The Jedi Trials - A Welsh Fan-Film

Starbucks is cool with me, just as long as there isnt some fat bathpulg wedged in the middle of a perfectly good meeting room area. Oh well, perhaps a jedi mind trick or two from our resident Hayden Christensen would be helpful.

 

Fall-on-Jin - Not to sure what you mean by the bathplug comment, but if a Jedi mind trick is required for any reason, i'm your man Starbucks sounds cool to me. We'll have to arrange it for a couple of weeks time. Is everyone in for that?

I've been having some major problems on Adobe Premiere and After Effects. These are damn hard programmes to get to grips with, but my inability to render in anything other than 7 frames per second doesn't really have any bearing on the actual production of our fan-film. So in short, everything can still go ahead as planned, but the post production could take a little longer than I anticipated. But were not going to be shooting till the summer anyway, so i'm really planning my post production problems a little ahead of schedule. Just don't expect to see a fully completed test footage tape within 2 months!

I saw Donnie Darko on Saturday. WOW!
Now that is the type of movie that ultimatly I would like to write/direct. No wonder it was voted movie of the year by total Film magazine, it was awsome. Its really hard for me to express just how good this movie was with my clumsy words, it has to be seen to be believed. My advice.

GO SEE IT! EVERYONE.

Terra - Any luck on the Jedi Anakin front mate? No worries if you can't find one. I'll just have to contend myself with the figure I made out of blue-tac in work today.

Tantiv - Do you happen to refer to your younger pupils as "younglings" by any chance?

 

Welshguy - lol 'Bathplug' is a soundalike of another word, which some people might find offensive.

Sorry, but im completely lost when it comes to high tech software, Unless there is a damn good tutorial, which im doubting there is. As for the film, I cant say ive heard of it, but i See it if the opportunity arises

Might i suggest another film - Catch me if you can. Its Actually Quite good, and for something made in little under a year its something special. Besides, Spielberg directed it, and if hes meant to be as good a lucas...

Tantiv - Do you know of what Martial arts are taught in Newport? Me and some friends want to commit ourselves to one, (well i mainly need to, As by no fault of my own i have seemed to fall out with areas such as Somerton, Alway, Ringland and most of Maindee. The story is long and the reasons for me being harrassed are pointless, but i feel a bit of self defence wouldnt go to waste. I would be interested in Kickboxing, and if im not mistaken, you teach that, right?

Everyone - I have counjoured up a few lightsaber designs, and sometime soon when money is on my side, i plan to go to a DIY store and make a couple.

 

I do not teach, i assist at the club where i train. It is the MArtial Arts and Fitness Centre in Maindee, there are loads of classes there The Kickboxing (Which i train in ) Judo, Tae Kwon Do and many others i`m bias but its a good centre.

at the Newport Centre there is Fen yang sau Kung Fu and T.A.G.B. Tae Kwon Do a rival organisation to our clubs.

If you go to the Library in Newport town they have a list of all registerd MArtial Arts Clubs In Newport

 

Ok, i've bitten the bullet and popped along to Amazon and bought myself a book telling me how to do all the fancy little editing tricks in Adobe Premiere. It may have cost me £25, but in the end I think its going to be a worthwhile investment. Good knows I need it, i've kind of hit a brick wall af far as my editing skills minus instruction are concerned. I'm planning to buy the After Effects version a little later, as it is not as essential as the Premier one, but don't worry, I will buy it.

On a slightly off topic note, I noticed that there is a Star Wars Fan-Film competition being held. Unfortuantly, the movie we are working on is not only (way) to long (limit is 15 mins), but it is also considered "expanded Universe". Meaning that the only films eligable are spoofs, documentries and the like. So with this information (and of course the $2000 cheque that goes to the winner) I thought it might be a good idea for me to dig out one of my old scripts. The script I had in mind is a simple enough premis. Anakin and Obi-Wan go for relationship therapy, laughter and high-jinks ensue as the Psychiatrist tries to control the anger and resentment between the two characters. It should be pretty easy to film (shouldn't take more than 2 hours) and requires no fancy special effects or location shoots. I'll keep you all informed on how this project goes. Though just so everyone knows, this will in no way effect the Jedi Trails movie that we are all working hard on, its just a bit of fun (an excuss for me to dress up as Anakin) and pratice, plus the chance to win some serious ying-yangs of course.

Fall-on-Jin - I'm not trying to be funny, but I have no idea what so ever as to what "Bathplug" is supposed to rhyme with????? Can you give me more of a clue?

 

Fall-on-Jin - Could you send me some scanned pictures of the lightsaber hilts you designed. I would love to see the designs and what type of hardware you plan on using. Cheers mate.

In return you can see the pictures of Frank, the 6 foot bunny rabbit I drew in work today. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me.

 

No luck on the Jedi Anakin I'm afraid - since we got the new catalogue we have a much smaller range Will keep my eyes peeled.

 

News on the Anakin front: Perhaps you could try forbidden planet in Cardiff? they might have one


Aslo, I tried to scan in the pictures with no luck whatsoever. The quality was poor, and when i used the only enhancing tool available it looked even worse. I've re-done them onto computer, and ill try to find a suitable host for them this weekend.


Bathplug = B@st@rd (allthough with a Newport accent it could sound like "bar-stud" so i derrived the term "bathplug")

 

Here are the lightsaber Designs, And if you click the link below you can see a short flash animation on how the two small lightsabers could work (these are just some ideas, and allthough they step on the "must be unique and different and samurai" like cliché of most fanfilms, i think they are pretty cool.)

 

Sorry for being away for so long. Been brushing up on my editing skills with a lesson plan thing. Good news, at least it is for me. My hair has calmed down alot now and if everyone wants to get together to have some kind of meet and eat anytime soon then I think we should try and plan something.

Fall-On-Jin - Dai's lightsaber looks really cool. I like the "claw" thing that is at the head of the hilt. Vary nice. I liked that little animation that you did, very impressive. That little 3 second clip is actually better than 90% of fan-films, so I think were on the right lines. Could you explain a little bit more on how these micro sabers work? I know that they are smaller hilts and are hidden in his arm bands thing, but perhaps it would be a good idea to have the microsabers as daggers or smaller blades. What do you think? Could be a distinctive and new idea on the lightsaber blade.

Terra - I refuse to pay several pounds over the odds for the honor of shopping at Forbidden Planet. So i'm going to wait untill someone buys me it for my birthday (March 16th)

 

The microsabers were origionally designed as an idea for something different in a fanfilm, but i thought they wouldnt fit for a conventional Jedi. However, these could be used in the second movie as Dais weapon perhaps..... hmm this seems to have sparked an idea or two... how does this sound?



Darth Vader: *breaks Dais Lightsaber* blah blah blah look at you ya piece o crap you arent strong enough you idoit. (temporary dialogue)

Dai: i think you will find i still have one or two things left up my sleeve.... *takes of cloak and BAM! dual sabers ahoy*

I think that could be the cheesy-but-not-quite-star-wars-without-it joke.


In other news, it looks like i might be getting a DECENT job soon, (so screw you Mr. Shop owner, and your lousy paper round) and that means i can start getting a costume together, and a prop or two.

oh yes, and Welshguy: Add another member to the "fallen down cardiff McDonals Staircase" anonymous" *ahem*

 

Fall-on-Jin: Thats good news about the job. What are you going to be doing now then? Hope its something fun and rewarding, unlike my job which is a soul destroying sucubus bi-atch from hell. But I digress, its not all bad. Tomorrow, I don't have to wear a tie!
I was thinking about those microsabers, what if they were to be used kindda like those 3-pronged martial art weapons. Can't remember what their called, but Raphiel used them in Teenage Mutant nija Turtles. Wow, i'm really starting to show my age. I think it might be an interesting idea to use them as a block and thrust weapon, instead of the standard sword attack. Just an idea, but what do you think.
One other point, if you read one of my earlier posts, you will note that I mentioned the possibility of entering a short movie into the Star Wars Fan-Film comp. I've taken a look at some of the award winners from last year and can say without a shadow of a doubt that all the movies (excluding the excellent "Christmas Tantans) are of a fairly poor quality. I don't know if you've read my "Ai and Obi-Wan go for relationship thereapy" sketch, but I feel that it could be in with a real chance of winning something. I've also come up with a couple of other jokes that I can stick in there, such as in the middle of the session Anakin's mobile goes off to the tune of "The Imperial March" (cue sinister glare from Obi-Wan), anyway Anakin goes into a short conversation with the caller, something along the lines of:

Anakin: "Oh hi sweety. Of course I miss you. How is my little love dumpling. I can't wait to see you again my precious little smoochie-woo. No, YOU hang up."

Obi-Wan: "Anakin, please were in a middle of a meeting".

Anakin: "Fine! I got to go my little cuddly-wuddly. I'll talk to you later. I love you too. Bye Chancelor Palpatine."

Cue look of shock on Obi-Wans and the Psychiatrists faces.

Pretty funny huh? I also got a joke about the Psychiatrist stopping Ani and Obi-Wan from having a lightsaber fight due to "The enormous cost and time in animating those things, so no lightsaber fights!"

Well, the point of this ramble is thus. I thought it might be a fun little project for us to do before we do the big one. It would only take around an hour or two of filming and can be done in one location. Is anyone up for this? I need someone to play Obi-Wan and the Psychiatrist. Any one interested?

 

Thats a bloody great idea. I would love to play the role of obi-wan, even if it involved me getting a fake beard of some description. I will have to have a look into that, and a costume would also have to be in order.


Mind you, i am quite willing to play any other parts if nessecary, anyone else interested?


And now for something slightly off topic. Im due to have a week off school next week, but an extremely me-friendly mock exam timetable and the convenient placing of a teacher training day, the week off is almost a fortnight for me. During this time i plan to start my job, in a computer shop called Staples. (yay! staff discounts! ) I also plan to get a storyboard sorted out for a media film, which is a combination between a Matrix Fanfilm and a Chat show. Ive got it all layed out, all i need is to get a props sorted, ask a few friends to stay behind after school one day, and film the bugger. My teacher is being kind of picky about everything, and says that i need to get storyboard with full annotation before i can even pick up a camera. So thats another thing i have to do over the holidays.



As Welshguy mentioned earlier, perhaps its time for a meetup now. Pehraps this could happen in as little time as a month. What do you guys think?

 

Up

 

aye count me in Shifts permitting

 

Hi all. Sorry i've been away for such along time but i've been very busy. Not sure doing what, but anyway i'm back now. So first off I guess I should give you all details of the meetup that is being planned. I know its a little short notice but how would everyone feel about meeting up on Saturday 15th March at Starbucks (opposite Virgins) in Cardiff? I'll be sending out induvidual emails to everyone that I have an email address for but I though I should put a message here also incase your a lurker of a newbee. I had a check and theres no rugby (thank god) or football matches on in Cardiff that day so it shouldn't be too full. I figure around 1.30 would be a good time to meet, so just let us know if your interested.
I think its about time we shold have a meet up and buy over-priced novilty beverages, then after were finished we can go down to Forbidden Planet and complain about how expensive their crap is.... Well, ok maybe not the last one, but i'm sure some food, drink and good conversation will be welcomed by most.

 

I think my girlfriend is away that weekend, so I could be there...Think I'll see who's going before committing, though

 

Things are going pretty well so far. Myself, Fall-on-Jin, Tantiv and Terra all seem to be a good bet to turn up, but I would still like more people.
Anyone else interested? I'll buy them a coffee if it swings the deal. Standard non-fancy, black coffee only, with no sugar, and you will have to stir it with your finger (do you have any idea how expensive those little plastic spoons are?).

 

Buy me a muffin and I'll be a definate.

 

Hey guys, I finaly got a good fps clip, but it is very short, so don't expect a long saber fight. Ok? Well here it is.

 

Ok, got another one here. Not very long, but it will probably get longer tomorow when I do a bit more of the fight.

 

They're cool - similar to what me and some friends made a while ago

 

Got some props made -they were for my course but some could easily double up for your film -very pleased with them considering how fast I made them [last night and this morning]

I have a strange object I'm not sure what it actually is -it looks kind of like the bombs han has in ROTJ only with more detailing -they're painted up to look like dirty metal -It could either be a table top object or part of a gaurds outfit -I'm not sure -I'll let you decide.It's one of those things which just looks cool but has no specific purpose.

The other is an extremely big thing which could possibly be used as the Cattle prod type thing-It's got a big chunky handle with dials and swithes with wires around it etc- It extends out into 2 long plastic tubes which are joined in the middle.In total lenght it's about 80cm.It doesn't have the claw thing on the end to go around the neck but it could be one to jab into the stomach maybe-
-it's like the skiff gaurds equipment only it's not,but it has that feel to it.

Again it's painted to look like dirty metal


All the things I made them from are from the local scrap store and I just sat there with a pile of junk and just started sticking it all together to see what I could do-I never actually thought of the film when I made them but looking at them now they may suit your needs

 

Hey everyone, done a bit more of the fight.

Quicktime Sesoron 3 5.4M (High Quality sound)

AVI Dvix 1.4M (Low quality sound)

I've done a AVI one because Welshguy coulden't see the other one.

 

Terra: A muffin you say?? Hmm, ok but you'll have to share with the rest of the class
Or maybe we could have some kind of contest of strength and wit, with the muffin as a prize! That could spice up the meeting a bit.
Do you think we should have some kind of way to identify each other? The red carnation thing is a bit cliche, maybe we should all shave off an eyeborw or something. Ideas?

ODJ_310388: I'm not having much luck downloading these things. I downloaded the avi. file and it would only play the sound, not the video?? Sometimes I get so MAD!! Don't worry, i'm sure i'll figure out something soon.
I don't know if I asked you this before, but i'm having a bit of trouble with Adobe After Effects. I can rotoscope the lightsaber blades fine but when i come to rendering, the movie comes out in 7 fps. Any ideas? Could it be a hard drive or memory problem? Or am I just messing things up in the render options (any idea on ow to export a after effects file into Premiere, which works fine?). And also while i'm here, when you rotoscope a lightsaber and half of it moves out of shot do you have any idea on how to "cut" it off at exactly where the movie screen finishes. I assumed that when I rendered it, it would cut it out itself and the movie would only show the actual "screen" and nothing else. But there seems to be a fair amount of "leakage" into the black area around the movie screen.

CGI-Bobafent: Wow, props man, cool!! They sound pretty sweet to me. I'm not worried to much about the staff weapon not having a claw at the end. The story is hardly set in stone right now and it might actually be easier (effects wise) just to have a cattle prod, rather than the electric noose type weapon.
I know this is a little awkward, but i'm going to have to ask or we wont really get anywhere. Whats the deal with the props exactly? Are you using them for your course, are you going to send them to us, can we keep them etc? As I said I have to ask, its my job as director.
How cool did that last line make me sound
By the way, i'm more than happy to give you back any money that you spend on postage or materials.


Fall-on-Jin: Looks like we could have a decent turn out for this meet up dude. Is it just going to be a coffee and meet thing, or are we going to have any activities planned?


By the way, did anyone else hear about Hayden Christensen being a possible to play Superman? The Daily Mirror mucked up the report somewhat (no suprise really), saying that he, Josh Harrnett (already said no), Brendon Fraiser (to old) and that guy from Dude, where's my car (Hmmmmmm) are in the running to play Jimmy Olsen!!!
Uhmm, I don't think so!
I think HC would make a pretty darn good Superman, though i'm going to have to draw the line at wearing blue spandex at next years Halloween party. I don't care if I look like him or not, it takes a braver man than I to pull off the outside underpant look.