Fan Film, Fan Films

Michael Jackson Fan Film: Thriller…With Legos

With his passing yesterday, Michael Jackson left behind millions of saddened fans—and of course, where there’s fans, there’s fan films. As with most things connected to the self-proclaimed King of Pop, amateur tribute flicks devoted to him are as over-the-top as the man (in the mirror) himself.

Now, sure, there’s a lot that comment on his (ahem) troubled private life, but none of them can hold a candle to this shot-for-shot, stop-motion animated remake of the famous “Thriller” video, done entirely in Lego. Much like the original, the showstopper is the group zombie dance segment, but I gotta say, damn if a bunch of plastic bricks don’t make for a better actress than Ola Ray, too.


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G.I. Joe, Spider-Man Fan Films Get Great Graphics

Remember Jeff Hayes, the guy FCT called “The Chip Kidd of Fan Films” due to his magnificent poster work for various fan productions? He’s at it again, and has cooked up some sweet graphics for some flicks that recently appeared here on the site.

First up, a nifty poster for GI Joe: Battle for the Serpent Stone—a fan film that is coming out as part of the in July. It’s a major improvement over what they had before, and it gives the flick a graphic to match the production quality of the short itself.

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Following that up is a poster for the feature-length Spider-Man flick, Peter’s Web, a fan film that’s the first in a series of nine movies that have been shot over the last two years.

peters_web_72dpi

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Raiders: The Adaptation Fan Film Comes Home Saturday



Breathlessly ripped straight from the pages of the Blioxi-Gulfport Sun Herald:

A one-night-only public screening of the South Mississippi–shot fan-film phenomenon, Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation, will be [shown] 7 p.m. June 27 at the Mary C. O’Keefe Cultural Center of Arts & Education in Ocean Springs.
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In 1982, three local boys, Eric Zala, Chris Strompolos and Jayson Lamb, were 12 years old when they set out to make their own shot-by-shot re-creation of Raiders of the Lost Ark. They finished in 1989. The director of the adaptation, Eric Zala, now the executive director of the Mary C., said the screening will be special because a few cast members who are still on the Coast will be there. Right after the film’s screening, Zala will hold a question-and-answer session and he has many funny stories, In August, Zala and Strompolos are being flown to Australia to screen their film in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
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Advance tickets to the Coast screening are $12 each at themaryc.org or 228-818-2878.

Of course, to get the entire, heartwarming, mind-boggling story behind the making of this cult classic, you should pick up my book on the history of fan films, Homemade Hollywood, which has an entire chapter devoted to the film!

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Go Green With The Shamelessly She-Hulk Fan Film!

she hulk

Has there ever been a comic book character as patently ridiculous as Stan Lee’s She-Hulk? Her very invention pays tribute to the folly of spin-offs, because there’s just no reason for her to exist except to make money. Luckily, somewhere along the line, the people writing her stories decided they couldn’t take her seriously either, and she became an amusing, all-too-self-aware character.

Now fan filmmaker Garrett Gilchrist is making Shamelessly She-Hulk, an ambitious, feature-length fan film that sports not only Jennifer Walters (AKA She-Hulk), but also Spider-Man, The Punisher, Blade, Captain America, Iron Man, Superman, Batman, Black Widow and even an animated Howard The Duck—plus a shrink who’s THIS CLOSE to being Emma Thompson.

SEE THE EXTENDED SHE-HULK TRAILER AND MORE AFTER THE JUMP! Read More »

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24 Fan Film Gives Bauer A Day Off

Remember that funny Star Trek fan film, Pinch, that I covered the other day? Here’s 120, a great 24 send-up by the same folks at Littleflick Pictures, and for my money, this one’s even better.


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When Harley Met Pee Wee: A Romantic Fan Film

One of the reasons why fan films are worth examining is because they present an alternate view of mass culture, often trading in stories that would never be created, approved or released by proper copyright holders. As a case in point, consider Harley Quinn’s Big Blind Date—a crossover fan film between minor Batman villain Harley Quinn and 1980s Saturday Morning mainstay Pee Wee Herman.

As the latest release by Influence Films—the third in about nine months—the short stands as the company’s most consistent release yet, despite what might appear on the surface to be a completely bananas idea. [Full disclosure: I'm 'thanked' in the end credits, but had already formed my own opinion by the time I noticed that kind gesture]. What do you think? Share your thoughts below in the comments.


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Twin Twin Peaks—A David Lynch Fan Film!

twin twin peaks fan film

More than 18 years after David Lynch’s cult TV series, Twin Peaks, limped off the air, fans are finally going to get a second cup of damn good coffee with Twin Twin Peaks, a fan film shot on the show’s original locations in Washington state. Picking up where the series left off (Agent Cooper possessed by Bob, etc.), the episode is based on a 40-page, fan screenplay that made the rounds through fandom a few years ago.

Twin Twin Peaks might provide loyal followers with some answers and a proper sense of closure (something Lynch and co-writer Mark Frost never deigned to provide), but if it follows series tradition, it’ll just toss out more perplexing, unanswered questions instead. On the other hand, a Twin Peaks fan film really can’t suck—considering the series’ stilted style and how God awful the plot was by the end, amateur acting and writing will still be a marked improvement (and I say that as someone who doggedly sat through every first-run episode to the miserable end). The filmmakers hope to debut the flick at this year’s Twin Peaks Festival (July 24-26, 2009), but here’s the trailer in the meantime. I wish ‘em the best of luck, but in the meantime, now I’m hungry for pie.


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Superman Fan Film Wins Award and $300

The annual Superman Celebration took place in Metropolis, IL on June 13-14; for the second year running, a superhero fan film contest was held as part of the festivities. Filmmaker George Doerr nabbed the grand prize this time out, along with a cool $300, for his fan film, Villains Day Off. Between the Tuscon contest mentioned yesterday and this one, looks like fan films are starting to pay off for some folks.


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Michael Bay’s The Dark Knight Fan Film

MovieSpoofWeb fan film nightPhil Lybrand, the guy behind the ever-popular Batman Vs. Superman – A Duel To The Death short sent in cool news: The Art Institute of Tuscon is sponsoring a night of fan films where a few filmmakers are going to go home with cash money in their pockets.

The event is based around Tuscon’s recent edition of the 48-Hour Film Project—the annual, national event where people get a topic on Friday night and have until Sunday night to write, shoot, edit and screen a 4-7 minute masterpiece based on it.

This year, the topic was movie spoofs, and wouldn’t you know it? Lybrand, who’s made no less than three Batman fan films in the last year drew the Dark Knight out of a hat.

Even so, it was still a challenge: “This one had to be huge, so I referred to the master of huge—Michael Bay—and knocked this bad boy out: Michael Bay’s ‘The Dark Knight’, AKA 95 Pages of Brilliance. It’s based on the fake script that’s been circulating online that ‘Michael Bay’ wrote, unsolicited, only to be rejected by WB.”


Now you can see it and a plethora of other fan films in a three-hour orgy of movie spoofs:

THE MOVIE SPOOF SPECTACULAR: A 48 HOUR FILM CHALLENGE
PRESENTED BY THE ART INSTITUTE OF TUCSON
PUBLIC SCREENING and AWARDS EXTRAVAGANZA
The Loft Cinema
Tuesday, June 30th at 7:00 p.m.
Admission: $5.00
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The adventure began on Friday, June 12th at 6:00 p.m., as 20 filmmaking teams gathered at The Loft Cinema to randomly select the classic movie title they would be spoofing. Was it JAWS? How about STAR WARS? Don’t forget SCARFACE, PULP FICTION, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, THE WIZARD OF OZ, FRIDAY THE 13TH, HARRY POTTER and THE GODFATHER! Or maybe a tasty helping of FORREST GUMP was on the menu …? What are the titles we threw into the ring? You’ll just need to show up to find out!
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Our hard-working, fun-loving, sleep-deprived contestants had a mere 48 hours to complete their 4-6 minute long films and return them to The Loft by Sunday, June 14th at 6:00 p.m., or else they were forced to face a slow and painful death (actually, those who missed the deadline were just disqualified, but we’re trying to be dramatic here). Writing! Shooting! Editing! Costuming! It’s a lot to cram in to 48 hours … who survived, and what sorts of cinematic sorcery were they able to perform on their MOVIE SPOOFS? You know what you’ve got to do – come see the Spoofs!
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A panel of movie-lovin’ celebrity judges selected their favorite spoofs from all the entries, giving the “thumbs up” to the best in writing, editing, cinematography and acting categories, as well as the much-coveted BEST OVERALL FILM SPOOF. At the public screening/awards extravaganza, we’ll screen all the movies, and the winning teams will will walk off with “Spoofie Awards.” But that’s not all! One lucky team will bank a cool $500 Cash Prize for creating the BEST OVERALL FILM SPOOF, and you, the audience, will decide who takes home the $250 Cash Prize for AUDIENCE FAVORITE, so watch the films carefully and use your powers wisely …
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Don’t miss out on THE MOVIE SPOOF SPECTACULAR! … because this time, it’s personal.

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G.I. Joe Fan Film to Appear in DVD Box Set!

GIJoeHeader

Hasbro, the famed toy company, has a mixed history with fan films—on one hand, it produces Star Wars toys, and plenty of those have been used in stop-motion animated fan productions over the years, including efforts that wound up in the annual Lucasfilm/Atomfilms Star Wars Fan Movie Challenge.

On the other hand, Hasbro also makes G.I. Joe dolls, and has frowned upon fan films based on that toy line; as I mentioned in my book, Homemade Hollywood, the company has gone as far as to send strongly worded cease and desist letters to fan filmmakers who used the characters.

That attitude appears to be changing however, as the popular fan film G.I. Joe and the Battle for the Serpent Stone will appear as an “extra” in the forthcoming cartoon series DVD box set, , due out July 21 from Shout Factory.

There’s currently no mention of the fan film on the Shout Factory website, but we heard from a well-placed source that Hasbro screened a number of fan films for possible inclusion in the set, and the only one to make the cut was Serpent Stone. Backing that up, today, TVShowsOnDVD.com says it is going to be on the set, too. For those who can’t wait, here’s the flick below, but now we can look forward to seeing it in crystal-clear DVD quality in just over a month!


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