The definition of a fan film?

I'm writing something about fan films, written for people who have no idea what fan films are. I've been struggling to define exactly what the flicks are, so I figured I'd ask you, my fellow filmmakers. Here's what I came up with:

"Generally, a fan film is an amateur production based on mass-media characters or situations. Most of the time, fan flicks have original plots; occasionally, they take an existing story from another medium--say, comic books--and make a movie out of it, while other times, they just flat out remake a favorite film. But there?s loose rules about this brand of filmmaking. A homemade movie of a Spider-Man comic is definitely a fan film; a homemade movie of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is not (though something like "The Further Adventures of the Headless Horseman" might be). The definition comes down to gut instinct in the end, a lot like the cliché about art: You know a fan film when you see one."

While it basically covers the topic, I'm not very satisfied with it. It's unweildy--I'd really like a one-sentence definition. Also, as you can see, I'm having a hard time articulating exactly WHY some things are fan films and some things are not. Also, to say they're strictly amateur productions means you can't include stuff like "Hardware Wars" and "GLIL" but if you include them by saying 'amateur or low-budget pro films,' you wind up including stuff like "Thumb Wars," which is definitely not a fan film.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

I'll give it a shot (off the top of my head):

Fan film: a not-for-profit endeavor, usually amateur, that creates a supplementary or complementary film product out of a contemporary pop culture phenomenon, generally out of an affection for the original source material.

 

Man, you really went out of your way and pontificted on a topic that is very easy to describe.

A fan film does not need to be low budget. It does not need to be amateur.

In very simple terms, a fan film is an homage. That is, it is a film that is based on, and incorporates, existing, well known characters, in an existing well known universe.

It matters not if it's a comedy or serious. It matters not if it crosses over into an homage to something else.


There is another relavent point to make about this. A good number of filmmakers choose to make their first film a Star Wars fan film because of the following reasons:
1) Built in audience. If it says "Star Wars" people will watch it.
2) They are familiar with the subject matter, which makes the whole process easier
3) They already KNOW what the FX are supposed to look and sound like.

Many times, a filmmaker will grab up their audience going this route, and when they finally make a totally original production, people will actually WATCH it, based purely on the fact that they are familiar with the filmmaker's work already - because they saw the fan film...

This is not always the case. Some of us are just in it for the hobby of it all...

 

I think R2 said it best, and if I didn't know any better I would have thought that his comment came right out of Wikipedia!

So I decided to see what Wikipedia had to say on the matter


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_Film




P.S. I am not accusing R2 of using Wikipedia, I just really thought his post sounded like something I would read in a dictionary it was very good. So I just decided to see what Wikipedia said about it as well.

 

Good call on checking Wikipedia. I like their definition a lot, though again, it leaves the door open to "professional" homages, whether Thumb Wars, Donnie & Marie sketches or whathaveyou. Ah, I'm wrestling with it, but I'll get the hang of it sooner or later. Anyone else want to throw in their version?

 

Yeah I say its a non-profit film made in support of the original material becuase the people making it have a love for the genre, character, story or whatever.

 

What's wrong with professional homages and parodies? Why can't those be fanfilms, too?

 

I'll give it a try.

"A fan film is non-profit homage made by fans of a particular movie or series to show their devotion and extreme uber-nerdiness(i;e Star Wars fans) to that particular movie or series. "

 

Yeah i guess nerdiness could apply. lol

 

R2-12point has the best so far, imo.

 

Thanks.

I've never even ehard of wikipedia, however. I just like playing with words a lot.

 

Spaceballs is a fanfilm....

 

I guess if you're in that mind-set, then Scary Movie is a fanfilm, or Space Balls, or any other Mel Brooks film for that matter.

_Max

 

I'd agree with the first two noted. I mean, they take ideas wholesale (as far as one can in a parody), have an obvious affection for the subject matter, and other similarities. I mean, what's the difference, just because they're made by professionals?

 

I would agree with funk, course it's really a fine line I would say fan films are less..commercial oriented meaning that they generally aren't made with the idea of making a financial return.

 

No one says they can't. The Clone Wars series is a great example of that. Probably the biggest, most successful, and arguably the largest scale ever produced. And that was 100% professionals.

Some could argue that it is extended universe. Others would argue that it's fan film. I take the fan film route with it myself.

(Keep in mind that almost ALL of the extended universe began as fan fiction in some form. It's just that Lucas adopted it and made it EU.)

 

I would disagree. The Clone Wars were sponsored by George Lucas, being affiliated with the original source. I wouldn't call that a fan film [series].

_Max

 

If Clone Wars episodes count as "fan films", then does that mean The Young Indy Chronicles were fanfilms, too? For that matter, how about The Phantom Menace?

Everyone's entitled to their own definition, but I wouldn't count any studio film - such as Spaceballs - as a fanfilm, either. To me it's a question of motivation: Studio films are made to turn a profit, fanfilms are made because the makers were creatively inspired by the source material.

Otherwise Peter Jackson's King Kong would certainly be a fanfilm as well ... and if a film with a 200 million dollar budget and four Oscar nominations is a fanfilm, the definition seems a bit broad to me.

 

Talk about turning something easy into something complex.

The definition of a fan film is quite simply this....

A film based on an existing copyright.

Geez guys!

 

Sequels = fanfilms?

 

a film...made by a fan

 

[image=http://www.cooling-fan-electric-evaporative-portable-industrial.co.uk/images/1047_cooling_fan.jpg]

......hum not seeing it...

 

Hmmm I dunno about that, the Ghostbusters Movie I am doing...I wouldnt call myself a died in the wool fan of it...except that I liked it. It was more the fact I we had access to all the props.