So I'm editing, remastering and re-scoring Episode One (feedback wanted)
I posted this over on TFA board, but it is probably more useful here:
As I'm sure many of you will agree...even if you liked the prequels (Episode I in particular), there is much room for improvement. I've seen a few fan-edits out there, and while there are several individually brilliant improvements, I haven't yet come across an edit that really elevates the prequels into what I would consider worthy additions to Star Wars canon (totally my opinion, by the way). The closest would probably be "The Blackened Mantle", but it doesn't really capture the same stylistic filmmaking continuity of the others (for example, the whole thing is in Japanese, and it doesn't have an opening crawl).
So, I've taken it upon myself to redo the whole thing to my liking, beginning with Episode I, which is now tentatively titled "Episode I: Shroud of the Sith" (was "Dawn of the Sith", but I kinda like "Shroud" a bit better, and it fits well with the story).
Anyway, I'm telling you all of this to get your feedback. Suggestions of additions and cuts would be much appreciated.
Here is the current list of changes I'm implementing:
1) Cutting all of Jar-Jars ridiculousness. All poop/fart jokes are gone. His force-jump into the water in the first act is edited to be a simple dive. Most of his clumsiness is gone or changed in a way to progress the narrative. And anything left over of him has been re-dubbed with an alien voice and given subtitles to make him a much better character (he's more of a cocky scrapper now, to the extent I could do it).
2) Viceroy Gunray and others of his race have been re-dubbed with deep sinister alien voices, instead of those godawful French accents. They've also been subtitled with different motives. They are still pawns of Sidious, but they have more spine now.
3) Padme/Amidala has been pitch-altered to sound like a younger girl. I've always disliked how her character was handled, especially next to Anakin as a love interest. The new pitch is more natural (Portman's voice was actually altered in many Phantom Menace scenes, come to find out), and I've taken it a step further by making her sound younger. Her conversations with Anakin feel much more peer-to-peer than mother-to-child. In many of the Viceroy's subtitles, she is referred to as "The Child Queen" and isn't taken very seriously.
4) Midichlorians are gone. Instead, I've re-dubbed Obi-Wan's voice over the communicator in the first midichlorian scene and cut much of the conversation to give the impression that Qui-Gon sent a sample of Anakin's blood to be DNA tested against their database, in hopes of discovering the father. This scene may end up being cut altogether, but I haven't decided yet. EDIT: Yea, I cut it. Easier to just do away with.
5) No more immaculate conception of Anakin. When asked about his father, Shmi just looks down, implying that either he wasn't in the picture, or she isn't sure. Then, she changes the subject by asking Qui-Gon if he can help her son. It works soooo much better.
6) The pod racing is drastically cut down. No more of Greg Proops' announcing (just the alien announcer on occasion) and no two-headed announcer. Everything is cut down to give a much faster-paced scene with higher tension. And Sebulba dies in a fiery explosion. Most of the cartoonish reactions are gone. And I'm outsourcing for an entirely new score for the scene (all my cuts made the music really jumpy, so I had to rescore it anyway).
7) Anakin is no longer the creator of C3PO. Instead, I've redubbed the scene to say "I won him in a bet from a Hutt" and go on to say that he's a protocol droid to help the mother. I didn't want to cut 3PO completely, because I think his addition is still kinda cool (though it makes NO DAMN SENSE for Anakin to build him). Some 3PO scenes have also been trimmed to make him a little less...odd?
8) Battle droids just beep now instead of talk, and there are no droid ranks.
9) Instead of an entire alien race being immune to Jedi mind tricks, it's just Watto. He now simply says "What, you think you're some kind of Jedi? Mind tricks don't work on me. Only money". I wanted to get him to say "those tricks only work on the fools" or something like that, but it's a bit difficult.
10) All the "yippees", "whoahs" and such from Anakin are gone. Because they suck.
11) Anakin's "accidental" victory in space with the Naboo fighter feels more intentional. Because why the hell shouldn't it?
12) Anakin is no longer "meant" to help Qui-Gon. He helps because he wants to.
13) The whole "bigger fish" sequence underwater is gone. It makes no sense that those things would live so close to a city. Or to go through the planet's core, for that matter.
14) Darth Maul dies with a bit more dignity, instead of watching patiently as Obi-Wan jumps over him and kills him. It's much quicker, and makes more sense.
15) The film ends after the funeral scene. The celebration has been cut altogether. The funeral scene completes the narrative and is structured like an ending. The celebration is completely unnecessary, and none of us know what the hell that glowing ball is.
16) Entire film is re-scored with pieces from both the prequel and original trilogies. Sound is remastered.
17) Color-corrected several scenes for a more natural filter. Tattooine is no longer brown for the sake of brown, and space ship insides are less blue. All colors feel more realistic and coincide better with the original trilogy
18) New opening crawl that doesn't talk about tax law.
19) The scene before Darth Maul and QGJ's first fight, where the probe droid pushes him to chase after the Jedi, has been heavily altered. The droid now repeats a recording over and over, from QGJ and Anakin's mother ("is he to become a Jedi?", "yes. Our meeting was not a coincidence"). The line repeats several times as Maul boards his speeder, and each time, the line is a bit glitchy, with the pitch deepening on the words "Jedi" and "coincidence". The recording gives Maul a reason to chase QGJ, and makes the scene much creepier. It also is intended to mirror the "help me Obi wan kenobi. You're my only hope" line repeated in episode IV. The music in this Maul scene is also now much more ominous, with loud brass "booms" at the droid's arrival, Maul walking to his speeder, and then Maul sitting on it. This scene is my favorite change thus far. My goal is to re-score all of the Maul scenes to make him a much larger presence and give the audience more of a feeling of urgency and dread when he appears.
20) Speaking of Maul, I'm considering removing any mention of the title "Darth". I don't think every other sith should be labeled "Darth". Instead, he'll just be "Lord Maul", which separates him a bit more from other villains like Darth Plagueis, Darth Bane, Darth Tyranus, Darth Vader and Darth Sidious. One of the things I didn't like about the prequels was the use of one-off villains that you don't really care about. I'm hoping to fix that in the best way I can. Lord Maul should be feared and should have a more powerful presence. Also, depending on my capabilities and what footage I can use...he might have a much different end in my version.
Any other suggestions? If all goes well, I'll be doing the same for Episodes 2 and 3. Once complete, I'll be putting it up on YouTube or something. You'll be able to see it if you want to.