NFBisms

Wow, I’m really sorry guys, I’m just so slammed with school and girls that I forget about this a lot, or it’s just too much to deal with 100%. Especially when I don’t stand completely by the cut that is available, and I don’t have time to render a newer version. xP

I’ll try to respond to feedback and link requests, but I’m just one college kid, and I underestimated how interested people would be in this edit. I mean. It’s a lot. All in all, I’m glad you guys actually really like it, but I’m going to need to carve out some time at Thanksgiving to put a bow on it, and try to submit/get on .info.

On doing TPM and AotC, I have ideas, but I’m not sure if they would be drastically different from other edits of said films. I’m leaning towards RotS!TNCC being universal enough to fit with the original theatrical cuts…? But we’ll see.

There is no underwear in space…

SparkySywer said:

Skimming through this, I’m gonna watch the whole thing soon.

There are a few times where the audio… I guess the best way to describe is that it clips. They’re all around cuts, so my guess is that you just cut the video and left it like that. You should have the audio on each side of the cut fade into one another, it solves that problem.

Yeah, I faded most of the audio cuts, but there are a few where it’s the beginning of a new project file (I have to work in parts) and I wasn’t forward thinking enough to maybe start the file a little behind where I would want it to start in editing. That’s an easy fix and also fanediting 101.

There are also parts where crossfading the audio didn’t work though because there was a line or something just behind it, and it would have ran over. And it was noticeable on every channel. I might have just said “fuck it” for the night or week I was editing those specific spots and didn’t catch it when I came back and had forgotten about it. I should make notes.

Like other people have said, some added dialogue doesn’t fit right. I think it’s more that they’re running over existing dialogue, partially. Some lines don’t have this problem but still feel out of place, but idk why for them.

I agree with this. Any that stick out especially bad, though? And which ones work best?

Octorox said:

Overall, although I definitely have some nitpicks and things I’d do differently, I really like what you’ve done here. Anakin’s character comes across much more in keeping with The Clone Wars and there are some pretty original ideas. I’d say the new lines in spots work well more often than not. I did notice one pretty major technical glitch. At 1:26:51 there’s a cut and we can see a single frame of another shot before the cut (It’s a shot of Obi-Wan).

Oh my, thanks for that glitch.

And, I’m all for nitpicks and differences tbh. I am a fan of your own edits, and while I don’t expect to inspire anything in your RotS, I love discussing where our ideas for this movie would diverge.

Ah, alright. Thank you. I’ll see what I can do about that.

Are there any specific examples of an edit being jarring that isn’t related to adding/moving a line of audio? That would be appreciated.

The context for the lines are different now, though. xP

“No miswire jokes” is an exchange Obi Wan and Anakin have as they step off the elevator in my cut.

And “I was about to say that” is said after “Sith lords are our specialty.” Like Anakin was going to make the same joke as Obi-Wan.

Oh man, I hear that about the audio additions. It’s one the things I immediately regretted going a bit overboard on as soon as it finished rendering. I was constantly worried about the volume levels and a lot of the lines are just unnecessary especially when they aren’t blended with the source material too well. I will definitely tone that down when I get to the next version. The added dialogue where they’re coming on and off the elevator should probably go.

I feel I need to keep most in though, b/c I think without the audio additions Anakin came off more meek/mild mannered than I would have liked. It’s a balancing act I have yet to crack - or I did somewhere along the line before going overboard. Dave Filoni and Matt Lanter have always described Anakin as this cross between Luke and Han, and that’s generally what I’m going for.

Anyway if anyone else has gotten around to watching it, I’d really appreciate feedback. Technical or storywise.

Here’s the updated cutlist.

• New crawl.
• Replaced “Master” with “Obi-Wan.”
• Cut “The one crawling with vulture droids…”
• Cut “Oh” before “…I see it.”
• Added “General Skywalker, (we’re) ready to engage” from a clone pilot as they lock their whatever foils into position.
• Anakin gives orders now, too. Clones respond with “yes, sir!”
• Cut “Let them pass between us.” Obi-Wan seems less like he’s giving Anakin orders now, and Anakin having last word before the fighting makes him come off as more of a leader.
• Cut “I’m gonna go help him out” exchange.
• Cut “Missiles!”
• Added excited yelp from Anakin as missiles fly past.
• Cut visual of Anakin saying “They’re coming around.”
• Cut “No no no no no” from Obi-Wan to R4 before “Nothing too fancy.” Obi-Wan is less curmudgeon-y relative to Anakin.
• Cut “flying is for droids.”
• Cut “Buzz droids…”
• Cut Obi-Wan recapping mission.
• Cut “Hold your fire…” “I agree, bad idea…” exchange.
• Cut Obi Wan telling Anakin to go on without him.
• Cut “You’re going to get us both killed.”
• Added Obi Wan and Anakin laughing together as R2 dispatches the Buzz Droid.
• Cut “Well the shields are still up!” and R2’s anxious scream. Anakin shoots the shields down himself.
• Cut CGI Jump Obi-Wan, droid squealing, and trimmed scene length.
• Removed mentions of Count Dooku until his first appearance.
• Cut telling R2 to stay with the ships.
• Added “Never an elevator when you need one” -OB1. Moved “I agree” -ANK, as they walk backwards into the elevator deflecting the Destroyers’ shots.
• Added “roger, roger” deleted scene.
• Cut “Those are Jedi fighters, alright.”
• Cut “No, did you?”
• Cut Super Battle Droids bickering with one another at all. Deepened their voices for when they do talk. Which is like twice in the whole film.
• Cut “Always on the move.”
• Added “Good view from up there” from Anakin as he jumps down back into the elevator.
• Cut “No miswire jokes…”, “Did I say anything?” Anakin just immediately defends R2.
• Cut Super Battle Droids’ squealing and yelling for help as R2 flamethrows them.
• Added new exchange OB1 and ANK they step off elevator; “You worry too much, you know that?” “I’m not a protocol droid.”
• Added Anakin saying “Chancellor” alongside Obi-Wan.
• Cut “This time we will do it together” exchange.
• Cut “Get help.”
• Moved “I was about to say that” after Obi-Wan quips “Sith lords are our specialty.” Obi-Wan stole his joke.
• Cut Count Dooku jump off balcony.
• Cut “You won’t get away this time.”
• Cut “My powers have doubled…” exchange.
• Cut Anakin’s yelps and whine-screams of effort in the duel.
• Cut “I sense great fear in you.”
• Re-edit Dooku’s words to say “You have hate. You have anger. Use them.”
• Re-edit so Anakin just beheads Dooku without Palpatine’s encouragement.
• Cut “Yes, but he was an unarmed prisoner.”
• Cut “Remember what you told me about your mother…?”
• Cut “His fate will be the same as ours.”
• Added “Come on, buddy.” after Anakin tells R2 to bring an elevator down.
• Cut every time we cut back to Grevious on the bridge in the ship-tipping sequence.
• Cut “Easy” and “Oops” from Anakin in the shaft.
• Muted “Let’s see if we can find something in the hangar bay.” Barely swinging out of the shaft was such a ridiculous sequence, lamp-shading it with silent disbelief that they had just done that is a funny comedic beat.
• Cut “Patience?” from Obi Wan in the ray shields.
• Cut the SBD kicking R2 down onscreen.
• Cut battle droid presence on the bridge.
• Re-edit Grevious to say “General Skywalker…”
• Trimmed duels with Magna-guards.
• Moved “Time to abandon ship” to before Grevious breaks the window.
• Trimmed Grevious’ escape.
• Cut a lot of technobabble on the way down.
• Replaced firefighter’s line with “General Skywalker, come in.”
• Added Anakin chuckle after “Another happy landing.”
• Replaced Anakin’s “Are you coming master?” with a less formal “So we doing this or what?”
• Cut retelling of what happened straight into “Anakin, today you were the hero.”
• Re-edit so that Obi Wan cuts off Anakin before he can finish saying “Tenth time.”
• Added Anakin giggle.
• Cut Jar Jar.
• Added “General Skywalker” from Senator Organa.
• Replaced ominous score with more peaceful “Anakin’s Dream” in Anakin/Padme reunion.
• Re-edit reunion so that Anakin isn’t creepy and the relationship feels more healthy and loving, not a secret conspiracy.
• Moved Anakin and Obi Wan meeting at the war room here.
• Added a casual “Hey” and removed “I have no excuse” to/from Anakin’s dialogue.
• Cut “Is that bad?”
• Cut “…isn’t it?”
• Added “With all due respect, sir, the council is no mood for more constitutional amendments” from Anakin in between scenes.
• Cut “Me?” and “I’m overwhelmed.”
• Replaced blatant Palpatine manipulation with “You fought many battles the jedi council thought were lost. And you saved my life.”
• Added Plot to Destroy the Jedi Deleted Scene here.
• Cut “I sense a plot to destroy the Jedi” and “…Arrested?”
• Re-edit council meeting so that Obi Wan looks sympathetic to Anakin, shaking his head as a way to talk him down from further lashing out, not to scold, and looking away out of guilt for what the council is doing to him.
• Cut “This is outrageous! It’s unfair!” from Anakin in council meeting.
• Cut “young” from “young Skywalker.”
• Cut “…master” from “Forgive me, master.”
• Trimmed rest of meeting.
• Added A Stirring in the Senate Deleted Scene and trimmed it to be much faster.
• Restructured Obi Wan’s conversation with Anakin about why the council denied his master rank. Anakin doesn’t whine about it, and Obi Wan doesn’t lowkey insult Anakin for his friendship with Palpatine paying off in a way “he wanted.” Obi-Wan is straightforward, honest, and sympathetic.
• Cut “I don’t think the boy can handle it” from Windu.
• Added Anakin/Padme giggles and a concerned “What’s the matter?” from Anakin in the establishing shot of their apartment political discourse scene.
• Restructured scene so that Anakin and Padme both seem to think they’re on the same side until it’s clear that they aren’t, at which point Anakin stops the conversation without accusing her of being a Seperatist or vindictively saying he doesn’t believe in what she’s saying.
• Moved Grevious landing on Utapau here, trimming scene to remove mentions of Mustafar.
• Moved Anakin’s dream here.
• Added Anakin screaming “no, no, no” in the dream.
• Cut Anakin/Padme’s conversation about it. Transitions directly into Opera scene.
• Added KOTOR Pazaak music in the background of the city.
• Added “General Skywalker” from Mas Amedda as Anakin walks onto the balcony.
• Cut “We can finally catch that monster…”
• Cut “I would worry about the wisdom of the council if they didn’t…”
• Cut “They asked you to spy on me” exchange.
• Cut midichlorians and creating life.
• Trimmed council meeting in which they select Obi-Wan for Utapau.
• Added Anakin saying “I” as an endorsement of his friend.
• Added Seeds of Rebellion Deleted Scene
• Added Anakin’s Theme to Anakin and Obi-Wan’s goodbye.
• Cut Anakin calling Obi Wan, “master”, as well as all references to Obi-Wan having trained him and watching him grow up.
• Added Confronting the Chancellor Deleted Scene and trimmed to go by faster, as well as to remove Palpatine’s blatant manipulation attempt.
• Moved Anakin/Padme’s baby/death conversation here.
• Trimmed Obi-Wan’s Utapau adventure to tone down Boga, Grevious, and the lightsaber duel. No staredowns, and less exposition.
• Cut “Yes, master” after Windu tells Anakin to inform Palpatine about the Utapau campaign.
• Cut scene at “I sense a plot to destroy the jedi” line.
• Restructured Anakin informing Palps so that Anakin takes the reigns in the conversation. Before Palps can finish saying something manipulative, Anakin cuts him off to tell him he already feels badly about the council. He doesn’t need extra convincing. Anakin has had more agency like this throughout the cut. Palps’ manipulation comes off as a little more unnecessary b/c Anakin already agrees and gets the point most of the time. This way, when he does turn, it’s not because Palps has convinced him, but because Anakin is just using Palps. A much more sith relationship.
• Trimmed Palps’ revelation to make Anakin more aggressive and quicker to catch on. Also downplays Padme’s relevance to Palpatine. Anakin doesn’t “You’re the sith lord!”
• Cut the “masters” to Windu from Anakin when Anakin goes to see him.
• Cut “young” from “young Skywalker” and “There is much fear that clouds your judgement.”
• Moved “I must go, master” as a phrase that is cut off before Windu tells him to stay back.
• Added a few notes of Ahsoka’s theme here.
• Cut “Yes, master.”
• Cut Palpatine V.O in the silent brooding scene.
• Trimmed Palps vs Jedi duel to look less stupid.
• Re-edit Anakin’s turn to the dark side, so that Windu is just about to kill Palpatine before Anakin cuts his hand off. No devil vs angel moment, and Palpatine transforms into his Emperor self with the flashing of the lights.
• Cut “What have I done?” and anything to do with Padme.
• Cut Palps orgasming and “A powerful sith, you will become.”
• Cut “Thank you, my master.”
• Cut “…even your friend Obi Wan Kenobi…”
• Cut “I understand…”
• Cut “We will catch them off balance.”
• Cut “…to save Padme’s life.”
• Cut “What about the other Jedi…” exchange.
• Added an Anakin is distraught reaction shot before it transitions to the march on the temple.
• Cut implied youngling murder.
• Trimmed Order 66 scene overall.
• Added “General!” from 3PO to Anakin when he returns to Padme’s apartment.
• Cut “I came to check on you and the baby.”
• Cut “I will not betray the Republic.”
• Cut “We can only hope…many jedi have been killed.”
• Cut “Have faith my love, everything will be set right. The chancellor has given me…”
• Trimmed Yoda/Bail/Kenobi interaction on Tantive Whatever.
• Re-edit Mas Amedda message to be pre-recorded.
• Cut R2 popping out of fighter.
• Cut “Not even the younglings survived.”
• Cut shot of Anakin crying as he massacres the Seperatists.
• Replaced shot of Palpatine raising his arms to applause with just a long shot of the Hall.
• Cut extraneous explanations about clones being not so smart.
• Re-edited scene where Obi-Wan learns about Vader so that he has a much more emotional reaction.
• Cut “young” from “young Skywalker.”
• Re-edited Padme/Obi-Wan scene. Since Yoda doesn’t set up a mission for him and Obi-Wan to take out the Sith, it’s implied that both think they’re just going to hide now. Obi Wan goes to see Anakin/Padme on his own accord. He isn’t looking to kill Anakin.
• Cut Obi-Wan hiding in the bathroom
• Trimmed scene Anakin informing Palps that he’s finished off the Speratists, so Anakin sounds less subservient.
• Cut dialogue between Anakin and Padme in their Mustafar conversation. Less focus on Obi Wan, and none whatsoever on saving Padme. I cut out mentions of him bringing peace to the Republic as well, bc idk. His allegiance is to the Empire, and he says it later. Also it works with the idea that he isn’t proud enough of what he’s done to tell Padme about it and Padme’s horrified reaction comes from how he doesn’t deny the “terrible things”, and how his aspirations for both of them is just more galaxy- subjecting power and control. And that she can tell something is off quicker says more about their relationship.
• Cut Hayden’s “LIAR!” Anakin isn’t supposed to be this unhinged by this point in the cut, so I had to remove this. As well as “You will not take her from me!” These are actually some of Hayden’s better acting moments imo, but it really doesn’t fit with what I’m going for in terms of Darth Vader. Too whiny, if you will.
• “Don’t lecture me, Obi Wan!” removed. It’s kind of a reference to a mentor/mentee relationship, so I’ve gotten rid of it. Also “freedom”, “then you’re my enemy”, and “you will tryy…” removed. The first just isn’t true, and the other two are too villain-taunty.
• “Anakin, please. Come back to the light!” “I won’t abandon you to the dark side!” lines of dialogue.
• The duel on Mustafar and Yoda vs. Sidious has its most cheesy moments cuts.
• Cut post-duel Sidious scenes in Senate Hall.
• Cut “It’s over Anakin!”, “I have the high ground!” and “You underestimate my power!”
• Cut Anakin’s scream as he jumps on up.
• Cut “She seems to have lost the will to live.”
• Cut Vader scream and Padme’s dying words.

PM for a link to a 720p version, I guess. There are already like 3 audio things I want to go back and fix, but fuck it. 1080p is rendering.

There are actually edits that do what you suggest about leaving Anakin/Vader ambiguous or leaving Padme alive.

For me, this is just what I wanted to do for my edit. I wanted to make something that fits better within the new canon post-Disney, and Padme remained really dead in the new comics, and Leia is Bail’s adoptive daughter throughout Rebels and Rogue One. This edit is just a reinterpretation of the same in-canon events, I’m not trying to “fix” anything in canon aside from characterization and arguably the filmmaking in which it’s presented.

It’s still a decently radical edit, but I’m not changing what happened in broad strokes.

Here’s a rough preview of the ending, since a lot of people are asking about it: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bx-b_Drhy38rQWlfV3J0X19FMTQ/view?usp=sharing

I have to retime the duration of some shots, and the credits will fade in instead of hard cut, but that’s essentially what it’ll look like. The audiovisual quality is also only shit because I had to render it out quickly.

I do think Anakin should visibly become Vader by the end of the movie. Not a huge fan of leaving that up in the air, tbh. What’s the point of these movies if not to see that happen?

JEDIT: changed link

That would actually be really cool! I’d be down to use it.

I was just going for anything better to me personally than the original, but your work is legitimately good. I just got so tired of this movie that changing its entire look as drastically as I possibly could made it more bearable to edit. But I realize not everyone might not feel the way someone watching it over and over again might. I really like your regrade as a alternative to mine. Because it’s actually good.

Thanks, and you’re definitely getting credit if I end up using it. It’s not like this edit is one that needed something like this, but I’m glad it’ll be one that ends up having it.

Anyway, it might be a little bit longer now, but it’s coming.

Holy shit guys, I think I’m pretty ready to finish and finalize! I just need to render it out, make a new cutlist accurate to what it is now, upload it, and I can finally never watch a frame of this movie again!

(jk I will fix any technical issues anyone finds. which there will be. so many)

But this final version is actually very different from what people previewed earlier this year. I’ve made a ton of changes since then that I hope make my RotS more unique than other fan edits. I wasn’t happy with releasing it as it was back in May for a lot of reasons, one of them being because I felt like it wasn’t different enough an edit from Hal’s or others to warrant putting out there. I didn’t feel like every ambition I had for the edit could be realized. And while I still feel like I wasn’t able to really, this is probably the closest I’m going to get with the source material.

Also, I’m not going to lie, a big reason this took so long was because I had to go back and redo everything because I ended up losing the original project files to hard drive failure. But going back to redo everything allowed me to rethink a lot of what I did and do things differently than I did the first time. I ended up having a lot of new ideas in the process.

So this is going to end up on the updated cutlist, but here are the biggest changes (in broad strokes) since the preview cut:

1. New crawl!!!

2. Color grading. Alright, well, I decided to go through with the color grading thing. I’m no pro colorist, but I was inspired by emanswfan’s filmized editions of the prequels (which don’t actually exist anywhere yet so I had to do my own thing) to make the film generally look more gritty and grimy, and shot on film, and just less plastic and more visually appealing. It might look worse to you tbh, and if it does, hmu and I’d gladly render out a non-color graded version. The grain and artifacts are definitely a problem up close. But this is my edit, and I like how it looks overall, so you know.
   http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/116544
   http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/116546

3. Even more audio/conversation editing. When it came to Anakin dialogue and scenes, I basically left no stone unturned. There’s new audio clips in every scene with him to either add to or replace his dialogue, as well as a restructuring of most of his conversations. I’ve got him the most sympathetic, somewhat likeable, and mature I’ve personally seen in most edits of this movie. And this is the movie where he kills children, so I’m kind of proud of that.

   Additionally, just a lot more casual talk and laughing/chuckles. Makes everyone seem more human. A lot more people interrupting each other or talking over each other instead of taking turns delivering lines. All of the talking/politics scenes just seem to go by a lot faster now. Mostly because they do.

   I tried to make the music editing a lot better too. Like, if I inserted a track like Anakin’s Theme or Anakin’s Dream, that it was integrated into the film better, and that you won’t be able hear too many remnants of the old score I replace.

4. The ending. My old drafts had more or less the original ending, just with the Hal/Russian scream instead of “NOO…!” But as I was going through this again, I felt like I didn’t even want that scene in there at all. Now the movie ends as Vader takes his first breaths, and then cut to black into credits with melancholy Star Wars music (similar to TCW season 5 finale). While this gets rid of R2/3PO getting their memories wiped and Yoda telling Obi Wan about Qui Gon, I feel like it’s more powerful to end the film like this. The whole movie is about Anakin’s turn into Vader, and to see him crying about Padme as Vader undermines his cold bloodedness a lot. And honestly, that scream of anguish/“no” is the only thing that tells us that Anakin hasn’t fully become Darth Vader yet, because we automatically associate the imagery with what the character is like the OT. The “no” subverts our expectation in a way that undermines the character arc. We had to assume that this sad!Vader becomes the Vader we know in the OT somewhere in between III and IV, but the movie’s existence is more valid if he’s just Darth Vader by the end.

Anyway, the 720p version should be finished rendering in like 14 hours, so I’ll get back to you guys some time then.

I actually started editing again today; with a new crawl, some new audio clips to give Anakin more personality, and HD (as opposed to the shitty quality of the previews I made). I’m also weighing my options from suggestions I’ve gotten in the process, and messing with a few more ideas. It should be finished pretty soon!

(just not within the next month, bc life)

^Said no one ever.

Mocata said:

God I hope not. But if true also fuck them for still using the who shot first thing.

…We’re not laughing at that yet?

https://twitter.com/starwarsjunk/status/875004810944278530

The film crew’s T-Shirt is pretty lol, but I kind of don’t want the movie to be called “Solo.”

^Doing ridiculous, dumb things is fun though, and I think that’s what a lot of people are missing. You start turning it into a lecture about “dignity” or “film appreciation” in the traditional sense, and you just miss the point.

We’re in a meme-loving, internet age with irony being almost every millennial’s favorite thing. The fact that the prequels are panned and are considered bad films, just makes them want to like the prequels more. It’s all in spite of the reception the prequels got, and “how” they should think and feel as adults, that compels them to exercise their creative mental gymnastics with analyses and headcanons, or continue to make elements of those films prevalent in pop culture.

Honestly, to describe the current trend, the prequels are “trendy” and “cool” now but not as great filmmaking. Whether it’s as a guilty pleasure, or “so bad it’s good”, or analyzing and breaking them down, or justifying them, or just liking them flaws and all, or whatever - a good chunk of these millennials are enjoying them for what they are in a much more honest way than those who attack the ST/OT in defense of them.

You’d be surprised at how much terrible stuff from those movies have become a part of the cultural consciousness. They’ve made almost every line in those films quotable and memorable through memes. Jar Jar, Watto, Sebulba, and the Nemoidians are iconic for how ridiculous and stupid they are.

And the weird thing is, they’re not laughing at the movies. They genuinely adore them in a way that’s hard to explain, almost in spite of those flaws. Because of them, kind of.

What’s “cool” to them is the notion that you aren’t letting general “uptightness” ruin your nostalgic feelings from when you were kid, but taking the films as they are. I think a lot of it has to do with the shift in “cool” as a word going from outspoken and edgy to chill and spontaneous. Idk how much of it has to do with stoner overtaking punk, but it’s there. And not to mention, that in an age where everyone and their mother is a pseudo-film-scholar, being able to do write-ups about something objectively bad and getting interesting material out of it is just what is considered fun now.

It’s definitely a waste of time and energy, but young people are maturing much later in life. “30 is the new 20” as they say. And people in their 20’s are what drive current trends in pop culture and the internet. Being a geek doesn’t have a negative connotation, and liking something unpopular is just “in.” I’m all for it honestly. Aside from the troll we’ll definitely feed here or there, I think it’s pretty harmless.

…

This is not everyone who likes the prequels of course, but I think it’s why it’s more accepted in mainstream now in recent years to say you like them.

When geek culture became mainstream and the kids who grew up with the prequels became adults.

Alderaan said:

Fang Zei said:

I didn’t say the rights issue was preventing a new release. I said they are intentionally keeping what’s coming next in their back pocket for after May of 2020 so they don’t have to share any of the profits with Fox.

Again, this doesn’t make any sense though and doesn’t hold up to the bare minimum of scrutiny. If they didn’t want to share money with Fox, they wouldn’t be selling the Blurays right now, at all. The distribution rights aren’t faintly related to the lack of OOT release in way at all.

“Not selling Star Wars anywhere, at all” is what doesn’t make sense.

Not everyone is a gymnast for a reason. xP

Inb4 “george lucas and his enablers didn’t care and suck,” it’s kind of fun to see what justifications and retcons Lucasfilm come up with to explain inconsistencies or bad writing.

The new canon novel “A New Hope: The Princess, the Scoundrel, and the Farm Boy” does retcon the OP inconsistency by having Obi Wan interact with R2 on the Falcon while Luke is busy practicing his saber stuff and everyone else is obviously preoccupied. R2 comes up next to him with familiarity, and Obi Wan pets him, saying something to the effect of, “It’s good to fly with you again, my old friend.”

So, he’s being his cheeky “point of view” self when he said he didn’t “own” R2, just meaning that he didn’t consider him property, but a friend.

…

The Leia comic kind of explains Leia remembering her mother; she sees a portrait of Padme on Naboo, and through the force or whatever she feels a connection to it, and the painting actually appears to move and look directly at her with sad eyes. It’s actually really lame, but like I said, the lengths the story group goes for this kind of thing is funny.

Wow those colors look awesome, I am actually really excited for this.

Oh wow, I have my work cut out for me just responding to all of these. I’ll get back to replying tomorrow, but for now, I’ll respond to the easiest stuff since it’s late here and I’m pretty sleepy. The workshopping and explaining I’ll try to do tomorrow.

@Jeebus: 1080p Schorman preservation is my source
@LordRorek: On your PPS, that’s exactly what I did. The “trap” thing.
@snooker: Thank you for the feedback. But I am curious to know why exactly “So we doing this or what?” doesn’t fit there so that I might find a suitable replacement. I felt it was more casual than the theatrical line and that jokey-ness works more with the characterization of the friendship I’m going for. Not to mention how it fits the situation in which neither of them really want to deal with politicians.

^Thank you! I’ll work on those. I’m really glad you actually gave feedback!

For the miswire jokes thing, I remember the mindset I was in when cutting that, and I think it’s because I didn’t want Anakin and Obi Wan to have any hint of animosity in the opening. I wasn’t sure if someone was going to read that scene as Anakin being serious or sarcastic - I didn’t want anyone to think Anakin took something like that so personally. And I also don’t know if there’s enough in the film that characterizes Anakin’s humor as doing bits. It’s a little more innocuous and traditionally friendly for Anakin just to go straight to being defensive of R2, rather than snark on the offensive. I might put it back after thinking about it more.

In the opera, I think cutting straight to “is it possible to learn this power” is too abrupt, and makes the Darth Plagueis story much less of a story. It’s weird to have Palpatine build up this tragedy and then it end up just being “There was a guy who could save people from death. The end.” And if you just meant to switch out “he could actually…?” with it, you get rid of “Not from a Jedi”, which is the beat I feel like the scene should end on. Besides, it’s not a huge thing to have Anakin ask as if to make sure he heard something right.

LordRorek said:
0:9:26 - 0:9:55
I like what you did here with the elevator and R2 burning the droids although I feel that cutting back and forth between the two happens a little too much thus making it kinda distracting. What I would suggest is that after you have R2 fix the elevator cut to the elevator segment and then after Anakin and Obi-Wan’s little banter about R2 you cut to R2 getting picked up and burning the droids. I feel it would be less distracting and the comedic timing would work better overall.

I guess it’s just me, but I rather like the cutting back and forth; the juxtaposition of R2 having a violent-ish adventure as Obi Wan and Anakin are literally just having an elevator chat, works better to me than if we watch one happen then the other. It’s quick, abrupt, and happens a lot, but I think that’s what adds to the humor. But that is a device used in editing for comedy movies, so I can see how it’s distracting in the context of a movie like this. Idk.

0:13:03 - 0:13:05
I like what you did here having Anakin in silent contemplation rather than saying “Then his fate will be the same as ours.” but it looks a little weird. I would suggest holding on his face then using the part where he looks up from Obi-wan toward Palpatine ( 0:13:01 - 0:13:02 ) but reverse it so it looks like he is looking down at Obi-wan.

Thanks for this! I’ve been trying to break how I was going to fix this scene, and I can’t believe I didn’t think of reversing the previous shot! I’ve changed it quickly in between studying lol. Thank you! It really helps to have more than my pair of eyes on the edit.

0:25:21 - 0:25:28
Excellent editing here I love the dialog changes but the music gets a little loud towards the end to the point where I can hardly hear Palpatine say “and you saved my life.”.

I had “and you saved my life” at a higher volume in an earlier cut, but the disparity between it and “you fought many battles…” was too noticeable to a few people who had previewed. The next few cuts were then too quiet, and I guess I’m still ironing out what the perfect level for that line is. Have to find that middle ground.

0:53:07 - 0:53:10
The only thing I don’t like about this scene is that you suddenly cut to Grievous mid-fall without showing him jumping off the platform.

This doesn’t bother me too much. He was actually force pushed into a wall by Obi Wan after their stare-down and slid/fell down into the shot you see in my cut. The fact that you thought he jumped himself is probably what I was going for.

1:03:18 - 1:03:19
I understand why you cut out the whole spin jump Palpatine does but it feels like something has been removed when I watch it so even though its kinda silly I would keep it.

That’s fair. To me, with the spin, it feels like the Jedi are too slow to react. Without one extra shot, it’s more of a surprise attack. So it was either keeping in the spin shot, or the shot of him landing - and since the shot of him landing is not only less silly, but also consistent with the next shot, I decided to use that one. I hoped people assumed he just jumped forward.

1:04:27 - 1:05:38
I saw what you were going for but I feel the transition of Palpatine’s face from normal to scarred without an explanation is a little jarring and would be kinda confusing to first-time viewers. I also feel that Anakin should say “What have I done?” because without that it makes Palpatine’s next statement sound like half a conversation to me.

This is actually from Hal 9000’s edit, and I think it’s fine tbh. It would be kind of confusing to the hypothetical first time viewer, but I don’t know how much. There are alot of things that go unexplained in Star Wars, and this is one of those things that’s easier to assume correctly; that that’s his “true form” or whatever. The “or whatever” part allows for some imagination on the part of the viewer anyway.

As for “what have I done”, I do think it’s better for Anakin to not be so indecisive. He knows what he did, he chose to do it. Showing immediate regret makes the foundation in which he made the decision come off as a little shaky. Like, “I did this, but I didn’t really want to?” Hayden’s face says enough about how “hard” it was to do, but I wanted to draw attention away from him thinking it was the “wrong” thing to do. And I know I’ve said Anakin in my cut doesn’t think he’s in the moral right as Darth Vader, but all that means is that he hasn’t deluded himself into thinking he’s “the hero” or he’s doing good things. He knows he’s doing bad things, but to him, the ends justify the means.

“You’re fulfilling your destiny…” isn’t definitively an answer to a question either. It’s just a statement, and that Palps says it on his own, kind of paints him as such a confident bastard; despite Anakin not saying anything one way or another, he gets up and starts talking like he has no doubts Anakin will join him.

1:05:38 - 1:06:40
I like this scene although I would have at least a mention of Padme being the reason why he pledges himself to Darth Sidious and about them needing to work together to discover the secret to life because it feels a little too quick and I think a first time viewer would be left wondering “why is he becoming his apprentice now? isn’t there another options?”. I also feel cutting to Yoda in this scene is a little distracting, it should focus entirely on Anakin and Palpatine.

Padme isn’t the only reason he pledges himself, so I didn’t want to draw too much attention to her as the primary reason. Also, Palpatine admitting that he doesn’t know how to save Padme when Anakin makes it clear that’s his motivation is… well. That sentence speaks for itself. Why would Anakin still be listening at this point?

So while there’s no definitive answer verbally spoken about why he’s pledging himself, I trust my audience to understand how set up and pay off works. As for Yoda, I might remove it if more people find it unnecessary.

1:30:45 - 1:30:46
There’s a weird music change at this point that was a little distracting.

I thought the music surprisingly flowed from one note to the next despite my cutting, but I did think the background lava explosion sfx just kind of abruptly stops; is that what you meant? If that’s the case, I’m definitely still trying to work that out. Maybe by having the sound fade out a little sooner before the next cut? But that might be more jarring.

1:31:16 - 1:31:38
I like how you cut out a lot of the cheesy dialog here but it feels a little clunky and disjointed. Here is how I feel it could be improved.

Anakin “To my new empire.”.

Obi-Wan “Your new empire? Anakin, my allegiance is to the republic!”

Anakin “If you’re not with me then you’re my enemy.”

Obi-Wan “I will do what I must.”

Anakin “You will try.”

I feel this removes most of the cheesy dialog while still feeling like a complete conversation.

1:35:30 - 1:35:39
I would have included Anakin saying “This is the end for you.” I just feel Anakin is a little too quiet throughout the fight. Obi-Wan at least got “I have failed you Anakin.” so I feel Anakin should have at least a little dialog. Also, I feel Obi-Wan should say the full “I have failed you Anakin, I have failed you.” because I feel it cuts away a little too quickly when you shorten it.

For me, this scene is clunky no matter how you spin it. If it sounds like a half a conversation in my edit though, that’s almost the point. Anakin doesn’t want to talk.

This goes back to how I feel Anakin should be acting in lieu of the set up. Like I said, he hasn’t deluded himself into thinking he’s doing the morally righteous good thing, he’s acting on “the ends justify the means.” He’s not corrupted by the dark side or is yearning to increase his power in the force - the dark side allows him to do what needs to be done for his idea of a galaxy under law and order, to keep Padme safe. Its philosophy tells him it’s okay to do these things and to feel this way. So he’s not proud of himself or the things he’s done - but he has to do them. To me, his pre-duel taunts against Obi Wan lean too closely to the original where he feels proud to be a sith, and has deluded himself into thinking the jedi are evil, including Obi Wan.

I think there isn’t enough to support the idea that in the time Anakin and Obi Wan are separated, he turns fully against his best friend. Before, you have the justification of “oh the dark side corrupted him” or “oh they were never really friends”, but those are both contrary to the idea of my edit. They’re really only enemies by circumstance and what Anakin’s done at this point; I don’t think Anakin should have any real ill will against Obi Wan. By leaving “if you’re not with me…” hanging, and silence from Anakin there onwards, it’s almost like Anakin is giving Obi Wan a quick out. But Obi Wan obviously doesn’t want to back down, so Anakin does he must - which is try to kill him. From there, Anakin is “too quiet” because in my interpretation of the characters, I do believe that any verbal engagement between the two would go differently than it did in the theatrical. Obi Wan could talk sense (or at the very least regret enough to stop) into Anakin, because from Anakin’s POV, he doesn’t believe the Jedi are actually evil.

When Obi Wan says “I have failed you…”, they’ve stopped fighting and it’s his chance to reach out to Anakin to possibly bring him back with a conversation. I think it might have worked if Anakin engaged back, and I think Anakin kind of knows that. He stays silent and willfully ignores him to avoid his own motivations becoming clouded. He doesn’t need to hear something that might invalidate all the things he’s done and what he’s doing. This all has to be for something, but he doesn’t trust himself not to fall back into the light with a few words from a friend. The explicit “This is the end for you, my master” might say the same thing about Anakin willfully tuning out Obi Wan, but it feels too much, again, like Anakin is playing the part of someone who wants to do this. I think his silence works better towards my end goals and is vague enough to allow for other interpretations: like he doesn’t want to humanize his target by talking because the human would be his best friend.

1:36:00 - 1:36:10
I’m a little torn as to whether or not to include Anakin’s “underestimate my power” line but I think that you should have focused on Anakin’s face before Obi-Wan says “Don’t try it” because to me Obi-Wan can just tell what Anakin is thinking by the look on his face but if he just says it without focusing on Anakin’s face first, it looks a little weird.

I had a slowed down shot of Anakin’s face there in an earlier cut, but it looks even weirder. I took the lesser of two weirds, because I really don’t want “underestimate my power.”

1:36:15 - 1:37:22
Now I want to say that of all the things you changed removing the majority of Obi-Wan’s speech was my least favorite. I know you’re trying to make this more personal and less about the prophecy but I feel that this entire speech is completely personal because in my mind this speech is two things.

1. Obi-Wan is saying “You were my brother, You were the greatest of us, and you betrayed us all.” this is basically Obi-Wan telling Anakin how disappointed he is that he has fallen so low and how much Obi-Wan failed him.

2. This is the point from Obi-Wan’s point of view where Anakin “died”. So I consider this speech in a way to be Obi-Wan’s eulogy for Anakin Skywalker who was in his words “The best star pilot in the galaxy, a cunning warrior, and he was a good friend.”.

Good points, and I might put it back in.

1:43:36 - 1:43:55
I see what you were gong for here but I would put a pause between what the emperor saying “You killed her” and Vader’s reaction and put Padme’s death during said pause so that we can see Vader’s reaction on screen. Seeing his reaction to this news is one of the highlights of ROTS for me, so I would hate to see it cut.

I’ll see what I can do. I remember putting Padme’s death where it was because I felt the shot went by too fast before or after Vader’s initial reaction.

The only other thing I feel should be included in this edit is this deleted scene https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJUVHSBy9JM but remove Grevious and Shok Te so they can meet him on the bridge. Because I feel this scene adds some levity to the film and the banter gives off that brothers vibe you’re going for.

I’d love to, but I really don’t know where I’d put it or how I’d even make the scene work without Grevious.

…

Anyway, thank you so much for actually giving feedback! It really helps out. And I do love the poster. I really want to leave it up to people to vote, but I might just have to pick one myself when I’m done. It might be yours. It has the font Disney has been using for their new stuff and the TLJ red logo - for “The New Canon Cut,” it fits nicely.