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Topic:
Read this before posting a new thread. Not kidding.
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AdamBertocci
Title: Manager: Fan Films
Registered:
Feb '02
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Date Posted:
2/8/05 5:17pm
Subject:
Read this before posting a new thread. Not kidding.
- Date Edited:
9/29 7:35pm (25 edits total)
Edited By:
AdamBertocci
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Okay folks -- I've been meaning to do this for a looooong time.
Yes, we have a general forum FAQ, and we have the Terms of Service which you should all read every fourteen minutes, and we have tutorials lists. But since we're still not filling in a couple of key gaps, I'm making this thread juuuuuust for you.
These are the most common problems I see with new threads. Here are some ways to correct them and make for better threads that will get you what you want more efficiently -- or even get your question answered without having to make a thread!
I want to make a lightsaber duel for my fan film. (visual effects, making blades or hilts, choreography)
Everybody's favorite question, so it's worth repeating here just for emphasis.
Click here for all the information you could possibly need to get started with your first lightsaber duel. While you're at it, check out our lists of tutorials here.
I am looking for a certain fan film. It was about this Sith Lord who made his apprentice fight another Sith. It started in space and then the spaceship landed and the guy got out and then the two guys fought with lightsabers. At the end they killed each other and the main Sith shot lightning. It had really good effects and lots of computer animation and fighting.
It's called "Duality". It used to be available at http://www.crewoftwo.com... currently down.
Right now an alternate home page for it is available at http://starwarsduality.webs.com/
If that site is not working, then Google for it yourself and may the Force be with you.
I would like to make a thread that is a question or comment to one specific person on the forums.
Instead of making a new thread, send them a Private Message, or otherwise contact them personally. It will reach them faster! 
I would like to make a thread directed specifically at Ryan Wieber, aka Ryan_W. I suspect that he is somehow different from everyone else on the "PM him, don't make new thread" rule.
You are wrong.  Same as above, PM him.
I would like to ask if something is legal.
Don't, unless it's a stunningly original question. The basic facts:
- No, it is not legal to sell your fan film. Under any circumstances. I don't care what creative gimmick you've come up with: if someone has to give you money in order to see your fan film, you are in the wrong, and you deserve every lawsuit you get.
- It is in many ways not even legal to MAKE your fan film, but Lucasfilm will look the other way. If that had not been the case, this site would have been gone looooong ago, so don't worry, we're quite confident on this point.
- It is, however, legal to put a copyright notice on your film. You do have the copyright to it; you made it, not George Lucas. There is a difference between owning the copyright on a film and owning the characters etc. in it.
- Yes, it is legal to pay your cast and crew. You are paying them for their time and effort and resources, which has nothing to do with Lucasfilm's intellectual property. It's no different than buying videotapes to shoot your film on, or giving your friend ten bucks to wear a dorky Star Wars shirt to school.
- Yes, it is legal to donate money to fan filmmakers. So long as the donations are truly donations, and not "admission tickets" or "DVD sales" going under another name. Remember, it is exchanging money _over intellectual property_ that gets you in trouble, not money itself.
- No, it is not LEGAL to use the music and sounds and whatever from the "Star Wars" movies in your fan film, BUT, again, Lucasfilm will look the other way. So please, no more threads about "am I allowed to use John Williams' music in my fan film".
- HOWEVER... it is not kosher to use footage from the SW movies as the basis of your project (e.g. 'music videos' and 'supertrailers'). Just for emphasis:
I would like to show footage from the Star Wars movies that I have edited together in some fashion.
Lucasfilm tends to frown on this sort of thing these days, and so if you are using footage ripped from the Star Wars flicks we're going to have to say nix. Blame YouTube.
I have a question about the Star Wars universe - it's for my fan film.
You would do better to make a thread in one of our many Star Wars forums. We have many different forums for the movies and the Expanded Universe where other nerds, I mean fans, will be happy to answer questions about the galaxy far, far away. Here in the forum we are happy to help you with the technicalities and aesthetics of filmmaking, but details about Star Wars are best discussed elsewhere.
I need Star Wars pictures or sounds - it's for my fan film.
See above. Just because you need something for your fan film does not make it a topic for this forum... e.g. pictures of a certain spaceship or location, or a question about the name of a piece of music, or whatever.
I would like to obtain commercial software without paying for it.
Do NOT post about it here. Your thread will be locked and you may get into further trouble.
On the other hand, discussions of how to get free software that is intended to be free (Internet freeware) is fine and dandy.
I would like to obtain commercially sold music without paying for it.
Same as above. Buy the CD, folks.
On the other hand, discussions of how to get freely available music is fine and dandy.
I would like people to work on my fan film, providing effects or art or something.
First off, do not expect people to essentially make your film for you. Posting a script, insisting it's great and saying "someone make this", for instance, is frowned upon.
In any case, when posting a thread of this sort, it is a good idea to provide as much specific information as possible up-front. What is your film about? How long will it be? How much work would you need from them? If you are looking for effects, what sorts of shots would you have them doing? What is the deadline? Why would this be a good project for people to work on? What is the guarantee that the project will be completed and be good? etc. etc. etc.
EXAMPLE OF A GOOD THREAD:
"I need people to help animate about one minute of spaceship material for my fan film, 'Dark Darkness' I would like a group of X-wings to streak across the screen; one of them should peel off, then come down to the planet of Naboo, and land in a clearing of footage that I shot as a plate. Storyboards available upon request. We have already shot the film and editing is halfway done; I'm handling the other effects myself."
EXAMPLE OF A BAD THREAD:
"i am making a fan film can anyone do the effects for me"
You can also use durbnpoisn's Fan Films Database to find people who list themselves as willing to help with this-and-that... http://fanfilms.theforce.net
I would like to ask for voice actors for my fan film.
Sure thing! But voice actor audition requests MUST be accompanied by what lines you want read for what character, and some sustantative explanation of how the line should be read (the emotions, the context of the scene, the character description if he's not one of our familiar SW friends, even a sample reading if you like).
EXAMPLE OF A GOOD THREAD:
"I need a Darth Maul for (explain your project as per the previous point). Please PM or e-mail me with your audition soundbite. The audition line is 'I will obey the sticky threads, my master'... he should be saying this with quiet confidence, confirming that he understands his mission."
EXAMPLE OF A BAD THREAD:
"I need a Qui-Gon, Yoda, Rebel Pilot and alien voice for my fan film, please send me your audition, thanks guys."
I need help making a Darth Vader voice.
This sounds like a technical question, but in some ways, it isn't. And we do get this question a lot. So... please note that if you want this effect to work, you have to get a guy who can actually do the voice. Technical filters and tricks may help, and some people like the Darth Vader Voice Changer toy, but ultimately, all the machines in the world won't trump a talented voice actor.
I need help with something technical.
First of all, make sure you've consulted the manual and whatever other help files your stuff came with.
Beyond that--once again, the more specific information you can provide up-front, the better. What program or machine are you using? What version, what platform? What are you trying to make it do? If error messages are involved, what do they say?
EXAMPLE OF A GOOD THREAD:
"When I try to burn my disc in DVD Studio Pro 1.5, after I tell it where to write the VIDEO_TS file to, it just sits there, it doesn't prompt me to insert a disc or anything."
EXAMPLE OF A BAD THREAD:
"how do i make an explosion"
I would like to look for crew or actors in my area.
While we do not discourage these threads here, know that it might also be a good idea to post on the board for your local FanForce, if there is one near you.
Also, again, durbnpoisn's Fan Films Database might be helpful here... http://fanfilms.theforce.net
I would like to ask the staff of TFN Fan Films about my film submission.
Contact them directly! The forum and the fan films site are two separate entities. Adam and DV are forum moderators, NOT TFN Fan Films Staff, and we do not make decisions about the site's content or news posts or accepting films or anything.
I would like to post my thread title in all caps.
Then it'd better be something real important and exciting, like the official release thread for a film. "I NEED HELP WITH AFTER EFFECTS" or "THERE SHOULD BE MORE FAN FILMS ABOUT JAR JAR" are not cap-worthy threads.
More as I think of it, or as you guys make suggestions.
Rick McCallum loves you!
-----signature-----
"Run Leia Run", "The Chopped-Off Hands of Star Wars", and "The Fan Film Menace" ... check 'em out. http://www.runleiarun.com  MarriedVespin?!
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AdamBertocci
Title: Manager: Fan Films
Registered:
Feb '02
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Date Posted:
2/8/05 5:17pm
Subject:
RE: Read this before posting a new thread. Not kidding.
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first reply to unstick thread if need be
Rick McCallum loves you!
-----signature-----
"Run Leia Run", "The Chopped-Off Hands of Star Wars", and "The Fan Film Menace" ... check 'em out. http://www.runleiarun.com MarriedVespin?!
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Funk-E
Registered:
Sep '03
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Date Posted:
2/8/05 5:54pm
Subject:
RE: Read this before posting a new thread. Not kidding.
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You may want to include mention of Durb's Database?
-----signature-----
I'm so adjective, I verb nouns.
RIP George Carlin!
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DMPjedi
Registered:
Mar '03
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Date Posted:
2/8/05 6:17pm
Subject:
RE: Read this before posting a new thread. Not kidding.
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I found this rather entertaining. Oh yeah, and useful for the n00bs. Yeah, useful too Good call creating this thread.
-----signature-----
Nate Caauwe - VFX Supervisor, Movie Spoof 2 & 3 http://PixelCorps.com DMPjedi is not here right now, please leave a message with NateCaauwe after the beep. Beep.
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G-Unit
Registered:
May '04
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Date Posted:
2/8/05 6:27pm
Subject:
RE: Read this before posting a new thread. Not kidding.
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Claps hands in praise. 
Yes do mention Durb's thread.
-----signature-----
Aaron Greer-Director/Writer/Producer http://www.nexthorizonfilms.com/ "I'd rather direct than produce. Any day. And twice on Sunday." Steven Spielberg Current Project- Sky Guardian
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AdamBertocci
Title: Manager: Fan Films
Registered:
Feb '02
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Date Posted:
2/8/05 6:46pm
Subject:
RE: Read this before posting a new thread. Not kidding.
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Mentionated.
Any other ideas, let me know.
Rick McCallum loves you!
-----signature-----
"Run Leia Run", "The Chopped-Off Hands of Star Wars", and "The Fan Film Menace" ... check 'em out. http://www.runleiarun.com MarriedVespin?!
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FigChrystie
Registered:
Jan '04
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Date Posted:
2/8/05 6:56pm
Subject:
RE: Read this before posting a new thread. Not kidding.
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Remind me again, what's the Niobe Dean Effect?
-----signature-----
Defunct.
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AdamBertocci
Title: Manager: Fan Films
Registered:
Feb '02
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Date Posted:
2/8/05 7:02pm
Subject:
RE: Read this before posting a new thread. Not kidding.
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The Bertocci Theorem of Dean:
With each post in a fan film forum thread, the probability of Niobe Dean being mentioned approaches 1. This progression begins arithmetically and increases to an exponential rate once Broken Allegiance is mentioned.
http://www.runleiarun.com/fanfilms/theoremofdean.html
But somehow I doubt that needs to go in the main post of this thread.
Rick McCallum loves you!
-----signature-----
"Run Leia Run", "The Chopped-Off Hands of Star Wars", and "The Fan Film Menace" ... check 'em out. http://www.runleiarun.com MarriedVespin?!
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darth_paul
Registered:
Apr '00
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Date Posted:
2/8/05 10:00pm
Subject:
RE: Read this before posting a new thread. Not kidding.
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AdamBertocci posted on 2/8/05 5:17pm
I would like to obtain software without paying for it.
Do NOT post about it here. Your thread will be locked and you may get into further trouble.
I would like to obtain music without paying for it.
Same as above. Buy the CD, folks.
I realize you don't want to get this too complicated given that we already have an FAQ, but this isn't precisely accurate, as there's software and music out there that can be gotten quite legally without paying for it. If there's a way to make that distinction clear, it might be nice.
By the way, why does unsticking the thread involve the first post? I've always seen this but never understood.
-Paul
-----signature-----
So this is how liberty dies... with thunderous applause.
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AdamBertocci
Title: Manager: Fan Films
Registered:
Feb '02
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Date Posted:
2/8/05 10:23pm
Subject:
RE: Read this before posting a new thread. Not kidding.
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Good point paul —
As for your question, I confess I don't quite know the answer myself. This is my very first sticky thread (lol n00b lol), so I'm just following what's been done in the past. 
Rick McCallum loves you!
-----signature-----
"Run Leia Run", "The Chopped-Off Hands of Star Wars", and "The Fan Film Menace" ... check 'em out. http://www.runleiarun.com MarriedVespin?!
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DarthArjuna
Registered:
Aug '02
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Date Posted:
2/9/05 6:36am
Subject:
RE: Read this before posting a new thread. Not kidding.
- Date Edited:
2/9/05 6:40am (3 edits total)
Edited By:
DarthArjuna
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Adam, you're the first n00b I know with almost 17,000 posts. Seems like just yesterday that he hit 10K... our little mod is growing up... *sniffle*
Ideas? Hmmm...
Watch for typos, or we will destroy you...
Okay, a little more seriously... may that in review threads, you actually post some constructive criticism instead of "it sucked" or turning the thread into another social thread? Example: Don't feed the Fig. A social thread doesn't help the newbies posting the result of their blood, sweat, and tears (even if it's crap, throw the guy a bone and tell him why).
Also might want to post the policy on donations, it gets confusing after a bit.
-----signature-----
Andrew Hookway http://www.freewebs.com/pressenterproductions What *IS* Meatball? 8=======}>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> For Sith-Lord_James and Alana: 
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durbnpoisn
Title: TFN Staff
Cast & Crew Database
Registered:
May '02
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Date Posted:
2/9/05 10:50am
Subject:
RE: Read this before posting a new thread. Not kidding.
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Well said. Let's hope that people actually read it!
I say we start a pool for how long it will be before someone posts, obviously having never read this!
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DMPjedi
Registered:
Mar '03
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Date Posted:
2/9/05 2:32pm
Subject:
RE: Read this before posting a new thread. Not kidding.
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11 minutes.
-----signature-----
Nate Caauwe - VFX Supervisor, Movie Spoof 2 & 3 http://PixelCorps.com DMPjedi is not here right now, please leave a message with NateCaauwe after the beep. Beep.
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JimBobCarl
Registered:
Apr '04
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Date Posted:
2/9/05 4:21pm
Subject:
RE: Read this before posting a new thread. Not kidding.
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I say approximately 13 Hr. 18.63860937265485639810 seconds but who's counting?
-----signature-----
If everyone would take an EXTRA 10 seconds a day to think, this world would be a better place.
I find your lack of faith, "Unfaithful."
Yo Mace, U Da Man!
WWJD
May The Force Be With You, But Keep God First.
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DMPjedi
Registered:
Mar '03
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Date Posted:
2/9/05 5:31pm
Subject:
RE: Read this before posting a new thread. Not kidding.
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I'm noticing a lot of n00b questions lately. Is this just the yearly wave? Because I didn't notice it this much last year. But maybe I too was a semi-newbie and didn't realize the wave of threads. Personally...well, I just won't go there. *Goes and fights a tree to vent anger*
-----signature-----
Nate Caauwe - VFX Supervisor, Movie Spoof 2 & 3 http://PixelCorps.com DMPjedi is not here right now, please leave a message with NateCaauwe after the beep. Beep.
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DarthArjuna
Registered:
Aug '02
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Date Posted:
2/9/05 9:09pm
Subject:
RE: Read this before posting a new thread. Not kidding.
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Okay, this is more of a thing for replying to a thread...
Google isn't everybody's friend. If you don't know the answer to a question posted, but think you can still help, don't just say, "Google is your friend." It can be, but it's very horrible to go through for specific ideas. If you must post, "Google is your friend," post a relevant result from the search, and also what search terms you used.
-----signature-----
Andrew Hookway http://www.freewebs.com/pressenterproductions What *IS* Meatball? 8=======}>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> For Sith-Lord_James and Alana:
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