I have a sneaking suspicion that a lot of these films were voted on not for their quality, but because friends and family were asked to vote. It just makes no sense how a film like “Your Lightsaber and You” made it on this list. Really? Seriously? I never even heard of this film. I’ve watched it since and it’s not terrible, but hardly worth slighting some much better films of superior quality. Another one is “Jedi Hunter”. Again – a pretty good production, but not nearly as good as some films that didn’t make the list.

Here is the ranking Time.com came up with:

1. Troops
2. Ryan vs. Dorkman 2
3. I.M.P.S. – The Relentless
4. Pink Five
5. Your Lightsaber and You
6. Hardware Wars
7. Duality
8. Sith Apprentice
9. Jedi Hunter
10. Star Wars Retold

So to clear up the injustice of what was done by Time.com and their top ten Star Wars fan film choices I’ll share with you the films I felt should of been listed and why. I’m sure my list is closer than what Time.com put together.

1. Troops:

This one I agree on whole heartily. Troops came along just when the internet was ripe with pictures and video and fans were yearning to see anything in the form of live action taking place in the Star Wars universe. The film became a viral juggernaut. And the special effects were inspirational. It gave notice that anyone with a video camera and a computer could make films equal to what Hollywood was putting out. Troops was released in 1998. It’s amazing how quickly technology has changed and how sophisticated the regular dude and dudette are getting with their home made productions.

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2. Hardware Wars:

This made it to the number six slot of the Time.com list right behind the forgettable “Your Lightsaber and You”. This makes me crazy with Fanboy rage. I must correct this grave injustice spawned by a galaxy far, far away. Hardware Wars is what we call in the fan film world a classic. Released in 1978 this spoof has seen resurgence of life about as many times as the original trilogy.

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3. The Dark Redemption

This film didn’t even make it onto the Time.com top ten. Another travesty of injustice. All the items on my desk are shaking because I CAN NOT control my emotions. The Dark Redemption was the first and to my knowledge the only live action appearance of the Timothy Zahn created character Mara Jade. I’m sure there’s some obscure fan film out there I haven’t seen that has the character in it. The Dark Redemption was also pulled off the internet by LucasFilm when it was released. Soon after LucasFilm changed their policy towards fan films and The Dark Redemption returned online for all to see. You can speculate as to why the policy was changed. My personal belief is due to the outcry from the fans.

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4. Ryan vs. Dorkman 2

The top three are the easy ones. We have reached the point where it gets a little more difficult in the ranking. If I could have seven number fours then it would be so much easier if that makes any sense. There are a lot of fan films on YouTube where the entire thing is a light saber fight. I mean there are a kazillion of those type babies on the internet. None of them will stack up to Ryan vs. Dorkman 2. The choreography and effects are top notch. This production became a staple of inspiration for a plethora of fan films sense.

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5. Crossroads of Destiny

From the makers of Contract Of Evil. A fairly new, but surprisingly unknown fan film. Crossroads is a prequel to the prequels with the main character being a very young Obi-Wan Kenobi. The other principles have uncanny likenesses to their original movie counterparts. Everything is in place here; acting, special effects, makeup.

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6. Contract Of Evil

Simple plot. Darth Maul is assigned to take down a couple “want-to-be” Sith. The visuals and make-up are outstanding. Enough said!

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7. I.M.P.S. The Relentless

Time.com gave this a number three ranking. This series of short films are outstanding productions, but they don’t warrant the number three spot. BUT! Obviously, they do belong in the top ten. I.M.P.S. carries the same approach as Troops where we see the daily lives of your average Imperial grunts told in a humorous manner. These films work not being to over the top to where the jokes weigh down the enjoyment factor. Not to mention the costumes and effects are OUTSTANDING!

8. Broken Allegiance

How did this film not make the top ten? What’s wrong with you fans? How much Bantha fodder have you been smoking? Broken Allegiance is a 2002 Australian-made fan film set between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. Two Sith apprentices, Ruan & Calis, escape the Empire by fleeing the planet Coruscant in a stolen transport. They must fight for their freedom when Darth Vader sends a vicious bouty hunter, Korbain Thor, to track them down.

Click here to view the embedded video.

9. Pink Five

You can’t keep this influential film out of the top ten. Pink Five has had an actual impact on the licensed material with an action figure made out of Pink Five’s droid and the character even making an appearance in one of the novels. Perhaps this trilogy of films should be higher on the list, but again it’s hard to rank the bottom seven of these fantastic productions.

10. Knight Quest

This premiered in 2001 when online fan films were few and far between. This filled an empty void for Star Wars material. The acting is not incredibly good, but the visuals and effects are solid. It was another one of those films that raised the bar for the next set of creators who wanted to delve into the Star Wars universe.

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And there you have it. I’m confident this is a better list than what Time.com came up with. The films I listed have a more historical and influential meaning in the context of the Star Wars fan film not to mention the sheer entertainment value.

Time.com had Star Wars Retold and Duality in their list as well where I don’t. They would be added if I did a top twenty. Both are great films, but I just don’t think they have the same impact as what I’ve listed. Some other honorable mentions should be Chad Vader, Makazie One, Bounty Trail, Rogue, George Lucas in Love and Revelations.

Now what if we took some of our favorite movies which included a sword type fight in the story, break out the Adobe After Effects, and turn those swords into the Jedi’s weapon of choice? You get some very clever visuals. Posted below are some of my favorite of these type mashups. If you want to see more do a search on YouTube or Google. There’s a lot of them out there. Enjoy!

Princess Bride

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Let’s take for example the new Batman fan film “City of Scars”. OK! I’ve seen it on my 13 or 19 inch computer monitor, but I want to enjoy it on by bigger 42 inch, 50 inch, or even 60 inch television. How do I do that?

To begin with I put together a video to visualize what you’ll need to do.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Programs you’ll need to download:

This is all FREE software so no cost involved unless you wish to donate to the individual websites.

Download the Mozilla Firefox browser if you don’t already have it on your computer.

You’ll need the Mozilla Firefox plugin DownLoad Helper.

You’ll need the Free Video to DVD Converter found at DVD VideoSoft.com.

You’ll need a program to burn to a DVD. If you don’t have a program try the free download at CD BurnerXP.

HOW TO:

STEP 1

Using the Mozilla Firefox browser go to Fan Film Follies or any video hosting site.

STEP 2

Link to the film or movie of choice. In this example we’re linking to Bat in the Sun’s Batman: City of Scars.

STEP 3

Start the video stream. At the top of the Mozilla Browser you’ll see a colored icon spinning. That’s your DownLoad Helper. Click on the drop down menu and download the desired file to your computer.

STEP 4

Open the DVD VideoSoft.com Free Studio. Click on the second, green tab that reads DVD & Video. A new window will open. You’ll want to click on the first selection DVD Converter.

STEP 5

Click “browse” to find the file you downloaded to your PC. Notice you have choices to where you want to output the DVD folder as well as presets for quality. Once those decisions have been made click on the “Create DVD” button.

STEP 6

What you’ll end up with are two folders called AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS. You’ll need to open those two folders in your DVD burning program and then burn. If you don’t have a DVD burning program then you can download CD BurnerXP.

STEP 7

Put the DVD in your DVD player and enjoy.

Please post any issues, questions, or concerns below.

EARLIER POST 06/17/20010

I just wanted any and all who are interested that the Fan Film Follies server is now online and waiting for the plentiful films and audio files to rest on her hardy hard drive. That means all the missing audio and video from this website should be online by next week sometime. Took a shorter time than I thought. I may even know what I’m doing! I know! A stretch there. I’ll let you know when the site is back up to 100%. Thanks for being patient!

EARLIER POST 06/12/20010

Some updates from Fan Film Follies. I debated if I should of put this in the news area or my Child of Alien Invaders column so I decided to do both to make sure everyone got the heads up on the current standing with the site.

I wanted to start by thanking everyone who has been supporting and viewing the website. A very special thank you to Larry Longstreth and JE Smith for helping out with their great columns. This site is theirs as much as it is mine.

As you can imagine it takes time to seek out these great films, add the content to the site, and do everything that needs to be done to make it into what my original vision for the FFF was/is. The one place to go to watch fan films and listen to fan audio.

On top the Fan Film Follies site I have “real life” responsibilities, I write and produce my own projects over at http://www.makingcomicsstudios.com, it’s the summer, I’m turning 40 (PARTY!) and sometimes I just want to sit down (although it rarely happens) and play a video game all day. Hence the reasons for the lack of updates the past month.

And now a new wrinkle. I was just informed by my webhost that they do not support streaming audio or video. They lovingly contacted me on Friday, June 11th to tell me I had 24 hours to take that content off or they would suspend my account. Mind you I’ve had this account for almost a year. I suspect that they’re only contacting me now because of the amount of bandwidth all you guys and gals are using. Needless to say JustHost.com left a bad taste in my mouth. Not to the fact that they told me I had to take the content down, but to the fact they did it on a Friday, only gave me 24 hours, and did this behind a cloud of emails. I couldn’t even get a phone number to talk to a human being about it. So whatever. Fuck you JustHost. I can’t download my files fast enough and be done with you. Yes. That’s called sour grapes!

SO NOW WHAT!? I entertained going to another provider and there are many that host both audio and video streaming for about the same price. Here’s the problem and it’s always the tricky problem because we are talking fan films with characters and concepts owned by another party. If I’m not the license holder of the films I could experience the same issue I’m having with JustHost if I do decide to go with another provider. “Take down the files or we’ll suspend your account.” And I understand it. It makes perfect sense.

And if you’re wondering why I don’t put the films hosted on the Fan Film Follies server to YouTube, Spike, Vimeo, or any of the number of video sites on the internet is because YouTube suspended an account I had a long time ago because Marvel Entertainment contacted them to shut me down. I put a lot of time into building that YouTube channel and wouldn’t want that repeated.

What is my answer? Many of you are probably already thinking it. Just host the content yourself. I’ll be dusting off an older computer tower and turning it into a server. I just wanted everyone to know that I may not have many updates in the coming weeks, but certainly will be working on the FFF behind the scenes.

As always if you would like to help with the website with articles, podcasts, or just helping me post content I would love you long time. Maybe you always wanted to learn some HTML, streaming audio/video, FTP – all simple stuff I’d be more than happy to teach. Send me an email at info@fanfilmfollies.com if interested.

Keep in mind during the transition the audio portion of the site won’t be working and many of the videos the Fan Film Follies host will be offline. We’ll get these back to you as soon as possible.

OK GANG! I just wanted to give you an update on the site. As it is my birthday today I am off to play some video games, drink some beers, and hang out with friends. That is my perfect day!

PEACE!!!

About a week ago I went to a link that had a YouTube video of Iron Man punching Hugh Grant in the face a couple times. Not particularly being a huge fan of Hugh Grant I applauded this achievement. To my surprise I found there were a few more of these short clips taken from classic movies where people would incorporate a digital Iron Man model. I thought these were rather clever and I’m guessing we’ll see more of these as the summer progresses. The last video in this edition of Adult Child of Alien Invaders is a cool stop motion short with legendary martial artist Bruce Lee squaring off against Shell Head. Enjoy!

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Are mashups fan films? In the regard that this website takes them the answer is no. They’re more fan edits than anything else and since the website is called Fan Film Follies and not Fan Film Edits we pretty much shy away from them. The argument falls to the fact that clips taken from films and shows were produced by an outside source with no relationship to the one editing them together or the one doing the mashing. BUT! (There’s always a “but”) There are some very cool mashups out there and in regards to this edition of Adult Child of Alien Invaders I wish to share a few favorites with you in no particular order. Let us begin…

Green Lantern Trailer

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Terminator vs Robocop vs Predator

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Thundercats Movie Trailer

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Justice League Of America

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Star Wars Vs. Rush Hour

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Superman Reborn

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Hitler finds out that Disney bought Marvel Comics

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Star Trek Wars

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Full Metal Star Wars (WARNING!!! ADULT LANGUAGE!)

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Brokeback to the Future

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Star Wars: Secrets of the Rebellion

I remember the website and stills for this fan film. What director Mark Twitchell put together was spectacular. But now there’s just this little stumbling block. Mark Twitchell is now facing trial for murder. The self proclaimed Canadian filmmaker “allegedly” lured a gentleman named John Brian Altinger to his garage by posing as a woman on some website. Investigators believe the murder of Altinger bares a striking resemblance to a movie that Twitchell had been planning on making called House of Cards about a character who lures people to a garage, ties them to a chair, and chops them into pieces. Twitchell was also very fond of the Showtime television series, Dexter, with the main character being a serial killer.

If you even care at this point the plot of this fan film was explained as follows –

“The time is just a couple of days before A New Hope. Red Hand Squadron moves to infiltrate the Imperial Outpost on Danuta in order to broadcast the plans of the dreaded Death Star to a rebel mole onboard a Star Destroyer 10 parsecs away.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Max Payne: Payne and Redemption

This technically is no longer a Max Payne fan film. Let me explain. The brains over at Fox Films who are behind the recent failed Max Payne motion picture starring Mark Wahlberg sent a cease and desist to Fergle Gibson to stop his fan film production based on the famed video game character. To what I read the studio didn’t want potential audiences being confused by their peace of crap film that got 20% on the Tomatometer at RottenTomatoes.com to what Gibson was doing. Even the games own creator from 3D Realms, CEO Scott Miller, told the video-game magazine Edge, “There are several fundamental story flaws in the film that have me shaking my head in bewilderment.” Among them, he said, is the fact that Payne is seen in a flashback scene half way through the movie learning that his family has been murdered. Said Miller, “In the game, we put this scene right at the front of the story for a reason! Saving this scene until mid-film is a narrative blunder, because the audience needs to empathize with Max in order to like him and understand what drives him.” But Fox Films can’t keep a good fan film down. A few tweaks to the story and promotional materials and a fan film are full speed ahead. The fans will still know who the film is about and be happy to see the character given his due justice.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Indiana Jones: Treasure of the Templars

This is truly a unique fan film because of the fact that it’s been filmed in both California and Scotland. The story revolves around a young Indiana Jones who travels from the deserts of Mexico to the highlands of Scotland in at the bequest of an old friend and in search of a medieval prize – the Treasure of the Templars. The idea for the movie sparked in 2004 with the filmmaker’s original footage being scrapped when felt a far superior job could be done. The first ten minutes have made it online with the entire feature pending its full debut. I have reservation as if the full film will ever see the light of day considering how many years it has taken to get this baby out. I hope I’m proven wrong, but doesn’t look good.

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Spider-Man Versus Kraven The Hunter

One of the earliest Spider-Man fan films beyond the 60’s Don Glut short is a webhead flick by Bruce Cardozo made in 1974. According to an article in the a 1975 issue of Marvel Fan Magazine the film features appearances by Kraven the Hunter and Gwen Stacy, and the story is based on issue fifteen of the comic book. Supposedly, the reason that Mr. Cardozo doesn’t want to put his film online present time is he doesn’t want to show the forces at Marvel and/or Sony how to do a good Spiderman film. I can’t imagine a fan film made in 1974 is going to spark any creative juices for the rebirth of the franchise that’s coming. I’m sure there’s some bad blood there because this was actually endorsed by Marvel and got the thumbs up from Stan Lee. If Cardozo is happening upon this page I have to tell you it’s been over 25 years my friend. Let it go and let the world see your work. Perhaps someday Cardozo will reconsider, but not betting I’ll ever be able to view this potential fan film classic.

Star Wars: Tydirium

The official site gives a cryptic answer as to why the film will never be completed. “Due to different circumstances out of our working life the finalization of our film will be interrupted again and again. A potential release date is unknown up to now.” I’m not a gossip monger, but in reading between the lines creative differences halted this fan film from a galaxy far, far away. It’s been a few years since any word on this one. I fear it will for ever be buried in the fan films that never were vault. It’s a shame. The trailer is awesome.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Captain America

I’m not sure what happened to this film and I’m not even sure if it’s out of the realm of possibility. I thought this movie died a while back, but doing some research for this article it still may be coming to an internet near you. Daryl Kyle was/is heading up the project. A post I read May 0f 2007 suggested he was still going to make the short fan film, but here we are a year+ later with the announcement of an official film being released from Marvel Studios yet no film from Kyle.

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Star Wars: Broken Allegiance 2

The first Broken Allegiance is spectacular even by today’s standards. I can’t believe the original film is six years old already. It may not seem like a long time except when you put it into the context of the origins of the entire fan film explosion. Broken Allegiance was such a hit among the Star Wars and fan film community a sequel was planned, a script was written, the actors were ready to return to their parts, and then it pretty much fell apart from there. You can read the full story with the link provided above.

You can watch the original Broken Allegiance film HERE.

Wolverine: Hell Unleashed

Based on the Weapon X years of the X-Men character Wolverine this fan film seems to of withered on the vines. The fan film is inspired by a story by Barry Windsor Smith adapted by Michael W Kondyra and Sam Meola JR. Their official website is no longer online and they’re MySpace site hasn’t updated since June 2008. Not being able to see this completed film wants me to break out in some berserker rage.

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Logan

I actually have an interview posted with the creators behind this potential Wolverine fan film where you can read here.  That interview is the very reason I don’t interview anyone anymore who doesn’t have a promising trailer of a completed fan film. They went as a lot of fan film creators I’ve followed go. They’re so full of steam out of the gate, but too many factors come along that weigh your ambitions down until you finally have to decide to scrap the idea.

The Ghost of the Lone Ranger (Preston: N.W.M.P.)

The film would of centered around one of George W. Trendle’s other creations, Sgt. Preston of the Yukon. In the adventure, a young Preston, not yet a sergeant is aided by a Texas Ranger in his quest to capture his father’s killer. Classic Media has asserted its rights to the characters in this movie and has effectively shut it down. We will keep you posted if anything changes. How cool would a Lone Ranger fan film be? But alas – not going to happen…YET!

With the help of a great online resource for all that is Batman Fan Film related aptly called Batman Fan Films I was able to get a better incite into why Batman. I turned to the Batman Fan Film message boards where two gentlemen heeded the call to my inquiries.

Neil Rickatson is a filmmaker delving into the world of the Batman with his offering “The Return”, a 13 minute fan film released in the summer of 2008. The film takes place on the outskirts of Gotham where four small time crooks meet up for a poker night, but soon the game turns deadly when an uninvited guest makes an appearance.

Stephen Martinez is also a 23-year-old filmmaker with the goal to build a career directing films with hopes to direct an actual comic book film in Hollywood. His original film, “Re-Play,” can be viewed at his MySpace account.

Let’s ask them.

FAN FILM FOLLIES (through Christopher Moshier): Why Batman?

NEIL RICKATSOM: I know in terms of comic books, it’s hard to find a definitive superhero. There are quite a few top tier heroes, Spider-man, Superman, and Wolverine but in terms of the cinema, Tim Burton’s Batman still today stands out as the prototype superhero film. Its twenty years old and films are still borrowing its style, its palette, its structure.

The Spider-man movies may be the pretender to the throne but even those films bear the influence of Burton’s movie. Think of the Danny Elfman score, the way they turned the Green Goblin’s suit into more of an armor. It all links back to the Burton movie. You can argue that better superhero movies have come since but they all owe their look and style to the Burton movie.

Making fan films is like an amateur artist trying to paint Picasso’s Sunflowers painting. They might not have the skill to recreate it exactly but it can be a hell of a lot of fun seeing how close you can emulate something. Batman’s popularity certainly does come down to economics, there’s no flying characters or spectacular effects needed to make a good Batman fan film.

Coming back to my point about emulating the films we see at the cinema. We now also emulate the ‘fan’ films we see on the web. There are countless fans who decided to make a fan film after watching Sandy Collora’s Dead End (for me it was Aaron Schoenke’s Batman Beyond Year One). Dead End, regardless of what you think of the quality, was a huge landmark in fan film making. You had proper film-makers like Kevin Smith and even artists like Alex Ross watching it and giving their opinion on it. The whole creator/audience barrier was broken.

Basically, digital film-making as gotten to a point now where the audience doesn’t have to watch films over and over to enjoy them anymore. Its way more fun to make your own.

STEPHEN MARTINEZ: I believe the reason that Batman is chosen so much for fan films is because of the appeal of the character. He is a character that so many stories can be crafted from. Every character in the Batman mythology has been given a rich, detailed history and such amazing characteristics. So many other comic characters are very one dimensional and people stop trying to improve on the character once they found something that sticks to the fans. Characters from the Batman universe are constantly being evolved and developed like real people. And that is the key. The characters, good and bad, are treated as real people with real emotions. When you have characters like these, it is so much easier to develop your own stories for them as opposed to a character that is not so well developed.

FFF: Opinion and simple question. What’s your favorite Batman fan film and why?

NR: : For me Batman Beyond: Year One still holds a special place. I first came across Aaron’s website in 2002, just as he was finishing the film. It was an incredibly exciting time. This was before sites like Batmanfanfilms.com, you had to properly search Google for these kind of movies.

I’d literally just finished my first film The Unknown Soldier before I watched it so I kind of empathized with how hard it must have been to get something like that made. It has loads of effects, actors, and fight scenes. People forget how long filming can take. They see a scene with two characters talking outside a building and don’t think for another second. When I see that scene I think the director had to cast those two actors, get them to learn the script, shooting outside that building he probably didn’t have a permit, he was probably shooting on the fly, he had to make sure the sound was recorded right, no random background sound. He had to get the angle right; he had to think about the scene that came before it and the scene it was going to cut to next. He had to think about continuity. He had to think do these costumes work. Is there too much light, will the shot get over exposed. It’s quite a process going on in a director’s head.

Also I thought Batman Beyond: Year One had a really interesting look to it, a lot of filters and washed out effects. Aaron didn’t have the budget to do a proper futuristic Gotham so he had to imply it.

Anyway, I think the film isn’t online anymore, certainly not on Aaron’s official website. I don’t know maybe he’s embarrassed because it was such an early project and he’s moved on so much. But regardless, I thought it was very cool. What I liked about it was the way it actually had a story to it. It felt like a film that just happened to be set in the Batman universe. Those are the films I enjoy the most. Don’t get me wrong I still enjoy watching a short that is nothing but a couple of action scenes but a story; I give the creator kudos for going the extra mile.

SM: : Patient J has to probably be my favorite Batman fan film. I enjoyed it because Aaron Schoenke tried to capture a side of the Joker we have not seen in a fan film. He tried to get into the mind of the Joker. He explored the reasons why the Joker does what he does. Even though we may not understand why, it’s interesting to hear the Joker try to explain himself. The film also had some great production value. Was it perfect? No, but it was extremely well done.

FFF: What are your Batman fan film no no’s or pet peeves you see in a lot of Batman fan films? You don’t have to be specific which films, but what do you see a lot of that bothers you in regards to the mythology of the character. For example mine is that a lot of films have the Heath Ledger Joker impersonation in them.

NR: : Pet peeves? I’ve watched a hell of a lot of Batman fan films. I’ve seen it all – Batman jumping off the fridge indoors when he’s meant to be jumping off a building, a 12 year old Batman, scenes that should be taking place on the docks or creepy warehouse but instead take place in someone’s tastefully decorated living rooms.

I think it’s when people don’t have the budget to film something, so rather than think a way around it they just decide to shoot it anyway and hope the audience doesn’t recognize that they’ve cut corners. Hello! You’ve put your film on the internet; expect the audience to notice everything!

When I wrote The Return, I wrote with the locations I knew I could get. I set a scene in the back of a refrigerated lorry because I knew I could shoot there. Not enough fan films do this; they do stuff like write a scene of Jim Gordon and Batman conversing on a rooftop and then try to film it on top of their house. If you don’t have a good rooftop to film on, find one or rewrite.

A great deal of fan films just seem to be people playing “dress-up” first and making a movie second.

Other pet peeves. Certainly, the Heath Ledger joker impressions are getting a bit wearisome. I think people like to emulate what they’ve seen, so for instance, after Batman Begins, all these Scarecrow movies with guys in suits with a sack over their head turned up. You get all these fan films that seem nothing more than poorly re-enacted scenes from the latest Batman movie. Do something new!

For me, fan films should be about doing what Hollywood won’t or can’t. For instance, Hollywood will never make a Spiderman/Batman team-up but hey if you want to see one, go make it. Hollywood will never make an R rated black and white Batman film but if you want to see it, go make it. No one else will.

So yeah, as long as someone has thought outside the box, I give them kudos.

SM: : My biggest pet peeve in Batman fan films is depicting Batman in the day time. I understand as a film maker you can only shoot when your actors are available but a big part of what adds to Batman’s effect on criminals is how he appears and disappears into the night. The night is his weapon. If you have to have Batman appear in the day time in your film, at least give a reason for it.

FFF: The Batman “costume” itself. What materials do you use to put it together? How have you been creative in putting it together (mix and match different materials)? What would you prefer a Batsuit to consist of (be it rubber, spandex, cotton, etc)?

NR: : Before I switched to making The Return, a film that didn’t contain Batman, I was working on a project called The Fall of Bruce Wayne. The Batsuit was the hardest part of that project. I started off determined to make it from scratch (much like the suit in Batman Beyond: Year One) but man was it hard making it look in anyway decent.

I tried making the cowl, like the version in the comics. Made of cloth with ridged plastic inside but the glue would always soak through. In the end, I went for a store made suit. The Rubies animated suit, with a latex cowl bought off EBay that I had to make adjustments to. I looked kind of embarrassing but because I shot the film in a high contrast black and white and kept it mostly in shadows you could never really see it was really flimsy. Ditto for the cape, which was just a massive piece of black cloth I shoved down the back of the suit!

I would have loved a cool latex suit, like the Keaton version, but they were always so expensive. I knew I’d never be able to afford it and if I did I’d be left with a giant latex suit in my closet for the rest of my life, only digging it out at Halloween.

SM: : I have not had the chance to make my own Batman costume but I have seen many people who have. I believe it’s great to get creative with the suit as long as it looks professional and is made neatly. I’ve seen some that look like they were thrown together without care. Whatever you make the suit with, make it look neat. As a helpful tip, if you are having a hard time with the suit coming out right, focus on the cape and cowl and have the cape drape over Batman so it covers his body and we don’t have to see the whole suit. Sometimes what we don’t see makes a film better.

FFF: Where does he get those wonderful toys? What are some creative ways you throw in some of the BAT mythos and gadgets? I mean is anyone using a toaster for a Batarang? Using a Pinto for the Batmobile?

NR: : Hmm, never had to do any gadgets but I made the vat of acid the Joker falls into using a saucepan, some green liquid and a straw, does that count?

FFF: How much has the technology aspect helped? I’m talking better editing programs, green screen, visual/special effects, etc.

NR: : Without green screen I would have struggled to shoot the vat scene. I’d have had think more creatively.

I think the reason you didn’t really have many fan films back in the 80s and 90s is that; – all camcorders were VHS, poor quality, no really editing software and no internet, no way to share your movie with a wider audience beyond your friends and family.

Digital film allowed everyone to shoot clear, if not entirely filmic, footage. Premiere and Final Cut allowed people to do non-linear editing. Finally, programs like After Effects allowed people to do quick and easy effects work. And even if you didn’t know how to do the effects someone on a forum or website would show you.

FFF: Batman villains. What villain transfers best to fan films?

NR: : The Joker will always be popular. Simple villain, simple make-up, and you can chew scenery like there’s no tomorrow. As long as you can do a decent cackle (I can’t, had to get someone to dub me) you’ll be fine.

The more fantastical you get the harder it is to pull off. But then for some people that’s part of the challenge. Still never seen a Mr. Freeze in a fan film but then that may have something to do with [sarcasm] Arnold Schwarzenegger giving such a magnificent performance in Batman and Robin that no dares to stand up to him.[sarcasm ends]

SM: : I believe most of Batman’s villains can transfer well to film depending on the story you are telling. Characters like Poison Ivy and Mr. Freeze can really work within a story that has more of a fantasy feel to it where as Black Mask and Penguin (depending on how you visualize them) are good for films that are meant to be realistic. The reason I believe the Joker is so popular in fan films is because he has the personality and characteristics to work in any type of story, realistic or fantasy.

FFF: On a broader scope Batman related and beyond. I’ve read articles a few years old saying how fan films would never make it as a viable web presence. But we well know these films are getting more impressive over the years. So I ask you to comment on the past and perhaps current negativity towards fan films from the perspective of people who don’t know that much about them.

NR: : I think it’s been a few years since the boom of Grayson and Dead End (2003/4). Things are still ticking along, you keep your ear to ground and get hear about a cool little fan flick coming up. I’ll give a shout out to the fan films Batman: Dark Tomorrow and Batman: Black and White. But the market is quite saturated and enthusiasm from non-fan film makers (i.e. the audience) was waned quite a lot. It’s definitely harder to get a fan film noticed nowadays. The novelty for some of “the audience” has worn off.

As I said, monkey see monkey do, as long as Hollywood keeps making Batman movies, we’ll keep making ours. The one thing I always wonder about is if the people making fan films now will still be making fan films in 10 years. I’d like to think so but I know for some people it’s just something they grow out of. They either discover filming isn’t for them, or they more on to original projects and leave fan film making behind.

I’d like to think the art of making fan film is passed to the next generation too. Maybe a father/son bonding exercise?

Also, hopefully in 5-10 years, digital camcorders will have even better quality, HD cameras will get cheaper, and people will be still making fan films. I think there are still so many fans out there with stories to tell.

SM: : I believe the reason some people have negative views towards fan films is because of how they view the character in their mind. For example Batman. Most people do not read Batman comics or watch the cartoons. But almost everyone has seen the films. Therefore the only interpretation of Batman to them is a $185 million dollar interpretation. So when they see a $2,000 version of him, it seems cheesy to them and they won’t give it a chance. In regards to where the genre is heading, I believe it’s heading into big places. As technology and the internet advance, people are making better quality films. For example, look at the two recent Lord of the Rings fan films “The Hunt for Gollum” and “Born of Hope.” Both of these were made for a few thousand dollars but look at the quality. Not only do they have great stories but the production value looks amazing. They look almost like real 35mm films. The more professional a film looks, the better reception it will get. In regards to fan films with smaller to no budgets, the same applies. Use what you have to the best of your abilities and treat it like a real film and people will be interested in it. Looking at recent fan films, things are looking up for the genre in the future.

FFF: I give you ten thousand dollars – NO! I’m not really giving you ten thousand dollars. Pretend I gave you ten thousand dollars. How you would turn that money into an instant Batman Fan Film success?

NR: : Ten thousand dollars. You know what, The Return cost me little more than £40 (if you don’t include editing software, camera, lights that I already own). So I would probably make a thousand little fan films, maybe pay some of the actors and crew to keep them happy. But generally yeah, I wouldn’t know what to do with it. I’d scour the internet for great little fan film scripts and shoot them all!

SM: : If I were given $10,000 to make a fan film, the first thing I would do is make sure I have a story worth spending that money on. To many times, people brag about how much their film cost and they use it to make a story that could have been made for a hundred dollars. Second, I would use the funds to secure actors, locations, props, and wardrobe. Third, I would make sure to either buy or a rent a camera that would give the production a solid look. Finally, I would use some of the money for promotion. I would make postcards, and stickers, and flyers to promote the film. Even though we can’t make money off the fan film, we can promote it. After all, other than making the film for the love of the character, you do want to get attention from it to further yourself and your career. The only way that can happen is through promotion. The more people that know about your film, the more successful it will be.

So what makes Batman the biggest superhero fan film subject on the internet? Neil and Stephen answered my question. And it simply isn’t one answer, but a combination of elements. Batman is a cheap character to reproduce on a small budget, the characters are multi dimensional with a deep seeded back-story, and because of the constant rotation of animated series on television and films in the theater that exposure makes anyone with a camera from the amateur to the professional want to emulate The Dark Knight.

My advice for someone who wants to make a fan film with The Batman and separate themselves from the hundreds of fan films based on the same character. Know your limitations and work with them. Don’t write beyond your means. Do something original. Use a character who has never seen live action or put the character in a situation we’ve never see him in, but remember to be true to the character. And most importantly incorporate your own vision. Put your own slant on the characters in the Batman universe without blatantly copying what has come before.

A special thanks to Neil, Stephen, and the crew over at the Batman Fan Films site which will do more justice on the subject of Batman in Fan Film than this site will ever be able to do.

Make sure you check out Neil Rickatson’s fan film “The Return” right here at the Fan Film Follies by clicking HERE.

As an extra bonus you can see Neil’s Sympathy for the Devil: The Making of The Return by clicking HERE.

Join Stephen Martinez’s MySpace friends as well as checking out his non-fan film Re-Play. What if you could change the past? That is a question that a detective must answer to a killer that he has been chasing for over a year. Little does he know that his answer will lead him down a path he does not want to go.