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Guest El Chalupacabra

For a fan film, it is pretty awesome to have made for only $100k. It comes off as Syfy Channel original in some spots, and has too much fan service, but being a fan film that is sort of the point, anyway. I did get a kick out of the Vader VS The Emperor, though I always thought the Emperor would easily smack Vader down. Then again I guess that is basically a dream sequence. I think part 2 is supposed to be Mace Windu VS Vader. Fan wank for sure, but I oddly want to see it.

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I don't think it hurts anything, if it brings him and fans joy, no harm done.

 

But personally I can't fathom that level of a personal investment into anything that isn't original. Unlicensed work in an IP that's not yours is crazy to me.

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Guest El Chalupacabra

I am not sure exactly how youtube works, but from what I gather, this guy used money he received from his other youtube videos and crowd funding to fund the fan film. But he couldn't charge money for the fan film itself, or make money off it in any way. Sort of a fine legal line, but he worked it out somehow so that LFL didn't get upset and file a lawsuit. But yeah, $100k is a lot of money, especially to make a fan film where you make no money off of it at all. Unless he is using it as a resume builder and a way to try to get professional work from a studio. After what CBS and Paramount did with that Axanar guy, why would someone risk making a fan film anymore?

 

But again, for a fan film, I can respect the work the guy put into it. Objectively, it's not professional, maybe mediocre at best, but interesting to watch, and I personally like it because of all that.

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I liked the scene of Vader without his suit.. just a bald torso hanging suspended from tubes and wires in the meditation room (or whatever it was). And the following exchange between the Emperor and Vader is pretty well written. Only the delivery isn't so hot. But still, for a fan thing I find it impressive.

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I am not sure exactly how youtube works, but from what I gather, this guy used money he received from his other youtube videos and crowd funding to fund the fan film. But he couldn't charge money for the fan film itself, or make money off it in any way. Sort of a fine legal line, but he worked it out somehow so that LFL didn't get upset and file a lawsuit. But yeah, $100k is a lot of money, especially to make a fan film where you make no money off of it at all. Unless he is using it as a resume builder and a way to try to get professional work from a studio. After what CBS and Paramount did with that Axanar guy, why would someone risk making a fan film anymore?

Therein lies the dilemma(s).

 

Were it an original project, no one would have backed it. At least not to that level.

 

And there are some fan films (like the Mortal Combat one from a few years back, and the gritty Power Rangers one) that got the directors for real Hollywood work. If you really can put a unique spin on it, it could be a calling card.

 

It still seems futile to me personally, and a waste of creativity. But again, if people paid for it, he wanted to make it, and fans like it-- let them have it.

 

I think this one is okay, certainly better than most Star Wars fan films, which are usually some nerd in a Jedi robe along with his cool friend who has long hair and knows kung fu on a remote planet (nearest park) where they are being hunted by a rando SithLord (who generally looks like a Juggalo).

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I liked the scene of Vader without his suit.. just a bald torso hanging suspended from tubes and wires in the meditation room (or whatever it was). A

They got that from Rogue One... which is my other problem with fan films,. The best moments tend to be fan-wanks or doing what we've seen before. The term "fan" itself is a pejorative in a way.

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LucasFilm was far more lenient under George Lucas toward fan films, realizing how healthy free promotion was. They even held fan film awards. Kennedy and Iger are not so fond of them, but at least he communicated with LucasFilm every step of the way so as to be compliant and not get shut down. LucasFilm recently--infamously--sent a cease-and-desist to a popular fan remake of the Knights of the Old Republic video game, pissing off many people and leaving many scared.

I liked the scene of Vader without his suit.. just a bald torso hanging suspended from tubes and wires in the meditation room (or whatever it was). And the following exchange between the Emperor and Vader is pretty well written. Only the delivery isn't so hot. But still, for a fan thing I find it impressive.

That was him! The guy who produced and funded the film, calling himself "Star Wars Theory," played the unmasked Vader.

Tank: Actually, Rogue One got it from the EU, or at least they did it first. I'm trying to Google comic book scans from the mid-2000s but am having a hard time finding them. In other words, it's something that's been done several times before, so I don't see what the big deal is.

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Guest El Chalupacabra

 

I am not sure exactly how youtube works, but from what I gather, this guy used money he received from his other youtube videos and crowd funding to fund the fan film. But he couldn't charge money for the fan film itself, or make money off it in any way. Sort of a fine legal line, but he worked it out somehow so that LFL didn't get upset and file a lawsuit. But yeah, $100k is a lot of money, especially to make a fan film where you make no money off of it at all. Unless he is using it as a resume builder and a way to try to get professional work from a studio. After what CBS and Paramount did with that Axanar guy, why would someone risk making a fan film anymore?

Therein lies the dilemma(s).

 

Were it an original project, no one would have backed it. At least not to that level.

 

And there are some fan films (like the Mortal Combat one from a few years back, and the gritty Power Rangers one) that got the directors for real Hollywood work. If you really can put a unique spin on it, it could be a calling card.

 

It still seems futile to me personally, and a waste of creativity. But again, if people paid for it, he wanted to make it, and fans like it-- let them have it.

 

I think this one is okay, certainly better than most Star Wars fan films, which are usually some nerd in a Jedi robe along with his cool friend who has long hair and knows kung fu on a remote planet (nearest park) where they are being hunted by a rando SithLord (who generally looks like a Juggalo).

 

That makes sense to me. Film is art, the same as any other medium. It would be like copying a well-known painting and then giving it away for free.

 

But if all parties involved are OK with it, why not?

 

I liked the scene of Vader without his suit.. just a bald torso hanging suspended from tubes and wires in the meditation room (or whatever it was). A

They got that from Rogue One... which is my other problem with fan films,. The best moments tend to be fan-wanks or doing what we've seen before. The term "fan" itself is a pejorative in a way.

 

Vader had the Kylo Ren TFA laser bolt moment, too. Though the scenes were kind of derivative of TFA and Rogue One, they DO actually make sense, in a retcon sort of way.

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LucasFilm was far more lenient under George Lucas toward fan films, realizing how healthy free promotion was. They even held fan film awards. Kennedy and Iger are not so fond of them, but at least he communicated with LucasFilm every step of the way so as to be compliant and not get shut down. LucasFilm recently--infamously--sent a cease-and-desist to a popular fan remake of the Knights of the Old Republic video game, pissing off many people and leaving many scared.

I'm really conflicted about this.

 

When George Lucas tried to no longer release as well as full on recall and destroy any version of the OT that wasn't the SE, I cried foul. He himself had rallied against Ted Turner for keeping non-colorized versions of classics from the public. He said that classics that are part of pop culture belong to all of us, and are important to film history. His hypocrisy drove me insane. Feeling like Star Wars belonged to all of us as a huge piece of pop culture, I did not like that he might try to take away the version I grew up with.

 

But now, having been on the other side, I have learned that fandom that assumes ownership of iconic IP tends to be insufferable. If somebody took something I created and made some terrible version of it, I don't think I'd be very happy.

 

We just hit a milestone in that a bunch of older literary works and early films became public domain, it was the first time in a while given that Disney successfully petitioned the government to change copyright law to keep Mickey Mouse safe from infringement. While I fully get how old works being public domain can be great, again, if somebody who invests time and money into an IP to use as their brand is ruined because of knockoffs, that sucks.

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I'm fairly strict on copyright myself. If anything, I'd restrict it even further to close the "Fair Use" loopholes that YouTubers use to justify showing half a movie just because they talk over some of it. The "free advertising" argument and all the rest are really self-serving nonsense from a handful of people who want to keep their channels anyway.

 

Personally, I'd like to make copyright intact for truly important pieces of art more or less indefinitely. I mean, it'll be great when, say, the Marx Brothers movies make their way so that anyone could see them at any time and maybe they can get new life and a few more people can appreciate them. Truth be told, the financial value for most movies under copyright is minimal enough that the value to the holders far outweighs the value to the public and even to the artists themselves in keeping them covered. I mean, would it benefit Jane Austen if I couldn't go to Gutenberg.org and read Mansfield Park whenever I wanted because some publishing house has kept the rights under lock and key? It may not hurt Pride and Prejudice much, but it would make her less popular work much less accessible.

 

On the other hand, it won't be so many years until films like Snow White, The Wizard of Oz, or Gone With the Wind enter public domain themselves. These movies still hold fairly significant value and it doesn't hurt the public or the artists because the works haven't dimmed with the neglect of their rightsholders keeping them just for the sake of it. In fact, they continue to receive corporate backing in order to keep them fresh in the public's mind. Same thing goes with literature. The first version of the Hobbit will fall into public domain around the same time as those movies with Animal Farm not far behind. The Great Gatsby continues to do better than most modern books, but will go into public domain in just a couple of years.

 

For that reason, I would suggest that copyright protection be continue to be extendable, but for the fee to become increasingly prohibitive as time goes on. Classics that still contain significant value and that remain in print can remain in private hands but the forgotten classics can re-enter the world to see if they can find a new audience.

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