Meadow scene

Why: Although I don’t think it was nearly as bad as the fireplace scene, I still think this scene will need lots of work.

The conversation is not that great, but it does have some nice elements. It’s what happens after the conversation that is the big problem. We see Padmé running around a green meadow practically singing “The hills are alive with the sound of music!” followed by Anakin riding on some stupid animal for God knows what reason, then falling off and pretending he’s hurt. This is followed by Padmé running over to him, looking so cheesy, and them rolling around in the grass very unbelievably, followed by them stopping for a long time and looking like they’re just about to “get it on.”

Something needs to be done about this.

How: We can divide this into two sections; the conversation, and the meadow.

The conversation: I don’t like the idea of Padmé talking about her old boyfriend and Anakin getting all jealous. It’s very shallow and not Star Wars-like at all. Since they talk about politics, and usually political debates are long, make the conversation start with more political talk. It could end with them casually brushing the political issues aside (unaware of the real political situation they’re in), and starting to talk about something else. It could go something like this:

ANAKIN: I still can’t believe you left Jar Jar in charge of the opposition. Are you sure he’s responsible enough for that kind of job?

PADMÉ: Jar Jar’s changed a lot since he joined me as my aide. He’s quite capable now, and most importantly his heart is in the right place. I trust him to always do what’s best for the Republic.

ANAKIN: Well I guess it’s better than leaving one of those useless Republic officials.

This could be followed by Padmé saying, “You really don’t like politicians, do you,” followed by the rest of the conversation as usual.

There is one other point regarding the conversation that I don’t really understand up till now, and that is when Padmé says, “You’re making fun of me.” I don’t get how Anakin was making fun of her. Most people are guessing that he made a serious face to mock her always looking serious, and if that’s the case, then it should be made more clear to the audience, because the way it is now makes it really confusing.

The meadow: Ok, Padmé running around and singing “The Sound of Music” is passable as long as the music is changed. The scene should be less of an epic if you want to make the next part believable.

As for Anakin and his “friend,” instead of him riding it, I think it would be very interesting to see him mind-controlling it, trying to get it to come to him. I think this would be cool because they’re in a very serene environment with friendly animals, which would make an amazing contrast to the scene in the arena where Anakin is trying to mind-control the Reek.

This can be followed by the Shaak coming to him very willingly and gracefully and him petting it and showing Padmé how he did it with her watching from a distance and smiling.

Then we can have the Shaak’s mate come over and trample Anakin and have both shaaks bounce away. Then Padmé could come over and see if Anakin’s okay, followed by them rolling around ONCE, until he’s on top of her, then have Anakin stand up and give Padmé his hand to help her stand.

Now this might be a good place for their first kiss, since they’re obviously very happy and in a fun mood, unlike when they were by the lake and in a very weird mood. A kiss here would make the next scene where they’re eating fruit look much better because they’re very happy with each other, like people are after their first kiss. I think something like this was actually filmed because there are pictures of them kissing in the meadow, like the one below.