s what I grew up with, and I think it has a more appropriate and grander feel than Yub Nub. But I’m glad Ady is considering a new approach.

That is really cool. I feel like it would take quite a bit of time to do this for the entire OT.

Holy shit. I’m really diggin that.
It makes sense to have the shots in that order. You kind of recontextualize the “The Resistance will not be intimidated by you” line in a way that feels even more relevant. Like Kylo is trying to break his will in order get to the truth.

Also, did you add Kylo saying “Agreed”? That’s genius. I mean you can argue it isn’t needed but I feel like that is appropriate with his attitude.

That BB-8 shot is the best one by far you could’ve used. And yeah, like you said, even though most people probably know that he gave it to BB-8, I think it would still work as a nice little reveal and make it to where you’re not reusing any shots.

I’m still not sure what would be the best way to present those images, if they should be briefer flashes, or if they should be distorted in some way, but I like the direction you’re going in.

Huh, that is interesting.

I always assumed, theatrical or Restructured, that the Resistance had heard rumors about a First Order weapon and had some indirect evidence, like the Resistance show might be setting up when Poe and Kaz go to a system with a missing star later this season. So they know something big was going on, but they had yet to find enough direct evidence to bring to the Republic. Probably similar to how Rogue One implies a similar thing with the Death Star. No evidence, but rumors. I personally think it isn’t a big issue, but I think this is an interesting idea.

It kind of makes me think of the first main Force Awakens trailer, when it shows Poe being interrogated and then cross fades into the shot of the trees being knocked down by the shockwave of Starkiller firing. It almost gives it that vibe that Poe is seeing that. You could also use that shot if you didn’t want to directly show the planets blowing up in the “vision”, or the shot of Kylo watching the laser pass by since that never happens in Restructured. I always thought that shot would be to cool if you could make it look like the Finalizer was in hyperspace with Kylo looking out the viewport for when they’re heading to Takodana.

But personally I don’t know how effective it would be to have repeat shots. Maybe if there was a way to distort them a little. Maybe a subtle Force sound effect when it shifts from scene to scene too. They could possibly be briefer than Poe’s own memories, to kind of imply that Kylo’s own thoughts are slipping through rather than being projected to Poe intentionally.

Also, I wonder if it would work to see a very brief shot of BB-8 in the end, even if it was slightly crossfading in over Poe’s face and the cataclysm, like Poe’s trying to hold it back but that crucial piece of info is starting to come through. Not sure how exactly that could work, but I feel like it would fit in with the purpose of the scene.

Also, I really like the shot of Lor San smiling. I don’t know, it just feels sad that this friendly old man has just died and we’re being reminded of it. I like it.

So you used alternate takes for that? Pretty interesting.

One thing I noticed though, you said you flipped shots when necessary, but I noticed a few shots of Obi-Wan around the 40-50 sec mark breaking the 180. For one shot he is on one side of the frame and then in the next he’s on the other side. Also, when Vader says, “You should not have come back.” That shot is also on the opposite side of the generally established 180. Is this intentional to make the duel feel more chaotic?

I noticed how you have him do that spin to fake his movement to the opposite side to Vader and I think that works.
But I personally think you should flip those shots to match the 180. If you flipped them for continuity, I wouldn’t worry about it, because your audience would notice the 180 break before they would notice someone’s hands positioned on their lightsaber differently or the buttons on Vader’s chestbox being on the wrong side. Besides, this version still has a continuity error, with the saber mark on the wall being visible before Vader ever hits the wall.

Also, I like the use of some of the new saber sounds, but there are some I think that are a little too much. There is one that you use a few times that sounds like someone dipping hot metal into water, or sorta like a tire screeching. Don’t know how else to describe it but I feel like it doesn’t fit. Maybe it is just me and its because I know they weren’t there originally, so probably not a big deal.

Also, I noticed you used a saber ignition sound at one point in the middle of the fight, I actually think it is the sound specifically used for Vader’s saber, which I was going to suggest you use instead of the more generic saber ignitions used for Obi and Luke. If you go back and watch the Bespin duel you can hear the difference between Luke’s and Vader’s.

Anyway, just a couple of thoughts.

Snooker, I can get it was a pain to track. Still not perfect but it definitely looks more like the ST style of the blade.

Honestly, I really like how Luke’s saber seemed more Cyan than Blue in the first movie. It kind of differentiated it from all the other blue sabers. But if you were to try to make the blade consistent through all the films, it would be easier to make that cyan to blue rather than the opposite, since it is blue more.

That is true, but in the context that it is the First Order rather than some random faction, then they would already know who she is fighting, because they’re currently invading the galaxy. So I think if some little audio cues could be added to reinforce that she is indeed fighting the First Order, I think it would work.

I don’t think it is an insult to her character, but beyond that I have to agree with Dr. K, though. I think it would be of a benefit to omit that line for the reasons he previously mentioned. It would actually feel like the First Order is invading various parts of the galaxy, like the crawl mentioned, if Maz is off somewhere else also fighting them. The last time we see Maz, her home and livelihood was destroyed by the First Order, and she even says that “we” must fight them. Plus, if she is going to be with the Resistance in IX, wouldn’t it make sense to have Maz already be fighting the First Order?

I personally didn’t think the “union dispute” was sarcasm. Maybe it was meant to be, but I don’t think think it came off as sarcasm to most people if you were to ask them. Just my guess though. I think if you heard something like Stormtrooper blaster sounds or chatter through the hologram it would probably help get that idea across.

Sorry poppa, I know this discussion isn’t directly related to your edit.

rodneyfaile said:

Rose-
Here is a post I made previously regarding Rose:
Rose Tico holds the entire movie together.

I really love how you stand by this opinion even though it is not a very popular one right now.
I think the message her character represents, and how that affects Finn, is going to play a big part in the conclusion of Episode IX, if JJ and Terrio carry that theme over at least. I certainly hope they do, because honestly I think it is fundamental to ending this saga appropriately.

Wow, that is really cool. Could you imagine how blown people’s minds would have been with that kind of opening? I’m sure many hardcore fans would be mad about how nontraditional it is, but I feel like there is this metatextual substance there that you could interpret from it.

I get the infeasibility of it though. But, just to explore the idea, you could have it play out until the wide shot of the AT-AT, then hard cut to the actual opening starfield with the moons/planets (sunset to nighttime), and maybe add some nighttime ambience and extend that shot slightly to just let it sit there peacefully for a few seconds. Then quietly, the Star Destroyer is revealed and the movie could play out as is. The next time you wanted to cut back to Rey and Jakku, you could possibly have a brief montage sequence where we see her put junk on her speeder, drive to Niima Outpost, clean junk, get food from Unkar Plutt, go back home, but a mark on the wall (maybe with some vfx to make her mark the next space over), then sit outside with her food again. This whole thing would be 30 seconds or less, which each shot just being 1-3 seconds, just to get the idea across that she really does the same thing everyday. And as she is sitting there outside her AT-AT, she hears BB-8.

To help make that idea work, you could remove a shot or two from the initial montage so you won’t repeat it, or possibly flip a shot or two, maybe shift/remove the people that are walking home on the “Rey driving home shot” if yo reuse it, for example. Just do different things like that to make the shots feel different, and then you might also have to create new foley and just let the montage run without music.

I still think the theatrical cold open works better for the movie, sometimes you have to sacrifice cool for logic/pacing, but that alternate opening is really cool and the concept is fun to explore. I think your previous idea works better for your project still.

Hal 9000 said:

Thanks for the thougful posts, Rogue. I find myself on YouTube for at least a little while a day due to my situation and strange aversion to watching actual shows or movies most of the time, and Star Wars stuff comes up a lot. It sometimes sucks me into a more cynical mindset than I’d like, I’ll admit.

Thanks for taking the time to read them, Hal! I know where you’re coming from regarding being sucked into that cynical mindset. I feel like it is so easy to be persuaded by a lot of the more critical videos. If anyone follows my posts know I defend the new movies pretty regularly, but even when I watch pretty harsh critiques it does make me question myself until I take a minute to step back and reevaluate my own opinion.
You probably are already aware of these YouTubers, but I would recommend people like HelloGreedo, Wayward Jedi and EC Henry, who approach the new movies pretty fairly. Greedo recently had a baby too so you would probably relate to him a lot. EC Henry talks a lot about both Star Wars and Star Trek, and he really approaches things in a totally unique way, but his upload rate is more spread out than others.

I would also like to admit to a certain form of (reverse?) jealousy regarding YouTubers who sell licensed merchandise with trademarked images on them. For one thing, if I were for some reason paid minimum wage for each and every hour I’ve spent working on Star Wars stuff on my computer(s), I could pay off my student loans. I won’t even mention what that would look like in the case of someone like Adywan. Why is it okay for people to sell trash with Star Wars imagery on it? I’ve likened our careful efforts to avoid anything approaching profiting from our work to Star Trek’s prime directive, which exists in part to protect us. It kind of makes me mad to see others wantonly endangering us vicariously by promoting what often seems to me like lazy, loud mouthed channels.

I totally understand that feeling. I’ve always thought it would be great if there was a way for fans could collaborate with studios on their projects to make something like that possible. I don’t see that happening anytime soon, but the more people try to take advantage of the system, the harder it is ever going to be for that to even be possible, especially when it comes from a place of “We’re better than you”. I also get the feeling you’re a Star Trek fan (if your old Kirk profile pic wasn’t an indication), would like to pick your brain about that sometime.

I don’t know if you keep up with that side of the fandom but they have a fan film situation going on with Axanar. One Trekkie YouTuber suggested the idea of fan filmmakers and CBS collaborating by having CBS fan films being put on their All Access Streaming Service and somehow make an arrangement from that to encourage community activity. And Disney/Lucasfilm could do something similar by having a fan film category on Disney+, for example. It’s definitely an interesting idea, even if it is unlikely. I don’t think that could ever happen with fan edits, though, since they sort of are critiques by their very nature. I think we’ll always have to remain and underground art form. But about the people that will try to take advantage of this grey area and profit off it, I don’t really know what all we can do beyond just calling them out when we see it.

But I think this rise in this kind of behavior is sort a combination of the democritization of filmmaking tools like digital video equipment and editing software, plus general ignorance of copyright law (or simple greed).
Maybe it would help if someone from this side of the community were to create a channel to kind of counter and respond to this kind of behavior or negativity in the fandom in general, but a part of me also doesn’t think our little subculture needs anymore attention than it already has. I think a fanediting podcast would be a cool idea, though!

I admire the Phantom Editor and, at least to my own mind, have tried to approach fan editing Star Wars from a place of love and (spirit of) professionalism.

I think you’ve definitely achieved this so far, Hal!

And yeah, wanted to thank Zerome and Val again for being cool and having this conversation with me too.

Thanks for sharing, Val! I haven’t heard of movieweb, but they do seem pretty biased, or at least only supporting SWT’s perspective. To me it just seems he’s just repeating verbatim what SWT’s been saying in his videos, so I don’t know how much is the writer agreeing with him or just trying to tell the story how he’s receiving it.

If I’m not mistaken, his thumbnail in the update video has Superman with Lucas’ face photoshopped on it. I’m not sure why? Like I’ve said, I think it just supports my opinion on this whole fiasco. He thanked Lucasfilm, but could you imagine him actually thanking the President of Lucasfilm?

Also I thought I would share the r/StarWars thread regarding the update. If you take your time to scroll through it seems more and more people are questioning SWT’s motives and why this was so newsworthy in the first place. You still have some detractors saying things like “But the video wasn’t monetized” that haven’t kept up with everything, but people are starting to seem pretty iffy about him. Even Eckhart’s Ladder even chimed in about it. I dunno. Just thought I’d share.

https://www.reddit.com/r/StarWars/comments/agqp9k/lucasfilm_has_revoked_warner_chappells_copyright/?st=JR03O2NH&sh=d8aeeefd

How is it odd? Warner, Disney and Lucasfilm don’t communicate constantly.
Lucasfilm must’ve gotten in touch with Disney/Warner that he had contacted them must’ve pulled some strings. He should be really grateful, and I’m glad he is actually thanking Lucasfilm for a change. Hopefully this will help stop people from lumping Disney and Lucasfilm together constantly, but who knows.

EDIT: The more and more I read YouTube comments the more I realize it is mostly literal children and I’m wasting my time thinking about this so much.

That video sample looks simply amazing, Dre. Job well done.

Also, didn’t know you recently had a baby until I read through your thread just now! Seriously, congratulations to you and your family. I’m sure you’ll have many sleepless nights ahead of you, but they’ll just be the beginning of countless cherished memories. Really happy for you!

Valheru_84 said:

A perfect example of how PR is affected regardless of the cold hard facts:

https://movieweb.com/star-wars-9-boycott-disney-darth-vader-fan-film/

Just wanted to say as well that while I think this could have been handled differently by Warner/Disney, I think SWT could have handled it differently as well though I can understand his frustration.

Val

Agreed. I get where his frustration is coming from, but yeah he definitely could’ve handled it differently.

But the attention is good publicity for him. I personally think this article is just verbatim repeating SWT’s own perspective he gave in his video, not really giving us any new, objective information.

SWT doesn’t really have a case, though, and I’m not really expecting this “boycott” if that’s what you want to call it, to go anywhere. Even now if you go on reddit it seems like his supporters in this situation have become a vocal minority, and even people who hate the new films see that he is taking a stand on really shaky ground.

This whole issue is definitely more related to the growing problem YouTube has regarding copystrike regulation, in my opinion, rather than anything that should be directed at Disney. I’m not sure what people want Disney to do, or what they should apologize for. Both Warner and Disney are legally bound to take the actions they did. People keep going on about him “having a deal” with Disney (literally a few generic emails), but I’m sure the use of the Imperial March composition wasn’t discussed by SWT. Maybe if the music had been more generic (or put on a different platform than YouTube) he wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place.

All of this just feels extremely entitled, in my opinion. Like, SWT is making money off unlicensed Star Wars merch and other things but he is the one who deserves an apology. Haha.

I personally think the best thing Disney could do is not even achknowledge this situation. If he tries to fight this, he’s not going to win. And if they say anything at all people will just twist it to still make them look bad, because Disney.

And yeah you can talk about Disney’s optics but that’s a whole other story. But for how evil Disney apparently is people really seem to drool over Marvel still. Really sticking it to the man, there.

And I agree Zerome, with Despecialized and the 4K projects, I personally don’t care if Disney releases the theatrical versions officially or not. We practically already have it.

Hey Zerome, sorry about yesterday if I was rude to you. We just have two different opinions and that’s totally fine. Sorry again man.

Anyway, I think a big difference between fan editors and SWT is that he makes money (a lot of it) from his audience. And video monetization and patreon is one thing, but also selling merchandise that is clear copyright infringement (using Star Wars characters, logos, etc.) is another. I think when money is brought into the picture, it introduces another motive that must be considered with every decision he makes.

Beyond that, I think despite what he says about not wanting to spread negativity, his identity feels strongly built around it. Even in his follow up video, I feel he is still criticizing Disney/Lucasfilm without overtly doing it, by doing things such as giving a long praise for George Lucas (acknowledging him and ignoring the rest of the Lucasfilm team), and by reiterating that what he is doing is “by the fans, for the fans”. Again, in a way saying that he is doing what the fans want and Lucasfilm isn’t. George has become a way for a lot of detractors to gives themselves a semblance of authority, by saying they are “preserving George’s vision or legacy”, implying that modern Lucasfilm isn’t.

And despite understanding the rules, he keeps bringing up how much money he could’ve made if he had been able to monetize the video or crowdfund the project. Man, that is rule #1 of fan projects, but why do you keep bringing this up? You don’t make money for fan films, you don’t make money for fan edits. Period. And even talking about this issue with I had people keep bringing this up to me. It’s like by reminding his audience about this, he’s trying to imply how unfair Disney/Lucasfilm is by not allowing him to make money. Again, painting them in a bad light.

And like I said, Lucasfilm couldn’t allow people to do that even if they personally like SWT and really wanted him to be able to. It’s just a factor of IP law, and a safeguard to protect copyright ownership. People can cry what is fair or not fair all the want, it’s the law.

As a fan editor, or at least a person who likes fan editing, I have my own opinions on intellectual property law, but I still have to respect it to a degree. Again, Disney historically have been a major problem in the history of IP law, so I have my own critical opinions of Disney. Despite that, though, I don’t think it is fair to villainize a company when it is convenient for one’s image. Especially Lucasfilm.

SWT is also alligned with several other YouTubers who, in my opinion, are also responsible for spreading negativity in the community while having little to no responsibility for it.

Again, taking his apology video. Even though he says he’s not about the negativity, interestingly enough his comment sections don’t reflect that, going on and on about boycotting Disney or firing Kathleen Kennedy. If he meant what he said, he would actually address his audience about this.

Listen, I don’t think these people necessarily got on YouTube just to hate on Disney or Lucasfilm. People can dislike the new movies, that’s fine, totally their opinion. What happens is that the when a lot of these people started out, they began noticing that the videos they made where they talked about things they didn’t like got more views than other stuff. So, they start talking about more and more of their criticisms, drawing people in with clickbaity titles (even bigger outlets like Collider are responsible for this, especially recently), and now their identity is built around criticism and negativity. I mean, this isn’t anything new, yellow journalism has been a thing for a very long time.

And that brings me back to SWT. I think it is really cool that this guy I had a idea for a story and wanted to make a fan film. But I feel like from the beginning this whole project was built around the idea that this was an to attempt to do something better than modern Lucasfilm. So the fan film itself has inherently become a criticism of Lucasfilm, obviously enough that even the Rule of Two podcast had a video titled “Is SWT fan film better than new movies?” Super clickbait, controversial. I’m sure it was just based off a question they got from a viewer since personally there isn’t an argument, but it shows that this how a lot of people are perceiving this fan film. But to each their own, you know?

Fan films used to not be like that. Even during the Prequels, there were some fan films that parodied the prequels, but you could tell all of them were coming from a place of love.

I’m sure this project originally came from a place of love from SWT, but to me it felt like it was trying to be a big “Fuck You” to Lucasfilm.

But when people’s careers and income are built around stirring the pot because that’s what gets the clicks, the negativity we see in the fanbase today is clearly going to be a product of that.

Geez, even his recent video where he talks about things Disney could do to “unite the fanbase” is so condescending. It reeks of “I know Star Wars better than you.”

I just don’t get why these YouTubers can’t talk more about the things they actually like rather than the stuff they hate? Why do they want to complain all the time? This whole controversy is just a repeat of the Solo gun marketing fiasco, where people like Geeks + Gamers and SWT began calling Disney SJW’s and pushing an agenda, when it was just Disney making variant posters to follow Brazil’s federal guidelines. Even SW Explained, another SW YouTuber, called them out for it and of course they were offended by being called out. At least they were able to give a semblance of an apology that time. Even after realizing this situation had more to do with Warner and little to do with Disney, he still take back any remarks he made from his previous video.

That to me is what is so funny about Thor’s video about the situation. He goes on and on about Disney/Lucasfilm, when this situation has barely anything to do with them. But it is an opportunity for them to vent their own biases that they have. Their opinions are justified! Thor is especially guilty of this, since it feels like now most of his videos you can’t avoid him criticizing Lucasfilm. Even videos not overtly talking about his gripes will still have a little anecdote like, “Unfortunately, Disney has done this instead, or chosen not to do that cooler thing.” You can’t get away from it.

What happened to these people talking about things they liked? Why can’t Star Wars fan just agree to disagree and MOVE ON, and talk about stuff they like about Star Wars. Everything is a crusade nowadays.

Luckily I still think there are YouTubers that are generally positive but still have their own, unique opinions where they have things they like and don’t like, but choose to focus on things they like.
Eckhart’s Ladder, EC Henry, Star Wars Explained, HelloGreedo. There are things they don’t like about the new movies, but they don’t get hung up on that stuff and instead generally make videos about stuff they actually like. Being positive, you’re gonna get positivity. Being negative, you’re going to get negativity.

Even with the first big fan editor, the Phantom Editor, he didn’t hate George Lucas or the prequels. He approached it like a professional, so what worked and what didn’t, and wanted to try and improve it. Even in his commentary, he discusses how he didn’t like how his edit became a symbol for people who hated the prequels. He even talks about how after making, he probably will never get to meet George Lucas and how a part of him regrets that.

And the OT community in general, back in the day I’m sure some people disliked George for the Special Editions, but generally from what I understand, it wasn’t constant Lucas-bashing, they just wanted him to release the theatrical editions of the films.

Things feel like they’ve changed, and people are so quick to forget how people used to be. It is so funny to me how much SWT praises George Lucas in his videos (a way to take a jab at modern Lucasfilm in my opinion), but if this guy had been born 20 years prior, he would be giving Lucas the same vitriol that he gives Disney/Lucasfilm today, and would be talking about how George has lost touch, and has forgotten what Star Wars is all about. But now it has become cool to like the prequels again.

This stuff is so relative, but people fail to see it. You can’t tell me our fanbase doesn’t have a problem when you have Daisy Ridley and Kellie Marie Tran chased off social media. It’s Jake Lloyd and Ahmed Best all over again. These people, these YouTubers, are influencers, and they have the opportunity to make the Star Wars community are more positive, inclusive one. But they don’t, because that would be going against what they’ve been preaching all this time, it feels like. They would be “selling out”, but their partially responsible for creating this environment I feel like they’re trapped in.

I just think his “brand” is too tied with the negativity of his community, and he is more concerned about saving face rather than being honest with his fanbase, which has led to me to not really trust his motivations for the things he does or says.

But who knows? I’m hoping when Clone Wars and The Mandalorian roll around, we will have content the majority of fans can agree on and we can start being friendly again and just enjoy Star Wars, like it’s so hard to do, and that will put people in a better mood when Episode IX comes out.

But if they start complaining about how Clone Wars doesn’t have enough episodes and it is Disney’s fault for not greenlighting more episodes, or if they find something to criticize about the Mandalorian I also won’t be surprised. But I’m hoping it won’t be that way.

That would make him look less like a victim, a cool rebel against an evil corporate empire, than if he just admitted he made a mistake and tried to change it.

Less drama = less views

These are really cool. I kind of think the Alderaan matte looks too turquoise and doesn’t really match the updated wide shot of it. I know you said it is based off another image, but do you think that could be recolor Ed to be more blue or replaced with a matte that matches more?

Also, with the targeting decals added to the DS viewport, looks cool. I wonder if the rate it appears on screen could be matched with something similar in the film. Like, make it fade on screen faster, or flicker onto screen when it is activated. Might be worth playing with some more, but I like it.

Also, it doesn’t matter too much, but could the decals line up with the edges of the viewport more? If you got the overlay from somewhere and can’t edit it like that then obviously I wouldn’t worry about it.

I think the Escape Pod Launch looks pretty good too. Subtle but I can see what you did.

It would be cool to eventually see some of those hyperspace ideas you mentioned in your previous post.

Even if it would be too hard to rotoscope around Vader and Tarkin like in that wide shot, you could at least, like you suggested, just take the DS viewport POV and put the hyperspace tunnel inside it, then have it hyperspace with Yavin appearing in front of it. Cool idea.

Where did that image of the Falcon on the targeting computer come from? Sure a targeting computer plate could be made and a model of the Falcon from blender or something could be modified to match that red hologram image look just for a very brief shot. I really like that.

I kind of imagine during the night Poe walks to Niima Outpost, and either he somehow contacts the Resistance or they arrive to look for Poe around the same time and they find each other. From there they may have went straight to Takodana rather than stop at D’Qar.

I meant grade, not grass. Sorry!

And that’s a shame it isn’t really compatible with explosions and other things, it was growing on me!

I think the restructure works. The interrogation scene doesn’t feel out of place where it is. It would be nice to have some kind of buffer to understand a bit of time has passed, like make it a wipe rather than a hard cut. But I think it works as is too.

The only thing I wonder about it the pacing, maybe. I think the tension is still high up until we’re with Finn and he puts his helmet back on, and that hard cut to Rey’s intro is a nice change of pace. The interrogation scene might slow down to pace to early, since Poe slowly wakes up. I mean this could be a non issue. Pacing has always been a harder aspect of editing for me to understand. Just a thought, though.

Before cutting to the escape scene, you could use the establishing shot that’s right before the interrogation scene rather than the one the fine Dr. K suggested, since you don’t use that shot in your current resequence, if you felt like you needed it.

I don’t think less time between being sent to reconditioning and the escape is a big deal. It’s not anymore time the way you have than it is in the theatrical, and it wasn’t really an issue then. I don’t think that should be something for you to worry about.

I personally don’t like opening with Rey’s intro, because I think the attack on the village is a great cold open. It really helps get the audience into how this movie is gonna move and feel. Rey’s intro might be too slow of a cold open, in my opinion. I personally would stick with your initial idea.

But, if it something that interests you, there’s no harm in a mock up to see how it feels, either.