Star Wars: The Coaxium Heist

[DigModiFicaTion]

Intention:​

This movie looked like Star Wars but never really felt like it to me. Some of that lost feeling is due to a single uninterrupted narrative and the complete absence of one of Star Wars' most iconic tools, wipe transitions. This edit will attempt to bring some of that Star Wars feeling back in and remove moments that are overly silly or ridiculous.​

 

Edit List:​

Reveal message

00:00:00 - added FE title card, Custom Star Wars disclaimer, aurebesh DigModiFicaTion logo, Custom Walt Disney 20th Century Fox title card
00:00:57 - added custom crawl (expanded star field to allow for pan down)
00:02:25 - added Correlia and a space dock to pan down
00:02:32 - added Battlefront 2 space shot of Fondor
00:08:46 - removed close up of Han's eye
00:10:59 - added deleted Corellia chase scene
00:16:56 - trimmed/rearranged scene to have Han tell the officer his full name
00:17:09 - replaced Han being blown through the air with a custom wipe transition to a space shot of Mimban with star destroyers approaching
00:17:15 - trimmed Mimban cloud scene to reuse later and cropped Han's first shot on Mimban to remove the on screen text
00:17:27 - inserted a rearranged version of the deleted Mimban assualt scene to show off a bit more of the Mimban war and Beckett's team though I removed any direct focus on the minigun character who dies as it creates a narrative that is never resolved. Lots of audio reworking in this edit
00:24:45 - cut stormtrooper chatter (removed Han's subtitles when he's talking to Chewbacca)
00:25:34 - cut Han's faking being mauled by Chewbacca
00:27:44 - inserted Mimban sky shot that was cut earlier in the film
00:27:45 - removed Han/Chewbacca shower scene and added wipe transition to Vandor space sunrise scene. While I like this scene and tired to keep it, I needed to add a wipe here and it just wouldn't work with the shower scene
00:33:14 - removed Han yelling he's ok and Chewbacca growling back to him
00:54:52 - reversed and repurposed shot of Han to allow for a wipe transition to the exterior of Niima Outpost
00:55:07 - removed droid cage fight. Sure it's world building, but it's distracting and L3 verbalizes enough to give us the narrative
01:01:54 - trimmed L3 and yelling and removed cage fight scenes
01:03:06 - cut L3 saying she can't work with people watching her. It's just creepy odd and I wanted to eliminate all of the droid sexualization stuff from the film
01:03:06 - added green screen welding sparks to distract the eye from the fact that her saw isn't spinning at all
01:05:39 - cut L3's lines to Han. Now she simply says "Excuse me". Added droid sfx and gear sfx to simulate her movements
01:10:09 - cut the equal rights scene between Lando and L3. I'm all for equity, but this just felt tacked on. Again, L3's character still fights for these rights and talks about them, but she isn't solely focused on them either. This scene just makes her into a walking poster for equal rights. She's much more than that and removing this scene makes her character more dimensional by allowing us to see her for who she is rather than this one focus area, imo
01:10:31 - cut Q'ra and L3's girl talk scene. There is no sexual tension between Lando and L3 in this edit
01:16:17 - removed droid saying "freedom"
01:18:03 - cut short shot of Q'ra and Beckett after Han tells them he's at the vault
01:18:14 - cut Q'ra and Beckett's response to Han's taking out the guard
01:19:30 - cut L3 turning around and yelling about the droid rebellion
0:1:24:24 - removed Lando hugging L3 and caressing her after her power goes out. He still yells, but it's more like how Luke reacts to R2 than what they imply in this film
01:27:12 - removed Beckett' and Han's back and forth about if the Tie fighters are still on them
01:28:24 - cut down some of the scene when Q'ra first goes back to help Lando and sees the fire
01:28:35 - cut Beckett complaining about hurting his fingers
01:31:53 - cut Lando asking if Han knew it was the escape pod why would he do that
01:33:58 - cut the back and forth after Han yells "Now!"
01:34:06 - removed the Falcon loosing power gag
01:34:54 - removed Han's lines over the radio after he says they have coaxium that they need to off load immediately
01:38:59 - stabilized scenes and layer masked the falcon departure in order to remove the falcon leaving gag
01:39:20 - removed Han's macho moment with Enfys nest and the falcon leaving gag. Repurposed a zoomed wide shot of Enfys and the marauders while Beckett continues his speech before cutting back to him talking visually
01:56:18 - removed Darth Maul cameo. I don't like it. If they make a second Solo film I'll put it back or create a flashback for the edit I'd undoubtedly make of the new film,. Here it's just fan service without any meaning. Now if anyone can do a good cosplay of Xizor I'll put him in there.. Removing him makes Beckett's character more credible,and Q'ra's character more devious.
02:00:46 - added wipe transition to Numidian Prime
02:00:53 - cut zooming in camera on Lando and some of his lines
02:03:27 - cut the dice scene and added iris out, moved audio mix up to create natural flow to credits
02:03:53 - made custom edited by and fanedited by credit to replace the preexisting one
02:12:05 - added aurebesh DigModiFicaTion logo
02:12::15 - added FE.org title card

other edits
- extensive color correction of nearly every individual scene
- audio crossfades for each edit to ensure seamless audio transitions
- addition of sfx or rebuilding of surround track when needed to achieve edit
- as with all my edits, I reduce the level of profanity​

Release:
1080p 5.1 MP4

Progress:
Video Editing: ■■■■■
Audio Editing: ■■■■■

 

[align=center]

Preview draft of the opening

 

[RogueLeader]

Very cool! I thought your touch would be just right for an edit of Solo. Happy to see you going for it.

 

[TM2YC]

Nice edit title, sounds just right.

 

[stferguson78]

Love the Title, fits the tone perfectly.

 

[asterixsmeagol]

Sounds great. I enjoyed Solo but agree it didn't feel quite right. These couple of small tweaks could really improve it a lot. It's my least favorite of the Disney films, and I don't think anything could change that, but that doesn't mean it can't be improved significantly.

 

[Moe_Syzlak]

Glad to hear you’re taking this on. As you know, I’m a big fan of your R1 edit and am anxiously awaiting this. If you’re looking for previewers, let me know.

 

[DigModiFicaTion]

Thank you everyone for the positive encouragement and feedback. I'm currently working on what is my personal next skill step, attempting to do specific color corrects. Life is super crazy, but I think I can get a bit in most nights. Your anticipation will be my persperation inspiration 

Edit: wow, that auto type really messed up that post...

 

[Last Impressions]

Always happy for a new Digi Star Wars edit....   and thank the lord you got rid of  L3 not being able to pee shenanigans. Personally I liked the Imperial naming of Solo

 

[hbenthow]

• Removed Darth Maul cameo, now Q'ira just leaves and we are left with mystery

Is there any chance that you would consider leaving the scene in, but editing it so that the hooded figure is never revealed to be Darth Maul?

 

[DigModiFicaTion]

• Removed Darth Maul cameo, now Q'ira just leaves and we are left with mystery

Is there any chance that you would consider leaving the scene in, but editing it so that the hooded figure is never revealed to be Darth Maul?

I'll play around with that too see if I could pull it off.

 

[Moe_Syzlak]

Could you see if you can sub Snoke for Maul too? 

 

[DigModiFicaTion]

Could you see if you can sub Snoke for Maul too? 

I looked into it, but I'm not sure there is enough footage that I can repurpose without it being overly obvious.

 

[Moe_Syzlak]

Could you see if you can sub Snoke for Maul too? 

I looked into it, but I'm not sure there is enough footage that I can repurpose without it being overly obvious.

I was actually kidding. I quite like the idea of keeping it ambiguous. I’m even fine with there not being a bigger baddie on screen.

 

[hbenthow]

I created this rough (and I do mean rough) mockup of a possible way to edit the Darth Maul scene. I'm new at using Vegas, so the results are terrible. After my first test render, I tried to fix the problems, but then Vegas froze my computer up, necessitating a hard shutdown and subsequent system image restoration. Rather than bother with trying to create a better version, I decided to just upload the first render, as it is just meant to be an example anyway. 

Whenever one or two certain clips that I looped (playing them forwards, then backwards, then forwards again to extend their length) play, you will see a flash every second during the loop. This is due to me accidentally keeping a frame or two too much in the clip that I looped, causing the looped clip to flash an extra frame every second or so. With better editing, the looped clips would be undetectible. The render is also horrible in audio and visual quality, as I had a hard time getting Vegas to render at all, much less well. (Suffice it to say that it's a lot harder to work with than Womble, and I will definitely need practice to become proficient with it.)

Anyhow, I think that as a rough example of what can be done, it should suffice quite well. For this example, I cut out the sound of Maul turning his lightsaber on and off and its red light on Qi-ra's face, but there's still a slight lightsaber crackle at some point. This can maybe edited out of the audio, or maybe the lightsaber sounds/red light can be left in with different editing. This is just a proof of concept, and I'm certain that a much better version is possible.

Password: fanedit.org

 

[DigModiFicaTion]

Great proof of concept. That could definitely work. I wonder if using a shadowed figure would be more distracting than the mystery of Q'ira just leaving though.

 

[hbenthow]

I wonder if using a shadowed figure would be more distracting than the mystery of Q'ira just leaving though.

I don't think so. The scene would get across exactly what the audience needs to know (this is the leader of Crimson Dawn, he's a very intimidating individual who seems to be even worse than Dryden Vos, Qi'ra lied to him to save Han, etc), without the distracting element of revealing him to be someone that many in the audience would assume to be dead. 

That scene is the payoff to Qi'ra's storyline and character arc, and cutting it would take a lot of poignancy away from the ending and make Qi'ra's story less satisfying. The entire Vos/Qi'ra/Han showdown at the end is building up to that scene. Watch how conflicted Qi'ra looks when she has the sword to Han's throat. She knows that killing him would probably be her safest option, but she decides to kill Vos and work under an even worse boss instead, so that Han can be alive and free. Without the scene of her contacting the Crimson Dawn leader, the reason for her to be so conflicted isn't clear. Without that scene, it appears that killing Vos is her safest option and possibly even a way to move up in the organization, rather than the sacrifice that it is.

Plus, Star Wars was always based on the style of 1930s-1940s serials, which often teased the identity of masked or cloaked individuals to be revealed in a later episode. It fits with the style.

 

[Crimson713]

Excellent proof of concept! Maybe there could be away to remove Maul's dialogue completely and replace it with a new voice actor? I'm so used to Sam Witwer's voice as Maul, it still pulls me right out of the illusion that it's someone else. Or maybe there's a way to splice together some of Andy Serkis' dialogue from the sequels (or even other films) to imply that it's Snoke without a big reveal?

 

[hbenthow]

I'm so used to Sam Witwer's voice as Maul, it still pulls me right out of the illusion that it's someone else.

But is that a problem? The reason that the Darth Maul reveal in the original movie is jarring is that A: him being alive is a shock to anyone whose last memory of him was seeing two halves of him falling down a shaft, and B: his decloaking is handled in a "Ta-da! Here's the big shocker!" sort of way. Keeping Witwer's voice but keeping him cloaked is a "best of both worlds" solution. To anyone who hasn't watched "The Clone Wars", he remains a cloaked mystery man, while anyone who has seen "The Clone Wars" and recognizes his voice and robot legs already knows why he is still alive at this point in the timeline and thus doesn't find his presence to be a head-scratching anomaly. And cutting the decloaking takes away from the feeling that he was put in for shock value.

Or maybe there's a way to splice together some of Andy Serkis' dialogue from the sequels (or even other films) to imply that it's Snoke without a big reveal?

In what way is Snoke better for the scene than Maul, and how is Maul any more jarring than Snoke?

 

[addiesin]

In what way is Snoke better for the scene than Maul, and how is Maul any more jarring than Snoke?

For Disney or for the edit? I think Snoke would have made Disney's additions to canon seem more deliberate, interwoven, and planned out. The way he says "Han Solo" in TFA sounds like he knows him. There is already the big mystery of where Snoke came from and I think leader of underground smuggling ring would have answered most origin questions satisfactorily. With Maul, he's just a character with cool face paint, and obviously a badguy, so he's there to be recognizable and shocking.

For the fan edit, I don't know that Snoke would be any better, because it would have to rely on existing footage, which Dig said he looked into.

 

[Moe_Syzlak]

In what way is Snoke better for the scene than Maul, and how is Maul any more jarring than Snoke?

For Disney or for the edit? I think Snoke would have made Disney's additions to canon seem more deliberate, interwoven, and planned out. The way he says "Han Solo" in TFA sounds like he knows him. There is already the big mystery of where Snoke came from and I think leader of underground smuggling ring would have answered most origin questions satisfactorily. With Maul, he's just a character with cool face paint, and obviously a badguy, so he's there to be recognizable and shocking.

For the fan edit, I don't know that Snoke would be any better, because it would have to rely on existing footage, which Dig said he looked into.

Was Snoke ever considered? I know there was a lot of discussion amongst the filmmakers and writers about who it should be. My understanding is they didn’t decide until well into Howard’s filming. If Snoke wasn’t considered, I’d guess that it would’ve been because of story conflicts with other properties, namely the ST.