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szopman

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27-Dec-2019
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20-Feb-2024
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Post
#1555745
Topic
The New Republic Movie Series EPIV: A Threat From Beyond (An Ahsoka Series Edit) [RELEASED]
Time

DZ-330 said:

You could start the movie halfway through episode 3 when Ahsoka and Sabine drop out of hyperspace near the planet where Morgan is at with the map. Here is a crawl that could work, also better explaining the state of things so Rebels won’t be as much of a requirement:


It has been years since the heroic Jedi Padawan, Ezra Bridger, and the menacing IMPERIAL GRAND ADMIRAL THRAWN went missing during the Battle of Lothal. During their exile, the EVIL GALACTIC EMPIRE has fallen, but rumors are now spreading of Thrawn’s return, which would galvanize the IMPERIAL REMNANTS and reignite war throughout the galaxy.

Sinister agents have infiltrated the new fragile government and are already at work to undermine the newfound peace. Failing to convince the NEW REPUBLIC to act, AHSOKA TANO, former Jedi Apprentice of Anakin Skywalker, has taken it upon herself to investigate this emerging threat.

Forming an uneasy alliance, Ahoska has recruited a former student and friend of Ezra, Sabine Wren, to assist in her quest. They have tracked the location of a recently escaped prisoner, MORGAN ELSBETH, who is in possession of a secret map which is vital to the enemy’s plan…

It is way too long for a Star Wars crawl. Usually they are shorter and more concise.

Post
#1555728
Topic
The New Republic Movie Series EPIV: A Threat From Beyond (An Ahsoka Series Edit) [RELEASED]
Time

DZ-330 said:

Is there any reason the “movie” couldn’t just start with Episode 3 and the opening crawl updated to state that Ahsoka and Sabine are en route to stop villians who broke Morgan out of jail and have a map to Thrawn?

Think of it as:

  • ACT 1: Recovering the map and failing
  • ACT 2: Interconnect Ahsoka and Anakin with Sabine/Thrawn/Ezra
  • ACT 3: What’s to come, TBD

As much as I loved the introduction of Baylon and Shin, I agree that this is probably the best way to start the film.

Then, maybe the Baylon/Shin scene could be some kind of poat-credit cliff-hanger scene for a previous film.

Post
#1555598
Topic
The New Republic Movie Series EPIV: A Threat From Beyond (An Ahsoka Series Edit) [RELEASED]
Time

smudger9 said:

Yes, it was a rather meaty episode. For the sake of my edit I was hoping for lots of filler. Not a huge amount that can be cut on first viewing, but that often changes on subsequent viewings. One thing I will say is that this series feels the most cinematic of the D+ shows.

I guess I could cut more by weaving it into episode 5 but it is going to be very difficult to cut this season down to 3h.

Maybe the 7th episode will offer us some more fillers. I feel it in my bones that the next episode will be New Republic-centered.

If you cannot cut it down to 3h, well, c’est la vie 😉 As long as it’s a good, quality content and a coherent, well-paced story, it doesn’t matter if it’s 2.5h or 3.5h 😉

Post
#1555478
Topic
The New Republic Movie Series EPIV: A Threat From Beyond (An Ahsoka Series Edit) [RELEASED]
Time

I guess the problem with the episode 6 will be that there is not that much to cut, it was actually a great episode.
I think the reveal of Ezra was fine, they executed it pretty well.

I guess it may be a very problematic episode because it’s +40min long and there is not much to cut.
The opening scene with Ahsoka could be easily cut, some trims here and there, you could cut the scene where Sabine is given the “horse” and her weapons back, but that’s it.
In general, a very good chapter, a bit slower but not boring/badly-paced. Very climatic I’d say. And there is some great performance of Ray Stevenson there.

Post
#1555398
Topic
The New Republic Movie Series EPIV: A Threat From Beyond (An Ahsoka Series Edit) [RELEASED]
Time

If you want an EU title that would be a nod to Thrawn novels, maybe “Dark Force Rising” ? 😉

But “A Thread from Beyond” sounds pretty good 😉

And btw. I like the “New Republic” idea.

Do you think you’d consider releasing versions without “Episode …” in the crawl for people who for ex. would watch only Ahsoka but skip Mando, or vice versa?

Post
#1555364
Topic
The New Republic Movie Series EPIV: A Threat From Beyond (An Ahsoka Series Edit) [RELEASED]
Time

szopman said:

So, I could watch only the first ~40min.
Unfortunately I probably won’t be able to watch the rest until the weekend.

Nevertheless, I wanted to share some insights:
-above all, I love how you edited the fight between Sabine and Shin. Now its way better, Sabine still got injured but she doesn’t get impaled with the lightsaber. Once again you proved what a skillfull and creative editor you are! 😉 Great job!
-overall, I’m happy with all the unnecessary stuff you cut. Tho I still believe that almost everything from those two eps could be cut 😄

I also wanted to comment the opening crawl and the title.
-I think that the white “Ahsoka” logo doesn’t compose well with the rest of the crawl. Maybe it would be possible to make it yellow, as the rest of the crawl? Alternatively, you could just name Star Wars: Heir to the Empire.
-btw, talking about the title, I don’t mind it, but it’s very probable that Dave Filoni’s movie will end up being titled “Heir to the Empire”. So maybe it’d be good to find some alternative title.
-Also, since you will probably end up with only one movie for “Ahsoka”, and considering the fact that this is a limited series, with no plans for s02 (for now at least), maybe it would make more sense to skip “Episode I” part for now? Again, it could be just “Star Wars - Ahsoka - HTTE” or “Star Wars - HTTE”.

Tbh I think the original “Ahsoka” crawl wasn’t bad, maybe you’d reconsider using it? Or just to modify it/create a similar one instead of the classic SW yellow one?

And regarding your previous answer to my post, I think that you are right that story-wise those episodes make a good first act (especially if you aim to create a coherent, 3-act movie).
Tho entertainment-wise, those episodes would be out xD

I guess 2nd and 3rd acts will be more tricky, as the episodes 4 and 5, although far from perfect, have a lot of cool content that are the kind of entertainment that the SW fans love. I’m wondering if it’s even possible to reduce them to less than 50-55min (the robots fight, Baylan vs Ahsoka, Baylan/Sabine, Anakin stuff, Ahsoka the white reborn, the whole space whales stuff).

I’m very curious to see how it all will end up (both the show and your movie edit)! 😉

One last loose thought - since it’s Ahsoka’s story and it’s basically the TCW/Rebels live action sequel, maybe this time you could use the end credits music from TCW instead of the classic one from the movies ?

Sorry for double post, dont know how to merge them 😭

Post
#1555363
Topic
The New Republic Movie Series EPIV: A Threat From Beyond (An Ahsoka Series Edit) [RELEASED]
Time

So, I could watch only the first ~40min.
Unfortunately I probably won’t be able to watch the rest until the weekend.

Nevertheless, I wanted to share some insights:
-above all, I love how you edited the fight between Sabine and Shin. Now its way better, Sabine still got injured but she doesn’t get impaled with the lightsaber. Once again you proved what a skillfull and creative editor you are! 😉 Great job!
-overall, I’m happy with all the unnecessary stuff you cut. Tho I still believe that almost everything from those two eps could be cut 😄

I also wanted to comment the opening crawl and the title.
-I think that the white “Ahsoka” logo doesn’t compose well with the rest of the crawl. Maybe it would be possible to make it yellow, as the rest of the crawl? Alternatively, you could just name Star Wars: Heir to the Empire.
-btw, talking about the title, I don’t mind it, but it’s very probable that Dave Filoni’s movie will end up being titled “Heir to the Empire”. So maybe it’d be good to find some alternative title.
-Also, since you will probably end up with only one movie for “Ahsoka”, and considering the fact that this is a limited series, with no plans for s02 (for now at least), maybe it would make more sense to skip “Episode I” part for now? Again, it could be just “Star Wars - Ahsoka - HTTE” or “Star Wars - HTTE”.

Tbh I think the original “Ahsoka” crawl wasn’t bad, maybe you’d reconsider using it? Or just to modify it/create a similar one instead of the classic SW yellow one?

And regarding your previous answer to my post, I think that you are right that story-wise those episodes make a good first act (especially if you aim to create a coherent, 3-act movie).
Tho entertainment-wise, those episodes would be out xD

I guess 2nd and 3rd acts will be more tricky, as the episodes 4 and 5, although far from perfect, have a lot of cool content that are the kind of entertainment that the SW fans love. I’m wondering if it’s even possible to reduce them to less than 50-55min (the robots fight, Baylan vs Ahsoka, Baylan/Sabine, Anakin stuff, Ahsoka the white reborn, the whole space whales stuff).

I’m very curious to see how it all will end up (both the show and your movie edit) 😉

Post
#1554782
Topic
The New Republic Movie Series EPIV: A Threat From Beyond (An Ahsoka Series Edit) [RELEASED]
Time

Warhorn said:

Honestly, I don’t care what approach Smudger has decided to take with this edit. Having seen all of his previous work with live-actions series I have blind confidence in his judgment when deciding what stays and what doesn’t. He always cuts things that seem essential to me until I watch his movies straight away and I understand that that’s not the case. He simply has a gift.

Looking forward with infinite desire to see his work with Ahsoka.

Definitely 😉 I’ve been following his work since the first TCW movie series trailer. He already made some SW content that I previously disliked a lot, a watchable and enjoyable experience.

Post
#1554652
Topic
The New Republic Movie Series EPIV: A Threat From Beyond (An Ahsoka Series Edit) [RELEASED]
Time

smudger9 said:

I agree. The more episodes we see, the more it moves towards a single movie. Annoyingly I think it will end up being sat between one and two movies. CrossVader is correct in that episodes 4/5 work as either an ESB-style ending or a middle act of a single movie, but its doubtful that episodes 6 to 8 will be enough for one movie.

I don’t like the idea of a really harsh cut of the first 2 episodes, because I love the introduction of the characters and there is some essential exposition in there, particularly if you haven’t seen Rebels.

I’m currently working with a faster paced edit of the first 2 episodes with the Correlia scenes cut. Sabine examines the droid head and reveals that it came from Seatos. This gets us to Seatos after 55mins. The next challenge is really tightening up episodes 3 to 5 which I think could be condensed down to about 45min, leaving an hour for the last 3 episodes… might be doable!

It’s your project and of course you will edit it the way you feel works best for you, but, I’m really surprised that you prefer to cut heavily eps 3-5 (especially that she far eps 4 and 5 seem to be the best ones of the 5 released eps) instead of the episode 1 and 2.

I think that even if you cut 90% of those first two eps, you can still have the introduction of Baylon and Shin. Regarding the introduction of the Rebels crew and the dynamics between Ahsoka and Sabine, I really believe that the episode 3 have it all. In my opinion, those who already know Rebels, won’t be confused at all, they know too well who’s who. And those who never watched Rebels - well, I think that they will feel they missed something anyway (in whatever format they choose to watch “Ahsoka”).

But again, your previous edits proved that you know what you’re doing 😉

Also, luckily, there s a lot of useless material that can be easily cut from the episode 5 ( we don’t really need those long and slow scenes with Jacen and Hera). One short scene with Jacen sensing Ahsoka would be enough. I think that this episode can be cut to 25-30min without a problem.

Then, if you decided to do a more “harsh” cut of the first two episodes, and considering some necessary cuts and trims for eps 3 and 4, you’d probably have a nice 60-70min I act (/1st half) of the movie. Then, there would be less to cut from eps 6-8 which will probably be the most crucial ones (I imagine that the creme de la creme will be those 3 last episodes).

Anyway, I ll be happy to check this edit anyway once it comes out as the show itself is not really rewatchable for me so far 😉

Post
#1554290
Topic
The New Republic Movie Series EPIV: A Threat From Beyond (An Ahsoka Series Edit) [RELEASED]
Time

Maybe there would be some way to cut almost completely the first 2 episodes and sum it up in the opening crawl? Like, leave the introduction of Baylon and Shin, mention in the crawl that the bad guys are in the possession of very important map to Ezra, and that Ahsoka, Hera and Sabine want to find it. The Ahsoka/Sabine stuff can basically start from the scene which was the recreation of the Rebels epilogue.

Then the stuff from 1x03 is enough to establish their master/student background and dynamics. Of course in that episode there is also some stuff that could and should be cut 😄

This way you could reduce the first 3 episodes into a 20-30min prologue.

Post
#1553062
Topic
The New Republic Movie Series EPIV: A Threat From Beyond (An Ahsoka Series Edit) [RELEASED]
Time

smudger9 said:

szopman said:

Smudger9, did you maybe consider combining Ahsoka and “The Mandalorian” into one film series?

It seems eventually all those shows will lead to one big crossover event - Dave Filoni’s movie.

Plus, Ahsoka already appeared in your previous “Mando” films and Thrawn’s return was hinted there before.

So, if you made them all just “Star Wars” films, this one would just be a continuation of some storylines that started in the previous stories.

Absolutely. Lucasfilm updated their Eras timeline this week so I’ll probably go with “The New Republic” as the logo for these. I’ll wait for the end of the Ahsoka series before committing to this and I’ll also need to tinker with my Mando S2 to include the now essential Ahsoka/Morgan confrontation.

EP1: Mando S1
EP2: Mando S2
EP3: Ahsoka S1 P1
EP4: Ahsoka S2 P2
EP5: BOBF
EP6: Mando S3

EP1: Mando S1
EP2: Mando S2
EP3: Ahsoka S1 P1
EP4: Ahsoka S2 P2
EP5: BOBF
EP6: Mando S3

Did you consider maybe intercutting Ahsoka with TBOBF and Mando s03 to have one coherent story with the same protagonists?
If I remember correctly, you weren’t 100% happy with the Mando/Ahsoka/Luke stuff being the last act of your third Mando movie.

Maybe you could make it the beginning of the -let’s call it-movie4? We have there Ahsoka and Mando meeting, Mando and Grogu reunion and from there, both protagonists, Ahsoka and Mando go their way and in both storylines, the return of Thrawn is heavily mentioned. And in both storylines we have Carson as a recurring character. So maybe it would make sense to make it two movies with Ahsoka and Mando stories intercutting (like the one you did with Boba and Mando) with the big finale being probably the return of the admiral Thrawn.

Or just add the Luke/Ahsoka/Mando part to the movie 4, as a prologue, and then add some scenes from the first episope of “Ahsoka” to your movie edit of Mando s03. You could even end it with a nice cliffhanger, of Baylon and Shin rescuing Morgan and then the next movie could be Ahsoka-centered.

Post
#1551905
Topic
The New Republic Movie Series EPIV: A Threat From Beyond (An Ahsoka Series Edit) [RELEASED]
Time

Smudger9, did you maybe consider combining Ahsoka and “The Mandalorian” into one film series?

It seems eventually all those shows will lead to one big crossover event - Dave Filoni’s movie.

Plus, Ahsoka already appeared in your previous “Mando” films and Thrawn’s return was hinted there before.

So, if you made them all just “Star Wars” films, this one would just be a continuation of some storylines that started in the previous stories.

Post
#1548176
Topic
Idea: Non film/tv edits? (any interest in a Dark Disciple audiobook?)
Time

Delpheas said:

So there is other Star Wars non-movie material that is theoretically editable, namely audiobooks and radio dramas.

Do folks ever play around with editing them? I’m toying with editing the Dark Disciple audiobook to have the trappings of a The Clone Wars episode.

I’m curious if that is something folks would be interested in, and if editing an audiobook is in a different legal area than film/tv?

I also think that it would be cool to see more edits of other SW material, like comic books, radio dramas, audiobooks or even novels.

Recently I have been thinking about a fanedit of “Dark Empire” radio drama. To make a “canon edit” (or to be more precise, movie Canon at least), cutting all mentions of Jacen and Jaina, maybe somehow changing Anakin Solo into Ben Solo (and thus, reestablishing the timeline as shortly after OT), etc.
I think that this storyline would be a nice prologue to TROS. Knowing that Palatine already tried it before, it would make it less weird that nobody seemed too surprised he s back. I really believe it could fit nicely.

I also thought it’d be cool to edit the Thrawn novels (the original ones, from the old EU) making them fit into the movies timeline (remove some contradictions with the sequels, again, removing the twins, or rather changing them for Ben Solo).

Another idea I once had was that It may be cool to edit Star Wars Legacy comics, making the series a sequel to the ST, and making Cade Skywalker Rey’s great-grandson.

Post
#1538560
Topic
Twin Suns (Obi-Wan and Maul Coda) - Wrapping up their story without the Rebels connection (Released)
Time

Octorox said:

I think it works pretty well. I’d definitely show this to someone not interested in watching Rebels (although they should, lol).

Personally I’d be interested in a movie (or miniseries?) focused on the Kenobi/Maul arc from Clone Wars and ending with this. It would be a cool way to include that stretch of story in a marathon viewing when you don’t have time to even watch Clone Wars Refocused.

In theory, it could work as a movie, basically the core of the whole story consists of 6 episodes of TCW and the epilogue from the Rebels. It’d be ~120-130 min long.

Post
#1534520
Topic
Mando EP4: Return to Mandalore 4K [RELEASED]
Time

smudger9 said:

STF78 said:

smudger9 said:

szopman said:

In the end, you’re going to move the Luke Skywalker stuff to this film ? Or you re gonna leave it as a part of Ep III?

Leaving it in episode 3. I’m currently mulling over a radial change to EPs 2 and 3 to take out more Boba stuff and shuffle things around.

Are you able to give us any more info on the potential changes to episodes two and three?

Episode 2 is a bit of an issue because it now has some important story elements missing.

  1. Carson Teva’s interactions with Mando/Nevarro.
  2. The cloning facility on Nevarro.
  3. Elspeth Morgan and the Beskar spear.

These elements were cut to stick to a reasonable runtime and allow Luke’s appearance to be the finale. However, these elements have become very important.

My current thinking is to put these elements back into episode 2 and have the movie end on a cliffhanger with Gideon’s capture of Grogu. (Like ESB).

The rescue can then be the opening of Episode 3 and the sudden decision to capture Pershing can be explained in the opening crawl. I will then cut Boba’s story down to a bare minimum and have episode three to focus on Mando and Grogu.
Grogu’s training scenes will be intercut with Mando’s journey. Mando will not travel to meet Grogu, Grogu will make his decision and then head off to find Mando.

The main negative is that Luke’s first appearance begs to be the finale of a movie, not the end of the opening act, but this would allow all the important story beats to be included.

I know it may be a big change, but why not split season 2 into two movies?
2x07 is one of the best fillers ever in Star Wars franchise. So you could maybe make one movie that ends with Grogu’s capture and then another (a bit shorter) one that would end with Luke big finale?
Or, alternatively, you could make 1 film from 2x01-5 (cutting filler of course), intercutting the storylines of Mando, Ahsoka and Boba (using some flashbacks from TBOBF, like him starting to work with Fennec). Then the 2nd film would start with some good intense action (2x06) and its main theme could be rescuing Grogu.

I think s02 is totally worth 2 films (this way you can extend Ahsoka’s stuff as well).

Post
#1533648
Topic
Mando EP4: Return to Mandalore 4K [RELEASED]
Time

So, knowing that probably some of the storylines will be continued in Ahsoka, and that eventually the whole “Mandoverse” will have a theatrical movie conclusion (A Dave Filoni film announced lately), do you consider rebranding (or maybe even restructuring) this Mando film series into something that would later include Ahsoka fanedit movie and the mentioned Dave Filoni’s epic crossover movie as well?
Or maybe just ‘rebrand’ it into, I don’t know, just “Star Wars” movies with no crawl, or add some other subtitle for the series, like “Heir to the Empire” or something ? 😄

Post
#1532556
Topic
Star Wars Episode X: Fate Of The Jedi (title TBD)
Time

It’s actually cool to have the Episode X, I always felt like they should have abandoned the idea of splitting the saga into trilogies. It’s a bit limitating, why not make 4-movies story or duology? Or why just not do good movies with a story to tell and not worry about of it’s trilogy.

Obviously, they can label this film as they want but essentially it’s going to be Ep X.
I hope it would be better than TROS and it would be a great epilogue to the saga that we all deserve 😉