The second cut is done, but having watched it through I need to fiddle with act 2, so I’ll do this over the weekend.
2h 57 is pretty dang long for SW, sure just one movie?
As with most of the Disney shows, the amount of decent material for Ahsoka is around 1.5 movies worth. So I either stretch the material out to 2 movies, or tighten and trim everything and bring it in at just under 3 hours for a single movie. My aim with these edits is to create a movie event, because that is how I feel Star Wars is best viewed, so the single movie option is what I feel is best. It’s worked pretty well for my previous edits, and many modern movies have a runtime over 2.5 hours, so just shy of 3 hours isn’t excessive by modern standards.
Count me in as interested to view the current cut! Sounds like this has come along nicely. Just curious, have you seen the cut by Redditor derikwkim? I thought his edit was very well done and will be curious to see how this differs from it!
I haven’t watched any other Ahsoka edits yet. I like to produce my own vision first. When I originally started out with my clone wars and Mandalorian edits, there weren’t any others to see!
Hope the edit is ticking along nicely… Looking forward to seeing what you’re able to do with this one!
Almost there with the second cut. Just the last 15mins to finish off. The audio is complete too. Currently clocking in at 2h 57.
Acts 1 and 3 flow really well and are pretty final. The middle act is where changes may occur. I’m not 100% happy with removal of all New Republic elements on Seatos and how much of the WBW elements I’ve included.
I should get the cut finished this week and view it over the weekend. I’ll send a link to anyone interested in checking out the full current cut. I’ll also post a changelog… which will be vast!
would love to check this out!
This is very much a work in progress. I’m 3/4 done with the second cut.
This was a fantastic edit.
It basically salvages BOBF and works in the Mando stuff in a seamless, logical manner. I really liked how the final battle was cut down, and most of the vespa-crew stuff was cut. If there was a way to cut all of it, that would be even better, but I realize that would be extremely difficult. The way Grogu was edited OUT of the Tatooine stuff was pretty ingenious.
My only issue here is with all the Grogu / Luke /Ahsoka stuff at the end. This story essentially concludes with the end of the battle. I thought the scene of Din leaving Tatooine would have been the perfect place to cut to credits.
I haven’t watched Ep IV yet so I’m not sure how well it would work editing all the Jedi stuff into the beginning of that one. However, if it was to be broken up, here’s one possible way I would suggest trying:
In Ep III, Mando tests the starfighter in Beggar’s Canyon. When he heads for space, wipe to him leaving Tatooine to go present his present to Grogu. A LOT of the stuff with the droids building the temple and bench could be cut with no issues- he should arrive and find Ahsoka almost immediately. Then carry on up to the point where Ahsoka talks him down. He leaves, returns to Tatooine, and that’s when Fennic Shand is waiting for him in the docking bay. Then end EP III after the battle, and work in the rest of the Grogu stuff at the beginning of IV. Again, not having seen IV, I’m not sure how well that works.
If all else fails, maybe the answer is an EP 3.5 vignette that addresses the Grogu issue. It’s painfully obvious that Mando S3 didn’t originally account for Grogu, but his popularity caused them to write him back in. The whole thing is just kind of a mess. This would cut down on the length of EP III, allowing it to end in its proper place. (IMHO).
Anyway, great job! Looking forward to EP IV!
Thanks for the input. I agree that the Luke-Grogu segment feels like an add-on. I will be revisiting these Mando edits after I’ve finished with Ahsoka. I’m hoping to better integrate the Luke-Grogu scenes, but as yet I’m not quite sure how to do it.
Here is my edited flashback sequence. Lots of trimming here meaning I’ve got it down to 13mins with Huyang being the one that rescues her.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Y4YuxylIKTCKHZJPsW8_0rF1omHsw33T
So, I checked it. The whole flashback/WbW sequence looks cool. I wasn’t able to spot where you trimmed it exactly (except one particular moment), so I’d say it looks seemeless. You managed to save the best part of the show almost intact 😉
I don’t wanna be a pain in the … but I think you shouldn’t have trimmed the moment when Anakin’s ghost goes back from “evil” to “good”. I saw you trimmed a bit the transition and I think it would be better if those few extra seconds stayed. it was a great little moment, the facial expressions of Hayden was perfect and in my opinion, for the millennials fans it had a huge emotional impact to see how his face changes from ROTS evil Anakin to the good Anakin Skywalker again. I know it may be silly, as we talk about 5-10 seconds, but for me it was something that I spot right away, I remember it was really a big deal for me when I watched this episode 😉
Nevertheless, in terms of editing and pacing - great job!
Thanks. I’ll look back at the Anakin face change and put it back in.
Half way there with the second cut!
Here is the episode 4 segment. A lot of big and little cuts here… got the episode down to 19mins. Half was point clocking in at 1h 27 so I’m on target!
Let me know your thoughts.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EK1EjzPk0ZkD9x16xAGz4AsQmzrHNnzi
I hate to see so much of Episode 4 go as I think it was the most cinematic of all eight episodes. Episode 5 may have had the member berries, but 4 was the only one that was as good as the franchise deserves.
Besides, all you had to do was remove the shots where Ahsoka is folding her arms and smirking. That would easily get your cut down below 3 hrs.
I dare to disagree, I think he cut all the superfluous stuff (tho again, some pauses and dialogues could still be trimmed probably), but left the best from it ( I personally like he chose to keep the Inquisitor’s death, I think it was a nice nod to Nightsisters magic and Kurosawa movies).
I have one question regarding the fanedit - in the end it will be “Ahsoka - Episode I” or “New Republic - (…)”?
Also, regarding the title - did you consider using the last episode’s title “The Jedi, the Witch and the Warlord”? I just personally think it was a very cool title and it describes well the whole show 😄
It will become “The New Republic Episode 5”. The title of the last episode was cool, but probably no Star Wars enough. 😃
I’ll definitely take a look at the flashback idea once I’ve completed the second cut.
This idea may sound crazy to some of you but, maybe add the part of dialogue between Ahsoka and Anakin from “Rebels” during the Lucas film/A long time ago… sequence? Like the clone troopers that could be heard in the theatrical TCW movie during the Lucas film/A long time ago … sequence.
That is what I was thinking…… Anakin/Vader dialogue from Rebels and visuals from Rogue One or Kenobi.
Here is my edited flashback sequence. Lots of trimming here meaning I’ve got it down to 13mins with Huyang being the one that rescues her.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Y4YuxylIKTCKHZJPsW8_0rF1omHsw33T
Have you considered removing all instances of Merrik (the ghost inquisitor)? I wonder if everything might be tighter and the reveal with the reanimated stormtroopers better if he wasn’t in the story.
What if Balaan Skall’s line about the legacy of violence from Anakin and Ahsoka was said right after she throws Shinn? Like he sees the violence and Vader-like action, says that, then a moment later knocks her off the cliff and says that it was always that way with her.
I do also miss the craziness of that hyperscape jump and the X-Wings. I’m not sure if that could be worked back in without getting back into the mediocre New Republic stuff.
It’s not a bad idea to completely remove him. It’s definitely doable, but I think he’s needed for the 2 v 2 encounter in the woods. What I will do, however, based on your suggestion is trim his death scene so that he isn’t a “ghost” since that plot point doesn’t really go anywhere.
Today I watched your cuts of episodes 3 and 4. Looks great, you cut a lot of superfluous stuff and you definitely improved the pacing a lot. It flows so much better now.
I personally would trim some dialogues even more, but it’s OK the way it is now 😉
Hope you won’t cut too much from the Anakin/Ahsoka encounter/flashbacks 😉
Looking forward to the final cut! 😉
I was working on the Anakin/Ahsoka sequence last night. I’ve been able to tighten it up a lot without losing too much of the dialogue. The next job is to figure out how to cut it together with the Episode 6 content having decided to remove the New Republic plot.
Half way there with the second cut!
Here is the episode 4 segment. A lot of big and little cuts here… got the episode down to 19mins. Half was point clocking in at 1h 27 so I’m on target!
Let me know your thoughts.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EK1EjzPk0ZkD9x16xAGz4AsQmzrHNnzi
smudger9 said:
The workaround I’ve done (not yet released) is to use the dialogue I cut from Season 4 where Mando is discussing the Mandalorian glass he has in his possession. I forget the actual dialogue but he explains he fot it off Jawas who claim to have been on the surface of Mandalore.That sounds even more elegant, very curious to see it.
I thought it worked quite well because it casts doubt over Armourer’s beliefs about Mandalore.
Watched it again today and had a thought on the Beskar spear.
Maybe you cant push the AI Voice so much, but here it goes:
…
When Mando picks it up, you could add a line from Mando that says “I almost forgot about this”.Then the conversation with Boba starts.
Mando: This is all that survived.
Boba: Beskar…
And then in the following shot of Mando add him saying: A forbidden weapon…
…
While not perfect, it would explain why we have not seen it before (forbidden and not used for a long time) and do some foreshadowing for Episode 3. And since he does not have a ship to hide it anymore, it is plausible that he carries it with him now. The alternative would be to bury it somewhere.
That would be plausible.
The workaround I’ve done (not yet released) is to use the dialogue I cut from Season 4 where Mando is discussing the Mandalorian glass he has in his possession. I forget the actual dialogue but he explains he fot it off Jawas who claim to have been on the surface of Mandalore.
What do you think of leaving out the scenes that have ashoka fighting her way back to paridea, that way you keep the suspense and anticipation of her return, maybe only keeping the shot of her calling to Sabine with the force as confirmation that she has arrived. So you would cut from her jumping to light speed until she comes to save the day pretty much. Which shaves a good bit for faster pacing.
I actually like this. Sadly, it cuts more of Ahsoka out of her own show, but it’s already kinda Sabine’s show anyway.
That’s my feeling too. It’s a great way to cut the runtime down but it will shift the balance to Sabine and make the third act feel too short.
Also, given that the plot is largely the search for Ezra/Thrawn I feel we need to see Ahsoka’s journey. Having her just show up will feel contrived.
Season 1 has some great content and lore. Annoyingly it’s so close to making a perfect movie, the detour to rescue Gregor just details it slightly and because Hunger gets captured it can’t be cut.
It’s still pretty tight, just about 15mins too long. This edit is 99% done. As soon as Ahsoka is finished I’ll get it finished.
Not quite ready. It’s 99% done but I’m going to finish my Ahsoka edit first!
I’m now up to the end of episode 3 with my second cut. This is the most challenging episode because it essentially only had one job… to get Sabine and Ahsoka to the surface of Seatos… but it took 30 miniutes to accomplish it! It required a LOT of cutting. I’ve managed to get it down to 15 minutes. I could have done it in 11 minutes had it not been for Ahsoka’s costume change!
Anyway, as its only a 15 minute segment and has been massively edited I thought I’d post it here for some feedback. The first three episodes clock in at 1h 8mins including the opening logos and crawl… I would have liked to have done it in an hour, but it still has me on track for the magic sub 3-hour target.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1u1SaVjW2yCsvPXPJcnpmkYHkR_DSUJfi
Thanks for the feedback. I’ll lock down the first act then.
I’m currently working on a second cut with completed audio transitions. It’s taking a bit of time because along with the numerous scene cuts, virtually every remaining scene has been trimmed. The first third is done but it’s slow going!
So I’ve completed the first cut and it’s clocking in at 3h10. This is a little too long, but I haven’t yet removed the New Republic plot from the middle act. That should save 5 to 10 mins. I’ve now gone back to tighten up act 1 and have managed to chip the running time down to 3h07, so I’m getting there and confident that I can bring this in at 2h55 or so.
In terms of the first act there are a couple of sequences that are crucial to the current structure that I wanted an opinion on. It uses AI dialogue to allow me to remove the Correlia and droid head scenes. It would be great to get feedback on
This is the medical bay sequence
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PUOxAdTMZyKWIRPqRqL35h70j2BUwXDL
This is the Ashoka/Sabine platform sequence
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1F0GJz6yXZYY6V1gUQ2HM_CAOtK3nPe4Z
Out of curiosity, would it be possible to edit the Hera trial scene to be referring to the Corellia incident? That could allow us to cut Hera and Jacen out of Seatos, but still provide a conclusion for the New Republic arc in the show.
That would be straightforward to do, although I’m currently working on removing the New Republic plot completely.
I like it! Obviously needs the AI lines from Huyang that he was the one who found her. Maybe also consider shortening up her auditory flashback so that the camera doesn’t have to pan over Hera and the ghost.
Yes. That will all be done. It’s just a very rough cut to see if it works.
It seems I need access. But I think removing Hera and all New Republic scenes and keeping them all just a cameo at the beginning and end of the movie is the way to go.
You should be able to access now.