Rogue One Those dreaded reshoots/What was changed?

Seconded.

 

http://www.slashfilm.com/rogue-one-deleted-scene-images/

My question is: why are these pictures from deleted scenes being released now? Is someone trying to drum up interest in an alternate cut of the film?

 

Honestly I never really linked Jyn's "too cool for school" lines at the Rebel base so I'm glad that stuff ended up on the cutting room floor, I wouldn't say no to an extended cut on DVD though ala Jacksons Middle Earth film. I think it is something that would make the money(provided its good a decent amount of new footage) to justify it as well since unlike Marvel I think you have a larger hardcore fanbase who care about that kind of thing.

 

Here's an ABC video about the making of CGI Peter Cushing in Rogue One.

The featurette offers yet more proof that Disney/LFL approached including Tarkin in two different ways. One, by having Guy Henry stand in front of a blue-screen wearing a headcam rig, to produce a CGI Peter Cushing; the other, by having Henry on set in full costume and makeup, to play the role without worrying about CGI at all.

Here’s Henry as Tarkin in the CGI motion-capture rig:



And here’s Guy Henry on set, playing Tarkin via simple recasting:



Hopefully we'll get to see the latter version of his performance at some point in the future - even better if it's integrated into an alternate cut (not SE!) of the film.

 

Guy Henry was an inspired choice.

 

I think it's tempting to think about what the original cut of the film was like, and since many of those shots that were left out were not only awesome but were among the first images we saw from the film, it seems a shame they were not included and we can't help wondering if the original version was better than what we got (I did really like the final version of the film, btw). But then I suppose, a good shot does not necessarily mean a good scene, and you have to think that they changed things with good reason. Perhaps having the Imperial database in one location and the comms tower in another made that part of the film a little cumbersome, and maybe the idea that they could survive running across the beach without being killed by the AT-ATs was too far fetched; maybe that shot of the Tie Fighter and Jyn didn't make sense because (assuming it wasn't piloted by a Rebel), it would have been easier for them to have just fired at her from a distance - maybe the original version just didn't work, however good it looked. I think we have to trust the filmakers on this.

That said, I'd love to see how the original version played out. Hopefully they'll put most of that stuff on the DVD release.

 

For my part, I'm pretty sure this was the entire point of the reshoots. More cuts of the film = more money for an eventual home video release.

And it'll work. I know I for one would buy a Blu-ray with multiple cuts of the movie.

 

Sadly I don't expect to see all the deleted stuff on the Blu-ray / DVD - look how limited the deleted scenes were for TFA - I just don't think Lucasfilm / Disney like the idea of people being able to see all the stuff that was left out (almost an entire alternate version of the film), because it might lead people to think the original version was better, and suggest that the studio interfered with the process, which won't reflect well on them. Obviously there were less changes made to TFA, but they gave the impression that the final version of the film was the only version, and that anything else wasn't really worth bothering with.

I actually just think that when the director and the others involved watched the original version back, it just didn't work the way it was for some reason. But I'd love to see how that version played out, and what it was about it that didn't work.

 

Well, if it's as you say and the original version didn't work quite as well as it was meant to (which I suspect is true), then I don't see why Disney would gain from holding back an alternate cut of the film. Quite the opposite - releasing an early cut would reflect well on them, for allowing their director the freedom to improve his film when it needed it. That's not just a good marketing strategy, that's a recruiting tool for other filmmakers.

And like I said... think of the DVD sales.

 

Is that not just for better lighting reference?

 

Yeah, but they probably did lighting refs for all the Tarkin scenes.

In other words, Recreating Tarkin was undoubtedly rather like how the CGI skeleton pirates were handled in the first Pirates of the Caribbean.

First the director would shoot a “practice take” with the actors playing skeletons on set with other actors, to get a reference for the lighting & choreography. Then they’d do a second take on set, using only the actors whose roles didn’t require CGI. The undead pirates would also be filmed separately, so the actors could be digitally transformed into skeletons and overlaid into the scene.

But in this case, as a byproduct of the footage shot for reference, almost certainly an entire alternate version of the Tarkin scenes exists without the need for any CGI whatsoever. I’m sure Disney is smart enough to make use of that.

 

After seeing the movie a couple of times, I'm really not surprised to hear that the early intro scenes in act 1 were reshoots. They feel a bit different from the rest of the film to me, but moreover I think the editorial choices in that section were non-linear and perhaps a bit rushed. One of the complaints I've heard is that the 1st act is a bit jumbled, and I couldn't quite put my finger on it until today. Think about it:

After the title, the first scene is Jyn waking up in prison (we connect with the prologue and infer this is years later). Then, we cut to an establishing shot of the "Ring of Kafrene", which in my first viewing was where I assumed Jyn was since the prior scene was so short. But this introduces us to Cassian, who finds out about the Death Star from a guy (presumably working for Saw Guerrera) who's heard about Bodhi. The next scene we get Bodhi going to meet Saw Guerrera's goons (shouldn't this be before the prior scene?) Then we go to "Wobani" where Jyn gets rescued. To me, this is like going C-B-A-D instead of A-B-C-D.

It seems like a more linear fashion would be to have the prologue/main title, the Bodhi scene on Jedha (with the added subtitle of "15 Years Later"), then the Cassian/informant scene, then go to Wobani (have Jyn wake up in prison, then cut to the transport rescue). Things proceed in a slightly more logical order and there's less jumping around.

I guess my inner editor is showing. Still loved the movie, though! But I think there are definite signs that it went through a lot of revision late in the game.

 

Yeah, Cassian learns about Bodhi being kidnapped by Saw's goons before Bodhi is kidnapped by Saw's goons. Maybe a Time Lord did it?

 

Yeah this was certainly the assumption I made, I think you can kind of see what there aiming for with the Bourne style world/galaxy hopping quick jumps in the early setup but still it does clearly feel rather different to the rest of the film(from Yavin onwards).

It would be interested in see what the original plan might have been, showing a younger Jyn with Saw seems rather problematic to me, shifting time after the intro then shifting time again a few mins latter. Maybe that was some kind of flashback Jyn has latter akin to the one of Galen and Krennic she has on the transport?

Just guesswork again but my feeling is that Cassian's role was emphasised more in the reshoots elevating him to arguably a co lead. Originally I wouldn't be supprised if the first time we see him is when Jyn meets him on Yavin with the informer scene being added to help play up his arc.

I do think the film would have benefited from retaining Edwards slower pace though out though, especially in terms of showing us a lot more of Jyn in prison helping to build her up a bit more and have some expectation around her escape. Equally I would have liked to see more of her journey to Yavin building up the intro of that location a lot more.

What you could say is that the Bodhi scene does kind of work within the bourne style I spose where as it would have been hard to integrate it into Edwards slower pace.

 

To be fair I think the film gives the impression that Bodhi has already met with either saw's men or someone connected to them and is now being taken to a meeting with his right hand man at the start of the film. The fact he's outside the city to me seems to indictable that this is an arranged meeting not just him coming across them.

 

That's not right. Cassian learns that an Imperial pilot has defected, not that he's been kidnapped. We then cut to a scene where that Imperial pilot is being escorted across the desert by people he had clearly contacted previously to deliver his message.

I've seen a number of misinterpretations along these lines, which has to do with the murky plot of the first half of the film. Methinks once the bluray is out and people can watch the film more closely, that these misdirected "plot hole" concerns will all melt away.

 

I picked up on that Cassian/Bodhi stuff watching it the second time round, it is a bit messy.

The conversation between Jyn and Saw on Jedha was also a bit odd.

Jyn asks Saw to show her the message, and Saw says something like "I have something to show you...", as if to say "No, but Iet me show you this instead".

It cuts to, I think, the rest of the group in the prison cages, then it goes back to Jyn and Saw and the "something" is the message. And Saw says "this is the message I was sent".

Well, technically it wasn't sent, Bodhi gave it to him.

In the first two acts, there's a lot of talking about the same things over and over again, it gets quite tiresome. It seems like a combination of not having enough plot left after the reshoots to sustain the film and having to add repetitious dialogue to make everything make sense.

 

I suppose technically he was sent it, by Galen, through Bodhi. But the other stuff - I'd have to see it again to make a judgement. I think without knowing exactly what was changed, it's difficult to know how much of this is down to the reshoots, or just the usual exposition / explanations that are always needed in these kind of films, and which are easy to get wrong or overdo.

One of the things I'm puzzled about regarding these reshoots is that scene where K-2SO says to Jyn "The captain says you are friend...I will not kill you" - it looks like this is the first time he's met her, but they're already on Jedha, so I'm not sure how that could be the case.

 

My one little complaint was also how Cassian suddenly appears on Wobani and we have no background on how he knew Jyn was there. for me that was a bit slap dash and needed a scene prior to explain what he was doing and why.

 

Maybe... though I guess we shouldn't be too surprised that someone who works for Rebel Intelligence has access to some great sources.

 

It was important to cut to Jyn immediately after the opening flashback to establish that she's the little girl. I agree that the first Bodhi scene perhaps should have come before the first Cassian scene, but then the Bodhi scene would have required more exposition to explain what was happening. As it stands, the first Cassian scene essentially explains the first Bodhi scene, so we cut back on exposition.

Personally, I love the way it is. It's a real murky, fog of way, spies and informants atmosphere. Things shouldn't be clear. That really sold the world for me. It felt like a real place where information is hard to come by. A far cry from many blockbusters where different characters seem to know far too much for the sake of plot convenience.

 

Yeah its only a minor gripe but i felt the movie would of benefited from some explanation, just seemed we were asked to assume a bit too much especially so early. Seeing as thats my only gripe shows what a good movie it was

I didn't have a problem with any of those scenes, was simply how Cassian and K2 suddenly appear on Wobani that felt a bit wrong. The later scene on yavin helps a little and we can assume then the rebels obviously had knowledge of her and her whereabouts and decided to get her once they became aware of Galens message.

 

Skillzwalker datatapes Cassian never went to Wobani... That was his right hand man Sgt Melshi from Bravo team! K2 was with them though

 

Ahh thank you, was never sure if it was Cassian or not as it was hard to tell but when K2 turns up I then assumed it must be him.

 

So, has this been discussed? They had an "Indie Hour" at the end of each day's filming where they did random shots, anything that came to them. The iconic shot of Jyn in the tunnel and the one of Krennic in front of the blue planet came from that.

http://io9.gizmodo.com/why-the-rogue-one-trailers-most-iconic-shot-never-appea-1790910745