Fan-created Star Wars Spinoff in The Works

Lazarian writes "According to an article from the Edmonton Sun, director Mark Twitchell from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology has begun filming Star Wars: Secrets of the Rebellion, a non-profit venture expected to be released in 2008. From the article: "The 27-year-old Edmonton director begins shooting a feature-length independent Star Wars spin-off film at NAIT Saturday, and has amassed $60,000 to bring his dream to life. "I'm the only guy crazy enough to do this, because I'm not allowed to turn a profit. The film is for hardcore fans who miss the character development of the original trilogy.""

Too bad IMPS died.

I actually really enjoyed chapter one of IMPS: The Relentless (impstherelentless.com) but it seems to have died. It's a pity; that was probably the best SW fanfilm out now.

Democracy does work!

This has the most potential of any story I've read on /. in a while. Like many geeks, I was terribley disapointed by the three prequels. One of my bigger complaints is the heavy handed use of digital effects. Considering this film's budget, I doubt that that will be a problem.

Re:SFX and quality

"filmmakers seem to haved deferred to SFX to carry the movie"

Found it!

Re:Democracy does work!

I would think the opposite. It must be cheaper now to do things with computers than to do them the old fashioned way. Granted this movie won't have the excessive high dollar effects of the prequels, but I'd bet that it's going to be mostly computer animation, and the cheap variety.

Computer animation in movies is really something that I've come to despise. To me it looks considerably worse than old fashioned special effects, especially in lower budget horror and sci fi films, which are my favorite genres (or they were before everything started looking like a video game intro). That's not to say that they can't be done well, it just doesn't happen too often. I'd take the old effects in The Thing or Alien over most new films relying mostly on computer effects.

Re:Democracy does work!

One of my bigger complaints is the heavy handed use of digital effects. Considering this film's budget, I doubt that that will be a problem.

If this is anything like the fan videos that have come before it, it will probably have incredibly high production values (e.g. CGI effects, space ships, awesome compositing work, and realistic weapons), but will suffer from poor audio and acting.

For example, I was just watching the latest Star Trek: Exeter the other day. While the acting is not the worst (that title goes to a good-looking Star Wars fan film I saw a while back), it often suffers from the "spitting out the lines"-itis. Instead of training the actors and/or editing for proper timing, the actors are allowed to speak their lines one after another without any sort of pausing. The result is that they come across as emotionless actors speaking lines.

Now Shatner did have a propensity for overacting. (It's my... ship... my... ship!) However, he was at least acting. By not taking the time to slow down and deliver the lines, the actors never manage any real emotional expression. Which makes their lines that much harder to follow.

I say, "that much harder", because the voice audio is usually terrible in these amatuer productions. They need to either get a good mic *really* close to the actors, or they need to re-dub the audio in post-production. A combination of both wouldn't be such a bad idea. It would also help to try and clean up the audio that they do record. Try to remove any background noise or echoing (it's *really* hard to get perfectly clean audio without a sound booth) and boost the volume to be louder than the incessant background effects.

Exeter has one more annoyance that's actually quite unique to the production. They allow the actors to make nervous movements. While it's not that big of a deal for someone to rock a chair in real life, it's incredibly distracting in a movie. Hopefully they'll realize this and make their actors sit still for their lines.

That's my opinion, anyway. I imagine that someone trained in the field could provide more precise advice.

FWIW, I think it's amazing what fan films have been doing these days. If we wait a few more years, we may find that what used to be Internet fan films will become the Internet television of tomorrow. I just hope someone reboots Blake's 7. It would be a wonderful show to see back on the air. :-)

Do not want

Do not want.

Re:Do not want

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Do+ not+want [urbandictionary.com]!

not the typical nerd

"Mark Twitchell isn't a typical Star Wars fan. Rather than collect countless plastic toys or blog online with closet sci-fi nerds, he indulges his hobby in its "purest" form: film."

uh huh. Are we ignoring the past twenty years of film school students, the vast majority of whom all envision themselves as the next george lucas and at some point in high school or college made a film that references/parodies/extends star wars in some way? Gimme a break, there's nothing special about this dork... if anything he's jumping on a trend after it's already been destroyed by the new trilogy. Great news team, Edmonton Sun.

Obligatory ...

The film will delve into the the downfall of the Jedi, the theft of the Death Star blueprints, and the Empire's efforts to reclaim them.

Many Bothans will die to bring us this information.

For the fans?

"I'm the only guy crazy enough to do this, because I'm not allowed to turn a profit. The film is for hardcore fans who miss the character development of the original trilogy."

I don't think this guy understands Star Wars at all...

One in a long long line...

This certainly seems to have more potential than most, but just in case one or two people on the Internet don't already know this isn't entirely a new idea. People have actually been doing Star Wars fan films for quite some time. [theforce.net]

press release

A press release by George Lucas on the indy films stated simply: "Mark.... I >AM your father!"

Life Sucking Lawyers

What do George's Lawyers have to say to this wee bit 'o news?

Re:Life Sucking Lawyers

Ever since the original trilogy, George Lucas has always been quietly supportive of non-commercial fan-created Star Wars stuff, even before the Internet and its resulting explosion of SW fanfic and things. I seem to remember he even judged one or two fan film competitions. I think that stance is one of the wisest moves he's ever made as grand poobah of a cultural icon.

Isn't this piracy?

Based on the strict copyright laws in place on DVD's and any supposed "intellectual property" (an oxy-moron if ever there was one), how is this possible? Simply making the project non-profit excapes culpability for trademark and copyright infringement? If that's the case, then all my DVD copies are for non-profit purposes.

Of course the real reason that the project can't be for profit, is that the fan made movie would gross more than all three of the latest prequels combined revenues no doubt, proving that Hollywood and Lucas has it's head up it's ass. Not to mention destroying the self perpetuating system of Hollywood producers and studios that stifle creativity from outside or unfamiliar sources.

Pink-5

The linked article is pretty content-lite, but I hope he produces something interesting and has a good time doing so.

I have been a big fan of Pink Five [trudang.com] for some time now. It's always been funny, but the production values have been getting significantly better as the story continues.

Although it is an apples-organges comparison, I find it interesting that fans with no budget can create movies that are more interesting and entertaining than George Lucas (Ep 1-) can with his billions!

Maybe passion is more important than the size of your wallet?

Film's budget break-down

Catering (five boxes Little Debbies', two liters Mountian Dew): $7.00

Transportation: $52

Equipment: $3,401

Special effects: $2,900

Insurance: $1,200

Legal fees in anticipation of lawsuit from Lucasfilm: $52,000

Re:Film's budget break-down

The face on George Lucas when he sees the film and sees that it's better than what he wrote : priceless.

Commander Rob!!!

60K!!! We did these Star Trek fan films on $200!!! Weeee!

http://www.commanderrob.com/ [commanderrob.com]

Admittedly, the acting quality from the action figures is a little...um...stiff.

Tod.

Still illegal...

Profit only helps better quantify the damage to the intellectual property. What part of derivative works does this guy not understand?

Star Wars Kid

I just hope he casts the Star Wars Kid in some role.

99% of all Star Wars Fanfilms suck

I think most Star Wars Fan films do try and not suck, but mostly all of them end up becoming a lightsaber/cgi fest with no story or plot. Ironically, much the same could be said about the "new" trilogy. The only good fanfilm I have seen that is coming out is http://www.tydirium.tv/ [tydirium.tv] they actually built a huge Star Destroyer model and had real sets.

Just to clarify

Because I'm not quite sure yet: Are you in this movie? ;-)

And I'm supposed to believe...

And I'm supposed to believe he can find better actors, can direct better and will write a better story than we already have. All for $60,000?

I expect terrible actors, terrible direction and even worse dialogue. All compounded with: bad FX, worse audio and a poor cinematography.

Yeah... this sounds like it's going to save Star Wars.

Re:And I'm supposed to believe...

"And I'm supposed to believe he can find better actors, can direct better and will write a better story than we already have."

Would be difficult to do worse than 'Phantom Menace'. Though, to be fair, it's not the actor's fault that they suck ass in the movie.

"I expect terrible actors, terrible direction and even worse dialogue."

If they can write worse dialog than George Lucas, they deserve an award.

Who will they find...

thatcantalk

like

James T.

Kirk?

from the if-then-better-than dept.

I know that in this day and age, it's too much to ask for the editors of a for-profit site to be competent in English, even if that's their native language. Even Associated Press articles have gotten past proofreaders with the occasional homonym slip.

The word of the day is than .

The word 'than' is used as a part of a comparison. Examples: it's better than nothing; it's less than thrilling; six is greater than four.

The word 'then' is used as a conjunction. Two common cases are if-then or to establish a sequence. Examples: if he enters the biathlon then he may compete; this biathlon starts with a biking component, then ends with a running component.

I have always boggled at how geeks must always structure and type things accurately to get computers to understand them, but then completely fail to express themselves as accurately in any other form of communication.

But how does he decide who shoots first?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_Shot_First [wikipedia.org]

ugh...

My problem with the fan films is fans thinking they can act, and they can't.

Lucas had shitty, crappy dialogue in the new trilogy, and that held a lot of the actors back... Natalie Portman and Ewan MccGreggor have done impressive stuff in the past, and the reason they looked so bad in these movies was due to the poor script, the actors did what they could with what they were given.

Now, when these indie SW films seem to get fans to play the parts. Even if you have a good script, these people have no idea what they are doing, and it shows. The same way that Lucas can make his actors look bad with a bad script, bad actors can make a good script look bad.

Here's to hoping he ropes in real actors, even if they don't give to shits about SW than using a bunch of fanboys who they they know what they are doing.

Why all the bashing

To heck with whatever copyright laws he may be breaking - Let's see how he does. The chances are nobody will ever hear of this movie again, and that it will crash and burn miserably. But George Lucas couldn't sell the original to studios and it turned out to be not bad for everyone. Let em play with his money. He could spend $60,000 on a car, but then he couldn't superimpose his face over Lukes as the deathstar blows up. I don't see how it could be much worse than the prequels.

More Obligatories

"Making films ain't like dustin' crops boy!"

"It's as if a thousand Lucas lawyers suddenly cried out, and then were silent."

"That's no Lucas bomb, it's a fan flick!"

"He better get those Mt. Dew Bottles to editing by tomorrow morning, or there'll be hell to pay."

And finally, said the director of the fan film to Lucas: "Would someone get this walking carpet out of my way."

Cast

There are some "Official" Star Wars actors in the movie.

Included in the cast:

Zach Jensen: Jedi Master Kit Fisto (Episode 2)

AND

Jeremy Bulloch: BOBA FETT!!!! Ok...he won't play Boba Fett in this movie.

More info...

They have a website up.

http://www.xpressentertainment.ca/index.php [xpressentertainment.ca]

As bad as Hollywood.

Maybe he should create his own SciFi/Fantasy story instead of remaking, rehashing, extending, or copying someone else's.

Fanmade movies tend to not know their limitations

The film is for hardcore fans who miss the character development of the original trilogy.

Erm, the "hardcore fan" is willing to watch anything; Even if the main characters would be played by stop-motion turds with little lightsabers; They'd watch -and- analyse the intriguing plot afterwards... for weeks.

Only a hardcore fan is willing to watch these fanmade movies; I am hard trying -not- to be a troll, but are there any fanmade StarWars-movies that -are- worth watching?
The few I've seen (of course) lack the visual quality of the original, but instead of confining themselves to areas where there isn't as much CGI needed, they always cram in a few (crappy looking) scenes, that for me, ruin the movie.

When will those directors of fanmade movies just realise their weaker points, and instead -really- focus on plot/actors

You aren't the first

"I'm the only guy crazy enough to do this, because I'm not allowed to turn a profit."

Actually, you're not the first and only guy, and I doubt you'll be the last. Come on, this was only a year ago! Star Wars Revelations [ifilm.com]

If I'm not mistaken, that one sucked too

Between Eps III and IV?

Isn't that when the new Star Wars television series is supposed to take place?

Meesa Dying!

From the FAQ"s on the website:

We find out whatever happened to Jar Jar Binks.

Please, PLEASE let it be something involving horrible, unrelenting agony.

Leigh Brackett's Other Work

I think it's sad that no one ever pays attention to any of Leigh Brackett's [kirjasto.sci.fi] other work. Sure, Empire Strikes Back was a fine film with crackling dialogue, but I can vaugely remember some of her other Space Operas from when I was a kid (mostly short stories). (Time to buy some books, I guess.)

I'd really like to see Space Opera make a comeback, but it seems unlikely with the failure of Serenity at the box office.

I'm confused....

Help me Slashdot, I'm confused...

Am I supposed to hate this because it is "new" Star Wars and will have lots of CGI, or am I supposed to love it because it is a fan film and not Lucas?? Tell me what to think!

Please hurry, I want to make up my mind before I see it...

Shit...

I think George Lucas gonna sue somebody!

Why not make a mashup with original footage?

You'd distribute the mashup, alongwith a special player application. The viewer would be required to have a Star Wars DVD. The mashup file would use frames from the original DVD by reference. The player would composite the two video sources ( the mashup, and the DVD ). This is much like the Video Internet [livejournal.com].

This will be a SW fan film with better acting.

I find most of what makes a crap-tastic fanfilm is the sub-par acting. Granted, noone's winning any best actor Oscars in any real SW film, but most geeks just can't act. The difference here I think is that Mark's getting real actors for this project. Combined with some fairly decent special effects, this should make for an enjoyable fan film.

Now, for the disclaimer - I'm friends with some of the folks with leading roles in this film. That said, the guy playing Han Solo probably does Solo better than Harrison Ford did. If you've seen "that Han Solo guy" at a con in the last 6 years, it was probably him. Plus he can act. He's been in a few independent films, including the lead role in University Heights [blueboxlimited.com]; in which he totally stole the show.

The Chewbacca is probably the best fan-created costume out there. The guy playing chewie did almost the whole costume himself & is a super-stickler for detail. Hell, he can even vocalize a pretty decent wookie growl.

Making a movie for profit?

"I'm the only guy crazy enough to do this, because I'm not allowed to turn a profit."

Crazy? I don't think so. It is well known that [wikipedia.org] even if you make a successful movie, you don't make a movie to make a profit [wikipedia.org].

DUDE!!!!

I am so hyped to read this, because I'm in the movie!!!11one!! It's freakin awesome... we just shot the Cantina scene, it kicks ass... there's just too much to say. Mark is doing a great job, the cast is great, the sets are awesome... and the story is damn good too. I don't think anyone is going to be disappointed.

The best part is that everyone involved in the project is such a huge geek, and Star Wars fan, that everything just comes together perfectly.

Everyone needs to go Slashdot XPress Entertainment [xpressentertainment.ca]. That's Marks' production company that's making the movie. There is a forums there too, and we have about a thousand pictures from the first 2 days of shooting that are soon to get put up there.

Awesome hero costumes, all the extras look great, and there are some extremely hot girls (heck, all of them are!). Perfect start to a movie, IMHO.

Also, I need help... I'm changing my sig, how does this sound?

I win this argument by default. I'M IN MOTHERF*CKING STAR WARS, BITCH!

This movie will be great

Everybody who I've heard bash this movie doesn't have a clue, I'm in the movie and helping on set. Jimmy does a great job at Han Solo, he's been a die hard Solo fan since he was 6. He has Han Solo's act down to a tee. Grant is Chewbacca, he performed at the red carpet opening to Revenge of the Sith , and hes performed for George Lucas rersonally, he has Chewbaccas growl to a tee. They will be bringing in a boba fett performer in the next week or so, the whole cast is great, everybody just clicked together ther is great chemistry ion the set, this will be the best fan film made, period.

Is this Lucas type storyline or for real?

Two big questions here. First, is this going to be a kiddie show thats strokes the Rebel Alliance or is this going to be a harder "yeah good guys will die" kind of movie? Second, are the "elite" stormtroopers going to be as sucky as possible to allow the "good guys" to get away with pure crap as usual?

Seriously though, as much as I looove Star Wars GL really pushed the edges or reality but oversimplifying the enemy into bumbling goofs who just happened to have defeated an intergalatic federation (no ST pun there..well maybe) and controlled the galaxy for the past 18yrs with an iron fist. COMBAT trained pilots with thousands of hours of flight time making easy targets of themselves (try and get me to believe Luke's combat flight training wasn't him playing their modern day BF2), armor that is only for show (ewoks..damn ewoks), and military trained riflmen how can't hit a human target at 10ft. Blaaaaah!

A struggling alliance against an empire that actually has teeth and can use them makes for better entertainment than the typical "you charge that stormtrooper platoon and wipe them out with this chopstick while I stand out in the open and use my powers of Lucas cheats and a paperclip to make them miss me".

Sorry dude Lucas forgot that the 12yr target audience (and his current biggest fans) all grew up and are in their 20's-40's. Its bad enough that the EU stuff is butchered by crappy writing. Try doing this to a more adult audience....pleeeeease.

Re:Star Wars answer to Star Trek: Hidden Frontier

Spinoff fan series stink. They inevitably become fanboy wankfests designed to inflate the egos and fulfill the fantasies of whoever's producing the drivel.

Case in point: Star Trek: Hidden Frontier http://www.hiddenfrontier.com/ [hiddenfrontier.com] where the main character is gay and has a Klingon boyfriend with a "gentleness" fetish.

GARBAGE!

I'm in the movie, and I can say, don't worry. The script is well balanced, and doesn't twist the SW universe into something it's not just so the production team can get their jollies. Besides, there are too many Star Wars Geeks on this movie... we'd kick Mark in the nuts if he tried. :)

PS: Mark... if you're reading this... uh... please don't cut me over this. :)

Matrix XP.

On the other hand there's stuff like Matrix XP that's better than the "real" sequels. Google for it, and bear in mind that it was done before Matrix Reloaded/Rebooted/Revolutions/whatever...