What's your take on fan films?
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bruceallen
Well-known member
My 2c on fan films: good heavens, if you're going to all of the effort, why not just make something original?
That said, it is fun. For sure, many a 3D guy I know has animated / modeled an X-Wing at some point
RE: the whole thing of fan films that are "too good" / cross a line, and the ensuing issues... have you read this?
"New Book Reveals How Comic-Con Destroyed One Man's Life"
http://io9.com/Batman-dead-end/
Bruce Allen
www.boacinema.com
That said, it is fun. For sure, many a 3D guy I know has animated / modeled an X-Wing at some point
RE: the whole thing of fan films that are "too good" / cross a line, and the ensuing issues... have you read this?
"New Book Reveals How Comic-Con Destroyed One Man's Life"
http://io9.com/Batman-dead-end/
Bruce Allen
www.boacinema.com
I'm helping a friend develop a script for his student thesis, its going to be loosely a fan film based on the extend Star Wars universe. This is a good example because the extended Star Wars universe exists. While licensed, this is a bunch of people who like the world adding to it; Star Trek has the same thing, even X-Men and similar franchises have independently written novels. These are generally accepted, even on an amateur level, and I don't see why film should be any different. I've enjoyed a few, especially shorts based on established universes. There are a few game based ones that come to mind as incredible, especially one on Portal and another on Half Life 2. I'd like to do one myself in the near future, there's a lot of potential for having fun with it. That said, they need to remain in a certain spirit. In the case of the article above, it sounds like that might have been going too far with the budgetary investment. There isn't a line, more a gray area between paying homage and producing unlicensed material.
If I were to give advice (like I'm doing with my friend) it would be that fan films are fine sometimes, but not if you want to get serious with it, not if you have reason to believe that the owners of the material would not want it to be made, and not if you plan to make a career out if it. The person in that article should have taken the risk into consideration, since it's an obvious one. And definitely doing a handful of them with no original material in between points to a lack of ability to re-frame stories at the very least.
Another thing I noticed in that article is that the title takes the extreme position that Comic-Con nearly destroyed this person's life, but it seems to be his lack of contingency planning and "a near-fatal car crash" that did that. I doubt the car crash was related.
If I were to give advice (like I'm doing with my friend) it would be that fan films are fine sometimes, but not if you want to get serious with it, not if you have reason to believe that the owners of the material would not want it to be made, and not if you plan to make a career out if it. The person in that article should have taken the risk into consideration, since it's an obvious one. And definitely doing a handful of them with no original material in between points to a lack of ability to re-frame stories at the very least.
Another thing I noticed in that article is that the title takes the extreme position that Comic-Con nearly destroyed this person's life, but it seems to be his lack of contingency planning and "a near-fatal car crash" that did that. I doubt the car crash was related.
Batutta
Major Contributor
This has been my attitude for many years, and it still is for myself, but I've got a slightly different perspective now. All the film industry does these days is make fan films if you really look at it. Almost every big budget blockbuster is either based on a comic book, a novel, tv show, old movie, videogame or board game. They are fan films, they just control the rights. By making fan films you're preparing yourself for a job in the new, creatively bankrupt Hollywood where original ideas have all but died.
People do what they like; it's not my business. One thing I'll say, though, is that making a fan film is not unlike casting a name actor -- it will get you eyeballs that your original stuff won't.
shyguyfilms
Active member
As a side note, the guy who made the Mortal Kombat fan film/fake trailer: youtube, got the nod from one of the big companies (Universal/Paramount/I don't remember) to make a feature based on his work.
I think fan films are a good exercise. It leaves some of the work already done so you can work on other areas of film production.
I think fan films are a good exercise. It leaves some of the work already done so you can work on other areas of film production.
The guys that are making the Fallout web series on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/user/WaysideCreations#grid/user/5E9CAB444A9CECB8) got to meet the game developers and had a 40 minute interview done with them. I'm sure ideas of a real film would be brought up behind-the-scenes. Needless to say, I feel that the series doesn't do the game any justice. The actors in the series seem to have the acting ability of wooden planks and the story, well it's non-existent really, but the point is that fan films can actually get you places these days by grabbing the big-guys attention.
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^ this.
I doubt that I'm ever going to bellyfeel why anyone would ever invest the time, effort, and resources in making a film that isn't and can never be their own property, or even in their own voice, telling a story that's theirs. It would be like going to school to master traditional portrait painting, then applying the skills learned to producing Rembrandt knockoffs that you will never be able to sell to anybody.
EDIT - well, yeah, Batutta makes a good point, too.
Brian_Rice
Carbonite Member
To me, unless you are specifcally trying to raise funds to make a feature length version of your short, the *only* kind of short film a person should make is a fan film. Fan films are what short films used to exist for back when all we had was film to make them. Now that everyone everywhere can make a movie with their iPhone, it's imperative that all of your hard, professional work not go unnoticed. That's why fan films are the only thing that make sense anymore. No one I know outside of the indie community watches short films online or off. Everyone I know has watched at least one fan film. It's *that* dramatic.
Also, nearly every big property has given the okay for fan films. Star Wars, Star Trek, DC, Marvel, Capcom, etc. Most even have stand alone competitions for fan films. There's no such thing as "too good". Check out Bat in the Sun's last two fan films.
Creator-owned short films are pointless in this enviornment unless they apply to the above stipulation. Whatever you were going to do in your short film can be applied to a fan film.
Also, nearly every big property has given the okay for fan films. Star Wars, Star Trek, DC, Marvel, Capcom, etc. Most even have stand alone competitions for fan films. There's no such thing as "too good". Check out Bat in the Sun's last two fan films.
Creator-owned short films are pointless in this enviornment unless they apply to the above stipulation. Whatever you were going to do in your short film can be applied to a fan film.
You know, some guys make good money out of replica paintings. Possibly more than if they sold their own...
Jawa Ex Machina
Veteran
These sort of things change all the time. Like, sure, right now you have to either make a really, really, really, ****ing great film if you're making something original, but as more and more people start to make mediocre fan films instead there will be so many of them (there practically are even now) that even if you make a fan film that STILL needs to be really great in order for someone to bother to see it.
Either way, there's no shame in making a fan film. None at all.
Either way, there's no shame in making a fan film. None at all.
The purpose of making a short film is to show that you have the ability to tell a good story, so hopefully you can raise money for something bigger or get hired to make something bigger.
By making a fan film, you are missing out on one of the most essential factors in the filmmaking process, which is showing that you have the ability to come up with something "new." To tell a new story that hasn't been seen before.
Nobody in the "Star Wars, Star Trek, DC, Marvel, Capcom" cares about the number of views you get on YouTube if they feel you are only rehashing their own original content. There's a reason they hold on to those properties, because they paid a lot of money to create them originally.
I dunno . . . if you write spec scripts wanting to get into TV, you traditionally wrote scripts for existing shows. The same reasoning behind that might be at play out there.
I guess it depends on your specific goals, but I'd say self-production and Internet distribution are so new that the "rules" just don't exist yet. You don't know what works until it works. If you're using your film as a calling card, as you do with a spec script, then I'd say eyeballs is a pretty good goal.
And besides -- it's not like most people are instantly going to be able to do their own stuff in the big leagues. Some will, but most will be hired to do other people's work, if they're hired -- so, showing you're able to do that isn't the worst thing in the world (re: spec scripts for existing shows).
I guess it depends on your specific goals, but I'd say self-production and Internet distribution are so new that the "rules" just don't exist yet. You don't know what works until it works. If you're using your film as a calling card, as you do with a spec script, then I'd say eyeballs is a pretty good goal.
And besides -- it's not like most people are instantly going to be able to do their own stuff in the big leagues. Some will, but most will be hired to do other people's work, if they're hired -- so, showing you're able to do that isn't the worst thing in the world (re: spec scripts for existing shows).
: I am in the YES camp, in fact... I am in a "you had better do one" camp.
I wouldn't spend more than 1K on an original short film, but I would spend 10-15K on a good fan film without batting an eye, if I had the money.
The internet's a vastly different place than it was three years ago, and thanks to the fans people are getting green lit left and right.
Take the portal fan film here (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...-Z3UBA&usg=AFQjCNEl2SExSepDA63qs7WwSQgl2Z-yEA) -- these guys did this and it's not terrible, but it's a one location deal for the most part and pretty tame.
Thanks to that, he's now doing his original feature not-based-on Portal with a major studio backing: http://www.slashfilm.com/portal-esc...ct-scifi-heist-movie-crime-century-universal/
IMO, the problem with doing your own original short even if it IS this cool is that without the name, it doesn't travel. And the gatekeepers (major film blogs) won't even bother for the most part if you aren't already someone with accolades or have whiffed some sort of success.
I've been DYING to do a fan film, and if I could raise the money to do one now I'd be spending my time doing that instead of a feature. My thought, though, would be to take on something that no one else has done before and bring it to that fan sector.
Yes on fan films.
I wouldn't spend more than 1K on an original short film, but I would spend 10-15K on a good fan film without batting an eye, if I had the money.
The internet's a vastly different place than it was three years ago, and thanks to the fans people are getting green lit left and right.
Take the portal fan film here (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...-Z3UBA&usg=AFQjCNEl2SExSepDA63qs7WwSQgl2Z-yEA) -- these guys did this and it's not terrible, but it's a one location deal for the most part and pretty tame.
Thanks to that, he's now doing his original feature not-based-on Portal with a major studio backing: http://www.slashfilm.com/portal-esc...ct-scifi-heist-movie-crime-century-universal/
IMO, the problem with doing your own original short even if it IS this cool is that without the name, it doesn't travel. And the gatekeepers (major film blogs) won't even bother for the most part if you aren't already someone with accolades or have whiffed some sort of success.
I've been DYING to do a fan film, and if I could raise the money to do one now I'd be spending my time doing that instead of a feature. My thought, though, would be to take on something that no one else has done before and bring it to that fan sector.
Yes on fan films.
Brian_Rice
Carbonite Member
I think you're confusing someone wanting to be a screenwriter/director opposed to just a director.
A director's storytelling ability has nothing whatsoever to do with the script he's handed. A director doesn't have to come up with "something new". Heck, even a screenwriter doesn't need to make "something new", he/she just needs to make something relatable and saleable.
Brian_Rice
Carbonite Member
Well and don't give up on this concept, Kholi. The great thing about your current feature is that it so closely identifies with a fan film audience. So even after you've done this feature, a fan film could still be an enormous boom to the sales of Superseeds.