'Star Wars Revelations' a sophisticated fan film

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
Reply-To: <dewayne () warpspeed com>
Date: Sat, 16 Apr 2005 23:20:16 -0700
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] 'Star Wars Revelations' a sophisticated fan film

[Note:  Do yourself a favor and go to the 'Panic Struck Productions'
site and download the trailer for this film.  After taking a look,
you'll most likely be queued up to get the full film on Monday.  This
effort shows that Hollywood no longer has the monopoly on doing first
class special effects films.  The available technology has no created a
level playing field for all.  Now its just a matter of talent and the
desire to make it happen.  May the Force be with you!  DLH]

Posted on Wed, Apr. 13, 2005

'Star Wars Revelations' a sophisticated fan film
By Tish Wells
Knight Ridder Newspapers
<http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/11384018.htm>

  WASHINGTON - In the original "Star Wars," the Imperial military leader
Grand Moff Tarkin tells head baddie Darth Vader, "The Jedi are extinct;
their fire has gone out of the universe."

  Not for the makers of "Star Wars Revelations," an amateur fan film to
be released Monday over the Internet. It's part of a growing video
genre produced by devoted viewers and made possible by affordable
cameras, computer graphics and editing technologies. All are labors of
love, and viewable free since they're based on intellectual property
that belongs to the copyright owners, in this case "Star Wars" creator
George Lucas and Lucasfilm.

  "Star Wars Revelations," a 40-minute feature that's sophisticated by
fan-film standards, is based on the "Star Wars" universe. Thanks to a
solid plot, interesting characters, superb special effects and an
unexpected ending, it's accessible even to viewers who can't tell a
lightsaber from a flashlight.

  "Revelations" is a provocative prelude to the May 19 release of the
sixth Lucasfilm in the "Star Wars" series, "Episode III: Revenge of the
Sith." The fan film picks up on the expectation that the Jedi, the good
guys, will fall to their enemies, the Sith, epitomized by
black-helmeted Darth Vader.

  In "Revelations," Vader's Imperial Forces are hunting down escaping
Jedi. A former Jedi turned Imperial agent, Zhanna, is pursing an
artifact that will help her find and destroy her former comrades.

  Opposing her is a fugitive Jedi heroine, Taryn Anwar, working through
an old friend and smuggler, Declan, and another ex-Jedi, Cade, who has
control of the artifact. Taryn and Zhanna vie for the artifact in a
series of starship chases and lightsaber battles.

  "Revelations" lacks the mega-bucks polish of a Lucasfilm production,
but it catches the otherworldly excitement of a summer science-fiction
blockbuster.

  Director-actor Shane Felux as Cade, Frank Hernandez as Declan and Gina
Hernandez as Taryn deliver smooth performances. The complicated plot
moves along briskly despite uneven dialogue and an occasional clunky
line.

  The computer-graphics special effects are retina-blasters. They
include a chase through space-based starship construction yards and a
night on the town in Corellia city, whose Central Park, minus the
orange tint, looks much like New York's.

  Felux, who maxed out his credit cards and took a home equity loan to
make "Revelations," acknowledges that the film "got bigger than even I
thought it would. We just never really tried to limit ourselves."

  It shows.

  "Star Wars Revelations" is due to be released Monday over the Internet
by Panic Struck Productions, at <http://www.panicstruckpro.com>


Weblog at: <http://weblog.warpspeed.com>


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