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Background:
I actually made this edit before I knew that fanediting was a thing. I was "inspired" (for lack of a better word) by the so-called "Defeminised Edition" that circulated shortly after TLJ's release, which wasn't very good, but it made me wonder how much a movie could be improved just through editing.
So I made this cool thought experiment and there it sat on my laptop for five years because how would I go about sharing it? And who would want to watch a slightly modified version of a Hollywood movie made by some guy?
Intention:
My main goal in making this edit was to remove all of the little things that make this movie annoying. I'm cutting the member berries, the overly long jokes and all of the moments that painfully remind you that you're watching a movie.
I'm also of the opinion that Rey was too strong with the force in these movies, so I'm trying to cut that down a little. She's still unusually strong with the force, but she's not the second coming of Space-Jesus. I've tried to make Kylo more intimidating as well by removing most of his dialogue. Nobody makes fun of him, and he doesn't mess around before doing what he came to do.
The biggest change I made plot-wise is to the finale. In my version Kylo kicks Finn and Rey's asses. Finn is the one to scar Kylo's face before getting bodied, and Rey's heroic victory is reduced to her force-pulling the lightsaber (The strongest display of force she shows in this edit) and simply being willing to face off against Kilo when she'd obviously lose.
I haven't seen any TFA fanedits before, but given that all of my changes are based on popular criticisms of the movie, I wouldn't be surprised if this all sounds pretty familiar, so I've tried to go out of my way to make some unusual cuts, just to make things interesting. I've also messed with the colours a little, just for fun.
Challenges:
I've had to completely rebuild this edit for two reasons, The original was made with a pirated copy, and at the time I made it, I had no idea how to edit. I didn't even figure out crossfading, so every cut is a hard cut, and I just tried to disguise them in loud moments.
The biggest challenge in this edit is a small vfx shot I have planned to achieve my goal for the finale: There's a pretty convenient shot in the fight where Finn strikes Kylo and Kylo dramatically turns to the camera. In the theatrical cut, this blow weirdly leaves no damage on Kylo. In my version, this is when his face gets scarred.
I've also created a new intro text scroll that aims to justify the starting position of TFA a little better without undoing what was accomplished in the OT.
That's about it for this one. The edit itself shouldn't take longer than a couple of weeks. The vfx shot is what might slow it down. As of writing this I have no idea how to even begin something like that, but, hey, I've figured out how to animate masks for that authentic Lucas slide transition, so it's a start.
