Star Wars Phantom Menace 1.1 Editor Speaks

guinnessy writes "Studio 360 interviews the person who carried out Phantom Edit 1.1. You can listen to the interview here if you have Real Audio. It's quite interesting and explains why he hated Jar Jar Binks so much and what he did."

Comments

Does it take an interview...

[Anonymous Coward]

to explain why someone would hate Jar Jar so much? I figured most people over ~12 would understand his feelings completely.

Re:Does it take an interview...

[zero2k]

jealousy - the money Lucas spent into creating Jar Jar could feed the person and their family for the rest of their lives.

listinging

[neo8750]

You can listen to the interview here if you have Real Audio.

Yeah I could if i Had real audio. Anyone will to write down the conversation and post it some were so those of us who don't have real audio can read it?

Re:listinging

[$carab]

I seriously don't understand why virtually all of NPR's (National Public Radio's) online stuff is real audio encoded. I mean, wouldn't .mp3 (or .ogg?) encoding be cheaper and enable a wider variety of players?

Re:listinging

[Innominate Recreant]

That's because everyone knows that mp3 and ogg are only used for violating intellectual property rights ;-)

Re:listinging

[interiot]

Because they too are interested in accumulating Intellectual Property and selling it, and presumably RA assists in that more than MP3's would.

Re:listinging

[epukinsk]

Yeah, here's the transcription:

Studio360: So you did that phantom edit thing?
PhantomEditor: Yeah.
S360: How come?
PE: TPM was lame. Lucas is a capitalist dog. I made it seem like Anakin is more badass and less of a tool and I took out all of the Jar-Jar CG bullshit.
S360: How did it get so big?
PE: Internet.
S360: Has George Lucas seen it?
PE: He wanted to, but his legaltroids made him say he wouldn't. He should tho, cuz it's 31337.

Re:listinging

[$carab]

Probably true, but just to fill all you non-Us people in, NPR is generally thought of as representative of a very liberal viewpoint in the States. One would of thought they would embrace open formats rather than more closed formats.

Seems like an obvious example of hypocrisy, from an institution that's one of the few sources of really high quality media (in general, the content on Public media outlets [PBS and NPR] is vastly superior to the commercial tripe we're all used to).

Re:listinging

[Mark Pitman]

you can use the .m3u format

m3u isn't really a format. It is just the file extension for a text file with a list of mp3 files in it separated by CRLF on windows and LF on UNIX. It is a playlist file.

Re:listinging

[the_rev_matt]

National Petroleum Radio is liberal? When did that happen?

Last I checked they were moderate with a vaguely right wing tilt on fiscal/business/foreign policy issues and a vaguely left wing tilt on social issues.

Re:listinging

[Jack_of_Hearts]

Uh, no, not really...

NPR has been way left for years - decades - now. Right wingers yell a lot about this every time its budget is up for reapproval.

Re:listinging

[NoMoreNicksLeft]

No problem. The Slashdot editors transcripted it themselves, and have it in this nice universal Word 2000 doc file. Enjoy it.

Re:listinging

[NearlyHeadless]

I don't have a transcript of this interview, but he has done some interviews in the past.

Re:listinging

[Com2Kid]

And the real answer is that MP3 and OGG are designed for music, not voice.

RealAudio has can get "radio-quality" voice over a 30Kbps stream (for modem users). MP3 and OGG can barely make it at 64K and usually gets streamed at 128K.

Somebody give the AC a cookie, or at least mod the above commment up.

Real Audio still does the ONE thing that it started out able to do, namely stream plain old human voice at a low bitrate at passible quality.

Better codecs have come along since Real, but none have gained the same widespread acceptable of Real Audio.

Their video codec blows though, and so does their player. . . .

Their third to last restructuring attempt likely failed because they were obviously more interested in taking paying ads to be included in the 'channels' listing them providing users with a real interface to internet radio stations.

Oddly enough Real Audio has had slightly more success over in Japan for use in interactive internet radio stations and even the occasional video broadcast. NIfty stuff actualy, of course when our economy crashed theirs went along with it (or slightly before hand IIRC ) so such things are not as common as they used to be (if they are at all any more, beats me, news of such takes for-friggin-ever to get over to the states, even with the internet.)

Re:listinging

[reverius]

I'd REALLY like to know who moderated this as "insightful"... it's obviously a tongue-in-cheek joke. NPR stands for National Public Radio, and the parent of this post was correct in most of its assertions.

Any existence of or relation to National Petroleum Radio is coincidental, seeing as that's decidedly not the radio station to which we are referring.

-- Reverius

Re:listinging

[darien]

The most frustrating thing about RealOne Player is, it's actually a really good player (IMO). Much more stable and cleaner in use than WMP, and does vaguely sensible things, like staying on top while video is playing, but allowing itself to be behind while stopped.

But you have to spend forever changing options and setting up your firewall to stop it pestering you the whole time with crap you don't care about. It's like they got a load of great programmers to write it, but accidentally fed them marketing food for a month before anyone noticed.

Still, I use it in preference to WMP. And, thanks to ZoneAlarm, Real Inc. don't even know. He he he.

Re:listinging

[YellowBook]

It ought to be moderated "funny", though it's also sort of insightful. National Petroleum Radio is a good nickname for today's NPR. Since the Gingrich congress managed to remove most of NPR's federal funding, NPR has received most of its funding from large corporate donors, and its news/editorial positions have reflected this. NPR may have a liberal reputation, but if you look at their reporting (especially on globalization issues), you'll see that that reputation is no longer accurate; it reflects the time when NPR was largely publicly funded.

Re:listinging

[Rick the Red]

What are your firewall settings? I'd consider installing Real (on a throw-away box I wouldn't mind losing if they hacked it) if I had some assurance I could stop Real from hacking my computer. Read their license: it grants them the right to hack your computer! As if I'd allow anything on my box under those terms. Yet people load it all the fucking time! Morons.

Jeeze, at least Micro$oft only nags you to get the updates, they don't force them down your throat unannounced.

Re:listinging

[TWR]

No, that would be France, where 18% of the country just voted for the reincarnation of Mussolini. The other 81% of the country aren't fascists, they're just trying to round up Jews to throw into ovens.

-jon

Re:listinging

[TWR]

I forgot to mention the 1% who are the ones being thrown into the ovens...

-jon

Re:They're renaming The Two Towers!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, it's being renamed "Attack of the Trolls." Look for it to feature many Slashdot regulars as extras.

And check out...

[jhunsake]

The Phantom Editor's Website!

Re:And check out...

[56ker]

Ah - the *cue dramatic music* Phantom Error!

Re:And check out...

[G-funk]

Jango Fett, he's boba-fett's dad, played by temuera morrisson. For those in the northen hemisphere, temuera morrisson (sp?) played "Jeek the mess" (ducks projectiles from nz neighbours) one of the toughest blokes ever portrayed on film, in "Once were warriors" and its sequel, "what becomes of the broken hearted".

And boba-fett's in it as a little kid, which is so damned cool :-)

Jar Jar Binks

[cliffy2000]

[rant]
I believe that I speak for all Star Wars fans... or make that even all humans... when I state that Jar Jar Binks must be destroyed.
Alright, perhaps that was a tad harsh. But what is the value to the character -- he is racially offensive, disrupts all possible dark and intelligent tones to the movie and, lest I forget to mention, quite possibly the most annoying character not portrayed by Pauly Shore or Carrot Top ever witnessed in a movie.
Now, this is just my personal opinion. But Mr. Lucas, with all due respect, what on earth were you smoking?
And one more thing! Didn't they learn their lesson from the Ewoks? Jar Jar = the Ewoks to the nth degree.
[/rant]

Re:Jar Jar Binks

[praktike]

Racially offensive?

well, he pretty clearly speaks with some sort jamaican accent, and might as well be wearing blackface as far as i'm concerned.

and the trade federation was pretty thinly-veiled racism against the japanese.

to be fair, i also thought lotr has some racist undertones as well...i mean, the book is especially bad on this score, equating darkness of skin with evil, and fairness of skin w/ good. imagine how that makes someone with dark skin feel...when really it's all a function of evolution and differential exposure to radiation over time...

Re:Jar Jar Binks

[xercist]

Yes, and all those cartoons that portrey the evil character as having a beard! I find that offensive to claim that people with facial hair are more likely to be evil than those without. Let's organize a protest!

Re:Jar Jar Binks

[joel8x]

Didn't they learn their lesson from the Ewoks? Jar Jar = the Ewoks to the nth degree.

Not for nothing, but I was quite young when Jedi came out and I loved the Ewoks - they were something for me to appreciate and I found them very entertaining - maybe the kids today feel that way about Jar Jar. I didn't really appreciate the whole series until I was older, but those Ewoks really turned me on to the Star Wars Trilogy because of their childish appeal. I can see why George felt the need to include Jar Jar in the first Movie this time instead of the third - he wants the kids involved so they stick through all 3 new movies and hopefully watch the other 3.

Re:Jar Jar Binks

[praktike]

Anyone who would feel bad because they saw a movie where people who had dark skin were evil probably feel bad about pretty much anything.

no, no, no.

the problem is that in the usa, there is a history of both legal and illegal discrimination against people of darker skin. the beard analogy doesn't fly for this reason--people with beards weren't ENSLAVED and then BEATEN and FIREHOSED in the streets of the south. as for the general southern accent thing, well, you might be able to prove that people with southern accents are less likely to get lots of types of jobs (tv news anchor, for instance). but there just isn't the same historical pattern of discrimination.

so there's a real diffence. which is why there's also a legal distinction (disclaimer--IANAL), see the 14th amendment.

what I'm not saying, though, is that these movies are illegal in any way. but i think people are justified in being offended.

Re:Jar Jar Binks

[clearcache]

Hm. I always thought he spoke with some sort of alien accent.

Re:Jar Jar Binks

[dillon_rinker]

Besides, Foghorn Leghorn's entire manner of speech was meant to parody that of a prominent politician in the days when the character originated. The character was meant to satirize the politician.

This sort of proves the point, though. We want to make fun of someone, but that isn't politic. So we make a cartoon character that talks like the person we want to make fun of. Then we mock the cartoon character. Or, if we want to show that Jews are evil, Africans are ignorant, and Chinese are evil and ignorant, we make aliens that talk like Jews, Africans, and Chinese and then mock the aliens.

I tend to believe George Lucas when he says that wasn't his intent, but it's pretty amazing that the man could be so insensitive...I guess we were all supposed to grin with our big white teeth and say "Yassuh, that's how it is, sho nuf!"

Re:Jar Jar Binks

[zulux]

i also thought lotr has some racist undertones as well...i mean, the book is especially bad on this score, equating darkness of skin with evil, and fairness of skin w/ good. imagine how that makes someone with dark skin feel...

LOTR was intended to be a mythology of northern Europe, according to it's author. It's not suprising that the fairer peoples in the book are the more noble.

Re:Jar Jar Binks

[czardonic]

wtf? why is having an accent racist?

An accent is not racist. Using an accent to identify a character with a race of people, and making said character a buffon who exhibits many negative sterotypes about that race of people is racist.

maybe the people were jamaican and japanese that did the accents?

I guess someone who would assume that voice actors who are Jamaican or Japanese would not be able to acheive accents that did not sound like cartoon versions of their own native accents should not be expected to understand this issue.

this is like saying "some of the aliens sounded like white americans! im outraged!"

What if all the aliens stole everything they had from other races and had tiny penises? What if 99% of movie or television appearances by white people were characterized as such. Might be funny for a while, but how about after 5 or 6 decades?

Re:Jar Jar Binks

[Anonymous Coward]

Well that's why I was always a big fan of "Johnny Quest." Dr. Quest is an intelligent, heroic figure with a beard, and he's also probably one of the first fairly openly gay characters on TV.

Re:Jar Jar Binks

[odaiwai]

You're thinking of Vain from the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant.

dave

Re:Jar Jar Binks

[talleyrand]

equating darkness of skin with evil, and fairness of skin w/ good

Ah yes, a sentiment best summarized by Kevin Smith in Chasing Amy.

Hooper ...those movies are about how the white man keeps the brother man down - even in a galaxy far, far away. Check this shit. You got cracker farm-boy Luke Skywalker, Nazi poster boy - blond hair, blue eyes. And then you got Darth Vader, the blackest brother in the galaxy, Nubian god!

Banky What's a Nubian?

Hooper Shut the fuck up! Now Vader, he's a spiritual brother, with the force and all that shit. Then this cracker Skywalker gets his hands on a lightsaber, and the boy decides he's gonna run the fucking universe - gets a whole Klan of whites together, and they're gonna bust up Vader's 'hood the Death Star. Now what the fuck do you call that!

Banky Intergalactic Civil War?

Hooper Gentrification. They're gonna drive our the black element, to make the galaxy quote, unquote 'safe' for white folks. Jedi's the most insulting installment, because Vader's beautiful, black visage is sullied when he pulls off his mask to reveal a feeble, crusty white man! They're trying to tell us that deep inside, we all want to be white!

Banky Well isn't that true?
Queue the Shaft music
--

Re:Jar Jar Binks

[letxa2000]

I hate Jar Jar Binks as much as the next person, and I don't mean to defend him, but...

Am I the only one that can still go to a movie and just try to enjoy it without trying to read social or racial inuendo into it? I mean, I didn't enjoy Episode I. But that was because the movie sucked, not because of Chinese aliens and a Jamaican Jar Jar.

Come on, IT'S A MOVIE! I don't think any racial insults were intended and even if they were, who cares? Do you think there is going to be more racism against Jamaicans because Jar Jar supposedly talks like them? Do you think there's going to be more racism against Chinese because in Episode I they were apparently non-trustworthy traders? Cone on, that's absurd.

FWIW, I had NEVER (until now) even heard anyone comment that Jar Jar spoke like a Jamaican. I guess everyone I know is in that 1% that doesn't think Jamaican when they think of Jar Jar.

In fact, I think 99% of people try NOT to think of Jar Jar at all.

Re:Jar Jar Binks

[WNight]

Get over yourself.

For every nasty stereotype you see of a black guy there are more positive ones.

I thought Wil Smith's character in Independence Day was pretty cool. Samuel Jackson's character in Pulp Fiction, while a criminal, was just as cool and smart as any of the others.

If you're seeing offensive black stereotypes everywhere you look, you're either watching KKK TV, or you're increadily hypersensitive.

Re:Jar Jar Binks

[lightfoot jim]

Ya know barbarian originally meant someone with a beard. Seems the stereotype outlived any semblance of truth.

Re:Jar Jar Binks

[prockcore]

" to be fair, i also thought lotr has some racist undertones as well...i mean, the book is especially bad on this score, equating darkness of skin with evil, and fairness of skin w/ good."

You mean Saruman The White was good? Damn, I totally misinterpretted the books and the movie. :)

Re:Jar Jar Binks

[XNormal]

the problem is that in the usa, there is a history of both legal and illegal discrimination against people of darker skin. the beard analogy doesn't fly for this reason--people with beards weren't ENSLAVED

Oh, the european colonial powers benefitted from slave labor no less than the american south. They were just clever enough to keep the slaves in the colonies and import the goods instead of bringing the actual slaves to their beatiful little countries. The British, the French, the Spanish - they were no less racist than the southern slave owners.

Re:Jar Jar Binks

[jgerman]

No people are not justified in being offended. This thin skinned bleeding heart crap has gone too far. If I were to make a movie, I sure as hell would ignore ANYONE who told me my bad guys couldn't have dark skin, or light skin, or speak with this accent or that. You read too much into it. And the people who generally whine about this sort of thing are the people who look for it everywhere.

Re:Jar Jar Binks

[Performer Guy]

It's you who looks at Jar-Jar and says he's black because of how he acts. Look inside yourself for the problem.

Your comment about his accent is an insult to Jamaicans. He sounds nothing like them. Crikey, and you call others racist!

Re:Jar Jar Binks

[JWW]

Ok, then pick one.

George Lucas should either....

A) Not give into PC and make Greedo shoot first in the special edition.

or

B) Make damn sure everything's all PC in all the movies.

Note: My belief is that having Greedo shoot first ruined the scene completely. I agree with the other posts on this topic, a completely PC movie would entail staring a big blank screen for two hours.

Re:Jar Jar Binks

[lilzabubba]

"Anyone who would feel bad because they saw a movie where people who had dark skin were evil probably feel bad about pretty much anything.

no, no, no.

the problem is that in the usa, there is a history of both legal and illegal discrimination against people of darker skin"


no, no, no. the problem is that there is a history of discrimination all the way back to Noah. Someone out there is always oppressed, downtrod, and yes, discriminated against. Your ancestors (some hundred plus years ago) were slaves. Her ancestors 100 years ago were women. My ancestors were poor Irish people forced into bondage by a government who oppressed them. Get over it. It is people who define the boundaries who keep discrimination alive. Others choose to teach their children to love everyone no matter what their skin color, religion, heritage or sexual preference. Eventually we'll all get it right.

~lilz~ Optimism IS a disease.

Re:Jar Jar Binks

[jafac]

The whole Han Solo/Greedo thing gets really creepy on a deep level here:

My 8 year old son and I had a huge argument about this, and he actually didn't believe me when I told him that in the ORIGINAL movie, Han Solo shot first. He said that's not true, because Han Solo was a good guy, a hero, and would never had shot first.

I borrowed an original tape from a friend (um- er- after paying a license fee to LucasFilm and 20th Century Fox), and showed my son (paid for him too), and he was completely dumbfounded.

"Why would they DO a thing like that? It totally changes EVERYTHING!" he complained.

I explained, gently, that Han Solo wasn't always a hero. That he started out as a criminal. A smuggler. A law breaker. And he changed, he became a good man. A hero.
My son liked that angle on the story much better, and thinks George Lucas was an idiot for changing it.

Re:Jar Jar Binks

[DrSkwid]

when really it's all a function of evolution and differential exposure to radiation over time...

not so, selective breeding based aestethics

see Jared Diamond, Rise of the Third Chimpanzee

Re:Jar Jar Binks

[WNight]

Gotcha. You're wrong, but it's my fault because I didn't discount all evidence against your point of view.

As I said before, get over yourself. Stupid racial stereotypes are as good as nonexistant in mainstream movies and television. If you keep seeing them, you may want to up the tinfoil content of your hat.

I made a better competing "edit" of the movie

[Anonymous Coward]

which highlights JarJar's zany antics and removes the parts that advance the story. I call it the JarJar Yes-Pleasy-Yessir Phantom Meesa-Likie-Likie Edit.

Re:I made a better competing "edit" of the movie

[Mark_in_Brazil]

An Anonymous Coward wrote: "I made a better competing 'edit' of the movie which (sic) highlights JarJar's zany antics and removes the parts that advance the story."
Actually, I would prefer an edit of The Phantom Menace that left Jar Jar alone (all the SW movies had some kind of comic relief) and took out the embarassingly bad stuff about "chlamydians" (OK, midi-clorians, but I can't help but wonder if a simple dose of penicillin might have prevented the whole Darth Vader situation) and the virgin birth of Anakin. This little bit of Star Trek-like technobabble, in just a few minutes, completely ruined all the magic of the other three movies. The Force, before Episode I, was basically magic. How it worked was not explained and DID NOT NEED TO BE EXPLAINED, like the magic used by Merlin or Gandalf. Post-Episode I, it's a blood condition. Bleah!
So Coward, I welcome your edit. But did you cut out that seemingly never-ending scene with the big fish getting eaten by even bigger fish?

Re:I made a better competing "edit" of the movie

[i0lanthe]

Post-Episode I, it's a blood condition.

I don't know about you but I kept expecting a scene where the Jedi council is waiting for the report on Anakin's farandolae to come back from the lab. "Hmm. Echthroi. Prognosis not good. To the Dark Side he will turn."

Streaming?

[NanoGator]

Probably because you can start listening nearly instantly, vs. waiting for the whole file to download first.

Also, Real has some nice streaming features. They can dynamically change the bitrate of the audio depending on your ability to download it.

I have no doubt that MP3 or OGG could be used to do the same thing, but consider that Real is a big player in this space.

Re:Streaming?

[invenustus]

MP3 or OGG COULD be used to do the same thing? Um, have you ever been to mp3.com? They have all kinds of streaming MP3. It plays in Winamp, and I assume it should work in XMMS or whatever Linux distributions are using now. I'd venture that as many people have Winamp as have RealPlayer, especially as RealPlayer gets crappier and crappier.

Re:Streaming?

[NanoGator]

"Um, have you ever been to mp3.com [mp3.com]?"

Um, did you catch my comment where I said "but consider that Real is a big player in this space."?

Re:Streaming?

[glwtta]

It also has neat features like that "Message Center", which is smart enough that it cannot be disabled, or else silly people like me would miss out on all those "Critical Updates", and we wouldn't want that, now would we?

Phantom Edit 2001

[Rufus211]

A new Phantom Edit has just been released this month. True it's not by the same guy that did the original (LA) version, but then again the 2nd (NY) version was done by 2 unrelated people in NY, so I guess it makes sense for the 3rd (DC) version to be made by yet an other unrelated person.
You can find info about it at the phantom edit forum. Also you can download a 2cd VCD of the new version (thanks to Bit Torrent!) from me here.

Re:Where's the movie?

[RobHornick]

There's no official site to download it. Search your choice of Google or Gnutella.
- Rob

Re:Where's the movie?

[PhxBlue]

If you're looking for an "official" Phantom Edit on the web, you're not going to find one. The Phantom Editor explains:

I am The Phantom Editor. The guy that created, Episode 1.1, The Phantom Edit on my bottom of the line Macintosh G4 using an editing program called Final Cut Pro. I did not upload it onto the Internet and as a matter of fact, I am still only a 56k modem guy with no high-speed connection so to this day, I still haven't even downloaded it. Different "spirited individuals" (some knowledgable about what they are doing, and some... well...not) have digitized and converted the movie into multiple file formats...

In short, the only versions of the Edit that are online are unofficial. You can probably find something with a Google search, but downloader beware.

Re:They're renaming The Two Towers!!!

[WIAKywbfatw]

Sorry, but I think you've been had there.

The "Lord Of The Rings" movie trilogy isn't your average Hollywood "gee-what-kind-of-ending-did-the-test-audiences-li ke-the-most?" film series. It's a pretty faithful (so far) movie adaptation of what's commonly regarded as the best book of the twentieth century.

The second book in the trilogy is called "The Two Towers". And the title isn't a prescient, Nostrodamus-like reference to the September 11th attack on the World Trade Center but (shock, horror) a reference to two, uh, towers, that appear in that book as Frodo and Sam continue on to Mordor and the rest of the fellowship take part in an assault on Isengard.

Now, unless I'm truly living in an Orwellian society (which, ironically, is how I perceive the revisionism that Hollywood seems to be obsessed with whenever it turns its hand to historically-based entertainment), those are the historical facts. (Unless, of course, the Ministry Of Truth truly has tracked down every copy of LOTR, had them destroyed and replaced with "corrected" copies that aren't as offensive to The Party. Who knows, this could have happened. It might explain why my copy of LOTR has gone AWOL.)

I can't vouch for him personally, but Peter Jackson strikes me as a man of integrity. In every interview I've read or seen his love of the original text and his desire to bring it to life as faithfully as possible is clear. And I very much doubt that he's going to presume to meddle with Tolkien's masterpiece by changing the title of the second film.

The irony that he'd even be asked to do so is dripping - is there any way the world of Tolkien could possibly be further away from the world of September 11th?

The Hollywood suits asking for a name change are probably the same ones that were so vocal in the aftermath of last year's tragedy, spouting (script-written?) lines about how they couldn't produce another violent movie after what had happened yet barely waiting more than a heartbeat before rubber stamping the release of movies like Black Hawk Down and Collateral Damage.

All this while the Israeli army, funded by the US tax payer ($4 billion of US military aid per year, total military expenditure $7 billion per year), murders people in their homes with US-built, US-supplied hardware while the Bush administration vetoes any attempt by the United Nations' Security Council to condemn Israel's actions.

(When Israel kills, the world complains but the US pretends that nothing's happened. Ditto when the US military kills allied personnel in "friendly fire" incidents.)

Change the title of "The Two Towers"? How about changing the damn record instead?

(Go ahead, mod this down. Like I give a damn about karma.)

And to think...

[hackwrench]

there are laws in place to prevent this sort of thing... at least I think there are and if the current laws aren't up to the challange there are people working overtime to draft new ones. Actually I like the idea of being able to do this, at least for your own purposes as well as the ability to post a patch so you can attach these changes to your own legally bought copy of "The Phantom Menace" without anyone having to shell out extra money to Lucas. That way Lucas still sells 'The Phantom Menace' and new things can be done with the material.

Variable Bit Rates...

[NanoGator]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't HTTP streaming mean that if you fall under the required bitrate that you'll get broken up music?

If so, does M3u have server support for changing bitrates during a change in net conditions?

Re:They're renaming The Two Towers!!!

[raistlinne]

(Go ahead, mod this down. Like I give a damn about karma.)

Actually, the moderation system exists not to give or take karma from people, but to promote good comments to better public view while removing the noise and such from more prominent positions. Moderation is only incidentally related to karma. The point is to choose make it easier to read the better posts.

However, you are correct that changing the name of The Two Towers would be about as absurd as you can get.

How is all this related to Jar Jar? Good question. Maybe we could say that changing the name of The Two Towers is about on the level of making Jar Jar a main character?

Um, a couple of corrections (IMHO)

[twilight30]

The trade federation is, I think, meant to be Chinese, not Japanese (I'm part-Japanese myself). As well, Anakin's flitting slave-owner is supposed to be vaguely eastern European / Jewish, near as I can tell (accented, haggles over money, big nose -- I mean, Jesus Christ!).

To be honest, it annoyed me first time I saw the film, and it only got worse with repeat viewings. If Lucas meant to make the film to satisfy himself only, as has been claimed by others at Slashdot (sorry, can't be arsed to find the reference), you have to wonder just what the fuck he was thinking when he wrote the screenplay.

To address your last comment, though, Tolkien wrote LOTR many years ago. Lucas doesn't really have that excuse, and in my view, doesn't deserve an out. Just my opinion.

Re:Um, a couple of corrections (IMHO)

[yoink!]

To give Lucas the benefit of the doubt, I would hope that it is us reading in these stereotypes. Even the most creative of folks need some foundation for their creations, most of that comes from what we know. Perhaps there are similarities that go beyond simple attitudes, maybe the inflections that were used in the film (actually TPM was more of a popcorn movie than a film) were too close to home. Nonetheless we should be a little more open and realise that there are people who portray such behavioural patterns in the world, and they are hardly delineated by ethnic or racial origins. That is our prejudism showing through, and our desire to see in those fictional characters something we believe about those around us. Even, in the end if it was some sort of racism or stereotyping done by the writers and director of this film, telling our kids about it will only help to get them adopting racist and prejudicial tendencies at an increased rate; something I believe they will, unfortunately discover in their lives anyway, so why speed it up?!

Re: Um, a couple of corrections (IMHO)

[Black Parrot]

> Anakin's flitting slave-owner is supposed to be vaguely eastern European / Jewish, near as I can tell (accented, haggles over money, big nose -- I mean, Jesus Christ!).

Yeah, but Jesus Christ is rarely portrayed with a big nose, despite the stereotypes.

Re:Um, a couple of corrections (IMHO)

[arkanes]

The Flash Gordon moguls are sterotypical "evil asians" as popularized in the pulp media of the time, which was during WW2 (Japanese, but looking more Chinese, because nobody could be bothered to tell the difference between different types of asians). So if they're based on the Flash Gordon ones, then they're ... second-hand racist? I suppose. I also fail to see how anyone can fail to see the (intentional) racism in the Flash Gordon, and, for that matter, most of the entertainment of the time.

Memento

[webloser]

The most interesting part of that pathetic interview was the discussion afterwards, without the phantom editor, about Memento. That the England dvd release will have an easter egg that you can watch it in chronological order.

Re:Memento

[biglig2]

I remember reading somewhere of a film school class who were set the task of editing Citizen Kane into chronological order. Aparently the end result wasn't that bad...

Re:Memento

[Deluge]

Odd, I rented Memento from Blockbuster shortly after it came out on DVD, and it had the chronological order feature in plain sight in the extra features menu...

Star Wars is a toy commercial...

[NanoGator]

"he wants the kids involved so they stick through all 3 new movies and hopefully watch the other 3."

Don't forget that Star Wars movies = release of some really cool toys. Go to your local Toys R Us and see what companies such as LEgo are doing with Star Wars. It's pretty impressive.

I have no doubt that Lucas had kids in mind when he made Jar Jar. He even said so in this month's Issue of Maxim.

Is this a bad thing? I agree that Star Wars would be more interesting if it were geared more towards the adult world, but the kids spend more money on it after the fact. The truth is that we can fully expect more kiddie stuff as Star Wars trickles out. Look at the preview for AotC. Anybody catch the flying R2D2 scene?

There is some hope, though. Older people are buying more video games these days. It's possible we'll see Star Wars tuned more to the adult audience in the next couple of movies, because now the older people have a reason to buy Star Wars merchandise.

At least that's what I'm hoping for. I'm not holding my breath, though. When I see AotC, I fully expect to see some silly moments that'll make the kids cheer. The best I can do is try to enjoy it. I know I thought the Ewoks were cool when I was 6.

Re:Star Wars is a toy commercial...

[Artifex]

I have no doubt that Lucas had kids in mind when he made Jar Jar.

Sadly, though, the kids don't seem to like him all that much. When this movie first came out in the theater, I took some preteens and teens to see it - not a single one liked the Jar-Jar character. They all said he "sucked."

Then again, they also mostly thought Anakin was a whiny brat, which surprised me. I thought they'd be wrapped up in the idea that he got to fly a pod racer, etc. But Lucas soft-peddled the whole slavery thing, and these kids, some of whom had been abused, weren't buying it.

I know I thought the Ewoks were cool when I was 6.

The Ewoks were cool when you were 6. I remember secretly thinking they were cool, and I was supposed to be too old for that (11 or 12). But then, of course, "the Ewoks Big Adventure" came out, to milk that dry.

I could continue with more reasons why I think the "new Star Wars" won't even be palatable to kids, but it mostly has to do with the usual rants you've heard before, like wondering why "the Force" turns out to be just commensalism or something - it doesn't explain how there can be a "dark side" adequately, etc. And good lord... how can those thousands of robots all be such bad shots? =)

Re:Star Wars is a toy commercial...

[Tonttoro]

Legos gone bad these days. You just can't get legos from my childhood anymore, some 19 years ago legos rocked. Now, they are just specialty pieces that don't really fit any but one construction.

Blah.

Re:Star Wars is a toy commercial...

[mshurpik]

He even said so in this month's Issue of Maxim.

God, what was he doing in Maxim?

"If you thought that Angelina Jolie was hot, check out this month's interview with George Lucas! Fat, unkempt, reclusive, and very authoritarian, George was a promising young auteur until he decided instead to focus his career on revenge. Some of his works from that period are now considered classics, but George is not deterred. He has recut this strangely-revered pulp, proving once and for all that his love affair with film ended a long time ago.

"Today, George is churning out new pre-teen cartoons with machine-like efficiency and has established the distribution network to send them far, far away. He is truly 'the Force' to be reckoned with in mass-marketing, intellectual property law, and digital rights management. We are pleased that George allowed us to help him self-promote his new cartoon, Attack of the Clones!"

Haven't you heard?

[Anonymous Coward]

I think Jar Jar should be ground into pod racer fuel in the next episode

Haven't you heard?

Jar-Jar becomes Boba Fett in Ep2

Re:They're renaming The Two Towers!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

The "Lord Of The Rings [imdb.com]" movie trilogy isn't your average Hollywood "gee-what-kind-of-ending-did-the-test-audiences-li ke-the-most?" film series. It's a pretty faithful (so far) movie adaptation of what's commonly regarded [guardian.co.uk] as the best book of the twentieth century.

I'll have to dispute with you on that one. LOTR was a damn good book. Undoubtedly the best book of the Fantasy genre ever. However, there are books such as Ulysess, 1984, The Grapes of Wrath, The Old Man and the Sea, and of course Brave New World that I think edge out ahead of LOTR.

I think the poll in your article is skewed to favor LOTR because it is just a poll of regular people. Many of whom have heard about or seen LOTR at a theater near them. Many of these people have not heard of books like The Old Man and the Sea, or Ulysses.

Basically stated, what I'm trying to say is the recent publicity of LOTR has skewed the poll in the article you linked to. Most critics consider Ulysses to be the best book of the century, with Brave New World in second.

Whoa!

[kennedy]

So... a spyware free version of kazaa...
interview with the phantom editor...

All in the same day?!

muahahahah!

Re:They're renaming The Two Towers!!!

[glwtta]

commonly regarded as the best book of the twentieth century.

umm, yeah, by 5,000 people.

For the record

[LunarOne]

explains why he hated Jar Jar Binks so much and what he did.

My nephews (ages 10 and 12 at the time of Episode I release) loved Jar Jar Binks. I know the character made the movie unpalatable for many adults, but for what it's worth, lots of kids were happy with it.

Personally, I really don't feel one way or the other about Jar Jar.

Re:For the record

[donglekey]

Going to the lowest common denominator is no excuse. Making crap and shit that people will still buy doesn't make something suddenly stop being shit. Little kids liking it is no excuse.

Re:For the record

[daeley]

Little kids liking it is no excuse.

When it comes to creativity, adults not liking it is no excuse not to do something.

Re:For the record

[prockcore]

and for the record, I really liked that Disney Zip-a-dee-do-dah movie when I was a kid... that doesn't change the fact that it was offensive. I just didn't understand it.

Re:For the record

[jmu1]

I'd like to know what was so offensive about either one. Is it _your_ views that make it offensive? I just thought that Jar-jar was a little annoying, then again, I thought that Luke Skywalker was the biggest wuss in the world.

Re:For the record

[Erasmus Darwin]

"When it comes to creativity, adults not liking it is no excuse not to do something."

It is if you're trying to keep them as part of your audience. Besides, it's no so much that adults didn't like Jar-Jar, but rather that many of them hated him with a passion. Since Star Wars has always been something that's tried to appeal to everyone, Jar-Jar ruins the film for a number of people.

Besides, it's been shown time and time again (especially by Pixar) that it's quite possible to create something that appeals to both children and adults. Lucas even had the "magic of Star Wars" providing fans with an incentive to overlook small flaws. But instead, he chose to completely screw things up by sticking a CG version of Barney in the film.

foghorn leghorn

[jaoswald]

Just to clarify: I don't think the voice of Foghorn Leghorn was intended to parody a particular living or dead politician.

From some random website I found through Google

Foghorn Leghorn - Large, white windbag of a rooster seen in a number of Warner Brother cartoons over the years. Foghorn Leghorn (inspired by Kenny Delmar's Senator Beauregard Claghorn from Bighorn character, a Deep South politician from THE FRED ALLEN SHOW on radio) premiered in the Warner's animated feature Walky Talky Hawky (1946). His popular catchphrases are "I say, I say there!", "Pay attention, boy!" and "Now listen here!" In his book That's Not all Folks (Warner Books, 1988) Mel Blanc, the voice of this boisterous loudmouth southern rooster, relayed a confusion that arose about the initial inspiration for the voice of Foghorn Leghorn. "Delmar claimed he based the voice not on my (Mel Blanc) character's, but on that of a Texas rancher he'd once hitched a ride from. Bob McKimson claimed Foghorn's voice was derived not from Senator Claghorn's but from someone on another old-time radio program, BLUE MONDAY JAMBOREE. And I claim I first heard the accent at a 1928 vaudeville show at San Francisco's Pantages Theater when I was twenty. As I recall it, in one of the skits an actor played a clownish hard-of-hearing southern sheriff."

That is, Foghorn Leghorn's voice was based on some vaudeville act, and his name seems to have been derived from a *fictional* senator, the character of which appeared on the Fred Allen Show, whose accent may have been similar.

Re:Looking for Pre-Attack attention

[martissimo]

I grew up with Star Wars (was 12 when the first movie came out.) but I don't see the interest anymore

TPM is very high on the list of top grossing movies of all time... #4 i believe, so i would hardly say interest has faded. Heck have you seen the hype in regards to the online trailers alone, the Apple.com website was practically dead the first few days the trailer was up in QT.

Clones will be a huge draw even if it isn't great... if it is great the sky is the limit, it will have a bit more pressure on the film, to achieve the heights of the first 4 Star Wars films due to a bit of bad press with TPM. Rest assured however that it will gross plenty either way.

Re:Flamebait?

[NanoGator]

"It's ok, your just slow. Let me simplify it for you."

Err okay. Pardon me for knowing more about Real's delivery system than just their player.

If you had any idea what it's like making and publishing Real content, then you'd have a higher opinion of Real than that.

I think their viewer is awful, but the rest of it is pretty cool. Try making some actual content with it, and you will likely agree with me.

Racist Overtones

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm an Eastern European Jew and I have a number of mixed Asian (Korean, Japanese, Chinese, and Cambodian) friends, and none of us percieved or interpreted any of the characters as racist statements made by Lucas. In fact, it didn't even occur to us until we read a post much like this one on some stupid message board a year ago.

Racist? Give me a break.

PS: strange how Watto is a racist statement against Jews and Natalie Portman is a glorification of them. :/. And yes, Ahmed Best is African American (he consented, didn't he? What about Samuel Jackson?). This racist garbage must be a result of political correctness where being human raises eyebrows.

Point taken

[twilight30]

The Flash Gordon homage I didn't know about and stand (somewhat) corrected. I still object, however, as the Federation characters were portrayed as being considerably more spineless than they needed to be.

As far as your giving Lucas the benefit of the doubt is concerned, you're a better person than me. Nonetheless, I do think he was being unconsciously conservative to the point of racism (and I should mention that most of this derives from David Brin's comments on Star Wars):

• The most craven characters in Episode I are the Trade Fed emissaries and the slave-owner. All they do is act like money-grubbing bastards.
• The monarchy and aristocracies are noble in character; the democratic ones are decidedly not.
• In response to your Lion King example, I'll mention this: I know, Samuel L Jackson probably wouldn't take it either. Natalie Portman is in fact Israeli. However, do they have real creative control the way Lucas does? Given the length of time Lucas had to work on the film, isn't it fair to say *someone* would have noticed this? I'm not the biggest SW fan. The bias is subtle, but I believe it is definitely there.

Re: They're renaming The Two Towers!!!

[Black Parrot]

> However, you are correct that changing the name of The Two Towers would be about as absurd as you can get. How is all this related to Jar Jar?

Obviously, you haven't seen the anatomically correct Jar-Jar action figure.

Uh....

[autopr0n]

I don't know if this is supposed to be a troll or not, but both Mp3 and OGG support those features.

Re:Uh....

[NanoGator]

No, not trolling. Misinformed maybe, but im not trying to cause trouble.

What player plays these with variable bit rate features?

Audio transcript here

[ipsuid]

Sorry for everyone's mispelled names...

Kurt: This is Studio 360, at my desk is the film editor Doby Dorn and we're talking about all kinds of editing. Millions of "Star Wars" fans were lukewarm about the 1999 prequel "The Phantom Menace". But one disappointed fan actually did something about it. He calls himself the Phantom Editor. And with his personal computer he entirely recut the movie on video and started giving it away. This new phantom edit has become a global phenomenon thanks to the Internet and we invited him to speak publicly for the first time about why he did what he did.

[Starwars soundtrack]

PhantomEditor: The very first day that Phantom Menance premiered that...that afternoon I was thinking "Boy this movie needs a re-edit." I don't know, that afternoon I went up there sat next to a few people who had saw it when they were kidding about bringing their little kid in to see it. I thought "Wow this is really cool." And then the movie started and that sorta went right out the window.

[Jar-Jar-Binks]

PhantomEditor: On the screen there was so much extra material on there that I thought if they could remove some of this extra stuff THAT would actually make a better film. It's not that George Lucas didn't have the technology to do what he wanted to do, it's that he did. And somehow the movie became more about the technology then the storytelling aspect of it. The things that I...I was concerned with... uh... in my edit were the story redundancy, the over-abundance of Jar-Jar antics that didn't seem to carry the story forward, and the presentation of Jake Lloyd as Anakin Skywalker.

[Anikin: "You mean I get to come with you in your staaarshiiip?"]

PhantomEditor: He ends up being the evil character Darth Vader in the other "Star Wars" movies and the actions don't really seem reflective of that character. The blowing up of the droid control ship within the "Phantom Menace" was actually done as a... you know... an accident, where he hit the button and physically he says the word "Oops" at the end of it during the explosion.

[Anikin: "oops"]

PhantomEditor: Instead of letting him be heroic he ends up being a fumbling goof. All the happy accidents are now diminished.

PhantomEditor: Uh... throughout the whole movie from that battle sequence on Anikan's actions are now motivated by his heroic character. There are no oops's, there are none of the yippee's either...

[Anikan: "yippppeee!"]

PhantomEditor: There's an excessive amount of Jar-Jar antics, and what I mean by that, is the little examples which are almost a showpiece for the ILM special effects... where it takes you out of the story lets him participate in some little antic, and then you have to fight to get back into the story again. By removing alot of those things, I am not taking away from the story, I'm actually helping it by keeping people involved.

[Jar-Jar]

PhantomEditor: Initially when I did this it was for the audience of me and it really started out pretty harmless. The offering of a few copies to friends, who of course had friends who worked somewhere else who wanted to see it, and it began to get talked about. I mean, there was a point where I was getting over 200 emails a day. The first time I got one from New Zealand, that's what really scared the hell out of me, because I'm like "How did you see this?"

[Music swell]

PhantomEditor: First I remained anonymous because I guess that's originally what I wanted to do. You know, it was really a joke between friends, and I'm sure alot of those people knew who I was anyway. But when it got really huge like that it became really overwhelming for somebody like me who had edited this on a low end computer sitting on a $40 computer stand in my apartment. And then I didn't know the legal terms of it. All I knew is that I felt really safe because I wasn't making any profit off of that, but it was becoming aware to me that other people out there were.

[Deathstar music]

PhantomEditor: Initially George Lucas had said in public at the MTV awards that he did want to see it. But then later they put out a press statement that he would not ever watch it. Actually, I do think he should watch it. I just think that those people are making movies with their wallets. And might need a little kick in the butt from somebody like me who is completely at the other end of the scale which is similar to the message which is in the "Star Wars" films, that the underdog, the Luke Skywalker character overpowers the Empire.

[Music swell]

Kurt: Mike J. Nickels is the phantom editor and our story was produced by Michael May. Dody, you know the phantom editor I understand?

Dody: Yeah I've met him a couple times, and I have a copy of the "Phantom Edit". Is that what it's called?

Kurt: That's what it's called yeah.

Dody: [Laugh] and uhh, but I've never watched it.

Kurt: What do you think of... of what he's done? I mean the idea of... of a mere civilian taking a piece of, you know, zillion dollar entertainment and... and by his lights improving it?

Dody: Well, uhm, I think if it's an irrepressable urge.. uh.. uh.. there's no reason why somebody should stop doing something that's an irrepressable urge. I mean why? Why should he, I mean, he's not try to, as he said, not try to make any profit from it. Uh... I understand the irritation of the person who did make it. I... I understand it. But I don't have an answer for that. I don't really have an answer for whether he... I mean, what are the options? Could they come and put him in jail for having done that? I mean, there are over... over time there are examples of.. of other films... I think it's "Once Upon a Time in America" that had the European version where the time structure was all over the place, and then they made an American version that was... much uhm.. I mean obviously these were the people who owned the film, but I doubt seriously if it was the film-maker who wanted it to completely rearrange the time and made it much shorter. And people were critical of it. So I think when something like that is done that it opens... that its a forum for discussion.

Kurt: I understand that "Momento" in a European DVD form was in risk, or is going to be reorganized entirely, is that true?

Dody: Not exactly, uhm... the... I think it's the DVD release in England has an easter egg on it where you can play the film in forward chronology and Chris and I actually have never put the film in forward chronology. So while we were working on "Insomnia" we rented [laugh] the film, and digitized it, and put it in forward chronology. And we were so shocked by the change in how you experience the film; it was a completely different film. Uhm.. the character of.. of Lenard Shelby was now a really bad guy and in the structure that is Chris's design, he is someone who is avenging his wife's horrible murder. So he is a sympathetic character all the way through. And part of the purpose of that in telling the story that Chris wanted to tell is that it is an anti-revenge revenge tale. Because you spend the whole film thinking this is a good guy that we have empathy with who is going to avenge his wife's murder and at the end, or the middle of the story you realize, oh, maybe he is just a psycho.

Dody: And then it makes you question, I'd like to think it makes you question, the whole idea of revenge. Ah... because it's suddenly your perspective has shifted.

Kurt: And when you re-edited it as technology allows us to do and put it in the normal straight forward fasion, it's like you turn a beautiful, amazing, oragami construction into a... just a piece of paper.

Dody: Right, exactly, and it felt suddenly just like a... uh... uh... low rent, you know, film noir.

Kurt: Dody Dorn, thank you very much for joining me today in Studio 360.

Dody: Been alot of fun.

Kurt: Starting next month, you can see Dody Dorn's work in the new movie by Christopher Noland "Insomnia". It stars, Al Pacino, Hillary Swank, and Robert Williams. For more information about Dody Dorn, or about anything else you've heard on our program, visit our website, studio360.org.

Kurt: Studio 360 is produced by WNYC along with PRI, public radio international. The production team includes, Julie Berstein, Cary Hillman, Peter Clowny, Jocelyn Gonzolas, Steve Nelson, Michelle Speagle, Lisal Muhas, Andy Lancet, Lou Alcasky, Micheal Rayfield. The music is by David Vantiegams. I'm Kurt Anderson, and I do hope you'll join us next week in Studio 360.

Announcer: Studio 360 is co-produced by WNYC radio and public radio international, and is supported by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, The National Endowment for the Arts, the Tiffany and Company Foundation, and the Horith W. Goldsmith Foundation.

[PRI sound]

... transcription by ipsuid.

*sigh*

[autopr0n]

If only the terrorists had called it 'opperation jar jar' or something, to make jar jar 'emotionaly resonate' or whatever.

Re:Remember Saruman

[WNight]

This whole racist obsession people have is kinda ridiculous. Colors aren't hidden racist subtext.

White is fascinating and black is scary. This makes sense. Think about it. The dark is "black". If you go into the dark, you can't see things and this is bad. Things can eat you in the dark. There are Grue's in the dark. Everyone naturally is warrier in the dark, even someone with "black" skin.

On the other hand, bright light is white, and it reveals everything that was hidden. Light also conquers darkness.

So if you're portraying a character who's evil and nasty you could (if you're wanting to make it blatantly obvious) dress them in black and have them hide in shadows. Dangerous things lurk in shadows, so the connection is obvious.

For an example. I, as a kid, was scared of the dark long before I'd ever seen a black person. I liked flashlights because they got rid of the darkness. This was long before I knew that I was "white" by comparison to anything else.

This is seperate from the skin color of the characters. It's just to explain that Gandalf the White and Sauron the Dark aren't necessarily racial comments in any way. Feel free to read anything you want into the skin colors of the orcs and the "good guys".

I am glad though, that they didn't throw in a token black character. They were dealing with small isolated populations. You likely wouldn't get someone with a really different skin color so it'd be a blatant "Don't hate us, here's your token minority" gesture. Now on the other hand, if they'd made (for instance) the wood elves dark (or the Rivendell ones) that would have made some sense because they were a seperate population. But it's unthinking knee-jerk PC gestures that stick out like a sore thumb. And in my opinion these do more harm than good because they bring the issue of skin color to mind, instead of ignoring it as the non-issue it is.

Jar Jar Binks = Black Face ?

[Augusto]

Sorry, but the one that sounds like a racist here is you , since you are saying black people look like Amphibian aliens from the swamps of Naboo.

Please get a grip.

Racist undertones in LotR

[Wraithlyn]

"i also thought lotr has some racist undertones as well...i mean, the book is especially bad on this score, equating darkness of skin with evil"

This is what Sam thinks about the body of a dark skinned Southron warrior who fought and died for Sauron:

He wondered what the man's name was and where he came from; and if he was really evil of heart, or what lies or threats had led him on the long march from his home; and if he would not really rather have stayed there in peace.

-Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, p687

I think that shows pretty clearly that Tolkien wasn't equating darkness of skin with evil. After all, plenty of fair skinned men fought for Sauron as well.

The difference here...

[JimPooley]

...is that George Lucas is of course incredibly rich and famous, where this Phantom Editor guy is a nobody.
Call me when he makes something of his own.

Re:I never understood

[jgerman]

I agree, like Hitler was was running around as a kid hurling invectives and the children on the next block and invading those neighborhoods around him.

Anakin is a child, and furthermore he is Lucas's creation, he can do what he wants. If you don't like it, don't watch it, right?

The attitude that a lot of people have is that they have a right to Star Wars, that somehow they created it and are the one who should decide how it should progress. That's just wrong. I have no problem with people saying: It would be better if..., or I really didn't like... That's all part of being a fan, but taking it to extremes? Number one it'sjust a movie, number two, it's not even YOUR movie.

I'm suprised that this guy is getting away with this edit. Doesn't it say at the beginning of the movie that it cannot be redistibuted in any form? Even if it didn't this is obviously a case of copyright infringement. (Assuming you believe that copyright law is worth anything that is). Why hasn't Lucas gone after him?

DVD "Re-edit" standard

[CaseyB]

The idea behind the Phantom Edit is really cool, but downloading an entire movie is both redundant (if I own the DVD already) and has obvious sticky legal issues.

It'd be nice to define a way to re-edit a film from DVD footage, such that you can redistribute the edit as simple "score" information. You just list the edit segments as references to timed slices of the original data. The resulting file would be tiny, and you're not sharing any copyrighted information. When you "play" the edit, the DVD player just skips around the source movie playing the edits in order.

More complicated editing techniques like the separation of audio and video tracks (to maintain music continuity for instance) could be implemented by having separate edit information for each. The player software must become a little smarter at this point though.

This mechanism could also be used to implement the "amateur commentaries" that Ebert talked about a little while back. You just include the commentary information in a separate file, which would be much smaller as you would have to provide only the actual commentary, not all the "dead air" between comments. The edit score would play the appropriate comment at the right time, with nice crossfading if you prefer.

Re:DVD "Re-edit" standard

[jmu1]

Although a great idea, it'll never happen so long as certain people in positions of power are allowed to trampse on the rights of the consumer. They don't understand that the entertainment experience doesn't end where the original does... it never ends as long as it is allowed to be manipulated, twisted and mangled to the mind's delight.
I doubt that Kevin Smith minds when someone quotes his movie in an appropriate situation(comical). I also doubt that Lucas would mind if I made a tape of some kids playing with sticks and acting out jedi fight scenes, submit it to a film festival, and made money from it... would he?

subtitles

[ProfBooty]

Why didn't they make use of subtitles in this movie. It would have been just as effective in conveying peoples messages (it was used for most of the aliens in the original trilogy). In the original 3 movies the only accents you seemed to hear were british and american(with the brits being the bad guys i.e. the empire). Perhaps it seems that the movie was aimed at a younger audience, perhaps one that can't read subtitles indstead of anas an older one, and accents had to be used to differentiate one group from another.

Re:Looking for Pre-Attack attention

[CaseyB]

...most people interested in ci-Fi are waiting for the second Lord of The Rings movie. ... I think more people are waiting for the next X-Men movie than a SW movie in which we know that Anakin gets involved with Queen whats-her-name and starts becoming Darth Vader. ... Right now, he has no room to move.

Um, he has a hell of a lot more "room" than Peter Jackson does with Two Towers. I mean, I could probably guess how that ENTIRE MOVIE will unfold! And the next one as well!

Re:Remember Saruman

[Happy Monkey]

Now on the other hand, if they'd made (for instance) the wood elves dark (or the Rivendell ones) that would have made some sense because they were a seperate population.

Actually, it wouldn't, since elves are immortal, have very few children, and all come from the same stock. That said, the elves in Lothlorien seemed to look more androgynous in the movie than the ones in Rivendell. And Rivendell had the only dark-haired elves I saw (Elrond and Arwen, as half-elves, and two more unnamed elved at the council).

Re:I never understood

[jgerman]

Yeah the age difference stuck me as odd too, although if Anakin is 10 and you put the princess a little younger, 14 or so it's not too bad. I don't think they ever really say how old the princess is. She's obviously older, the question is how much.

Re:where do you draw the line?

[(void*)]

You answered the question yourself. There is a line somewhere and it is subjective. And some people (apparently rational) are offended - the line was crosssed according to some people. And the way you rationalize this is that these people are "hypersensitive". Why do people not turn that question around and ask themselves first: is it fair to criticize these people as hypersensitive? Why should we live in a such a desensitisized world?

Re:Parent offtopic? WTF?

[Rick the Red]

I'd like a transcript, too, please. Anyone? Or some open format?

Re:Flamebait?

[Rick the Red]

I think their viewer is awful, but the rest of it is pretty cool. Try making some actual content with it, and you will likely agree with me.

That's the secret of their business model. It's just like the Clams and celebrities: They pamper the content providers, like you and NPR, who think it's really cool tech. Thus much/most content is only available in Real format, driving the public to use their player. The content providers (you/NPR) fail to understand or ignore the downside to your customers, believing Real's player isn't that bad (although you admit it's "awful"). Well, I've got news for you (and NPR): you've just lost some customers. By choosing a non-open format, you've locked a segment out. By choosing Real in particular, you've locked out those of us who read the license agreements and don't care for their (Real's) terms. Just remember, those of us who read the license are generally in a much higher income bracket than the sheeple who don't. Do you really want to alienate the top-end of your market?

If you don't know what I'm talking about, read the license yourself sometime (you have to download and install the software to read it). They don't put the license for their media creation software on their web site, so I haven't read it, but I assume it doesn't have the same draconian clauses as the player's license, otherwise folks like you and NPR wouldn't dare use it on production computers. You did read the license, didn't you?

Re:Flamebait?

[NanoGator]

"The content providers (you/NPR) fail to understand or ignore..."

You're acting like I'm promoting Real. I'm not. My original post was an answer to the question "Why are they using Real Audio format and not MP3?" And I responded that it was probably because of Real's streaming features. Some people mixed that up with me supporting Real. My comments about the content side of it were in response to somebody calling me and idiot because they thought I loved Real's viewer. I was trying to point out there is more to Real than just the viewer.

You don't have to convince me that Real's player is a nuisance. I never ever said "They are in the right for using Real", nor did I ever say "they should only use Real and no other format!". I'm not proposing that anybody use it. I was simply answering somebody's question 'why?'. As for the user base, NPR is probably assuming that most people are idiots. Real Player is part of nearly every machine out there, whether it's prepackaged when you buy it, or it comes along when you download Netscape. The more advanced computer user probably doesn't have Real, but you can bet Aunt Sally has it since Gateway computers come with it, for example. And that's what NPR wants.

Should NPR support other formats? Oh I certainly think so. But the issues of 'non-standard' don't mean shit to Aunt Sally. She just wants to hear the program. That's who NPR is going after.

Please do not confuse my explaining NPR's point of view as support for Real's Viewer. I'm getting really sick of getting flamed for something I did not say. It really bugs me that people are judging me for simply answering a question.

Re:where do you draw the line?

[(void*)]

The thing is that neither artistic expression is not being curtailed! Nobody is saying: let's go shut George Lucas down becuase he offended someone's sensitivities.

It turns out that some people do see racism, and have valid examples from TPM to back that up.

Other people say this is being too sensitive and chose to ignore the point that this is subjective.

So let's just look at the whole issue holistically, and leave it at that.

My concern is this: what is the point of shutting up the sensitive people? If you shut them up, then you run the risk that in the future, some genuinely offensive piece of crap will offend you, and then you will find that you are in very poor copmany. Then you will have to be shut up. That's not freedom of speech!

Re:Flamebait?

[Rick the Red]

It really bugs me that people are judging me for simply answering a question.

Welcome to Slashdot! :-)

Sorry if I misunderstood your position. From your post (the one I responded to) I thought you were a Real media content producer who liked their tools.

Re:Flamebait?

[NanoGator]

I'm not a content producer, simply an animator who likes playing with compression tools. Their tools for making .RM files are pretty cool, though overly friendly.

Their server stuff's pretty cool too. That's not the same as thinking they should be used for anything, though heh. You might laugh at me for this, but for low bit-rate stuff, I usually prefer MS's Media Tools. However, for the high quality stuff, I much prefer Quicktime.

Understand though, my definition of cool is "Neat! I made a small file and the output's pretty good." I don't mean it like "Neat! I can use this on my site and everybody'll be happy!" I hope that clarifies my stance a bit heh.

Real was fun to play with, but it lost a bunch of points for it's viewer. Although, if I wanted to be sneaky, I could use their ActiveX control and bypass a bunch of their stuff....

Re:Flamebait?

[NanoGator]

"I would just rather not see arguments nested 10-deep when I'm reading at +2. "

Hmmm... never thought about that. I'll try to be more considerate in the future. :)

uh, winamp

[autopr0n]

Well, I know winamp supports vbr. And OGG has vbr as part of the standard.

Re:You don't speak for most of us

[maggard]

You come across a /. posting regarding a topic you are unfamilier with.

You:

1. Immediately post demanding to know what this is all about, somebody explain it to you, blah blah blah.
2. Follow the links included, invest 60 seconds figuring out the topic, then post your findings as a service to others.

Which did you do? What does that make you?

Dismissed.