Cannon Fan Films?

I trying to track down any fan films based on cannon material. Does anyone know of one?

 

If you're looking for fanfilms based on cannon material, you're out of luck. Now if it's canon material, on the other hand, then I think someone could help you out.

 

Well, what exactly do you mean by that? Like...a fan film that takes place at the same time and in the same place as something in the films? Like a fan film set on Hoth during the Battle of Hoth? Or a fan film that deals with the Tantive IV or the Shuttle Tydirium?

Or do you mean even less specific, like a fan film set during the PT or the OT, dealing with the events and themes in those movies, if only peripherally? You know, as opposed to fan films set many years before or after the Saga?

Cuz I don't think Lucasfilm has declared any fan film to be canon material--though that'd be one hell of a coup for a fan filmer to have Lucasfilm go, "Wow, that was so good that we're integrating it into the SW universe!"--so any "canon" fan film would have to be, I d'know, about the established plotline of the Saga itself, I guess.
By that definition, Pink Five or Troops could be considered canon, while most non-parody fan film couldn't. I love Pink Five but...calling it canon seems a bit odd.

So...I guess we need to hear you define the term as you consider it before answering, truly.

 

There are those who consider it more than odd, they consider it an outrage.

Ever since Allegiance came out in January, the debate over whether Stacey's appearance in the book means Pink Five is canon or not has been fun to watch. There are folks who are quite vehement about it, check out the discussions of the Stacy page at Wookieepedia as an example.

Anyway...

I think the question being asked is - are there any fanfilms that were based specifically on something canonical. Beyond the obvious point that any SW fanfilm is based on canon in some way or another, or else it wouldn't be a SW fanfilm.

So if I'm guessing the question correctly... I've seen more than one post in which folks announced their intention to base a fanfilm on some specific novel or other. I don't know of any that were ever actually made.

 

Oh, I think I get it...not fan films that are inspired by or take place around canon events, but rather fan films made to depict canon events that weren't in the films...

Well, I guess KOTOR: The Movie counts. I d'know what else.
Honestly, I have very little interest in this type of fan film; I can read those books or play those games on my own. I'd much rather see Star Wars fans make fan films based on stories they've made up out of their own imaginations, the kinds of stories they wish Lucas had told, the kinds of stories they think Lucas would have told if he weren't so focused on the Skywalker Family Spat. That's what interests me, much more so than, say, plotless lightsaber duels or pre-made novels done in audio/visual form.

You know...originality in plot and characters, but with a distinct Star Wars mise en scene. That makes me a happy camper.

 

Actually, what you describe here is not much different than how most of the novels end up canon. They have to be written before LucasFilms looks at them and says, "yeah, that fits just fine. It's canon."

The closest thing I can think of to a fan film doing that is the Clone Wars cartoons. They really are nothing more than the most fantastic fan films ever made (in terms of scope, at least.) And they are SO canon, that they literally led up to the beginning of ROTS. Yet they were not written by Lucas.
(although, it seems that Lucas was brought on board as the ExProducer.)

But, the way I see it, is that Lucas would never have brought this story to life. It was done by a fan of the series. One who worked for the Cartoon Network, and had the connections to pull it off - and make it an actual chapter in the saga.

 

Really? Because I always thought they commissioned SW novels.
You know, either an author approached them or they approached an author, there's a plot-pitching session, then the author goes off and writes. Maybe after that there's some editing sessions, that sort of thing.
Never did I imagine that an author would write an uncommissioned novel and submit it to Lucasfilm...

Lucas being ExProducer is part of what made me think what I said above. I'm sure that he had input into the direction of the Clone Wars cartoons, even if he never wrote them. Mostly because they serve as such an obvious bridge between AOTC and ROTS, did I think this.

See, I think that my own fan film could easily fit into the canon, and really is the kind of story I think Lucas would have told had he not be so focused on the Skywalker Family Spat...now you give me hope that one day it could live in the SW canon if I were to submit it to Lucasfilm as as prototype for a professionally-made film...
I'd actually given up on that idea LONG ago; now you've re-kindled it. Damn you.

 

Before I typed that up, I did a little research on that project. From all I can tell, Lucas had nothing to do with it, other than being the ExProd. And, let's face it, that's an honorary title. He didn't have anything to do with it.

I think he must have let on some story details to the writer for the final installment of the series. That is the only way the writer could have found a way to introduce the new characters (like Grevous), and bridge the stories (the battle that begins ROTS).

As far as novels go... I think what you're suggesting happens as well. ("Cloak of Deception", for instance, actually has an audio version produced by LucanFilm.) But, I've heard that the majority are totally written and then LucasFilm simply gives the greenlight as a canon novel.

 

Well, he HAD to've. Lucas is semi-legendary for going his own way, regardless of licensed materials that would have restricted his creative freedom--for which I applaud him, actually, where many fans get grouchy about it; being primarily a storyteller myself, I can certainly understand where he's coming from--so if the Clone Wars cartoons led directly into ROTS, there's no way Lucas wasn't involved.

Well, hmph. Like I said, I gave up the fantasy that SW:TLR could ever be considered SW canon--a pipe dream, really, but what's life without dreams?--but I think I've got something, honestly...maybe some day...

 

I understand what you're saying and I agree fans should make their own film set in a Star Wars universe. I've done it myself. However, I'd love to see more films or at least an audio dramas based on short stories, books, comics, etc. I don't think Lucasfilm has any plans for doing that sort of thing any time soon.

 

What the hell is canon???

 

Canon.

 

My friend Glenn Greenberg has written some of the official Star Trek ebooks released by Simon & Schuster; in their publishing company, the series editors approach writers they like, admire or have worked with before. They don't take outside, pre-written novels. Alternately, if one met the editor at a party, convention, etc., chatted with them and ended with a 'hey could I pitch you an idea sometime,' either you'd get a yes or no. If you get the former, you write a query letter with a 1-paragraph idea synopsis and a bit of background proving why you're the right person to write this. If they dig it, they ask for a proper full-length synopsis, which gets vetted by the editor and then Paramount. The studio might come back with a few notes ('Don't mention -character x- because we have other plans,' etc.), and if they approve it over all, you get the gig, and then go off and write. I wouldn't be surprised if the SW books didn't work the same way.

 

Canon material (referring to Star Wars) is any of the movies, novels, comics, television, games or any other form of media that officially is part of the Star Wars Universe. That is they become part of Star Wars history. Now we could go on for days disputing what is and isn't canon but that is not the point of this thread.

 

Ahhh, Thanks rouge

I dont consider pink 5 a canon film. But thats just mho. I also have no respect anymore for GL.

 

Nor do I.

However - thanks to Timothy Zahn there IS now a canon Rebel pilot named Stacy who flirts with Han and talks kinda funny.

 

You've heard incorrectly... the process is like what Clive mentions above with the Trek licensed books - the DelRey goes to Lucasfilm with a list of writers they like, and from that list, some are chosen to see if they would like to participate. I don't think there's any cold pitching of random ideas these days, however, as it's a much more collaborative process, with the editors, Lucasfilm, and a series of hand-picked writers working out longer story arcs in advance, making sire that everything fits together in the overall continuity.

 

Hmm. Though the fan films themselves can not be considered canon, I have seen many fan films that take place during the movies themselves. Other than the ones mentioned here, there is one I saw, but I can't remember the name. I can't find the film either. It was on atomfilms and it had to do with a rebel pilot commenting on the award ceremony at the end of A New Hope. I thought it was funny.

Do Star Wars specials like the Robot Chicken special and upcoming Family Guy Blue Harvest special classify as fanfilms?

 

That'd be Cheap Seats by Robert Reeves