Sunday, June 10, 2018

STAR WARS UNIVERSE TURNING THE PAGE WITH FAN FILMS

STAR WARS UNIVERSE TURNING THE PAGE WITH FAN FILMS

With the recent arrival and rejection by a huge part of the fan base the new Star Wars film Solo represents a pivot point in the biggest franchise in motion picture history. 

The movie Solo is a lesson for the mega motion picture studios that could have been taught to them if they had bother to ask those of us in the low to micro budget world. The lesson is that the audience dictates to you rather than you dictating to the audience. when it is your own money at risk rather that Mickey Mouse’s pocket change it is a universe where reality rules the day. If it is going to be your house, your future and that of your families on the line you go out of the way to find out what it is that will please the intended audience. 

This is sometimes difficult to discover when making a micro budget digital film. In the world of Star Wars it is easy to uncover because the fan base is gigantic and cannot shut up about their likes and dislikes. Leading into Solo the core audience told the studio and its heads that they did not want a Solo film. Their were a dozen properties in their extended universe that they would have lined up for weeks ahead of time to back and this was not on the list. A Vader film or a Revan film or a Thrawn film or a Bane Film or a reboot of episode eight would have served them better. The head of the studio laughed in their faces and called them fat lonely losers who will eat what is put in front of them like Oliver Twist and like it. They of course instead did what fans of a rebel alliance would do when confronted with imperial rule, they rebelled by not showing up. Today I am not here to bury Solo. That is up to others. Today I would like to suggest that the Star Wars universe will be fine because of the fans and the amazing film makers that they are becoming. A hand full of the fan films are already better than the last two offerings from Disney. These films do not have the budgets and the access to the best actors on earth, but what they lack in scale they make up for in passion. These film makers love the material and understand it in ways that the bosses at Disney will never come close to. 

Today we are going to look at a few such films in this mini Star Wars Fan film festival. I hope that you enjoy them. The first and perhaps most popular is the amazing Darth Maul, Apprentice.   

The making of footage.
    

 The next film is Star Wars: Dresca. This is a newer fan film that I like and some people close to me absolutely love.  

 The next movie is one of my personal favorites. I wished that the film maker had maybe made a few changes so that it could have been a stand alone film in a scifi universe of their own making. It is part of what could be a compelling feature if ships and uniforms were changed. There is a lot of solid low budget film making going on here. The film is titled, Days Past - A Star Wars Fan Film. 

 




 The last film I want to share is the longest, almost an hour, and should be more well known. It has flaws, but so does Solo. It is not a great film, but there is alot to like about this movie. The film is titled Regrets of the Past. 

  Thanks for checking out my little film festival and do not worry the future of star Wars is in good hands it is in the hands of the fans.