Hey revenstevens,
Now that we got the encoding quality figured out, I thought I'd go through some of your fun story comments!
revstevens said:
- Flickering of stars in opening crawl. Was that in the original?
- Noticable pixelation of text in opening crawl.
- Track 1 seems out of sync
- Track 2 seems fine
- Several instances of noticeable pixelation during dreadnaught sequence
- Really nice work on the sabre throw. I like the original but that was really well done.
- I feel like Rey retrieving the lightsabre can be cut entirely so that we go straight to Chewie bursting in the door.
- Noticable pixelation while Ren is in the elevator breaking his helmet.
- Not sure how I feel about cutting the laser sword line, since it mirrors the ending, but the scene does work.
- I think if you're gonna cut the milk drink, you can just cut that whole bit and go straight from hiking to the pole vaulting. Personal preference though.
- Excellent work on Leia's spacewalk and the Porg gag.
- Personal musing: what's the point of casting someone like Laura Dern as Holdo if you're just gonna kill her in the same movie?
- I think you should save the “reveal” of the hole in Rey's wall until Luke asks about it and just cut the shot that pans to it. Because that shot just falls flat without the caretaker joke.
- Thank you for keeping the reach out joke. That one works really well.
- Is there anyway to correct Rey’s lips changing color during her first training scene (after she goes to the dark)? It's always felt very noticeable to me.
- I don't care for the Iris wipe from Ren to Finn and Rose. It feels off. It could be my memory screwing with me but I think that Start Wars usually saves Iris wipes for the end of the movie. That's fairly minor though and I could easily be wrong about that anyway.
- Noticable ghosting at the start of Rey’s second lesson during the establishing shot with Luke's voiceover.
- Noticable artifacts during the Canto Bight jail escape. But the editing there is really well done. Excellent job on that sequence.
- Is Rey's discomfort about Ren being shirtless necessary? I've never understood that. Is she supposed to be a lesbian? Asexual? Virginal? I think you can cut it.
- God, her lips change colors during the dark side cave, too. What is it with Daisy Ridley's mouth? Or was it poor makeup work? Or are my eyes going?
- Seriously, great work on Canto Bight.
- Seems like there's a lot of pixelation/ghosting when Rey and Ren are in the elevator, heading to see Snoke.
- I don't know if I preferred the original version of Snoke's death or this one. But this one does work. So I think it's just personal preference.
- I would like to see the gruesomeness of the fight with Snoke's guards toned down (especially the beheading). But that's just me and this is your edit.
- Excellent work cutting out the Phasma fight. I mean, the rotoscoping on BB-8 is noticable. But only if you're looking for it. I'm willing to bet that if I showed this to my wife, she'd have no idea. Great job.
- I think the Yoda scene can be cut entirely. It's great to see Yoda but I don't think we really need it. We could, I think, infer that Luke came around after much mediation when Rey left. At the very least, I'd recommend cutting everything about the Jedi Sacred Texts. None of that is really necessary.
- I think the shot of Rose, right before she gets shot down, needs to be flipped. Not sure if that would create any continuity issues, but that's the only shot from that side of a speeder so it feels off.
- Can you mute Finn's “Rose!” as he gets out of his speeder after getting shot down? It's no longer needed, since she didn't ram him.
- I would suggest muting the music after Leia's line about the galaxy losing all hope (so that it's silent when she gets to the bit about the final spark) and slowing the shot of Luke entering to about 70%, and add some footstep sound effects, then bringing the music back as he drops his hood.
Overall:
Quality of your editing - 10
Narrative (original) - 7.5
Narrative (this edit) - 9.5
Quality of this encode (34gig) - 8
6) Glad you like the saber throw change. For me, it was simply a matter of adjusting the music away from its original comedic timing.
7) Probably true. I didn't see a need to cut it, so I left it, and it kind of works as an intro shot to the porgs.
9) I definitely did NOT cut the laser sword line. It appears at about 20 minutes into the film.
10) I try not to cut where it doesn't need it, and the milk scene works for without Luke's drinking it. It show he's connected with his surroundings and also shows Rey's immaturity and awkwardness, which is a running theme in the film.
11) Thank you!
12) I think Laura Dern and Benicio del Toro were cast because their characters have major impacts on the plot, but we don't know whether to trust them. Ultimately, it turns out Dern is trustworthy and del Toro is not (though he wavers a bit in the middle). I think they’re both important roles (particularly Dern) so it makes sense to cast people with some ability.
13) I'm pretty sure that's what happens in this version. The only replacement shot is the shot after Luke says, "What's that about?" Originally, it showed Rey turning back and seeing the caretakers complaining about the hole in the wall. In this version (thanks to Hal's Legendary cut), Rey turns back and sees the empty hole. That's the reveal. Although you do see the hole in earlier shots, there is no attention called to it, exactly the same way as in the original. So the only change comes when Luke asks about it.
14) I agree, it's one of the jokes I always liked!
15) Hehe, I think it would take a lot of power masking and maybe roto to make sure Rey's lips are the same in every shot, and honestly I never noticed the discrepancy!
16) Which iris wipe are you talking about? There were a couple of added wipes, but none from Ren to Finn/Rose and none were iris wipes.
19) I always liked this moment where Rey is seemingly attracted to Kylo-Ren. It makes sense given her backstory and seeming immaturity (as first teed up during the milking scene). It also sets up for the idea that Rey may consider joining Kylo-Ren as her connection with him grows. Some seem to hate this line, and find it to be another excessive bit of comedy by Rian Johnson, but I never saw it that way. To me, it was always character building.
20) Haha! Again, never noticed her changing lip color!
21) Thank you, credit for this must go to Hal's Legendary edit, the basis for this.
23) The original version had obviously telegraphing by Snoke, "He ignited it, and kills his true enemy..." This was so obvious and diverted attention away from the interesting moment that was happening between Kylo-Ren and Rey. They eye contact and expressions were so much more powerful than Snoke's dialogue.
24) Yeah, I think they may have gone overboard to try to please audiences with a gruesome lightsaber fight (given that there wasn't going to be a real saber battle in the end), but overall it didn't bother me too much.
25) Thank you! The rotoscoping on BB-8 went through many passes, but it's hard to make the angles perfect when stealing shot of him from other scenes!
26) See, I love the Yoda scene now that's it's right before the third act on Crait. The message of failure as a teacher, and about being a mentor is one of the major themes that really worked for me. The reference to the jedi texts are a bit silly, but since we see at the end in the Millennium Falcon that Rey has actually taken them, they may be a significant plot point in Episode IX.
27) We could flop the shot, but I think the reason it's from that orientation (it's not flopped, btw, that's how it was in the original film) is because Rose, like the rest of the group except Finn, has turned around at Poe's orders. That's the reason she's looking back in that direction for the first time.
28) That's true. I left in the "Rose" line so we think that now that he's failed to stop the First Order, he's going to at least check on his friend. She didn't ram him, but he knows she's out there, and later we do see him dragging her body back to the base. Keeping the line seemed like a simple way to explain that he decides to go look for her after crashing.
29) That's an interesting idea! I never thought there was an issue with that moment, but it could be fun to try and building up the drama a bit more there. Might be something fun to play with!
Anyway, sorry for taking so long to respond, but again, I really appreciate you taking the time to watching it down and giving your detailed feedback!
