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Fan-created Star Wars Spinoff in The Works

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the better-then-crazy-lucas dept.

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.""

16 of 196 comments (clear)

  1. Too bad IMPS died. by the+linux+geek · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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.

  2. Democracy does work! by andrewman327 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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.

    --
    Information wants a fueled airplane waiting at the hangar and no one gets hurt.
    1. Re:Democracy does work! by AKAImBatman · · Score: 4, Insightful
      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. :-)
      --
      Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
  3. Do not want by birder · · Score: 4, Funny

    Do not want.

    1. Re:Do not want by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

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

  4. Obligatory ... by Stavr0 · · Score: 5, Funny
    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.

  5. For the fans? by Otter+Escaping+North · · Score: 5, Funny

    "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...

    --
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  6. One in a long long line... by Rob+T+Firefly · · Score: 4, Informative

    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.

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  7. Film's budget break-down by StefanJ · · Score: 5, Funny

    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

    1. Re:Film's budget break-down by JFMulder · · Score: 4, Funny

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

  8. Re:Life Sucking Lawyers by Rob+T+Firefly · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

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    Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
  9. 99% of all Star Wars Fanfilms suck by mrshowtime · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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/ they actually built a huge Star Destroyer model and had real sets.

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  10. ugh... by TrippTDF · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.

  11. More Obligatories by hellfire · · Score: 5, Funny

    "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."

    --

    "All great wisdom is contained in .signature files"

  12. Cast by dafz1 · · Score: 4, Informative

    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.

  13. You aren't the first by LuminaireX · · Score: 4, Informative

    "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

    If I'm not mistaken, that one sucked too