New TOS Trek fanvid

[Patrick Degan]

I recently came across a website advertising a new Star Trek fan video which I think is worth checking out. Done completely in the style of TOS, with accurate costumes, props, and sets, and some very good 3D modeling and animation, this production was clearly a labour of love by people who live and breathe TOS. The video is titled Starship Exeter: The Savage Empire. Check out their website, where they've posted the script, QuickTime clips, and production stills. The page can be found at:

http://homepage.mac.com/starshipexeter

[Mr Bean]

Sir its halfway Decent!
What? Impossible!
No Sir its True!
Nothing at all wrong with it?
No sir the even make fun of the French and explain why the on screen locations look like they where flimed in the directors Back-yard


Damn! Stand down men nothing to mock here

[StarshipTitanic]

Other than some sound problems, it's just like TOS. Mediocre fighting, acting, and effects, yet so appealing.

[paladin]

Too Cool!

[RayCav of ASVS]

The actual movie is nifty. The actual concept of live action fanfilms is quite sad, however....

[Patrick Degan]

The actual movie is nifty. The actual concept of live action fanfilms is quite sad, however....

Why sad? They're a hobby, like any other. Some are good, some are awful. Some groups never rise above the level of a grade-school Easter play in the production, while some —a very few, perhaps— actually rise to a certain level of professionalism in their efforts. Sometimes, they can also be educational.

These people, for example, evidently learned the crafts of costume-making, prop design and building, and set design and building. It is no coincidence that several fan film/video efforts are actually outgrowths of college class projects, if not the actual semester projects themselves.

My own opinion is biased since I was part of a group which did a Doctor Who fanvid back in 1993. Pretty amateurish, I'll admit. But it was because of that project that I was motivated to learn nonlinear video editing on a professional analogue setup at my local public-access video centre. I learned how to cut a film together, mix sound and music, and do basic visual effects. Since then, I've gone on to do six 30 second PSA commercials for an annual film festival and did a stint as a television cameraman and later master control operator for one of the cable stations covering local horseracing. This year, I've added digital desktop video editing to my capabilities. All of that stemmed from a fanvid project nine years ago.

"The Savage Empire" may shade toward the amateurish side in some areas, but from what I see, it looks like they've got themselves a nice little theatrical company who could wind up working at one of their local playhouses or local television in a number of capacities.

[Solid Snake]

Ive always wanted to film a lightsaber battle between me and my friends. Frankly, I have no idea how. Anyone know?

[RayCav of ASVS]

To Pat....

Show me that Doctor Who fanvid OR ELSE!

[Eleas]

(RayCav)
"The actual movie is nifty. The actual concept of live action fanfilms is quite sad, however...."

Really?

Now sit down, peon.

[Eleas]

(SolidSnake)
"Ive always wanted to film a lightsaber battle between me and my friends. Frankly, I have no idea how. Anyone know?"

Yes.

[Solid Snake]

(SolidSnake)
"Ive always wanted to film a lightsaber battle between me and my friends. Frankly, I have no idea how. Anyone know?"

Yes.

Uh, is it easy/inexpensive? (doubtful)

[Mr Bean]

I'm guessing ask the guys who did that movie damn Elas it was pretty good no kidding funny ending to though they obviously did not have a full wire-set-up it was pretty damn good

[Cpt_Frank]

If you want to make a good lightsaber battle you and your friend should be into martial arts or otherwise it'll just look like two loonies beating each other with glowing sticks.
And you'll need to create a complicated coreography.

[Patrick Degan]

Actually, all they need to do is to be drilled in stage combat techniques to make it look good, but some degree of instruction and practise should be engaged before attempting to film the duel.

As for FX... one way would be to animate the lightsabre blades in post, going frame-by-frame, which is the old way. It'll be long, tedious work, but it is feasible in Adobe Premier if you haven't got anything more than that in the way of editing software. You could 3D animate the blades, using one of several commerically-available applications and you might be able to pull it off without having to go to something as horrendously expensive as Lightwave. To help track the animation, you might want to use lightsabre blades with marker-tags painted on them that can be used to track their motions when you've got the footage in your 3D FX app. Either way, though, this is something best, indeed, exclusively done in post-production to do a decent enough job.

[Eleas]

Uh, is it easy/inexpensive? (doubtful)

It obviously requires some effort. The expenses have been steadily dropping, though. Nevertheless, we're looking at at least $400 for the camera equipment alone, maybe twice as much or more. The programs will also cost a pretty penny, though I wager a lot of fanfilm makers have devised ways around that problem. *cough*

I'm guessing ask the guys who did that movie damn Elas it was pretty good no kidding funny ending to though they obviously did not have a full wire-set-up it was pretty damn good

They shot it inside a bluescreen room for three days. The choreographer is reportedly qualified to hand out black belts of the first degree, making him at least a 4th - dan (I think). For more info, I'd suggest checking out their page: http://www.crewoftwo.com.

Anyway, I like the movie because of overall quality and visceral punch, but a movie I like just as much - KnightQuest - managed by being less about flashy moves and being, instead, a good film. That is what I recommend you to strive for, if you ever want to make a fanfilm you want to be interesting.

If you want to make a good lightsaber battle you and your friend should be into martial arts or otherwise it'll just look like two loonies beating each other with glowing sticks.

Not necessarily. You need proper instruction, and the choreographer should know his or her stuff, but all you have to do is train in Katas. Rather simple, provided the moves you learn work.

And you'll need to create a complicated coreography.

This is where many fanfilms go overboard. One doesn't need hyper-flashy moves; it just has to look deadly, tense, and emotional. Complex techniques should take a back seat to drama, IMHO.

"As for FX... one way would be to animate the lightsabre blades in post, going frame-by-frame, which is the old way. It'll be long, tedious work, but it is feasible in Adobe Premier if you haven't got anything more than that in the way of editing software. You could 3D animate the blades, using one of several commerically-available applications and you might be able to pull it off without having to go to something as horrendously expensive as Lightwave. To help track the animation, you might want to use lightsabre blades with marker-tags painted on them that can be used to track their motions when you've got the footage in your 3D FX app. Either way, though, this is something best, indeed, exclusively done in post-production to do a decent enough job.

Indeed. The technique of frame by frame editing is known as rotoscoping. Read about it on www.theforce.net.