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.
So last night I was working on removing Hera and the New Republic from Seatos. Here is a proof of concept for the sequence from Ahsoka being pulled from the water to her departing in the space whale. There will need to be alteration of Huyang’s dialogue and removing the Ghost from a couple of shots. Thoughts?
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xTHdvaVItybDqsEHn8_BUZT3ahRPGEqG
I’d love to check out the rough cut!
Thanks. I’ll get it rendered and links out this evening.
In my opinion, it’s better to keep as much as possible or the flashbacks and cut the whole Hera/NR subplot.
In the end, the NR subplot is just a filler, and it was one of the weakest points of the show. I guess most of fans didn’t enjoy it.
On the other hand, let’s be honest, people love the Anakin stuff, and those flashbacks were important I’m terms of the “Lesson” and Ahsoka’s character development. Also, if you take in consideration viewers/fans who never watched TCW, those flashbacks add a lot in terms of Ahsoka/Anakin story. I understand that for the sake of a coherent, well paced 3h movie you have to trim stuff, but I in my opinion you should keep this flashback stuff, as much as possible.
And again, Hera/NR stuff was really weak and in the end turned out to be a useless filler.
EDIT
I’d be happy to watch the rough cut of this 😉 I ll have to spend 2h in a train tomorrow anyway 😉
Yeah the Clone Wars stuff was one of the best parts of the show. I think I’ll stick with my current edit of those. I’ve shortened the scenes as much as I can whilst maintaining the story.
The New Republic stuff is a really difficult one. I agree that it’s a relatively weak part of the show. However, without some elements of it there isn’t anything to plug a couple of time gaps in the Seatos story. That’s fine with a TV show, but with a movie it’s obvious that something is missing. And there is the issue with Ahsoka’s exit from Seatos. I’ll render the rough second act and send you a link.
I’ve done a cut of the first 7 episodes which is clocking in at 2h40. I’m waiting for a non-DV 4K source for episode 8 so that I can complete the cut and I’m confident I can bring it in on 3 hours, which is my upper limit for a movie edit.
Whilst I’m waiting for an episode 8 source I’m going back through act 1 to complete the audio.
Act 1 is pretty much nailed down. It’s act 2 where I’m still a little uncertain, particularly concerning the Clone Wars flashbacks and the Hera/New Republic plot. My current version includes both the Clone Wars and Hera/New Republic elements with a lot of trimming.
I guess the options for the Clone Wars flashbacks are:
For the Hera/New Republic arc I can:
Stick with my edited version which removes the defence council and tribunal scenes and trimming of the Ahsoka search.
Cut it entirely and have Huyang rescue Ahsoka from the water. However, this option creates issues with the pacing of the primary plot due to lack of spacer scenes and a very disjointed Purgil departure results in a disjointed Purgill departure sequence.
If anyone wants to look over a rough cut of the second act let me know.
Can I please get the link to download this?
This is very much a work in progress!
This evening I moved onto episode 3 and have managed to edit it down to 18mins. This puts the first 3 episodes at 68mins including the crawl. I haven’t been able to remove Ahsoka’s space walk because there are 2 key elements that occur when she is back in the cockpit with her space suit on… the flight through the Purgill and Huyang’s report on the hyperdrive ring. And actually the space walk sequence allows Sabone to redeem herself in the eyes of Ahsoka. I have massively cut down the rest of the space battle sequence so it is much faster paced.
I have two suggestions.
Suggestion #1 - Have a cold open before the opening credits, and have that scene be the one from the Mandalore when Ahsoka fights and captures Morgan. Even if it’s edited down, having that scene I think would be an awesome introduction to the series, action-packed, who Ahsoka is, who Morgan is, her power before… PLUS, it creates a fabulous full-circle moment in the end when Ahsoka and Morgan are fighting on the top of the fortress.
Suggestion #2 - The title you’ve chosen is quite generic and lacks punch. I’d workshop something else. It just doesn’t hit or sell really what this is about. This is a story about a journey of rebirth, discovery of self, and a dangerous return with a dash of hope (Hi, Ezra!). “A Threat From Beyond,” I just don’t feel captures that at all. JMO.
Anyhoo, looking forward to the finished result.
Great suggestions Arabian. Had I decided on doing 2 movies for Ahsoka, I definitely would have had the Ahsoka/Morgan duel from the Mandalorian as the opening scene and hard cut to Morgan as they approach Peridea. However, as a single movie it doesn’t really fit as the opening and I’m dead against a pre-crawl scene.
So, after watching the finale, this is definitely a one movie series. There just isn’t enough meat for 2 films. The finale itself was a very action heavy 40mins, a lot of which can be heavily trimmed or cut like the TIE fighter attack.
The whole Peridea sequence could probably be shortened to an hour, which would fit nicely into a third act. That leaves an hour or so for the middle act on Seatos.
So for the through-line story I feel the focus of the movie, in order, should be.
And as has become a theme with these edits, the New Republic scenes (and thus Hera), add little to the overall plot and will be largely cut.
I’ll hopefully have a first cut completed by the end of the week.
I’ve had a good session this evening working on the single movie plan. I’ve now gone through all seven episodes and done a rough cut which came in at 2h 58mins, which is obviously too long with a 40 minute finale still to come. However, there is definitely a lot more than can be cut.
I then went back and did a more detailed cut of the first two episodes and I believe I now have a workable first act which allows the plot to progress quickly but maintains our character introductions. This comes in at 50mins:
Logos and crawl: 2mins
Episode 1: 34mins
Episode 2: 15mins
The main changes from the first cut are:
So act 1 now plays out as:
Act 2 is where a lot of fat needs to be trimmed and I’ll work on that this week after the premiere. I desperately want to keep the Clone Wars flashbacks but they may have to go 😦
When you think about it, not a lot has happened over the course of 7 episodes. It’s basically just “Star Wars: The Return of Thrawn”. Seeing Hayden as Anakin again was nice more satisfying than in Kenobi), and I really like the the actor who plays Ezra, but over all, the show has not covered a lot of ground.
Totally agree. Plot wise it fits a 3 act movie perfectly.
Act 1: Character introduction & getting the map to Seatos.
Act 2: Confrontation on Seatos & Journey to Peridea.
Act 3: Thrawn reveal & FinaleHowever, it’s been edited and structured in a way that makes it difficult to cut the fat.
Much work to do! Hopefully all will become clearer after the finale.Perhaps they saw how popular that Kenobi fanedit was and decided to make this in such a way as to make an edit very difficult 😉
Wouldn’t surprise me. I also wonder if fan editing is one of the reasons we don’t seem to get deleted scenes anymore.
Do you think fanediting would have that much of an impact?
I would have thought it was Disney not wanting to show anything except their original product. For example there was a book written by J.W Rinzlet about the making of TFA, he did the other 6 films, but they subsequently cancelled it.
I think it has some impact. Studios are aware of Fanedits and I’m sure it has resulted in less additional footage being released.