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The other day I read at TrekMovie that the first act of the first episode of fan series Starship Farragut: The Animated Episodes is now available online. I think I remember reading about this fan production when it was first announced. I haven’t watched the first act yet but I was impressed with the trailer, although some of the voices had a strange echo sound. Reading the TrekMovie article got me to thinking about fan films, fan series and fan productions in general. How many are really worth watching?
I haven’t actually watched a lot of fan productions. There was one Star Wars fan film involving a bounty hunter, I believe, that I enjoyed. And Sandy Collora Batman: Dead End was incredible. I’ve also watched an episode, or at least portions of an episode, of some of the Star Trek fan series: Starship Exeter, Star Trek: Hidden Frontier and Star Trek: New Voyages/Phase II. The acting in the videos I watched was amateurish but some of the sets were quite accurate. Many of the costumes, though, seemed a step below what you can buy in stores.
It has been years since I watched any of these, so for all I know they could have improved drastically. Still, I wonder why there haven’t been more animated fan films or fan series. How does the time and expense of putting together a half-hour animated episode compare to a half-hour live-action episode? I assume animation is quite time consuming but the expense I can’t even guess at. Aside from Starship Farragut: The Animated Episodes the only other animated fan production I’m aware of is Star Trek Aurora, a four-part computer-animated production. Three of the four parts are available online but, not surprisingly, I haven’t found the time to watch any of them.
So what are your thoughts on fan productions? Do you eagerly await each new episode/installment the way you would a traditional television show? Can you look past the production values and just sit back and enjoy the ride? Are there other animated fan films/series based on any property, not just Star Trek? Hit the comments.
July 29th, 2009 at 9:27 am
Folks of “Lower Decks” –
First of all, thanks for discussing Starship Farragut and Starship Farragut: The Animated Episodes. As a principal of the Starship Farragut project – always good to see us being discussed (good or bad!).
I have often wondered why Paramount Pictures/CBS Television opted to not do a new series based on the Classic TREK genre – a different ship, different characters, and different adventures. You can address the style of ‘60’s TREK, by say that it is a stylistic or retro take on Starships, just as we do with interior design. Certainly, you’d update the special effects, but keep the costumes, props, sets, etc. the same. Starship Farragut has taken that approach – we’re CLASSIC TREK NOW.
My thoughts on “independent” film productions – hate the word “fan” film as it conveys a lack of professionalism or seriousness approach to filmmaking – is that they are done for the love of the specific show or movie based upon; folks doing them (to my knowledge) are not making money, on the contrary – they’re expending great, personal funds to make them. People may negatively critique the amateurish acting or bad camerawork; however, the audience is not paying for the entertainment. It would be different if a Hollywood studio financially backed the independent film production. At the end of the day, ‘it is what it is’ (no, I won’t say “fan” film either!). For Starship Farragut, its serious and FUN project that creates new episodes based on CLASSIC STAR TREK. As you alluded to in your blog post – people should look past the production values and enjoy the ride.
Feel free to check out my own blog: http://www.mycaptainsblog.com. THANKS.
July 29th, 2009 at 10:28 am
I tend to agree with John above that the word ‘fan’ does have a negative connotation when connected with ‘film’. To me, it reminds me of a couple of kids who have a free weekend and decide to take their dad’s video camera and ‘make a movie’. And, I will be the first to admit that a lot of ‘fan films’ have that same amateur feel to them. Plywood/cardboard sets, bad acting, terrible scripts, ill-fitting costumes and characters that have less than Hollywood physiques seem to plague many productions.
However, some of these ‘fan’ productions really stand out. I agree that some of the ones mentioned above (‘Batman: Dead End’, for example) really stand out as being quality films, with very few things to indicate that it was done by someone outside of Hollywood.
To get away from the stigma of ‘fan’ films, one must try to mitigate the issues I mentioned above. However, good sets, actors, writers and costumes all cost money, and that is the hurdle of any film, Hollywood or not.
Enter the new trend of the ‘animated’ fan production. Right off the bat, you can get rid of the amateur look of the sets, costumes, and the sometimes ‘average’ look of the characters. You are then left with the acting and story to overcome. That is where I think ‘Starship Farragut-The Animated Episodes’ has an advantage. We still utilize same crew from the live-action episodes; however, instead of having friends and family playing the secondary characters, we actually ‘hired’ professionals to fill these roles. And, it just so happened that these professionals also had ties to ‘real’ Star Trek. Chris Doohan, the son of James ‘Scotty’ Doohan plays a character his father voiced 35 years ago in the original animated Star Trek. In addition, Tim Russ makes an appearance in one episode, and Chase Masterson play 3 different characters in the two episodes we are producing.
As for the writers, “Power Source” was written by Thomas J. Scott, a former child actor and President of Magique Productions. The second episode, “The Need of the Many” was, admittedly, a story concept I pitched to the Farragut folks a while back. However, it was a bit too aggressive for a live-action episode. I am not a screenwriter, so I spoke with Jack Trevino (writer of two Deep Space Nine episodes) to assist me with that task. I feel these stories fit well into the Trek universe without standing out as being too ‘amateur’.
While we do still get criticism for the voice acting of the main crew even in these animated episodes, I think everyone will admit that it is still a step above what is done in the live-action episodes that have come before it.
Are these “Animated Episodes” perfect? No…simply put, there are going to be people that just don’t like them. Remember, these are animated episodes of a fan-film based on ‘Star Trek’. In other words, if you enjoy ‘Star Trek’ and the live-action ‘Starship Farragut’, and don’t mind Filmation-style animation, you will probably enjoy these.
Bottom line…it is something unique that we have always wanted to do…which is the spirit of fan-productions in the first place.
July 29th, 2009 at 10:34 am
And, to answer your question about the cost…without the expense of sets, costumes, etc, the animated episodes are VERY inexpensive to produce. They do tend to take time to develop the ‘cels’, but once completed, episodes can be rolled out rather quickly and cheaply (if you consider the time spend on it ‘free’).
However, once again you run into an issue with asking ‘volunteers’ to dedicate significate time to a project.
July 29th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
I wonder if we could get someone to offer regular ‘Farragut’ updates here.
July 29th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
Quote: “I wonder if we could get someone to offer regular ‘Farragut’ updates here.”
Absolutely! I’d more than happy to provide updates – I’m still getting up to speed with social media, and will try to leverage my blog with LOWER DECKS to make this happen. Suggestions are greatly appreciated. THANKS.
July 30th, 2009 at 9:53 am
Whatever you call them, I like tribute films myself, they are a subset of independent films with the caveat that they have restrictions because they are based on copyrighted IP. Its true that there is a stigma attached to the term “fan film” but I think that says more about the person with the biased outlook than any objective reflection on the production itself.
Fan films have been listed on IMDB, nominated for Hugo awards and featured in the NY Times. They are a social phenomenon of our times, the ultimate interface between fan and professional with amateurs trying to emulate the work of the professionals they admire and professionals reaching out into the grassroots of their fanbase.
Do I enjoy them? Yes, immensely! However I don’t compare them with professional offerings, rather I look on them as an expression of the people who have made them. Farragut’s links to the world of theatre and the entertainment media, especially NEO FX, have shone through from the first episode but what is even more heartening is the way they are building on that and going on to bigger and better things.
And for me that is the crux of the matter. It doesn’t matter if it is a YouTube short by two-mates-and-a-camcorder or Star Trek: Of Gods and Men, ultimately I ask myself, what have they achieved, what have we as fan-viewers gained from it and, in the case of a series, how have they developed?
If I see one more video which is just an excuse for a lightsabre duel I’ll scream, no matter how well it is made! But if someone can show me a new twist to an old favourite, as the Farragut animated series looks like doing, or if I can see that they can re-interpret that classic for a new generation as Guy Davis has done with his manga fan comic USS Tamerlane, I will be right there cheering them on!
Kirok of L’Stok
July 30th, 2009 at 10:53 pm
I hope to have the time this weekend to watch both the first installment of Farragut and the first installment of Star Trek Aurora. And maybe some other fan productions.