Do-it-yourself "Star Wars"

It's the next copyright battleground -- fan filmmakers are hacking their favorite movies.

By Howard Wen

Nov 16, 2000 | Have you seen "The Dark Redemption," the "Star Wars" prequel film set days before the events of the original "Star Wars"? What about "Bounty Trail," which features the further adventures of "Star Wars" intergalactic bounty hunter Boba Fett? Or how about that episode of "The X-Files" in which Mulder and Scully investigate the death of Elvis Presley? If "Star Trek: Voyager" isn't doing it for you, then take a look at the other Trek series, "Hidden Frontier."

If the above sound like fanciful ideas dreamed up by fans, that's because they are. And the odd thing is, they also actually exist for you to watch and enjoy.

These are products of the "fan film" scene -- an offshoot culture of independent digital filmmaking. Fan films feature the characters, settings or premise of popular genre properties in stories that audiences will probably never get to see on the movie screen or television. Most fan filmmakers go through the same hard work involved in making a typical independent short film -- scriptwriting, casting, on-set production and post-production. The difference is that they work with a property that belongs to somebody else, in most cases without the consent of the original creator or copyright holder.

"I think with many of these properties the creators have crafted such fully realized universes that someone can come in and create their own story alongside the 'big boys,'" says Justin Young, a 21-year-old college student and fan filmmaker who has produced his own films based on the "Highlander" movie and TV series.

But creating your own sequel or prequel to these "fully realized universes" has only recently become feasible for the average fan. Once upon a time, fans had to be content with penning a fan-fiction story (or writing the script for a "virtual season" for a TV show, for instance); these days, they can create and distribute actual films that, in their special effects at least, are not so far behind what's being releasing in theaters. Armed with inexpensive digital camcorders and broadband Net connections, fans now have the means to create and distribute their own audiovisual productions.

For a small group of devotees, fandom is becoming a matter of participation rather than just spectacle. In the process, fan filmmakers may be helping to change the way we experience the movies.

Fan filmmakers generally give credit for the current interest in fan films to "Troops," the well-received parody film that crossed "Star Wars" with reality TV show "Cops." Produced two years ago, "Troops" was distributed as large video files downloaded from Web sites, the same way most fan films are released today.

What's striking about "Troops" is the effects. Here's a film, produced on a home PC, that does a not-half-bad job of mimicking the kinds of million-dollar bells and whistles George Lucas brought to the screen in "Star Wars." The technological success of "Troops" inspired fans to broaden their approach: Why make only parodies when you can do "serious" short films set in the "Star Wars" universe?

Several "Star Wars" fan films are available online or in production. "For some reason we thought we were the only doofuses with this idea, that we'd be alone in kick-starting this new minigenre," says Devon Read, a 20-year-old graphic designer who's finishing up production on his "Star Wars" fan film.

While "Star Wars" remains the most popular subject by far, the world of fan films has grown to include unofficial films based on other properties like "Star Trek," "The X-Files," "Highlander," "Batman," "Spiderman," "The X-Men" and more.

One obvious question from all of this: Why bother making a film based on somebody else's property, rather than something of your own creation?

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