sherlockpotter

Yeah, I think Streamable just uses some pretty hefty compression. It’s great for showing off tests and mockups, but less so for sharing something in high quality. (I’ve been uploading my finished clips to Google Drive instead.)

Ooh, hmm, I don’t know! My gut was telling me that the lightning should be fairly big and bold and dramatic at this point - and I adore how it looks right now - but I’d definitely be interested in seeing a slightly more subtle approach that Rey would barely notice.

Seriously loving it though, Dat_SW_Guy. Thanks so much for helping out with this shot!

(Depending on what sort of sound effect people want, I can certainly add mine to the finished VFX shot. I can also try a version with Snoke’s sound effect, just so we have a fair comparison and can all decide what works best!)

Thanks, all! Axlanian really sells the line perfectly, I think.

And Dat_SW_Guy, the lightning looks amazing! Personally, I agree with Cap and Eddie though - would it be possible to add a bit of lightning hitting Finn before he’s thrown backwards as well? Also, where did you get the sound effect? It sounds a little different than the other lightning sounds in the film.

EDIT: @jarbear - cropping the Finn shot might work if it comes to that, but it also might not be necessary. As it is, I think it’s only between 8 and 10 frames before Finn starts to be yanked back - so less than half a second. Picturing it in my mind, that should be quick enough that the audience wouldn’t be able to dwell on it too much. I don’t think we need residual tendrils to be licking his body as he flies through the air or anything like that. But hey, whatever Dat_SW_Guy feels comfortable with, I guess!

And I was actually just thinking about a potential smoke effect. The thing is, immediately after being tossed, Finn crashes through a wave. Theoretically, would that put out any smouldering on his clothes? (Genuinely asking - I can’t speak from first hand experience of being struck by lightning.)

Regarding an earlier idea I had about re-dubbing the Knights of Ren introduction, I now have an alternative version thanks to axlanian’s incredible work. Both of us recorded a line each, and then he handled all of the audio effects and filters for me. I’m definitely going to use this in my own edit, but I also wanted to share it here in case Hal or anyone wants to use it too.

Thank you so much, axlanian; it sounds fantastic! I tried to match the volume levels of the original dialogue, but if anyone has any concerns about the audio mix or export settings, just let me know! You do lose some of the marching sound effects in the center channel, but I think it still sounds fine.

Full scene, 5.1: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ve0TXHoJNjJ4wANDyRep4O-uocxx9p_s/view?usp=sharing

Single channel wav: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1unPWfriwa63LalY7IV2V_NsdwXetxg8y/view?usp=sharing

(If you use the wav, just be aware that the original mix has the dialogue in both the center and right channels.)

Jar Jar Bricks said:

If she does the same thing that she does with Chewie except with Finn, it would be a really convincing reason for her to believe that she thinks she needs to abandon the fight before she completely loses control of herself.

That’s a beautifully succinct way of putting it, Jar Jar. Thank you, I’m glad you like the idea so much!

Well done with the audio, Hal; that sounds like a super tricky edit. Has anyone made any progress with a potential Endor vision when she picks up the Dagger? I think that (and the actual 3PO translation) are the only elements that would still need completing for RogueLeader’s plan, correct?

Broom Kid, no worries, I wasn’t offended by your comment. I do disagree with it though (respectfully, I hope!).

Not only would I freaking mutiny if I saw Rey using lightning spoiled in a trailer, but I also think it represents more than just a flashy visual. Like I explained, I believe that Rey is losing control in that moment and tapping into the Dark Side. Lightning seems (to me) to be a perfect way of visually representing that. And it will work especially well in the larger film as a whole, connecting back to her first moment of using the Dark Side. Plus, one of the things we’re trying to do in V2, with the new dagger stuff and the eventual Rey Nobody version, is to add a throughline of Rey tapping into the Dark Side, rather than spending the whole movie repulsed by it. (That way the finale actually has some stakes.) The Death Star Duel is the end of Act II - structurally, the moment in a film where our hero should be at her lowest.

Since the idea has some support behind it, I think, at this point, it will depend on the quality of whatever visual effects can be produced for the shot. So I guess we’ll have to see what happens!

EDIT: And Cinefy, I love the look of the lava cracks. If it can be tracked in and animated convincingly, I’d love to see it included.

I don’t “dislike” the Snoke sound effect per se, Jar Jar; I just preferred the one used for Rey’s lightning. It sounds more impressive to me - more powerful, almost crunchy; and also the slight break between the initial zap and the ship exploding lines up perfectly with the cut between shots, and then Finn crashing through the wave. That, and I like the idea of “Rey’s lightning” sounding different than “Snoke’s lightning,” but that’s just a minor quirk.

Truthfully, in my head I was picturing kind of a quick stream of lightning? The stream hits Finn and tosses him back. I could also see a quick burst working like Eddie said. I’m not so certain about lightning crackling around her hand when she pushes him back - either that would look really foreboding, or it would look kind of like, “Whee! Magic sparkle fingers!”

@Nev, I think the reasoning for removing lightning from his hands was because lightning doesn’t really do anything when he’s lifting some star destroyers off the ground. But that decision was made before I joined the project, so I can’t be sure.

Oh yeah, no, I totally get where you guys are coming from; I’m just trying to justify adding the lightning in my own edit, you know? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

It really is strange that Pasaana is the only time Rey uses an actual Dark Side ability, especially Lightning - the most Dark Side-y of all Dark Side Darkness-es. I could definitely see adding lightning to her hand when she shakes it during the duel; although I do feel like that moment would be better served by the lightsaber starting to flicker out, as was previously suggested. It conveys the same implication as the lightning - that she’s failing as a Jedi - but it also explains why she ends up on the ground, unable to defend herself against Kylo; and it also foreshadows the ending really well where the sabers will go kablooey. Having the saber flicker out and lightning flicker might be too much for the moment, I fear.

I dunno. But also, if we can pull off the new Dagger Translation and the Dagger Vision according to RogueLeader’s plan, then at least we get Rey explicitly channeling the Dark Side at that moment. So that at least would give Rey’s arc a little more dramatic weight.

EDIT:

NeverarGreat said:

Finally, it is absolutely a storytelling beat to tie her abilities visually to Palpatine’s abilities as they have been seen so far in the film.

The only thing is, Ascendant removed Palpy’s hands flickering when he raises the fleet. So it would be less a direct reference to Palps, and more a generic allusion to the Dark Side.

Truthfully, I think the lightning shot would work in part because Rey doesn’t react to it. My feelings in suggesting the extra lightning are that she’s completely losing herself during that scene. As it is, she doesn’t notice or care that she tosses Finn about like a rag doll, potentially hurting him. She never reacts to him again, never goes to check on him, or to express remorse. She’s super angry that Kylo smashes the McGuffin, and then she just goes to town on him. Swinging wildly, screaming…Finn tries to pull her back from the brink and she’s all like, “Nah-uh, buster! *ker-POW!*” She basically pushes back Finn reflexively, not even “seeing” him. And she keeps going after Kylo blindly. Leia reaches out to her son, and Ben clearly feels her presence, but Rey is too self-consumed to notice anything else. She flat-out *impales* him, and then…she feels Leia finally. And she snaps out of it. She looks around, seeing what she’s done seemingly for the first time. And then she cries, seeing what she’s become - seeing how low she’s fallen. Which is why she decides to heal Ben - to atone.

So that’s my read on the scene, and I’ll defend the lightning idea as a legitimate storytelling beat, feeding into that blinding, consuming darkness that Rey is (or should be) feeling right about now.

But, that said, the Man has spoken. If it’s not right for Ascendant, it’s not right for Ascendant. Maybe I’ll add it to my version if I can get the effect to work.

The problem is though, that the possession concept itself is shit. If killing Palpy allows him to possess you, the writers have created a no-win scenario. At that point, the only option for resolving anything is to gloss over the idea entirely. Rey decides that she’ll let Palpy take her over (because that will somehow allow her to control the fleet, even though Palpatine will be the one in control?), but then she senses Ben, and is like “Well shoot, what am I doing? This is a terrible idea!” But then as soon as Ben joins her, they’re about to kill him together anyway. And then Rey ends up killing Palpatine, but he doesn’t possess anyone. He just dies.

So you need Kylo to know about the spirit transfer in the beginning, as it gives a reason for not killing Palps immediately. But you also need Rey to not know about it, otherwise she won’t be so hard-set on confronting Palps. You could maybe try to ignore the possession thing entirely: “Strike me down, and your journey to the Dark Side will be complete,” just like in the Original Trilogy. But that still wouldn’t explain why Kylo lets him live in the beginning. And I would have a huge issue if Palpy set up this whole, stupid scheme - for the sole purpose of cloning himself and surviving beyond his death - if his entire subsequent plan is just “Kill me, Rey!”

I think it’s a sunk cost. The possession stuff is so messy and poorly handled that I don’t think there’s any way of fixing it. If someone has a legitimate suggestion for getting around it, then I’m all ears; but otherwise I think we’ll just have to accept it and move on.

KumoNin said:

Another thing I noticed: Kylo says “we’ll kill him and take the throne” to Rey (hangar), but doesn’t he already know, in this version, that killing him means spirit transfer?

Maybe that’s why he needs Rey’s help to kill him, rather than killing Palpy by himself immediately in the opening? Like, together, they’ll be able to prevent the spirit transfer? I think that actually makes more sense than the theatrical “I’ll leave Palpatine alive for no reason whatsoever.” I think it’ll be fine as is.

KumoNin said:

So I was going over the v1 changelog again. I don’t know exactly what the discussion was around this back when the change was made, but here is something that bugged me: regarding Rey’s necklace being analyzed and then the trooper identifying our gang on Pasaana.

This was changed to: random trooper yells freeze at our gang for no reason (he doesn’t identify them as resistance fugitives. I guess they don’t look like natives, but still struck me as very odd, not having established that the FO knows their whereabouts), followed by the Lando scene being broken in two by the “we’ve identified the necklace” scene. I don’t really see how this benefits pacing honestly, and it kinda makes less sense because of what I said earlier, and (a minor thing) we have two shots of our gang running that previously had the “we’ve identified the necklace” scene between them, but now are kinda awkwardly stitched together.

What are y’all’s thoughts on this?

I agree with you - it also doesn’t make sense for the random stormtroopers to be be patrolling the Pasaana party A) because it’s a random desert planet that has the festival ever 42 years (priority target, guys), and B) because it doesn’t make sense for the natives to be putting on a puppet show mocking the First Order, when the First Order is right there. I even put together a mockup of them immediately running into Lando and skipping the stormtrooper entirely; but it was rejected for Ascendant. I’m also working on a potential workaround for the necklace tracking thing, so we’ll see how that goes! (Just waiting on some sound effects…)

EDIT: Alternatively, if you remove Necklace Tracking™ and the “The First Order has patrols here” line, you could play the scene as if Kylo set a trap for them on Pasaana. That’s probably the direction I’ll go with in my edit, honestly.

Movies Remastered said:

Indeed. Didn’t Hal have issues too? I need a new computer asap. I can’t work under these conditions LOL

I agree, She’s angry through so much of this movie, Even the training scene was pretty aggressive.

That’s why I can’t wait for Rey Nobody. They actually have a semi-well set up story about Rey falling due to her own anger and darkness; but then they completely undermine it by saying the reason she might fall to Dark Side is because Palpy is her grandpa, and “the Dark Side is in her blood” or something arbitrary like that.

JX’s computer, my computer…didn’t your computer crash at some point too, MR? This project is going to kill us all haha.

The reason I was thinking about this addition was actually because of how how angry Rey looks when she pushes Finn back, so I think it works. Well, hopefully we’ll be able to figure out some way of doing the shot!

jadenkorr41 said:

sherlockpotter said:

Well, I have no idea how to actually add the lightning into the shot; but I was able to add the sound effects of Rey’s lightning from earlier into the scene. If anyone who knows how to do the lightning effect wants to take over from here, that would be amazing!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AehZ3R_NrH07XrvPbF1NvbtZFxzZfDP2/view?usp=sharing

reminds me of this vid i saw some time back.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKs8AebLyaM

Dude, those effects look fantastic! I wonder if JXEditor would be able to add them to this new shot as well? Personally, I feel like she should just use the lightning one more time, with Finn. Blocking the lightsaber with lightning…it feels too intentional to me, too deliberate. I like the implication that she’s only able to cast it when she’s losing control, rather than her actively embracing the Dark Side here.

And Jar Jar, I feel like Rey’s lightning should have its own distinct sound from Snoke’s lightning. Base it on the person casting it, rather than the type of attack. The latter feels kind of “video-gamey.” The Rey sound effect also has a bit more “oomph” to it, I think.

Well, I have no idea how to actually add the lightning into the shot; but I was able to add the sound effects of Rey’s lightning from earlier into the scene. If anyone who knows how to do the lightning effect wants to take over from here, that would be amazing!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AehZ3R_NrH07XrvPbF1NvbtZFxzZfDP2/view?usp=sharing

Lol, just rotoscope Palpy’s face onto Finn’s. But honestly, Grandpa Sheev is the only one who was actually deformed by lightning. (That’s why it makes so much more sense in your Ep. III edit, Hal.)

I know! Someone removed the lightning from Palpster’s hands when he raises the Fleet, yes? Let’s just reinsert that lighting onto Rey. That’s how VFX work, right?

Ed Slushie said:

Here’s an idea for an edit to the Battle of Exegol that uses some Vehicle Flythroughs footage:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XB4hSGtdD8o

I like this a lot! Of course, it would depend on being able to successfully overdub that line though, to make sure the sequence still makes logical sense. Also, would it be possible to move the camera a bit on the insert? A slight zoom, and/or a small pan to the right? J.J. moves his camera so much, especially during action scenes; it stands out to me as an artificial insert if it basically pauses on a static shot mid-sequence.

Also, this isn’t related to anything at all, but you know when Rey and Kylo are dueling on the Death Star, and Rey turns around and pushes Finn back? I was thinking it might be cool to have lightning shoot out and hit Finn, rather than a Jedi-like Force Push (kind of like when Snoke threw Kylo back in TLJ, he did it with a burst of lightning). Just like with the lightsaber sputtering out, it would symbolize that she’s dangerously close to losing control (something I never really felt in the theatrical version), and it would help to build to her stabbing Kylo in a cheap shot and then wanting to flee. (REY: “I’m here because I had a vision of myself on the Sith Throne.” LUKE: “Rey, that was 90 minutes ago! You haven’t even used any Sith powers since Pasaana, and that was four locations back!”)

God, just imagine it - the rain, the crackly saber, the bleak Duel of the Fates music…Rey accidentally loses control and shoots lightning at her friend (again), and then a minute later the legendary Skywalker Saber - that she failed to rebuild - starts to sputter out. She has utterly failed as a Jedi. It’s genuinely her lowest point in the film - makes a whole lot more sense why she would suddenly be so scared that she goes into hiding on Ahch-To.

My feeling on the ghost thing is that people can try to explain the exact “procedure” for ghost apparitions however they want; but the canon is full of contradictions in that regard, so I don’t really care about the logistics. Bodies vanish except when they don’t. People have to be taught the technique before they die unless they appear later anyway (Anakin, in both regards). The details don’t matter.

So in that regard, I was leaning more for the large group myself (helping to tie all of the saga together), but I think Neerb may have actually convinced me otherwise:

Neerb said:

I think Leia appearing as a ghost in the Palpatine fight would hurt the payoff on Tatooine where Rey sees Leia, without adding enough to the Palpatine fight to compensate. Rey hearing Leia’s “always,” which Hal has already incorporated from the trailer, is satisfying enough without being distracting.
…
Maybe it’s just me, but when the ghosts appear against Palpatine, I see it as a kind of catharsis where these Jedi that have spent decades against The Sith are finally getting their due; Sidious is literally facing his ghosts.

Well said, friend. (Of course, Mace fought Palpatine too, but I can ignore that.)

But regardless of what I want, Hal has made his preference for the Ghostly Quartet clear by this point.

Brewzter said:

Movies Remastered said:

Jonh just dropped something out the blue…

https://youtu.be/iT0HAvqB-EA

I saw a comment on the YouTube video saying that Qui-Gon, Ahsoka, and Windu, shouldn’t be there, but in my eyes (as a hard stickler for canon) Qui-Gon and Ahsoka are fine, Windu is just the odd one out. Qui-Gon canonically was able to appear physically to Kenobi by the time of ANH (as per the From a Certain Point of View book for that film) and since every Jedi after Kenobi had become a Force ghost also became one, it’s safe to say that Ahsoka would, the only question is if she’s dead or not by the time of TROS (and Dave Filoni has implied/joked that she isn’t :S). And as for Windu, there’s almost no chance he could have become one, but the Story Group could always bend over backward and make it happen if they wanted.

I mentioned this in a comment above, but if we go with the explanation that “Only Jedi who were taught by Qui-Gon while they were still alive can return as ghosts,” then we have to exclude Anakin from that group as well. If Anakin can learn after he’s died, the other Jedi should be able to too. So I say, the more, the merrier!

I didn’t realize Filoni had already implied that Ahsoka is still alive - that might throw a huge wrench with the upcoming Ahsoka show. jonh - if there’s any way to have the expanded version with the extra Jedi, but a variation without Ahsoka, that would just be incredible!! (And with the purple/crackly lightsaber effects, of course!)

hinventon said:

Has there been a solid Rey Nobody implementation yet? I love the stuff happening for Ascendant but the movie won’t feel complete unless Rey Palpatine is scrubbed forever.

100% agree. Hal’s plan is to get Ascendant V2 out with all of the new cuts and VFX work, and then put out a “V2 - Rey Nobody” version after that, I believe.

For what it’s worth, I’m absolutely in love with RogueLeader’s reinterpretation of the film - rather than making the film all about Rey’s past, it would be reinterpreted to being about her future. It would emphasize the internal conflict she has about accepting or rejecting the vision of her falling to the Dark Side. To me, it’s the interpretation that feels most in line with TLJ’s themes of Rey letting go of her past; and it also feels like the cleanest direction to take the film out of the different versions discussed.

Also, RL’s hangar scene is just…*chef’s kiss*

RogueLeader said:

In this version of the film, I would remove any reference to Rey recognizing Ochi’s ship, or Rey seeing her parents in any vision. I may try to tackle the Force bond duel at some point, but in this version I would probably shorten the scene, and replace a lot of the dialogue with more generic taunts about Kylo sensing the darkness within her.

This version of the hangar scene just has Kylo Ren confirm Rey’s fears about the vision she saw earlier in the film. Rey’s reaction to info she already has might seem a little dramatic, but in my mind, I interpret Rey’s reaction as her starting to feel that her future is fated and inescapable. But a part of her is still in denial, convincing herself that Kylo Ren is lying in order to manipulate her.

Here’s a rough test for their hangar interaction: https://vimeo.com/447063673

Movies Remastered said:

Jonh just dropped something out the blue…

https://youtu.be/iT0HAvqB-EA

WHAT? Oh my god, that’s just amazing. My inner child just squealed with delight.

Lots of thoughts haha…

On one hand, people have mentioned that a lot of those ghosts don’t really matter for the Sequel Trilogy. Which, as much as I appreciate that argument, I’d counter-argue that Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Anakin don’t matter to Rey in the slightest - so by that logic, the only one who should be there is Luke. (And, to be clear, I 100% still want the ghosts.)

I guess I treat the ghosts’ inclusion as a finale of the saga as a whole, not just the last three movies; so from that perspective, I think it’s valid to have the Prequels represented. They’re already in the voice over, so it’s like their whispers are them gathering to Rey before they appear visually. In that sense, I think they should all be included.

With Leia, I know her body hasn’t disappeared yet, but…I don’t care? Besides, if it is a bother, we could just move Leia fading away to maybe right after Poe leaves her bedside? Like, Poe decides to assume her mantle as leader, cut back to Leia, she fades away… (None of the other Force Ghosts even wait that long before fading away, so I think it’s fine. I like crosscutting Leia’s fading with Ben’s, but I’m also fine with giving each of them their own moments.

Technically, I’d prefer to keep some variation of the original music in the scene, rather than the trailer music. I’d also wonder, jonh, if it’s possible to have Luke and Leia fade out a second or two later than the other ghosts, so that they’re the last ones we see?

In terms of canon, I don’t care that the other ghosts “didn’t learn” how to manifest. According to canon, Qui-Gon taught Yoda, who taught Obi-Wan. But who taught Anakin? He shouldn’t be a Force Ghost either, then. I think it’s safe to assume that once Obi-Wan became one with the Cosmic Force, he could have taught other deceased Jedi how to return.

I would say that I’d rather cut Ahsoka - not because she hasn’t been seen before in the main saga, just because we don’t know what will happen to her in her new Disney+ series. (Yes, the implication of hearing her voice is that she died; but we don’t know that for a fact. Maybe she was alive, and just felt Rey reaching out to all Jedi, past and present? I don’t care if it’s in a book; the upcoming show may retcon it anyway.)

Yeah, lots of thoughts.

EDIT: And oh yes, the lightsaber should be purple lol!

Octorox said:

“Leia told me that she sensed the end of her Jedi path.”

I’d really like this if it can be made to sound seamless. I’d really prefer it not be tied to Ben at all. I think it’s in character for Leia to end her Jedi training because she feel she can do more good in getting the new government off the ground.

Yeah, Leia never seemed to want to be a Jedi in the other movies. She was a politician and a commander, and she seemed (based on TFA and TLJ) to have pursued that path while Luke pursued being a Jedi. It felt weird to me in theatres when the film retconned that into Leia being basically a full Jedi, and Luke saying, “Ha! Nah, she totally trained to be a Jedi off camera. She just gave it all up because [external factors pushed her out of a career path she apparently always wanted, #feminism].” At least with this rework, it gives her character more agency - she decides to quit because that’s what she wants, not because she thinks it’ll magically somehow prevent her son from dying. (And, by the way, that plan was a rousing success, Leia. You idiot.)

So on that note…ehhh? https://streamable.com/ehphfh

Every time I see the changes laid out like that, I’m literally stunned by the talent and creativity of this community. Thank you, all!

Hal 9000 said:

• Slight tweak so Rey is shown contemplating before asking 3PO to consider going through with a memory wipe

Do you have a clip of this, Hal? I know I was thinking about this as well, but I didn’t realize something had already been submitted. Is that when they’re debating going to Kijimi at all, or when they’re already in Babu’s workshop?

Also, just some house cleaning things - are we still considering changes on the following:

• Change “Leia sensed the death of her son." Either to "birth of her son" if we can find audio to support it; or else “sensed her son at the end of her Jedi path,” or even just “Leia told me that she sensed the end of her Jedi path.”
• Clean up the ending of the Pasaana chase, using bbghost’s trimming and my padded shot (and/or some other variation - maybe we can pad it using some of the new footage from Biomes of Hoth or Tatooine?)
• Restructure Rey’s death. (Hal, you expressed interest in this idea, but said that the first attempt didn’t quite land. I did an updated version a little while back - does it solve whatever qualms you had about it? Again, removing the kiss was just for my benefit. We can leave the kiss in.)

Or have all of these suggestions been vetoed for one reason or another?

I’ve got some links for the new establishing shots too, if anyone wants them. Just send me a PM.

Jar Jar Bricks said:

sherlockpotter said:

Hal 9000 said:

I like that idea, Sherlock, but I wonder if that’d be weird to actually have sequenced that way.

Scenes and scenes and planets have gone by, and Hux just now tells him “it was a coordinated incursion.”

I do like the idea of slowing down with an establishing shot after we settle in with Lando, and possibly at the end of that scene, with engines lighting up.

And - this may sound blasphemous - but I actually don’t really like the establishing shot before the necklace scene? The scene is so quick that it basically feels like the film is cross cutting between Kylo’s ship and Lando’s sex dungeon. An establishing shot is usually reserved for a whole scene - does a cutaway warrant that? We’d basically be spending more time in the establishing shot than in the meat and potatoes of the scene.

If we applied this same logic to Mustafar then we wouldn’t have come up with all those establishing shots.

I’m all for establishing shots, and for slowing down the film’s pacing. But it’s not the same as Mustafar. Mustafar is an entire sequence, where, like…things happen. And it’s over a minute long. And it’s the very first scene in the movie, so it makes sense to establish not just that location, but the film as a whole. For settling into the movie.

To me - and this is subjective - it would feel weird to be in the middle of one scene, have an establishing shot of a different one, 25 second “scene,” and then cut back to the first location. With a cutaway like that, editing implies that the scenes are happening concurrently. So if you’re in the middle of a conversation, another conversation may be happening at the same time; but you wouldn’t want to just sit there idling waiting for the conversation to restart. You’re already settled into the Lando scene. You can’t just uproot yourself and settle into a completely different location, and then snap back. It’ll be jarring.

Think of it this way: you’re listening to one conversation. You turn your head, and see another conversation on your other side. Then you look back at the original conversation. If the first conversation wasn’t done, you wouldn’t pack up your things, walk to a new location, settle in, and find a different conversation, right?

Again, this is all subjective; but we can’t just use establishing shots willy-nilly. We should treat them how a professional director/editor would; establishing shots are more about settling the audience into a scene than they are about padding it.