Star Wars Revelations

I'll take it on PM!!!


Oh and Congrats on the post!! lol

 

The guy's just a mindless troll. Forget him.

I'm glad you're getting so much press. Hopefully your next film will be made soon.

I hope to see you at Dragon Con, and I'll be at Friday's panel (I hope.)

Shawan

 

Ok Guys I cant download due to dialup... I want the Revelations BTS disk #2 its the 2nd DVD full of Behind the Scenes footage.. but I cant download it myself.. and its 4.8GB.. I tried at my uncles but it would only allow 290k so it wont work.. does anybody have this dvd or can download it for me.. I would relaly appreciate any help..of coarse I would actuall love to have everything they got.. exept the movie I got that.. I can reimburse anyone for there materials such as dvds and postage of coarse.... please let me know..Thanks

 

Master Zap, incredible job on the effects. Top notch.

Great production quality all around, although I agree with whoever it was that first mentioned some problems with the sound mixing (at least concerning dialogue). Now maybe someday the scripts for these things will start getting better.

 

The Divx version of Revelations is shown in the latest issue of Maximum PC magazine to illustrate the menu interactivity available in Divx 6. Just thought I'd mention it for those that may care.

 

I know I was concerned about the audio levels at first. I first noticed problems in the trailer, which was pointed out to me that the audio had to be hurried to get it out in time (for I believe was a convention).

So I figured it would be fixed by movie release, and for the most part the audio was fine but there were a few places where the levels weren't consistant. Mostly during the Vader scenes from what I could tell. When I saw it on the big screen in Baltimore, I couldn't even hear what Vader was saying because his lines were bleeding through the rest of the mix.

Nonetheless, this movie has better audio quality than most of the films that get tossed around here.

Oh and I finally got my Revlations poster framed. It looks awesome next to my Jan Durseema print from C3.

 

HEY!!!!

Has anyone noticed TFN is hosting "Revelations" again?!!!

HOORAY!!!

 

John did mention they were going to get the link hoooked back up once traffic died down for "Revelations" and it looks like he is good to his word and the water has calmed enough for them to host the film again. thanks TFN (kiss)

 

SHANE!!!!

I see our esteemed Director has recovered from DragonCon!

 

I wonder if I should reactivate the link on the Hosting Pool then... Actually, I don't think I put a mirror up on there.

Current stats from the pool:
Total downloads: 1,182,845
Top download sites: Without listing all of them individually, the top 10 hosts range between 40,000-57,000 downloads each.

Just thought people would be amused to know that.

 

I'm amused!

 

I've seen Revelations available on things like LimeWire, Kazaa, and BitComet. So I'm sure it's been downloaded far more than that.

One of the actors for my own fanfilm came up to me the other day and told me he just saw this awesome fanfilm that looked like it could have been on of the movies. He felt intimidated by it and asked me if we could do that good. I probed him for more information, and sure enough, he was talking about Revelations.

I told him we'd do our best.

 

Oh, yeah, I know that that only represents a fraction of the actul downloads. #1, that's just from the pool. #2, it doesn't account for a tremendous number of downloads before I implemented a counter. #3, it doesn't represent that HUGE number of downloads from TFN on the initial release. Adn finally, #4, it doesn't account for the BitTorrent link (ran by Zap) that was listed next to the Hosting Pool on the TFN Theater page.

Combining all the missing data I just listed there, we can safely assume that the film was likely download more than 3 million times.

That would be my conservative estimate.

 

The USA Today article had us at over 1 million less than a month after the release and i believe Shane said we were at over 3 million from other sources around June (actually, it may have been July). Lord knows what the official number is now from all sources!


So, Durb, are you saying the number you posted earlier was just from TFN since you Re-activated the link??

 

No. That number represents that cumulitive number of downloads for all the active mirrors on the Hosting Pool. The Hosting Pool resides on TFNs servers, but the files that are being downloaded exist on the mirrors the pool links up to. (Also, it turns out that I never had TFN as a mirror in the pool.)

So, that number is spread out over 70 or so active mirrors.

I'm not sure what TFN's numbers were at when they hosted the film initially. But, I know it was a tremendous load on the servers. It had to be well into the hundreds of thousands, easy.

I think the only one that may know that number would be Azeem. Since he's not really active around here anymore, I don't know that we'll ever know...

Shane? Any idea?

 

Revelations has been viewed more times than Gigli.

 

And was a better film, overall.

 

Star Wars: Revelations has now been available for some time. As for myself, I downloaded the 2-disc set and sat back to watch this whole thing.

This is very ambitious work, and several dedicated persons has put their souls into this movie, and it can surely be seen. There are however several areas that with just a teeny little bit of effort could have improved the movie a lot. It seems to me that a lot of the budget and effort went into what happened BEHIND the camera, not in front of it. Dollys and crewmen and grips, oh my! (from the BHS footage and photos), but what use is all this fancy stuff if what's happening in front of the camera didn't seem to matter? If I could change things in this production it would basically be three things:

-The cast: Karen Hammang as Zhanna; Just doesn't work. Neither precense (did I spell that right?) nor charisma at all. Delivers all her lines as if someone dragged them from her throat. Replace that and put Shane in a director's seat instead of in the cast AND the chair. Directing is a full-time job in a production, especially if you have no previous experience and if he hadn't been too busy being seen in the movie, he might have seen what was going on. He does one of the better performances in the cast though.

-Footage and CGI: I can't really blame anyone here. I'd say that 90%+ of all fan-films make the very same mistake here. Crystal-sharp CGI vs blurry camera footage. In some shots it seems they have been shooting in 30p with their fancy camera. Newsflash: if you want to make a movie "film-like"; you dont go for 30 fps. Convert it to 24 before you do anything with it. In 30 fps, all movements are too smooth and not film-like at all. If I recall correctly, the XL-1S has a 24p setting (I could remember wrong, I know the XL-2 has it, but not sure about the XL-1S) which should have been used. If it hasn't, the footage should have been converted. It's a one-step operation in Adobe AfterEffects.

-Sound mixing: Just shoot the guy that did the recordings on set. 'nuff said.

At this point, I can already tell how all the people out there that's going "Ooooo!" and "Aaaaa!" about this project are preparing the giljotine for my neck, but now for the good stuff about this release:

-Budget: They had the money, you just didn't know how to use it. Learn from the mistakes. They know how to round up 20K, do it again and we can have a REALLY good fan-film started!

-CGI: Yes, apart from the "crystal-clear" look everywhere, the CGI is very impressive. Just remember, there is no gravity in space... =)

-Dedication and ambition: I could kill for a team like the one this movie had.

-Score: Yes, its audible that it's a computer-setup, but the score in itself actually works rather well I must say.

-Release: Yes, a 2-disc release definately works!

All-in-all, this is a fan-film. Nothing more, nothing less. The "bar of fan-films to come" is very secure in its current place. At a first glance, this is very impressive work, but as I already wrote, there are several things that could have been done better. Let's hope that Shane learns from the mistakes and is able to bring us more!

 

i went into depression when i saw Gigli.

Zoloft was my weapon of choice for 3 months.

 

I want to weigh in here but on one, and only one, aspect of the "Revelations" project. To get to this point, I need to go back about 7 months ago while I was directing a production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream". Since Shakespeare is in the public domain, I decided to film the 'behind the scenes' as well as the final show to put together a documentary. My camera guy was a very good friend of mine and a brilliant writer. Over the course of the 2 1/2 month rehearsal, we had a chance to kick around a lot of ideas about a screenplay. This doesn't give anything away, but the idea centered around an ex-husband who comes back from the dead to find out why his love-life was so rotten (collective groan at the bad pun).

BUT HERE WAS THE PROBLEM . . . even if it was a well-written story and I could find the best (and affordable) actors around, who in their right minds would help a couple of theatre guys make a movie!? So, we started kicking around the idea of a Star Wars fan film. Mike, a huge DragonCon guy, started to tell me all about the groups, the costumes, the forums, and just the sheer size of the fan base that would be in attendance. So, just as we both got cast in a production of "Arsenic and Old Lace", we turned our attention to carving out a SW fan film. We rationalized that there was a huge talent-base out there and everyone involved in a fan films knows it is NOT FOR PROFIT. We do it for the love of the art and for the chance to sit back and say, "Hey, I actually made a Star Wars film!" Whether good or bad, high quality or low, the fact is, you have an audience and you have volunteers and if you happen to align the planets in the right order, you just might have a shot at making something come to fruition.

NOW TO MY POINT . . . just as we started to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) a friend of mine from Michigan (I live in Georgia in the US which is 800 miles south of Michigan) sent me a link to this 'fan film' he had heard about and wanted my opinion about it since he knows my acting/directing background. Going to their website, I was absolutely stunned to see a nearly identical business model -- even down to the example of them wanting to do an original film but lacked credibility/support to pull it off as a first project out the gate. I think everyone in the FAN FILM community has to step back and acknowledge that as a business plan, they not only set out an agenda, they executed and they completed the plan. That, in and of itself, is a huge feat and should be applauded.

TO WRAP UP . . . I was pesonally disappointed with all three of the new SW episodes. I enjoyed the music and the images and the choreography of the action. But, to me, it lacked the charm of the charcter interactions that seemed so inherent in episodes 4-6. Even going back and watching the first films, I am amazed at the storyline and the characters FIRST, the special FX second. BUT, just when I was about to dismiss the idea of writing a SW script, let alone trying to make a fan film, to stumble upon Panicstruckpro.com and to see the fruits of their labor, I can honestly say they have inspired me far more than episodes 1-3 and rekindled the fire I felt for 4-6!

They have set a bar that will not be met by many for some time to come. Since their model serves as constant inspiration for me, rest assured, my goal is to try to beat them! But only because I so admire what they pulled off! It is my respect for them and their accomplishment that keeps me pushing forward. For that, I offer my sincere thanks.

Regards,
A.

 

Hey man, the comments, positive and negative are appreciated. There are a couple misconceptions about a few things you've made that I will address below:

Anyway man, sorry for the long winded reply...again, ju

 

No spamming, thanks.

 

Let's hope that Shane learns from the mistakes and is able to bring us more

God let's hope so!

I have said at talks, interviews and so forth, "Revelations" is a fan film, yes indeed, and nothing more. It was not done by professionals. Most of us are just amateurs and dreamers. I was able to get some people in the industry to devote time, energy and equipment here and there however. but it's made by fans and artists all working for free.

If your expectation is to see a 20th century, ILM, LucasFilm, SkyWalker Sound, movie out of "Revelations" then yes you will be disappointed.
If this is what you aim to do.. hey good luck to ya and go for it, I wish ya all the best in accomplishing that!
I am however very proud of my cast and crew and proud of what we achieved and completed for so little and for what started as a hill and turned into the worst K2 mountain climb you can think of.

For me.. I have my days. I know every mistake, ugly hair and mole in "Revelations" and cringe through most of it. I think it's crap and hurts me.. for I know I can do better, or hope that I can. Who knows, perhaps I can't, but I intend to find out with one more and see what talent I do have.

I do feel responsible for the film and it's failings, as that was my job. But when you are dealing with low budget and performing so many roles such as director, prop maker, set builder, production design, FX sup, exec producer, actor, location scout, on and on, you simply can not focus on one job.

You may not know it as you were not there, but each scene had various rehersals and I worked with the actors before each shoot, sometimes many days at a time.

I do feel however "Revelations" is perhaps one of the best serious star wars fan films out there, and I am not saying this to be arrogant or brash, but based on scope, size, story, FX, characters and so forth, it really is very strong and pretty damn good from a bunch of little guys just making a film between a 9-5 job, families, bills out the wazoo, and so forth.
Even for an indie film it's really high caliber and the acting is not that bad. lord knows it's not the best, but my film is only as strong as it's weakest link.

Were mistakes made.. hell yeah! I make mistakes as well as my cast and crew every day, and I hope we grow and learn. but even in pro films like:
Star Wars (240 mistakes)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (239 mistakes)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (283 mistakes)

but who's counting?? so if you are feeling down about your film or mistakes, just go read and see how many the pros themselves do


the fact remains "Revelations" is what it is, and there will be people who love it and people who hate it. I can respect both, and hope that some people got some enjoyment from our work. if not you can always ask for your Money back

 

I also have to say thank you for those who do support us, as I can not tell you how we appreciate it and how it truly does our hearts good.

The other thing I will say about "Revelations" is that how luck I was to work and meet some wondeful people. people I consider friends and family. and regardless if something or nothing comes out of "Revelations" we completed what we set out to do and nothing can take that away and nothing will change my relationship and times I had working with so many people who made our film possible. It's like we fought a war togther throught barb-wire and blood, and after the smoke cleared we few were still standing togther. If you make a film and complete something you are proud of, you will know what I mean.
Dare to dream!