Ever try to explain what a fan film is to someone? Ever watch them fall asleep in the process? Have I got a video for you!
Few people can describe fan films in a way that’s entertaining; one outfit that recently got it right, however, is Australian radio station Triple J, whose Marc Fennell hosts an excellent video about the fan film phenomenon, available to watch on the station’s site.
What’s cool about this is that although he’s goofy and it’s only 4 minutes long, Fennell manages to cover all the major players in fan flicks, from the Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation guys to Star Trek: Phase II to Batman: Dead End to Troops, as well as the 2008 feature film, Son of Rambow. What’s more, there’s only a little of mainstream media’s traditional “hey, look at these psychos!” take on fan films; for the most part, the segment seems to genuinely admire the efforts it covers.
Whoever researched this really did his homework; just about my only quibble is that Fennell says Hardware Wars was the first fan film—the first one was made in 1926, and Hardware Wars wasn’t a fan production anyway (you can learn all about the very first fan film in my book, Homemade Hollywood). Despite this mistake, the segment is excellent, so if you ever wanted to explain to your pals—or grandma—what a fan film is, bookmark this one for future reference.
Howdy, that was my video and i did all the research, glad you enjoyed it. I’ll definately be Amazoning Homemade Hollywood. just dropped by to say thanks and im glad you liked the segment
Marc, that was a great little video; not only was it visually fun, but from an editorial standpoint, you really whittled an unweildy topic right down to the perfect size. Maybe YOU should have written my book!