BREAKING: Official Fan Film Guidelines Issued
- Thread starter Danlav05
- Start date
That's the plan. The couple billion is the hard part. Anyone up for a Kickstarter. We could called it a Trekstarter to be catchy.
Hmm. That would suggest that there might be no such limit in direct donattions through a production's website.
The fact is you can barely establish a character and any dramatic stakes in only 15 minutes. Why would someone donate a lot of money for something that short? Maybe you can get some high-budget pew pew, but that's about it. The rules cripple the ability to tell stories with any weight or gravitas to it. It's G-rated glorified cosplay territory and little else.
I don't think that is what it means. But, how much money does a 30-minute fan film really need?
Link?Also relevant:
I'm sorry, what? There are tons of brilliant short films that are 15 minutes or less. I just means you have to be economical and savvy.
Also relevant:
I await your brilliant 15-minute Trek fan film with great anticipation, then.
Maurice isn't the enemy here, he is just stating facts. Anger should be directed at Axanar, they are the one's who destroyed the current big-money fan film model.
It's not anger, it's a difference of opinion on what is possible to do in shorter and shorter running-times. I mean, sure, haiku is an artform too. But a haiku is not the same thing as an ongoing 1-hour format series like NV and Continues. I think you'll find that whatever passes for fan-films going forward that satisfies the guidelines will not come close to generating the same level of interest as they did at their peak. It's not going to be possible to simply write around all these limitations, especially since writing is so often a weak spot even in the longer-form fan-films. I will be perfectly happy to be proven wrong. I would also argue that it was CBS/P's intention to creatively cripple fan-films so that they simply can't offer anywhere near the same level of quality viewing experience as official offerings. That's their prerogative, of course. But to pretend that it's just a hurdle to be overcome with writing is Pollyanna.
Every Warner Bros. cartoon is 8 minutes or less. You get character intro, rivalry, conflict, resolution, and a crap ton of jokes all in that tiny amount of time. Hell, one of my favorite Dr. Who stories is the one where Paul McGann becomes the war Doctor and that's 6:48 seconds.
And technically you have 30 minutes. If you can't make a story in that amount of time then forget it.
Oh the classic "when you can make one" gambit. That's about as original as most fan fiction (ZING)!
You are presuming, of course, that any fan film can come "anywhere near the same level of quality viewing experience as official offerings." They may be fun, but no fan film has ever come close to attaining such a level of quality.
They weren't doing that without guidelines. Fan films were nice, but they used money on sets and effects to try to hide mostly bad acting.
There are many who would argue that point. I don't think a lot come close, but a select few do.
@Maurice doesn't go around waving his credentials so I'll do it for him. He's directed several short films with compelling characters and stories. I had the honor of being in one.
This ain't a STAR TREK fan film — in my opinion, better than any fan film — and it's a short, 9 or so minutes long. And it was shot and edited all in 48 hours.
So yes, you can have great story in 15 minutes or less. Those who aren't creatives see constraints as shackles. Actually they're more liberating than having all the time in the world.
