I’ve been playing around with the ending for my personal edit, which is a Rey Nobody edit, and I think I’m onto something that could be useful to others:
Basically, I used footage from HAL’s version and the theatrical to eliminate the old lady and the “I’m Rey” business, so we can end on a more emotional note.
I have been playing around with the ending, and I think I found a vibe I like. This is using some stuff from HAL’s edit. There’s not really a need for her to have an interaction with the random old lady in this version.
I think that static shot of the binary suns needs to have Rey in it, somehow, but I’m not sure how to accomplish that. Perhaps mask her standing up from the shot with the old lady into it? I’m not great with visual effects, but that seems to be the missing ingredient. I’m going to comb through the BTS stuff to see if there’s something usable there.
Anybody good with opening crawls? I’ve not found a decent way to make them on PC that doesn’t require some special effects knowledge.
YES!
That sounds exactly like what this movies needs: a sense.
Can’t wait to see what you’ll put out!
It’s very early days right now, but RogueLeader has graciously agreed to let me use some of their work from the Rey Nobody thread, which will be a big help!
Hi All!
I’ve been kicking around some ideas for this movie basically since it came out. As some of you know, I did do a light revision to HAL9000’s stellar edit of this movie that more fit my tastes and pacing. I don’t advertise it as so much of the work is originally HAL’s, but I think I’m going to take another, very different crack at it.
I’m also breaking my rule of not editing movies I really dislike, because I really dislike this movie. However, there’s possibly enough elements in there to make it work, and I can’t get it out of my head.
It’s easy to say that bringing back Palpatine is a mistake, but I’ve softened on that a bit. I’m actually a little more Ok with Palpatine as the big bad of the entire series. That’s not actually the problem.
The big problem, to me, is a lack of focus. The movie is all over the place, trying to cram in too many plots, subplots, and character arcs. Nothing is given enough time to breathe, so nothing ever feels satisfying. I can tell you what TFA and especially TLJ are about. I have no idea what Rise of Skywalker is about. I have no idea what it has to say.
So, how do we fix this? My core ideas:
Leia needs to not be involved in the plot. Her sloppily worked in deleted scenes from TFA don’t fit, have no purpose, and completely take over the story of Rey and Kylo. I love Carrie Fisher and Princess Leia, but they should’ve just let her rest.
Rey cannot be a Palpatine. TFA and TLJ set up a completely different arc for her. In those movies, it’s about her being a nobody with tremendous power that doesn’t belong in this story. She’s figuring out what her place is. In TROS, the plot is almost completely based around her lineage. I know a lot of people don’t like that she’s just nobody, but the solution is not to eliminate two movies worth of character and plot development to change it to something completely different.
Rey cannot, at every turn, be assisted by other Star Wars characters. She defeats Kylo because Leia intervened. She defeats Palpatine because the spirits of the past Jedi intervened. She’s the hero. She needs to do it herself.
How does that create focus? Well, because the movie is now about Kylo being pulled to the light, and Rey being pulled to the dark. They’re both on the brink of their respective breakthroughs. Kylo feels remorse for killing Han, and he feels the loss of his mother. He definitely feels something for Rey. The light is trying to grab him more than ever, and he’s fighting as hard as he ever has.
Meanwhile, Rey is filled with anger toward Kylo Ren, and it pushes her to lean more and more toward the dark. And now, Palpatine sees her as his heir, as someone who can take the Sith throne. She doesn’t want it, but she’s dangerously close to it.
The duel on top of the wreckage of the old Death Star, and in a way the wreckage of the original trilogy, is the breaking point for both. Originally, Kylo is about to kill Rey but stops when he hears Leia’s call. Then, Rey strikes him down out of hatred and anger, but is instantly distracted by Leia’s death. This muddies the scene exponentially.
So instead of Leia being involved, what if it went something like this?
It’s a rough proof of concept, but I think you can see what I’m going for. Both characters made their own decision. Both have agency. And the ramifications of those decisions are what lead them to fighting together in the end. Kylo comes to the light, and Rey is able to defeat Palpatine with this power she doesn’t fully understand, the power Palpatine wanted her to use as his heir. Story arcs complete!
At the end, no past Jedi come to help Rey. She’s alone, and she defeats Palpatine on her own.
Here’s a work in progress draft of Leia’s new death scene, moved to near the beginning of the film. Still needs sound work, but it’s a good proof of concept:
Thanks for the shoutout, BS. I’d be happy to provide the separate audio layers (music, “force” sfx, breathing) if anyone would like want to use it as a basis for their own edit once it’s fully done:
Yeah this actually works surprisingly well. I think there’s a scene in DOTF where the Force sort of connects all the present day heroes? It was an idea I had thought about way back when, if instead of her hearing the voices of all the Jedi, she hears the voices of her friends, and that’s what gave her the strength. Completely forgot about that. Would be interested to see how it could be accomplished!
Since they were half heartedly pushing the Rey/Finn force connection, could it just be his voice that’s encouraging her to get up? That would sort of pay off that random story thread they didn’t do anything with.
I feel like it would take more than half an ass’s set up to make that feel earned by the end of a film. I can’t think of any accompanying Finn footage that would work especially well either. But audio maybe? IDK. There’s a lot you can do there, as is my intention in creating the blank slate of the scene for people.
Yeah I’m sure there’s not much that could be done with it, I just hate that it’s such a waste of an interesting concept.
Thanks for the shoutout, BS. I’d be happy to provide the separate audio layers (music, “force” sfx, breathing) if anyone would like want to use it as a basis for their own edit once it’s fully done:
Yeah this actually works surprisingly well. I think there’s a scene in DOTF where the Force sort of connects all the present day heroes? It was an idea I had thought about way back when, if instead of her hearing the voices of all the Jedi, she hears the voices of her friends, and that’s what gave her the strength. Completely forgot about that. Would be interested to see how it could be accomplished!
Since they were half heartedly pushing the Rey/Finn force connection, could it just be his voice that’s encouraging her to get up? That would sort of pay off that random story thread they didn’t do anything with.
I just got caught up on this thread, there’s some incredible work going on.
I’ve been trying to figure out how to do a Rey Nobody edit, but also have Leia die at the beginning of the film to remove the awkward/macabre digital Carrie Fisher scenes and add some weight to the beginning of the film.
I think the best course of action, given the clips I’ve seen, is to stick with the “Palpatine wants you to kill him and take the throne” angle. I think focusing on the darkness building in Rey and the light building in Ben is the most thematically interesting version of the story, and opens up a lot of possibilities. I also think that to reinforce that, it would be interesting to re-edit the Death Star fight so that Ben doesn’t hesitate killing Rey because of Leia’s intervention, but because the pull of the light stops him from doing it. Then Rey gives into the dark and stabs Kylo. Drama ensues.
Anyway, I will probably make a separate post about my Rey Nobody/No Leia ideas, but I’m really glad I found this thread, and I look forward to seeing what you all come up with.
This has been released and is listed on IFDB.
The Hobbit - Battle of the Five Edits by Stromboli Bones
It’s been an extremely long time since I’ve seen The Hobbit, I basically haven’t touched it since I completed my edit so long ago. When this project was brought to my attention I was immediately intrigued. I have to say, I enjoyed it significantly more than I had anticipated.
My biggest issue with The Hobbit has always been the length. To me, this is a story that didn’t need more than 3 hours or so to be told, yet we ended up with almost 9 hours of it. It’s bloated, messy, and doesn’t feel as technically proficient as the original trilogy of films.
In this edition, the story is told in a 5-part structure. This made it feel less like a trilogy of movies and more like one of those big epic TV miniseries they used to make back in the day. I feel like this structure allows the story to take it’s time, and makes some of the things I personally would’ve cut out a lot more palatable. Beorn doesn’t feel like a waste of time now, he’s just another stop on the journey.
The “greatest hits” approach really shines here, and I was honored to see some small parts of my edit reflected in this edition. However, It can’t be looked how much Stromboli Bones put into this and let’s their own sensibilities shine. This isn’t just a mash up of 5 other edits, Stromboli really made it their own.
Quality wise, I didn’t spot any issues, though I’ve never been much of a tech head. Everything was in sync, looked good, and the edits are hidden well.
In my personal opinion, this is still too much Hobbit. Obviously I feel that way, as I did my own edit that’s significantly shorter. However, if you want to take your time with the story and really spend some time in Middle Earth with Bilbo, Thorin and Gandalf, this is likely the best way to do it.
I am currently working on an updated version of this edit. This is a remake of the edit from the ground up with a better HD quality source, new and extended scenes, different color timing, and a 5.1 surround track. This will be the definitive version of my Dune edit, so if you’re curious about it, I’d wait for the newer version.
Some changes:
Here is a new trailer for the film:
https://vimeo.com/647062970
It will likely be out within the next 10 days or so.
Below information is for the original version of this edit:
Original film title: Frank Herbert’s Dune
Fanedit film title: Frank Herbert’s Dune - The Spence Edit[SIZE=+0]
[/SIZE]Date Original Film Was Released: 2000
Date Fanedit Was Released: August, 2014
Original Runtime: 265 mins
New Runtime: 163 mins
Time Cut: 102 mins
Intention: To create a feature film version of the Dune Miniseries that runs at under 3 hours.
Every shot has been individually cropped to fit the 2:35:1 aspect ratio. Elements of the score have been changed, many subplots have been cut, many obnoxious colors have been desaturated.
Cutlist:
There’s honestly way too many things to note them all, but here’s the big stuff:
This is where the editor’s creativity comes into play. There’s a section in my Hobbit edit where I combined three different scenes into one sequence (The bit where Thorin gets his sword back from Legolas in the battle, if you’re curious) and it took a ton of tweaking to get the audio right.
Is it completely invisible? No.
Is it perfect? No.
If the edit is working in a story driven, emotional way and you’re not looking for the change, does it work without being too noticeable? Absolutely.
That’s the best way to look at what you’re trying to accomplish. 90% of the time, what you want to do is possible, you just have to get real creative with it.
I’ll attempt to answer a few of your questions as best as I can.
Depending on whether you’re editing at Stereo movie or a 5.1 surround movie (and also the method with which you ripped that particular audio) You’ll either have two tracks, left and right, or 6 tracks, left, right, center, surround left, surround right, and Low Front End (LFE).
In stereo, it’s almost impossible to isolate a particular part of the audio landscape. In 5.1 it’s very difficult, and not always possible, but you have a bit more leeway.
There are some videos that have completely isolated center channels that only contain dialogue and maybe a few sound effects here and there, but will have no music. The Clone Wars series is a good example. For instance, you’d be able to completely re-score those episodes by just replacing the music tracks and maybe adding a little bit of Foley work to fill in the surround channels.
Most movies, however, will have muddied center channels, that contain dialogue, music and special effects. Most of the time the music is quieter on this channel than the others, so removing the other channels will get most of the music out. I’ve had some success by doing this and playing with the levels of the videos so that the old music track is barely noticeable.
Star Wars is the most vexing of films because it’s center channel is all over the place, hence why very few of them have drastic audio edits.
I have seen mention of programs that can separate these sounds further, but they are imperfect by nature, and I don’t have any experience with them. Perhaps someone else can give you some more info on that front?
I hope this helps, and good luck on your project!
It included the ride footage, I saw it forever ago but it was on there. Unfortunately it was fairly low quality.
I know nothing of these things, but I second a 5.1 track to go along with this. I would love that.
Watched this on my projector the other day and it was Star Wars bliss.
Personally, the shifting aspect ratios kind of bother me. My Dark Knight blu-rays do it and it’s very frustrating. I actually prefer watching them on VUDU where that does not occur.
I like having the option, but if that was the standard way it came in 2D blu-ray I’d be rather frustrated.
Not sure where I should post this, so feel free to move it. I’m experimenting with the prequels, and I was wondering if there’s any sort of HDTV versions of the films with a more open matte than the 2:39:1 ratio commonly used for the films. I’m going to do some cropping/zooming myself and was hoping to have as much image real estate as possible.
BTW, did anyone else get the same feeling that I did while watching the film that Adam Driver’s performance as Kylo Ren is more or less what Anakin should have been like in the PT?
100%, that’s one of the first things I said coming out. Confused and angry > whiny and creepy.
Congratulations on your progress Harmy! I actually watched 1.0 last night and it’s still incredible. Can’t imagine how great this new version is.
Everything should be good with this edit now.
NtD5 said:
Bump for Mr. Doom. I'd really like to see this one. I've searched pretty much every other avenue I can think of as well, and I haven't found anything. It simply appears not to be online.
Unfortunately, I never did the Mega upload of this so I'm not sure who would be able to re-upload it. Due to switching computers I don't have it saved currently. I'll ask around over at FE.org and see if I can get it uploaded.
This edit is now available on fanedit.info
Sure, here's the link to that thread:
http://www.fanedit.org/forums/showthread.php?13693-The-Hobbit-The-Spence-Edit
I apologize for not updating this thread as much, but there wasn't much discussion going on here. I will say there are changes that you will not see listed as this edit as changed and evolved over time.
I'm hoping to have it available via fe.info either tonight or tomorrow.
Yes, the thread on fe.org is a lot more active than this one but I'm nearing completion. Should be available early this coming week.
I've seen the three hour version you are speaking of. Mine is quite different.
My transition between AUJ and DOS is basically just a little rearrangement to make it appear that Gandalf brought the ponies/horses with him for their escape from the goblin tunnels. Then they just head straight to Mirkwood.
I figured out the Orcrist issue, so that's not longer a plot hole. I was totally over thinking it. A very simple edit will make it work seamessly.
It's looking like it might run more like 3 hrs. 15 including the credits. I want it close to 3 hrs. but I don't want to rush it. Pacing is a big focus for me as far as this edit. It's obviously going to have a lot going on plot wise, but so does FOTR and that doesn't feel "rushed"
Thanks for the interest!