First Entry

So, here I am, making the very first post on what I hope will be a frequently updated personal blog about Fall Of A Jedi, the mini-movie I'm helping to produce. At first, I started design on a web site, coded by myself in HTML and having all the advantages that it entails - being able to use Javascript, our own design, and all that, but I stopped when I realised that there's no use for such a site until we have something to show people. So this blog will do instead, for the time being - a personal diary about my experiences in creating this film.

Fall Of A Jedi is a small project I'm helping to create with several people - Rob, Kevin and Mike. Rob and I have been wanting to make our own Star Wars fan movie ever since we first came across TFN and the wonderful movies made by dedicated fans - movies such as Maru, and Knightquest. We don't, however, have the cast, financial backing and special effects team that Banshee Productions used to create Knightquest - all we have is ourselves, a DV camcorder, and our computers. We've seen other people's efforts with similar resources, so why not us?

So, that's what we're doing. The idea came to Rob and I years earlier - we planned to do one with our friend Paul, and even started training for the duel sequences. That didn't work however, and for years nothing happened. Until Mike got himself a Mini-DV camcorder! Until we realised that with just Paint Shop Pro 7, Animation Shop 3 and a few plugins, Rob can create visual effects with better quality than those seen on Knightquest. Until we realised that our computers are damn powerful and... well, the time, it seemed, had come.

So Kev, Mike and I sat down one night and over a few hours worked out a basic story about a Jedi falling to the Dark Side. I'll post the story some other day, as it's not set in stone and not even written yet, but suffice it to say, we're pretty happy with how it's turned out. Everyone gets to play a part, both on the acting side, and the production side. Though the credits list each person with a specific job, in reality we'll all help out...

Director - Rob and m'self.
Co-Producers - Rob and m'self.
Visual Effects - Rob, of course.
Editing - Mike and m'self.
Stunt Coordinator & Duel Sequence Choreographer - Kevin.

Sounds so serious, doesn't it? In reality, it's a laugh. I'm grinning right now as I read those titles. So, you might ask, where is the progress bar set to? Well, unfortunately, we are very much in pre-production. We hope to get filming done either in the summer or by it's end, but with school and unpredictable work days, who knows? As of right now, we're planning props, costumes and everything else, though we have agreed on the location. We've started working on the duel sequences, and we're looking into what software we may be using. Nothing is set in stone, however.

That's it for now - I'll come back tomorrow with some photographs of the test footage we've taken. See you then!

Brian