Saturday 21 January 2017

ROGUE ONE: ENTERING THE VAULT - THE UNUSED FOOTAGE

The danger escalates for Cassian and Jyn as they enter Imperial territory, in ROGUE ONE.

It was always planned for Jyn, Cassian and K-2 to get into the Scarif base Data Vault under Imperial cover disguise. However, the sequence and its visual conception/directorial execution changed by the time of ROGUE ONE's reshoots in Summer 2016. Originally, Jyn and Cassian took on several Stormtroopers guarding the Vault's entrance and possibly a singular white-suited Imperial officer seen briefly in a behind the scenes grab. As Cassian and Jyn went through the vault tunnel and retrieved the data tapes for the Death Star, K-2SO remained outside the vault entrance where he quickly sent an Imperial officer flying across the room (in the finished film, however, he'd hit one on the head- a far superior comedy moment). With Stormtroopers on their way, and the plans taken, Jyn and Cassian, back in rebel commando fatigues, departed with K-2SO back via the way they'd come (filmed at the redressed Canary Wharf Underground station), pursued by a legion of Stormtroopers and Shoretroopers. Interestingly, there are no Imperials ahead of the trio as they escape- perhaps taken out by Rebel soldiers or distracted by the start of a decoy action from the other Rebel squads outside- action that may also have been reworked in the finished film. Once reunited, our heroes rush out of the bunker entrance with their comrades, determined to reach the separate transmitter dish facility, only to now find themselves under AT-ACT attack!

Our disguised heroes on their way to the Vault complex.

Undercover, Cassian and K-2SO, as seen in the film.

Stormtrooper guards at the Vault facility, as filmed at London's futuristic-looking Canary Wharf station.

A Stormtrooper patrol passes by. Note the Imperial officer facing the Vault entrance unused footage.

Attacking the Vault guards on the original Vault set that was changed for the re-shoots.

A Stormtrooper gets whacked!

Cassian attacks his Stormtrooper.

The fight continues.

Jyn proves a feisty opponent.

A between scenes moment for Diego Luna with Gareth Edwards.

In the Vault chamber tunnel, and a scene (apparently part of camera test footage) shown in the trailer, but not in the film.

Another posed shot.

Presumably the retrieval of the plans seen in this film moment stayed the same as the originally shot material.

Filming K-2SO taking out an Imperial officer on the original vault set.

The officer goes bye-byes!

The alarm has been raised- Stormtroopers are on the way.

A fast escape dash.

This shot was used but in a flipped angle, for a different scene of the film- instead of chasing our heroes they are now rushing out to fight the Rebel diversion squad.

Perhaps the filmmakers realised that K-2SO's demise would have been improved, more dramatically served and more useful, acting as a sacrifice at this point of the film rather than having him run out across the beach and get killed when presumably reaching the transmitter dish entrance- footage exists of Tudyk being shot and falling to his demise alongside the dead or injured body of Cassian. Additionally, the Vault entrance set underwent a noticeably different production design change by the re-shoots, to something visually closer to the Imperial look of EPISODE IV, notably the Death Star cell bay set and hangar control room, with a darker colour scheme that perhaps made it more edgier to look at, and possibly revised with the intention of greater space for camera angles and inventive excitement.

Our heroes added to the unseen Vault tunnel location, for this Asiatic ROGUE ONE poster.

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