poppasketti

Here’s another pass of the radio scene, with updated work on the radio fx, addressing the kind of things Axios pointed out. It’s still yellowish, and if that stands out we can try white!
https://vimeo.com/382209243
PW: fanedit

And here’s a first pass of the cave Sith whispers with a first pass effort for a subtle hood moment as the two shadows merge into one.
https://vimeo.com/382695905
PW: fanedit

Hal was also kind enough to share his work on the Palpatine laugh during the Luke/Kylo flashback, so we now have teases at 1:08 (sith cave whispers), 1:12 (Luke/Kylo flashback), and 2:10 (radio scene). I’m thinking DZ-330 might be right about having something earlier in the film around the time she is first drawn to the dark side cave. I’m thinking since this pairs with her later cave scene, another sith whisper might be appropriate.

Thank you all for your helpful feedback!

DZ-330, I actually had the same feeling on extending the last radio shot. It just needs another beat to let the music resolve a bit more. Good call!

Axios, that’s good feedback! The transmission effect is an early pass, so it will need refining. I’m not sure about the color of of signal, as it’s the same color as what was originally there (original shot showed the signal as a simple sign wav), but I’ll take a look! The other thing that needs to be done is add some depth of field blur to match the rest of the monitor, so that should help.

As for the broom boy, I’ll have to see how it feels to watch the whole thing again when the V3 changes are done. The extra material in Canto Bight is good thematic background either way, but I’ve also always been a fan of the ending. It just makes the universe finally feel expansive and emotionally resonant at the same time, paying off Luke’s sacrifice (which is critically important now that TROS didn’t do it justice).

I also agree with Hal on this, who said (paraphrasing hopefully accurately) that Star Wars movies tend to end with an extended scene without dialogue, letting the music build towards the finale and giving the audience time to relax and reflect. Going from princess Leia’s last line to the end credits in 8 seconds just doesn’t feel right.

PM sent!

DZ-330 said:

Another Palpatine hint could be adding one in towards the beginning of the movie when Rey is training with Luke, the “you went straight to the dark scene” a subtle quiet laugh could be added before Luke screams “Rey!”

I like the rule of threes for things like this tease concept. So if we’re adding a laugh in the flashback scene, and radio moment at the end, the sith whispers and/or hooded figure in the cave feels like a good third place. I think the “you went straight to the dark side” scene is already a tease without the addition of any Palpatine-specific references. And I would hesitate to use the laugh again, as it feels like that would be one too many times!

Anjohar, I think those are good suggestions, and we’ll see how it feels when I get through these other thoughts first. I see what you mean about the radio moment, which is why I may try to keep V2 around for those that want it. Personally, I like the way it feels, and I really think something more explicit at the end is so helpful to build momentum for IX.

DZ-330 said:
I like this version a lot more. Don’t know why but it just feels more natural. The eyes at the end just make the last shot of Kylo in the movie too rushed the more I think if it.

Sounds good, the swapped shot version is the leading idea right now for me!

PMs sent!

Ash, that’s correct to my knowledge. I haven’t heard a clean recording, though with some audio effects (like the EQ and distortion filters that make it sound like radio) the music in the fortnite clip can be greatly minimized.

Tammer5, I feel like TLJ would be way too early to get into the wayfinder/exegol stuff. It’s too specific and would be distracting from the story. The only thing I think we really needed, given the direction of TROS, is some tease of Palpatine. Frankly, the teaser trailer did exactly that, but we needed something in movie, and I think many of us agree that the opening crawl was not the place to do it (and certainly not Fortnite).

I’ll be curious to see edits of TROS that change the crawl and save the Palpatine reveal for when Kylo Ren finds him, but I think some teasing in TLJ helps the trilogy’s coherence and provides momentum and anticipation for the final chapter.

For Finn and Phasma, I don’t think those deleted scene shots are usable at all (off the top of my head, I haven’t watched that scene in a while). In any case, Finn and Phasma don’t have any showdown in this edit.

Those are the site rules! I think this link would explains it better than I could.

V2 UPDATE: I am posting a slight update to V2 to fix the high volume of the Finn/Rose shuttle deleted scene on surround systems. The new filename ends in “123119” (same links). Thank you to InitAbsolute for pointing out the issue, and helping QC the adjustment! The new levels are only a few DBs lower, so it’s a small change. If you just want the audio files to remux yourselves, the DTS and AC3 files have been added to the audio folder.

There will likely be a V3, but I wanted to get this fixed here and now, as V3 will likely be the Palpatine-adjusted version that we’re playing with now. I’m thinking some people might simply want the V2, so I wanted to make sure that was in the best shape possible.

idir_hh said:

For this reveal to play out in TLJ naturally I think there has to be a build up, sprinkling strong hints throughout the film of a Snoke/Palpatine and Rey/Palpatine connection would go along way, this can be done by adding the blue smoke from ROTJ as Snoke gets cut in half, also hinting at Rey’s sinister ancestry in the cave scene could be done by playing the Sith whispers from TPM as a hooded silhouette stares back at her in the mirror.

Yes, I also agree. I think there needs to be two, maybe three clues elsewhere. One has already been done by Hal and TiMartyn with adding the Palpatine laugh during the last Luke/Kylo flashback.

Adding With whispers or hooded imagery in the cave also sounds like it’s worth pursuing (though I may lean towards audio-only here). I’ll just need to acquire the Sith sounds.

Siliconmaster482 said:
Though There’s a frame or two of him starting to look down at about 1:00 right before the last shot of the radio.

Fixed, thank you!

Also, DZ-330, I made another try at swapping the shots, same link as above. I cut to the closeup of his eyes on the word “Destiny” which feels better and more purposeful than what I did before. Also, the same link as above (so two options currently; with and without swapped shots).

I completely agree with Octorox. Just because we don’t see everyone at the end doesn’t mean we forgot them, or what they fought and died for. The peaceful final moments on Tatooine evoke all of those people without being explicit, which is my personal preference.

For example, I love Sam Gamgee’s “Well, I’m back” at the end of Lord of the Rings. And for Avengers Endgame, I was so happy it ended on the dancing instead of the long shot at Tony Stark’s funeral (which, for me, was a little cheesy).

Here’s another update, same link:
https://vimeo.com/382154087
PW: fanedit

This version, I adjusted timing slightly (hopefully an improvement), tweaked the effects on the voice, and added in just a little bit of the Emperor’s theme.

DZ-330, I tried the shot swap you suggested and I’m not sure if it’s better, because the eyes CU shot is much shorter and has to be slowed down a lot to pace out. Here’s what that looks like!
https://vimeo.com/382209243
PW: fanedit

Building off DZ-330’s edit and Ash’s note on balance, here’s a next pass.

https://vimeo.com/382154087
PW: fanedit

(Sirnoob1126, PM sent!)

No worries on the editor, thanks for sharing the structure! I’ll hav to recreate it on my end anyway if we ultimately end up using it.

I see Octorox’s point, but for now I’d like to keep this going and see how good we can make it. Like DZ-330, I also felt the ending of TLJ left very little to anticipate for TROS.

Hmm! Now, that’s feeling really good!

Maybe crop in on the two Kylo reaction shots to hide the repeats a little bit?

Hal 9000 said:

That’s certainly interesting, but it probably would have read as very strange in the theater.

That was my feeling too. I think DZ-330’s approach is cleaner, but then we lose that final exchange between Kylo and Rey.

stevepaynter, I’ve played with the broadcast a little, but always came back to the simple personal “Find me” directed to Kylo. I think the broadcast might be too grand in scope for this moment.

That’s nice! I thought about cutting the Rey/Kylo moment to help focus the scene, and it’s definitely much cleaner that way. Nice work on the interference sounds too. Could you send me the sound effect you used? I think I’d like to add it to what I was using. I might take down the reverb on the voice a little bit (btw I PM’d you the Palpatine audio).

I guess the question I struggle with is: do we have to lose the final Rey/Kylo moment? It’s so great, but I think it’s an either/or deal.

I made a simple mashup of the Imperial March and the Emperor’s theme for something I’m playing with for TLJ. I don’t know if it’s what you’re looking for Hal, but figured I’d post it!

https://vimeo.com/382080137
PW: fanedit

I’ve listened to the addition of the Palpatine laugh during the last Luke/Kylo flashback and it sounds perfect! Great job, Hal and TiMartyn!

For the Crait scene, I like DZ-330’s addition of “Find me” just as Rey and Kylo connect. I think that’s another nice tease, but I wanted to play with something that would be more of a reveal.

So, and this may be nutso nonsense, I tried to make a Palpatine moment in the radio room on Crait with Kylo-Ren.
https://vimeo.com/382080092
pw: fanedit

I can see some questions this might raise: is Palp using the radio (is this his broadcast) or is this really a force connection moment? Is this too much happening in the scene, with the dice, the Palpatine moment, and the Rey/Kylo moment? I like the way it feels tonally, but wonder if it makes sense otherwise! I also think it could serve as both a tease and as a reveal, making it compatible with all future TROS edits.

PM sent!

Hal 9000 said:

That could work well in Rey’s Force vision in TFA.

“Find me. It is unavoidable. It is your destiny.”

Love that idea! Would be a great early tease.

I’m playing with something in TLJ that’s not really working at the moment, but will keep tinkering.

Axios and Abbla,

That’s an interesting idea! A hood would be a pretty subtle tease I think. People might also think that’s Obi-Wan Kenobi.

But I also wonder if that takes away from the meaning of the scene, which is Rey’s disappointment and continued loneliness, which leads her to seek out companionship in Kylo-Ren.

Thanks DZ, no need for the PM. I woke up this morning and realized those lines, so I grabbed the audio to play with. Thanks!

PM sent!

DZ-330, that’s well done! Definitely something to consider. Where did you get the audio of Palpatine saying “Find Me”? I would love to play with that.

Thanks!

-poppasketti

PMs sent!

DZ-330, thanks for sending those ideas! I definitely want to look at the Palpatine addition to The Kylo flashback. That’s the kind of foreshadowing that feels appropriate, since it’s not distracting as is open to interpretation.

And I definitely want to do something at the end or after the battle of Crait. Not a whole scene, but I’m thinking something when Kylo is in the radio room where he finds the dice.

I haven’t had a chance to play with it yet, but hopefully soon!

VaderLovesU said:

It would be ok to hint of a sinister and mysterious dark force out there for Ren to go investigate. But better to not imply it’s Palpatine. He should have never been a part of the trailers, Fornite, or the opening crawl. Imagine if they had kept that reveal a secret. I think the key to a good TROS edit is to see how long the reveal of Palp can be reasonably delayed.

That’s fair. It’s a good question; what if Palpatine has been kept out of all of the trailers, games, and the opening crawl? The thing is, I think it would have fallen flat for me. It would feel like they just introduced it so we can have a new bad guy, rather than it being part of the story the whole time.

I would like to tease something at the end of TLJ.

stevepaynter,

That’s precisely where I was thinking of teasing it. I’m not sure if I would use the whole broadcast though, or just a bit of his voice with some laughter. It depends how it feels in the edit. The fortnite broadcast, to my knowledge, is not clean so we’d have the make the music work as is.

I do have a music track in mind that I’d love to use if we can get the fortnite broadcast clean.

DominicCobb, that makes sense to me. I assumed, especially when Poe said something like “you mean when Poe’s not around?”, that they were setting up a love triangle. When Rey and Poe met at the end of TLJ there seemed like there might have been a mutual attraction, or at least leaving that as a possibility.

One thing that was nice about TROS was having our three main characters (and Ren at times) together for such a long stretch. It’s something the first two films lacked, I think.