nightstalkerpoet

Does anyone know if Adywan still has his original working files for this?

I'm curious, because ANH:R looks better than the original DVD, yet has been reencoded and still (very slightly) suffers from the compression limitations of MPEG 2.

I know previously I'd asked about an upconverted release (which Ady pointed out would be pointless).

With that in mind, I was wondering if a 480p AVCHD release could be made, using H.264 for much better compression, or perhaps even a BluRay release using lossless H.264?

I honestly would say that the SD ANH:R definitely outshines the Bluray. Adywan's release offers very consistent quality, where scenes on the bluray were hit and miss. Some looked great while others, especially in constrast to the preceding scene, were greatly overwhelming.

^ That is the ONE reason why out of the three I prefer the new sound. Because the new sound, (which I will concede is horrible), sounds as if a human could have made it, and leads you to believe that Ben did more than scare them by just walking up.

Until I joined these boards, I never even knew the sound was what scared off the Sandpeople.

The fact that the original sounded like a cross between an animal and a dramatic piece of the soundtrack doesn't help. It was an ineffective effect, because the common viewer didn't even realize the intention of it.

... I have to say that watching through all those GIFs of Yoda... I really preferred CGI, with the exception of the crawling in the vents portion.

For some reason puppet Yoda strikes me as inconsistent, especially when he says "You will be" and a lot during RotJ.

I think the point is supposed to be this:

-Fett is not named in TESB

-Fett IS named in RotJ

-Some people would like Fett removed from RotJ...

which means that he will never be officially named in the films, which he was originally. Making it semi-reasonable to ask that his name be said on-screen in the one Revisited film he does (in this scenario) appear in.

Perhaps a sample of their dialogue in that scene then? Or a scene by scene outline? I do see what you're trying to get at, but it's hard to imagine how this can be pulled off in a way that doesn't come across as... well, almost schizophrenic. 

As a firstling faneditor, it's very ambitious to try and tie yourself in with what Adywan is doing. With that said, some people here may take it as a bit pompous. Link to some examples to your work on Youtube, etc. to show off the quality of what you're doing.

You seem very excited to share your vision of TPM; best of luck to you! It took me 2 years and multiple times starting over to finally get mine out. Just make sure to come across as well grounded, and you'll find quite a bit of support on these boards.

1. A character as a plot device is still a character.

2. I have a huge amount of respect for Adywan. This may not be a democracy, but he has been very gracious in considering the different ideas and concepts presented to him on these forums. By attempting to fix what Lucas has corrupted, he exemplifies an anti-Lucas approach to his works by allowing others' input. By "compromise", i simply meant just another idea presented to Ady, that was a compromise of two other concepts/ideas.

3. I really don't feel passionate about Boba Fett one way or the other... but that's not a question of intelligence, simply a personal preference on storytelling/narrative techniques.

4. Because there wasn't enough to his character to intrigue me, I didn't really care that much to project my imagination on it. 

The Golden Idol said:

Fettclone1 said:

I haven't seen this brought up yet so I thought I'd chime in.

Vader only refers to Boba Fett as "bounty hunter", which then seems odd after Fett's character is built up due to popularity.

Any chance that Vader could refer to him by name?

With all due respect, that would be pointless. The movies should not be tailored simply to provide fan service for popular characters.

Perhaps a compromise could be reached, with Vader referring to him as "Bounty Hunter Fett"?

While I agree that providing fan service is unnecessary, I do feel that a character as important to the plot as Boba Fett should be named at least once, especially considering that he is referred to by name in RotJ without any proper introduction.

gobalicious said:

Vader believes he killed Padme.  He probably doesn't want to think about her again.  People would wonder who the dude in the black suit is.  Although, in my ideal edit, Vader would show absolutely no remorse for killing Amidala.

Perhaps Palpatine should show up for appearance's sake, but I imagine he would be too busy solidifying his rule.  I don't see any compelling reason for either of them to be there.  I'm more into the idea that Padme shouldn't die at all during childbirth.

Vader believes that Obi-Wan is responsible for manipulating her against him, because blaming himself would be an admission of guilt, and his single real source of remorse.

I do believe that Padme's family probably knew that they were married. Because the general position of the Empire is that the Jedi are evil, and everything done was necessary, there is no reason for her family not to be told that the dude in the black suit is Anakin, and as her husband it is fitting that he be at her funeral. Somebody who has taken to the dark side of the force is not suddenly rendered incapable of love

I also don't feel that Padme should ACTUALLY die during childbirth, but I do believe that the funeral is necessary to give the impression that she did.

Has anyone considered inserting Anakin/Vader and Palpatine in the funeral procession for Padme? Considering there is no longer any reason for the relationship to be hidden, and the fact that Padme is the only thing Anakin truly cares about, I can't understand why he and the Emperor (originally from Naboo) would not make an appearance there.

Put Captain Solo in the Cargo Hold said:

The original is quite scary, and merges better with Williams' score.

That's a lot of my point I guess, it never stood out to me as any more than part of the soundtrack.

And Vader's saber SHOULD be purple. He brings balance to the force, thus blue + red ... :P

Actually, in that picture he REALly looks like a midget in a costume that reduced his neck to nothing :P

Honestly, I prefer the Bluray. It sounds more human to me, so I can associate it with Ben. Before, I always thought it was just a sound effect added to set the tone of them being scared off.

I would like to bring the slowly retracting saber point up again. You mentioned that it could take between 4-8 frames. Having heard that people believe that it is too slow, are you considering dropping it closer to 4?

TPM and AotC - Good luck... I've spent most of my time watching those trying to fix the settings, and they vary by scene. Not as much on AotC, but the color seems generally dull...

RotS - Looks beautiful. Leave it alone. I actually would suggest turning off the "Warm" color setting...

OT - Pretty decent across the board if you don't mess with anything. 

Gaffer Tape said:

I think he's saying that people who are watching the DVDs are watching them upconverted.

Yep. Most players do a pretty decent job of it too :)

Honestly, when I watch the BR of Ep 1, I feel like I have to constantly mess with my tv settings. Every time I tweak it right for one scene, the next looks bad with the same settings. Drives me nuts.

I'm curious, now that the shock of the clarity of the blurays has worn off. Which versions of the films actually look better? Most likely your watching the DVDs upconverted anyways. Which ones blend the effects better, and have a better feel to them?

For me...

Audio Quality on the Blurays wins out every time... RotJ is hard with the NO though.

Video

Ep 1: Pretty even, BR a bit better, but inconsistant. DVD a bit worse, but consistant.

Ep 2: DVD. Not really feelin the teal shift, and I think that the clarity of the BR reveals some of the CGI blending issues.

Ep 3: BR looks amazing. No comparison.

EP 4: I prefer the DVD. It helped blend some of the over the top CGI in better. The BR felt inconsistant, with some scenes looking great and others definitely showing age.

Ep 5: BR for clarity. Not a big difference.

Ep 6: BR for clarity. Not a big difference. 

A lot of the CG creature work out there doesn't correctly - or at least doesn't completely - address how a body and related surfaces move and react to each other. 

Been a while since I've watched what Adywan has done with Yoda. I'll have to take a look again.

Mrebo said: CGI characters stand out. Even in the PT, they didn't entirely mesh. Forcing it into a movie from 1980 isn't going to be any better.

 

If you consider the way that Jurassic Park presented CGI dinosaurs, does it seem more viable? I understand ESB is an older film, but JP is an example of CGI coexisting quite well within a realistic film setting.

And I have an idea for how to make any new effects Lucas does decide to add fit in better with the original films:

Rather than adding things into the film digitally, CGI elements could be rendered seperately from the film. Those sequences could then be filmed as animation with the cameras originally used to shoot the films. The filmed CGI elements could then be composited into the film in the same way the original special effects were.

walking_carpet said:

 so what if he had to piggyback luke during the training? 

 

Honestly, I would hate to see Yoda jumping around in the OT, and think that riding around on Luke's back works fine. I'm simply saying that if you watch some of the scenes, you can see him flopping around (when Luke flips, etc) like a stuffed animal. I meant more for scenes such as those. 

Though personally, I wouldn't mind a CGI Yoda who was limited to being an overlay for the puppet. 

It's been a while since I've watched ESB, so I just sat down and finally watched my bluray copy. I have to say that as a fan of all six films (they each have their flaws, but I try and love them anyways), the original Puppet is slightly underwhelming to me.

Some of the scenes with him are very well done, typically close up talking shots. Scenes where he is not the focal point are pretty disappointing though. It is hard to understand why, with as many things as they attempted to fix, they couldn't make Yoda look less like a floppy ragdoll during a lot of Lukes training.

I have a lot respect for the original films and film making techniques, but I do feel that it is perfectly acceptable to replace outdated effects... 

For a lot of people, the replacement of the TPM puppet with the CGI version was a welcome change.

Without fear of being bashed (and please people, don't bash opinions on this) does anyone think that the Yoda in the OT could be replaced in a way that would improve the films? Keep in mind, this is assuming the CGI is done well and is well integrated not to stand out.

Bump...

Did anyone ever get a chance to watch this? I'd be happy to hand this concept over to someone with better editing skills than myself. 

However, the edit is complete and IMHO fixes Episode 1 on a far larger scale than anything else I've seen. 

After watching the Red Letter Media review... I realized one depressing fact: Jar Jar was the original main character of The Phantom Menace. A clumsy Gungan is down on his luck, banished from his people. A couple Jedi show up, save his life, and drag him with them on their journey. As a character, he grows to be more confident and better respected. He then unites the Gungans and Naboo for the first time. Due to his diplomacy, he is allowed to rejoin his people and is promoted to General. 

^How sad is that?

By removing the Gungans, and leaving Jar Jar on Coruscant, the focus shifts to the Jedi, and particularly Obi Wan, who starts as a Padawan who disagrees with his master's ideals, and progresses to a Jedi Knight who upholds those ideals.

TPM will never be perfect, but I believe that this is the Ultimate way to view it, especially in a marathon.

Going with that concept, I can see how you could probably get the audience to emotionally connect with Anakin. Though does it leave room for an emotional connection with Padme? It seems like using that as a starting point would leave her as a very one dimensional character, rather than someone we care about at all and a driving point of Anakin's fall.