Calgary Star Wars: Episode 3 & a Parsec, Secrets of the Rebellion; BIGGER THAN EVER

Hi everybody,

My name is Mark Twitchell. Some of you may have heard about this production through the badlands.ca or through other fan force members. I'd like to outline exactly what it is and leave an open invitation if any of you would like to be involved. This has actually been in pre production for months but it has now gathered so much momentum that we are now in full blown costuming and set design, fight choreography and close to finishing the casting process.

First off, the project is designed to make a Star Wars fan film everything that a true Star Wars film is. The inspiration for it began with a general bemused dissatisfaction with fan films at large. They generally tend to be a glorified light saber duel with some slight story padding on the ends but I like many other fans know a Star Wars film is much more than that.

Secrets of the Rebellion takes place in the couple of days leading right up to A New Hope. It features 2 main interweaving story lines. In one plot line Darth Vader is hunting down the last remaining Jedi in the galaxy apart from Ben and Yoda (Aliska Malii-Sin) on a mission to recover the stolen death star plans. I will show how those plans were stolen as well.

The alternate story line will reveal how Han won the Falcon from Lando but will do it in a method that makes sense in the context of the Star Wars universe rather than blindly following the outrageous version of the story told in the Expanded Universe. We will also see how he set the Kessel Run record and the circumstances surrounding his being forced to dump cargo he had been shipping for Jabba the Hutt. That event circles the apex of the movie when the two story lines colide for an ending that will leave even the most hardcore fans very satisfied.

The film will include several easter eggs most fans will go crazy over and follow all of the classic Lucas idiosynchrocies such as including 1138 in the dialogue and the all time classic understatement "I have a bad feeling about this."

Episode 3 and a Parsec will employ absolutely Hollywood quality costumes and make up as well as advanced directing techniques. It will feature 2 light saber duels and a very ambitious space battle between X-wings and TIE fighters. The whole thing will be shot on a green screen background and post production will be edited using a very extensive software package including titles used by New Line cinema to create The Return of the King. It's overall run time will be in excess of 90 minutes.

The acting will also be a top priority. Usually fan films get undermined in their respectability because those who engineer them are so pre occupied with special effects they don't seem to realize that the actors are what's important. Those performances are what the audience is most picky about and what they can most relate to. This will be a character driven film before it ever sees post production. This means all speaking roles will be rehearsed and coached for several months before shooting.

To achieve this the overall budget is estimated at $30,000 in addition to the collective efforts of the Edmonton fan force and local 501st garrisons. No one working on the film will be taking salary as we are all doing this for the love of the content. The budget is for costumes, set pieces, photography equipment and the musical score which is supplied by a 40 person orchestra, composed by a professional composer influenced strongly by John Williams.

Anyone who's interested can email me for a copy of the script for entertainment purposes. The ideas contained within it's pages have taken a long time and two writers to develop so we've copyrighted it through our production company Xpress Entertainment.

For it's promotion the film will be hosted on both it's own website and theforce.net. It will also be premiered live at one of the largest and most popular theatres in the city of Edmonton, SilverCity located in West Edmonton mall. It's release will be publicized in two local papers and over several radio stations. Live television footage will also be se

 

Wow. This sounds really ambitious. I'd (and I'm sure many of us from Calgary) would love to come up and help fill out your vison as extras or in other roles. Question though, how long would you need extras for shooting?
Trevor

 

My shooting schedules will be very streamlined. I can get the whole cantina scene shot in a day. I would need extras for two days. One for the cantina scene and one for the hangar bay scenes. They would probably both be Saturdays one after another.

 

I really want to be an extra in this.

I hope to modify my Jedi outfit to look like a generic desert tunic so I can be a cantina rogue. I also hope to modify a gas mask so I appear more alien.

 

I'd LOVE to be an extra in your production!! What requirements do we have to meet? Costumes? How authentic do they have to be?? I'm not really that handy with a needle and thread.....but I'm willing to try!

 

Sounds like fun and looks like there trying to out due that revelations fan film so let's hope they do. Cause this is a canadian production and if they need extras I may have to answer the call but have to borrow a costume.

 

I will be inevitably creating costumes for several characters and if I put forward the time, money and energy to make them, I'll keep them for the archive but I also have no issue tailoring them to specific people for comfort and effect. Furthermore if you like the costume enough to purchase it, you can keep it for costuming and momento purposes of course.

For those who provide their own they do need to be very high quality and detailed from head to toe. Detailed doesn't mean overdone, just consistent, complete and realistic for the scene.

All who are interested should email me at my gmail addy with your contact info and a picture of yourself if you have one to help me make more educated casting decisions.

I also need someone who's graphics savvy to build the movies website. I already have the layout prepared page by page. I just need help posting it onto a server and getting it going. Volunteers for that very important task are also welcome.

 

Cool! I wish you many broken legs with this

My husband is actually a pretty good fit for either Bail Organa or Lando Calrissian (depending on the styling of his facial hair!)... and he's not a bad actor (better than I anyway!). I'll send him your email address, Mark and get him to contact you.

I could maybe help out with costuming. I'll have a look at things and maybe send something along to your email too.

Nifty stuff though. All the best!

 

I got an email from Raj about the Lando thing, crossing my fingers on that one.

And I become less obsessed about exact resemblances when I consider the time we have available and the prospect of film make up and prosthetics. My main concern is that be made by Star Wars fans. You gotta have the love people.

I had the first of many production meetings Sunday August 7th. It was quick and too short but very educational for both those in attendance and myself giving the meeting.

Very soon the offical Secrets of the Rebellion website will be active and contain everything anybody would ever need to know about this project on any level.

As August draws out my main focus is turned to set design. When I return from my business trip to Toronto in mid September I hope to put that into full production.

Set pieces are a neccessary part of connecting the fake with the real. They provide excellent lighting templates, are simple for actors to interact with and provide a mode of tracking for the cameras so the software has a sense of perspective in where to place the backgrounds and how to scroll them effectively.

I need the following set pieces. Most of this stuff is relatively simple in nature and easy to build. If anyone here has any interest in helping with such a project, I am of course fronting the costs for all materials involved.

X-wing cockpit
TIE cockpit
TIE Interceptor cockpit
Falcon Cockpit (front console and back with door)
Falcon ramp (the easy one)
Star Destroyer bridge consoles
Jedi Star Fighter cockpit.
Bar, stools, tables and the booth for the game to be played at.

That's basically it.

 

Panasonic widscreen Mini DV camera..........$4239.00

Marantz Compact Flash audio recorder.........$802.00

AudioTechnica directional microphone..........$270.00

Adjustable Beyer Aluminum mic pole.............$180.00

6 10' x 18' blue and green screens...............$607.00

4 adjustable screen holders........................$270.00

4 Sets of independent lighting sources........$1820.00

Approx out of pocket costume budget.........$2000.00

Flying 2 guys up here to do Han & Chewie...$2500.00

PowerMac G5 PC w/educational discount.....$3515.00

Shake 4 compositing software...................$3000.00

Studio pkg of 4 software titles incl
Final Cut Pro 5 and DVD Studio Pro.............$880.00

Adobe After effects.................................$200.00

Approx value to set building materials........$1500.00



Seeing our names plastered across the big
screen knowing tens of millions of Star
Wars fans worldwide will see our
collective efforts when the film releases....Priceless

 

Good too see someone is going to make a fan film, but i am just wondering if u do know Shake 4 is a compositing package and not a 3d creation package.

Niteshift

 

Oh yes absolutely. I chose shake based on it's incredible abilities to blend backgrounds and provide the best color matching. I may even drop Final Cut entirely based on that fact since it is superior.

I will be using SoftImage for the actual CGI creation. I just didn't list it because I'm still debating about the package I should choose.

 

Ok crew.

It has just come to my attention that there is someone from Calgary who was under the impression they were playing Vader. Henry if that's you, then please, by all means let me off the hook with this one. I don't want to play the part, I just thought I was backed into it because everyone who had the gear was either too short or too unavailable for learning the choreography. If you are free I need to know this soon as I would much rather be behind the camera directing and filming the shot sequences any day of the week.

Costuming is going great, set design is on the planning schedule, the website is under construction and Chris H is all over the effects like flies on . . honey.

Good stuff,

Oh yeah and this is the graphic for the opening crawl. This version is using the actual fonts from the film. Very good job Chris, thanks.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a171/Kit_Fisto/Episode%203%20and%20a%20Parsec/Actualcrawl.jpg

 

I really like the verbage on that crawl. Very GFFA.

Trevor

 

Thanks. It's good to get feedback.

Ok, based on the circumstances I'll be holding another production meeting on Saturday October 1st. I hope as many people can come as possible. I realize it's a trip for the Calgary crew and I greatly appreciate anyone who can make it. With gas over a buck a litre I'll understand if you don't want to make the journey. This one is going to be a biggie, at least an hour in length and cover the following topics with room for discussion and Q&A as well. . . .

The location for the meeting will be 13111 87 st Edmonton AB.

Orders of business for meeting
October 1, 2005


Costumes

· Present costume construction at it?s current level
· Figuring out the plan for imperial officers.
· Troopers, what?s real and what?s CGI.
· Roll Call for the sabacc and hangar bay scenes.
· Spice Miners, riff raff, bounty hunters, travellers, star pilots and aliens. Who?s who and where they will be. How progress is coming in that regard.
· Vader. Who?s playing the character, whether there will be more than one for height differences from talking to officers and fighting Aliska.

Set Design

This portion of the meeting will be designated to the exact materials each set piece will be made of and how it will come together and then I will look for volunteers. I will have large detailed diagrams of each of these for easy reference.

· X-wing Cockpit
· TIE Cockpit
· Falcon Cockpit
· Top of Falcon. (Just a 5 foot section, not the whole thing)
· Jedi Star fighter Cockpit
· Falcon ramp.
· Destroyer work panels
· Bar and barstools, stand alone tables.
· Booth where the card game is played
· Tech Desk / tech benches

CGI

· Which programs are being used for post production
· How they affect what we do on set.
· Titles and compositing.

I'm gunning for 4 PM again but if that changes I will keep you all posted.

Just so everyone knows, the website will be ready by that date as well. And here's the official logo.

[image=http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a171/Kit_Fisto/Episode%203%20and%20a%20Parsec/LogoFinal.jpg]

 

Somebody at the toy fair mentioned they know someone who is a machinist and has access to a lathe.

Whoever that was, can you PM me please with the details?

We have 40 something light sabers to create and the levers for the Falcon console where that would be of great assistance.

Also thank you guys for offering your sabers for that cause as well. I will be taking you up on it if the offer still stands come April. By October 1st I will have the conceptual designs for the spice miners ready so that everyone has an idea of what they're supposed to bring to the table.

 

Sorry I've been MIA lately everybody. Unavoidable circumstances.

Anyways, here's the latest.

We will have a fully functional R2D2 for this film. It will be in the room with Leia and accompany a service tech down the hall of the Tantive 4 as the tech reports to Antilles on the condition of a certain protocol droids leg.

Laser cut out of stainless steel and aluminum, the R2D2 in question will be an actual scale version built very sturdy and relatively waterproof. The plans have already been drawn up in autocad and as I understand it he's close to ready to start cutting.

He's looking at using PowerWheels engines to motor the little droid and a 12 volt actuator rated for 1000 lbs to help the Astromech to go from a 2 legged standing position to a 3 legged rolling position. The droid will feature removable compartments, all the standard R2 attachments like the cattle prod, buzz saw and pieroscope as well as spring loaded propane fuelled rockets, though they are not intended to actually lift the R2 off the ground.

Optimistically he'd have it ready for FilmCon but if not, no big deal. I can't wait to see it in action!!

The cantina scene will have a yoda wanted poster on the back wall with a couple of bounty hunters checking it out. It's not a featured shot, just a background easter egg type thing but if anyone here has or knows someone who has a good bounty hunter costume let me know and we'll hook it up.

I'm considering using this as an excuse to have Boba Fett in the film if only for a brief appearance like his ANH special edition showing. That's not written in stone yet though.

When I get the concept drawings for the spice miners finished I'll post them here so everyone has a clear perception of what that is about.

 

Check it out crew.

- Jimmy "Han Solo" Siokos is getting uppity about his headshots. *sigh* talent. lol He knows we love him. Go ahead and get it perfect Jimbo. He's dropping a pretty penny on his two new Han outfits for the film and I found out he gets his bloodstripes custom sewn by a guy in California. You learn something new every day. One more guy we get to add to the credit list lol.

- Now that I've had the chance to get reacquainted with my to do list in Edmonton things are moving forward once again. Friday I'll be scouting the studio at Nait to get an idea of dimensions for what we'll have to work with studio wise.

- Dave Wilders headshot came in. Very clever mix of man and machine there, cool stuff. Can't wait for the website to be finished and I'm very excited about that. The day is upon us.

- Our move in date just happens to be the big day of the meeting. This meeting will mark the beginning of the middle as I like to put it lol. With plenty of space and a viable workshop all of the planning will start to form reality as we have a location for set building and storage. October will be busy enough with my Halloween costume contracts and planning the seminar for FilmCon so I don't expect a lot of tangible progress on sets to take place within that month but come November things will kick into high gear. November, December and January are construction months for all materials from set pieces to costumes and there will be many. Simultaneously throughout those months we'll be training the actors in the choreography of the duels. January through March I'll be doing constant acting coaching with anyone who needs it and then in April we start shooting.

Working with everyone involved I will set up a shooting schedule condusive to everyones schedules and it will be out way way in advance so everyone has a chance to book the time off. Since most of us have weekends off that is when shooting will take place. Saturdays will be the biggest days with Sundays coming in a close second.

Now I'm going to define what "hellweek" is. Hell week is the 9 day span that the two stars of the Han and Chewie story line will be in Edmonton. They will fly in on a Friday, spend all day Saturday and Sunday shooting on set and then from 5 pm to 10 pm every week day will also be shooting. Then the following weekend we will shoot all day Saturday and Sunday again.

During hellweek every single frame will include Han, Chewbacca or both. Those shots are prioritized and the Sabacc Cantina scene will take place on the first day since it is the most complex of all the scenes to manage. This week will be shot in August. At first I had planned it for April to coincide with spring break but the timeframe is too tight to fit that in responsibly. Besides, the Edmonton crew can get 65% of the movie filmed on the weekends leading up to that week so the momentum will help us out. Ideally I would like day 9 of hellweek to be the last shooting day of Episde 3 and a Parsec, Secrets of the Rebellion.

I know everyone is doing this for the love of the content and I appreciate that greatly. Everyone willing to donate their time is a valuable asset to this production and will be treated accordingly. Food and drinks are going to be provided on set and no matter how simple the task, everyone gets credited in the production.

It will take a great deal of coordination and cooperation and I'm sure we can all make it work.

 

For all the news, latest cast list, crew information, affiliates and to sign the guestbook visit

www.xpressentertainment.ca

 

For those who have read the script and/or are participating in the films production, your participation in this poll would be appreciated. Thanks.

http://boards.theforce.net/Edmonton,_AB/b10363/21985370/?0

 

Hello Calgary folk,

I haven't been very frequent on updating this thread since all the news is on the website now but if you haven't been following the progress, you should take a look sometime.

The site is more fleshed out now with info and photos of progress as it happens.

We are head long into production now and will be spending the next 4 months doing a lot of set building and costume design.

We're going union with ACTRA and SAG for some of the more professional actors, we got Zach Jensen (EP2 Kit Fisto) to appear in the film and we're in the midst of getting some big talent onto the project as well. Casting is also nearly complete.

Our key crew continues to expand with more industry professionals joining our cause and very soon the concept designs for many of the background characters will be on the pre production page.

I encourage you all to save the site as a favorite and check in from time to time.

Remember, anyone that completes a costume to the standard of quality needed for the film will be able to appear in the movie, be credited, and be reimbursed 100% for the materials spent on their costume.

Thanks everyone.

Mark

www.xpressentertainment.ca