What did everyone think of the first batch of Season 2? I found it to be an intriguing start, though it doesn’t quite measure up to opening of Season 1. Based on the reviews I’ve seen, it seems this might be the weakest of the four arcs, with the quality ramping up from episode 6 onwards.
For me, the Yavin 4 arc was a bit of a letdown. It felt drawn out and, frankly, somewhat pointless compared to the other storylines. That said, I really enjoyed the rest of the plot lines.
Regarding the editing, I’m still planning to create two movies for this season, just like I did for Season 1. Let’s break down the numbers for this arc:
- Episode 1: 43 minutes of footage
- Episode 2: 35 minutes of footage
- Episode 3: 45 minutes of footage
Total: 123 minutes (2 hours and 3 minutes)
My goal is to trim this arc down to about 1 hour and 15 minutes, which means cutting 48 minutes. I believe this is achievable. The entire Yavin 4 arc needs to go, which will significantly reduce the footage, and there are several scenes in the other episodes that can also be cut.
I’ve already edited Episode 1 down from 43 minutes to 25 minutes (an 18-minute reduction) with the following changes:
- Opening Scene: I started with an external shot of the Seinar Facility, smoothly transitioning to Cassian in the mess hall. I removed the initial shot of the TIE in the hangar to create a better reveal as Cassian approaches.
- Some of the dialogue between Cassian and Niah has been trimmed for brevity.
- TIE Escape Sequence: I tightened this sequence to enhance the pacing.
- The Bix nightmare scene was cut. I feel we can do without this foreshadowing, especially after her traumatic experience on Ferrix. Her opening scene deserves to be more uplifting.
- I edited the first four scenes of Krennic’s briefing into a single, cohesive segment detailing their plans on Gorman, eliminating the retro advertisement.
- Transition to the first Chandrilla scene. I cut the discussion about parking problems for a more streamlined narrative.
- Transition to Bix on Mina-Rau - This scene remains intact.
- The entire Yavin 4 storyline has been removed.
- Perrin & Scolden’s discussion about their children’s relationship has been cut.
- I removed Mon Mothma’s conversation with her daughter regarding her lover’s quarrel.
If anyone is interested, my edited version of Episode 1 is available on Google Drive for feedback. It’s in 720p with only the center channel audio.
I aim to have the entire arc roughly edited by the weekend. Of course, things may evolve as new episodes are released, but the time skips should help mitigate any inconsistencies. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!