KNIGHTQUEST

Well, I've seen it, and had time to reflect on it. There has been a lot of anticipation and build up from both fans (mostly, and rightfully) and from the fan film community in general. Overall I have this to say:

-Drawcut stands up and applauds-

Overall, this was a great fan film.

Yes, there are some problems.

But, watching, I was sucked in, entranced, and I had a great time watching this film.

I'm sure I will go back and pick out those things that I particularly like and disliked about individual parts of the film. But the overall effect of the film, on me, was great. It really took me into the Star Wars universe and into your own part of the Star Wars universe.

In two words:

Well done.

Drawcut

 

S*P*O*I*L*E*R








What's Knightquest????









I'm just kidding .....

 

Wow. That's all I can say right now. This has got to be the best (at the very least, my favorite ) fan film of all time. The acting was good, the story was good... Joe (and the rest of the cast and crew), I have to give you a round of applause for this. It's obvious you guys worked hard on it, and it really paid off. I've only seen the first two out of the three parts of it (I'm downloading the third as I type this; curse my 56k connection! ) and I'm very impressed. That's got to be the best Vader voice I've ever heard in a fan film. Joe, you really did a good job of introducing the characters, getting us to like the characters....and then killing them off.

 

This is definatly one we'll watch again and again.

p.s. Are there any hidden surprises in it such as hidden images.

 

Wow! Great response so far. I just want to reiterate what Joe and Tom have already said, and that is thank you. It's great to see that so many people are seeing the movie. And the positive responses are overwhelming. I just have to say thank you to everyone who has taken (and is taking) the time to download and watch the movie.

Its great to read all of the feedback. Both positive and negative. Everyone has been really great with responses and suggestions.

Joe did an excellent job with the resources he had, and the rest of the cast was wonderful. I am always amazed when I see new shots completed by Tom, and the final product is a testament to his talent. (Not to mention his kick-A@# performance as Vader).

Clay did an awesome job on the lightsabers and overall, I think it turned out great. I feel priveledged to have been part of this project, and to tell you the truth, it was just so much fun. Everyone who worked on it was so cool, and even though we were constantly in a time crunch, we all realized that we were making a movie. This is something that we all really WANTED to do.

For those who feel that certain points in the acting were the lowpoint in the movie, I couldn't agree with you more. The cast did a great job, but there are many times where I feel I was pretty worthless (as Dannikk). But I also cannot really bear to watch myself at all.

So anyway, I just wanted to express my thanks to all of you who have helped make this such a hit so far. To everyone involved with the film, it was so much fun. Tom, thanks for not killing me with that pipe of a lightsaber. And to Joe, great job. Thanks for letting me be a part of it. And again, to everyone watching it, thanks for taking the time.

 

I got a bunch of Trekkies to download it. Most of em loved it.

 

Janz_Walker:

TREKKIES actually LIKED IT?

Wow. Will wonders never cease

 

This is ridiculous!

If you're putting up files that are this huge, why can't you provide an FTP link (and maybe a ZIP file, while you're at it)?

I've tried 4 times, 2 for WMV and 2 for MOV, and the download gets to about the 4% mark. Then windows interprets an end of file and quits the download.

Did you make this movie so that only you could watch it, or do you want us to view it as well? If the latter, please provide a dependable way for us to get it. I'm on a 384k SDSL connection, with an average actual speed of 304k. But, the servers are so clogged that your cgi method cannot help but fail.

Thanks. (That would be a heartfelt "Thanks" if I could actually get the movie...)

 

Yup. Some of the cast and crew of the Hidden Frontier fan film series said it was worth the download.

Anywho, if you're having troubles downloading, I have found that manually inserting the link into the Go!Zilla download manager will let you download it and resume it if your connection drops out from under you.

You can do this by opening up the Go!Zilla window and hitting the Insert key. Paste the URL to the movie into that, hit okay, and you're ready to go.

 

A little late to be adding to this but figured I would throw my two cents in. From everything I was able to see it looked fantastic. But I cant comment much on any of the saber duals or action sequences since WMP for mac dropps frames and the compression goes to hell any time there is any sort of quick movement on the screen or bright flashes. (yeah saber fights looked like a bunch of giants pixels moving around to me). From what I could tell it seemed as if the dialogue was a little slow paced in the beggining but it was not horrible but again WMP lost sync about 5 times so that could have been respoisble as well.

But I must say the crowning achievement for this movie in my book, that truely blew my socks off was the Monologue at the end. It is not common to be able to find a film, especially once set in a sci-fi setting where it becomes harder for us to relate to, that will bring forward our emotions and make us (the viewer) feel for the character. So Major Kudos to your Actress and Joe.

Perhaps when a HQ QT version is made available i will be able to watch the movie in its complete form. Till then excellent job guys. be sure to drop me a line if you need help on a sequal.

 

WHOA!!
(WARNING: There may be mild spoilers in here somewhere)
Joe, that was...inspiring. I'm going to get this to VHS as fast as possible. This film truely was great. The characters were true and heartfelt, well developed and the lines spoken well. The actors were better than any fan film before this (besides Duality and Troops, no offense to anyone, but...they used REAL ACTORS!)
The story fit into the SW universe well (though whatever happened to Karina after this?).
The fx were incredible (as if you haven't already heard that )
Overall, very nicely done!

 

Great great film. Joe you did a wonderful job. As one filmmaker to another I stand in awe. You really pulled it off. I hope that this will bring you more film projects in the future. Your skills are that of a professional. I think that you will probably be getting a few calls from Hollywood.
Again great film.

 

To Joe and the rest of the Banshee crew,

It was close to midnight last night when my boyfriend asked me if I wanted to check out Knight Quest that had finally completed download after roughly 712 hours and 13 seconds.

I was resistant. I had to be up early for work. I knew Knight Quest was fairly long. I was tired. I wanted sleep.

So I said, "maybe just Part 1".

Well Joe, I see a lot of movies. And my eyelids are merciless. The second anything is boring, they turn into mini slabs of concrete and I can't keep them open.

So on behalf of my eyelids, very impressive film Joe, very impressive indeed. They are a tough critic and you came through! I thought the pacing was excellent, actually.

From someone who works in film distribution...if KQ is only your first movie, no doubt your 4th movie will be opening at my local multiplex come Summer 2003.

I look forward to it. Good luck mate!

 

More like 2013.
(caugh)
What?? Who siad that??

 

<Waves a big placard that says SPOILERS>

It took only (Only, heh) 14 hours, three disconnects and having to download the MOV version but I was finally able to see Knightquest this morning.

I remember watching the trailers last year. I had a feeling I'd enjoy this when it came out. Someday, when I have a cable modem, I'll be able to download and watch the entire thing again. As it stands now, once I log off, the movie will be gone.

I liked the film. A lot of hard work went into making it and it paid off. Congrats go out to everyone involved.

Call it my own personal failing but as a member of the Nitpicker's Guild, there were a few things that jumped out at me.

I remember seeing in one of Joe Monroe's past replies that he admitted he isn't good at writing dialogue. For the most part, the dialogue works but I really raised my eyebrow at all the talking Vader did. How many times did Vader have to offer Ulic the chance to join him before he got the hint? I almost expected the old guy to scream "What part of "no" do you not understand?" I think that once they started to fight, the talking should have ended. The part where Ulic asked Vader if he was afraid he would defeat him was fine but it should have ended with Vader pressing the attack. Vader has always struck me as someone who spoke very little but when he did, he was to the point and didn't give you more then one chance. I think the only person he really gave more then two chances to was his son.

I also thought that the two young jedi chose an odd time to have an arguement while Ulic and Vader were fighting. No. That wasn't right. In this situation, I think "less is more" would have been more appropriate. While the fighting was going on, it might have been more effective to use reaction shots. Something like this:
* shot of Dan watching and Karina runs up saying "Tara's in trouble." They turn to watch the battle.
* fight scene shot
* reaction shot of Karina saying "He's weakening."
* fight scene shot
* Shot of Dan saying "He needs help!", Karina pulling him down and says "No! Ulic told us to leave." <Looks off screen> "I'm going to help Tara. Meet me at ship. Don't do anything stupid." She runs off.
* Shot of Vader using the Force on Ulic and quickly going back to Dan. No longer able to simply watch, he jumps into the fray.

That would be simplier. It's high drama here. These two are watching their master fight for his life. Plus, this would eliminate Karina's line of hearing the blaster shots. There was no sound effect to show that. All we could hear was the sound of the lightsabers. Now if Karina had run into Dan's hiding spot like above, it suggests that she could have seen the shooting and ran back to get Dan who had quite obviously stayed behind. She could even do a Force-Run. Just possible suggestions.

I found Vader's comment to Dan about his destiny a bit off. When Vader spoke of destiny to Luke, it really WAS his destiny. Was Vader really out to turn the other Jedi to the Dark Side in the first place? Or did he simply set out to kill them? We all know that there are only two Sith, a master and an apprentice. Was Vader plotting that early to kill Palpatine? I always thought that the idea hadn't dawned on him until he learned that Luke was alive.

Ulic's mention of Padma was classic! But I would have cut Dan's line to "What? Darth Vader had a girlfriend?" and have Vader explode just as he did. More of that "less is more" thing.

It's very hard to tell just how Dan died. Maybe it had to do with the version I watched. It's the same thing with Karina. Just how did Vader get her to drop her saber? I think it would have been cool to see Vader Force-shove her back and then swipe her staff out of her grip as she fell or even cut it in half.

I'm sure she tried but Tara didn't look like she was flying the ship. Han Solo LOOKED like he was a pilot. His hands were moving on the controls, he looked tense and on the edge of his seat as he performed a hot shot move. Perhaps Tara should ha

 

All I have to say is: Way go go, Joe Monroe! KQ is the best fan film I have ever seen. Sure, it has problems (what film doesn't), but it was so well done and well-acted that the problems are easily overlooked and forgoten, and I think bringing them up or dwelling on them would be nitpicky. Besides, Joe knows what problems there are more than any of us. Plus, they've been mentioned already plent of times. So, I will focus on the good (and there is a lot of it). The story is good. It's not an incredibly complex plot, but it doesn't have to be. Just look at the plot for ANH. A young kid and a dashing rogue resuce a princess from an evil empire, and retreive information to destory a superweapon. Not very comples, but that's not the point. It's the characters that count, and the characters in KQ are all three dimensional, which is extremely rare in most any fan film (usually, they are run-of-the-mill characters). Plus, if the plot was too complex, people who aren't major SW fans and haven't read every book in the EU wouldn't understand it. I showed it to a friend of mine who is only a moderate SW fan (not someone all that into the fan film field). Usually, his reaction is that it's kind of cool, mostly for the special effects. With this one, he actually commented that this film was very well done, and fun to watch, which he's never said before. He also said that he loved how the film showed in greater detail the bond between the Master and the Padawan, because the Master has been teaching the Padawan ever since he was a kid. Most fan films have a Jedi Master and Padawan who almost seem indifferent to each other. They just work together, like it was just a professional bond. He said there were problems, of course (one being he didn't like the idea of a Force-punch), be he said the problems were easily overlooked. He agreed with me that this is a rare fan film that actually moves you beyond the "wow factor." He said he really liked the way it was done. He even said it was probably worth the download time that I had to put in. Even more amazing he called it a masterpiece. A masterpiece. Ain't that a compliment, especially seing as is comes from a moderate SW fan generally not interested in fan films.

The plot is simple, but it works, and it works well. It is exciting, it has high polish, and you are drawn in by the characters. By my book, that makes it a great movie. So what if it's not a flawless production with ILM production values. You don't need that for an excellent film.

 

Shawn PTH, Jedi_Ross, blaze1, VanB and Jace Taran:

Thank you VERY much for the kind words. I am honestly STUNNED at the positive reception KQ has recieved. Thank you very much for posting your thoughts.

Hyde_v: Thank you for the thoughtful critique. I won't go into story or dialog because it's pointless. Those things are totally subjective from person to person.

I will address a few concerns you had:

EDITING: I know some of the shots are too long. Chaulk it up to not enough sleep when I was putting the film together. Then, once I got into sound it would have been too much work to change it. BELIEVE me when I say I know the editing isn't as tight as it should have been.

SOUND: Again, this is a work in progress. There are laser sounds when Karina says "Do you hear that?" to Dannikk. But the soundtrack isn't balanced correctly so it's hard to make them out.

Also, the Star Destroyer is fireing on the Solar Hawk. It's possible the MOV version is cutting it out because it's only 15fps. Likewise with Dannikk's death and Karina losing her saber. You can see it. But I suspect it's the frame rate cutting stuff out.

Anyway, thanks again to everyone.

 

I seem to find myself watching the 3rd WMV file over and over again. I guess it's mostly the fx sequence that I enjoy there. The clouds, the orange and purple tones, and the overall look. I couldn't find any faults with the lightsaber parts. Definitly up there with the original trilogy.

As for the sound. Well, a couple of times I'd noticed parts when there'd be additional noise in certain shots. Noticible when there'd be a cut from one actor to another. But that's getting pretty picky. Some kind of noise reduction plugin might help there. Maybe Denoiser by Steinberg, or Sonic Foundry's Noise reduction. Or it could have just been the Windows Media audio compression causing the problem.

Anyway, it's definitely the sort of film that fits into the Star Wars universe and works well as an off shoot story. In my opinion, very few fan films achieve this. Much like the Ewok films and even the Christmas special, in that they're not related to the overall story George Lucas is trying to tell but still fit in without being too unrealistic.

A sequal would be nice

 

I don't think it would have been a good idea to have Tara have to hit the controls to get it working. Not every ship is practially falling apart like the Falcon. I think it would have been unoriginal. Also, if she was sitting in a CG cockpit, then it's not her fault, beacuse it's harder to fake flying a ship if you don't have physical props (control sticks, buttons, etc) to handle. Also, not every Jedi who has dies has been either been burned or had their cloaks burned. Just look at Yoda.

Hmmm...found out something interesting here. My friend liked KQ so much, he is actually considering downloading it himself to show to his family (he's got a 56L and yes, he knows about how long it will take). Remember that he is a moderate SW fan who usually doesn't like fan films. Plus, it's interesting that he's willing to take the time to download it even after he's already seen it all the way through on my comp.

Anyone noticing anything strange here? Fan films aren't suppossed to interest the general audience. Just the hard-core fans who actually make the films and who have read most everything in the EU. How dare Knightquest interest the general public!

 

ive only just watched the first part so im not really in a position to comment on the film yet. From what i have seen in part one i am most impressed,the effects have absolutely rocked so far and Mr Vader was very convincing. I thought the whole training scene was a little bit cheesy with the two apprentices suddenly having a little sabre joscle and with the girl doing the one handed sabre spin to knock the blaster shots back. But all in all very impressive and i am looking forward to watching the next two parts sadly they will take another 3 hours each to download.

Also im not sure if these comments have been made before in this thread because i havent read through the previous posts.

 

I enjoyed it. Fun to watch.

Foamy

 

I have to say that I love that third part of KQ. Joe, the digital sunset is magnificent. If you don't mind me asking, did you do that in after effects? I know you said that it was one of the most difficult shots in the whole film, well you pulled it off. I also have to say that your film inspired me to work harder on my fan film. Not that I want to out do yours, it just made me think that with a little work, time and patience I can do just as good. I want to thank you for that.

Kevin

 

WG2000: Yes. The sky was replaced in After Effects. Took alot of work but Tom pulled it off.

Good luck on your film. We all look forward to seeing it.

 

Re: "I don't think it would have been a good idea to have Tara have to hit the controls to get it working. Not every ship is practially falling apart like the Falcon. I think it would have been unoriginal. Also, if she was sitting in a CG cockpit, then it's not her fault, beacuse it's harder to fake flying a ship if you don't have physical props (control sticks, buttons, etc) to handle."

I wasn't saying she should have done exactly what Han did in ESB but I can sit at a table and pretend to work a computer that isn't there. I can pretend to tab keys, move a mouse, etc. Tara didn't appear to be doing this. If all of her controls were CGI, couldn't she have improved a little bit? That and how she delivered some of her dialogue left me wanting. Other then that, I fully support the idea of a lady smuggler!

"Also, not every Jedi who has dies has been either been burned or had their cloaks burned. Just look at Yoda. "

Every Jedi I've seen so far has either had their body burned (Vader, Qui-Gon) or disappeared leaving their robes behind (Yoda, Obi Wan.) Lucas and Company said this would be explained. So it appears to me that when Jedi dies, unless he gives up his physical body and becomes one with the Force, he is cremated. Maybe a fire was too expensive to do.

Once again, I'm not tearing the movie to shreds. I think it was great and I enjoyed watching it. These things just jumped out at me. I'm not trying to be malicious. I'll watch any other movies Joe Monroe does because I like his work. I know I sure couldn't do this.

 

Overall, this is quite an achievement, I'm impressed, but just a few hints.

CG was good...nice pans and reveals...need better lighting...think reflected light, more dirt on ships...they're too clean. Rack focus foreground and BG elements to give depth, including color shifts from warm to cool to give distance to your fleets.

Script has good story, but...needs pretty serious polish for dialogue.

Live action...lighting, lighting, lighting,....bright sun kills...include more dynamic posing of characters...look at comic books...art of the matrix. Don't go so wide on most shots, rack focus FG and BG elements to entice viewer...over the shoulder reveals, and static shots put actor in fg. If you're gonna go wide, go really wide...giant panoramic, with small characters in lower third.

Sound...excellent...great space sounds, lasers, etc...planet environments add more ambient noise, birds, animals, etc..

Again, good piece of work...I enjoyed it.