BREAKING: Official Fan Film Guidelines Issued
- Thread starter Danlav05
- Start date
^^
Which makes sense. It's almost like when I was making fan films and couldn't buy all our props but had to make them. Amazing...
Which makes sense. It's almost like when I was making fan films and couldn't buy all our props but had to make them. Amazing...
As a number of us have been saying. Not to mention (by and large) doing since day one.
That's your interpretation, and mine is different. If we get a cease and desist, I assure you we'll let everyone know.
As a number of us have been saying. Not to mention (by and large) doing since day one.
Yeah, the more I listened to the CBS rep the more I realized that productions like yours should be fine as you are...I think rules like reoccurring characters are just murky enough where it won't affect you at all. I can't wait to see what you offer next!
I was pretty confident we'd be fine with some minor re-tooling. I haven't listened to the podcast yet, but the salient points have been summarised elsewhere and I have zero concerns.
I do hope the likes of New Voyages and Continues can come to some separate arrangement, but it sure sounds like most of us are pretty much in the clear.
I do hope the likes of New Voyages and Continues can come to some separate arrangement, but it sure sounds like most of us are pretty much in the clear.
I do as well, but based on the CBS reps comments I think it's very unlikely they can continue in their long form episodes anymore. He specifically said that they didn't want fan films doing episode length films anymore...something that CBS/Paramount was doing.
With a 15 minute runtime couldn't you dispense with long intro and no credits to maximize the time? Or are those things mandatory? I've never made a film but just wondering.
Certainly, but everyone is hooked on that 15 minutes run time to tell their story. It's 30 minutes. Divided into 2 parts. The other thing the CBS rep said is that as long as productions are following the spirit of the guidelines...if your episode goes 15 minutes and 52 seconds because you had this shot you didn't want to cut. They aren't going to really care about that. They aren't getting into the business of "enforcement".
If people are donating their time and effort for free, they deserve to see their name in the credits. But the version you privately show the cast and crew doesn't necessarily have to be exactly the same as the version published online, so there are things that can be trimmed for time if needed...
A lot of fanfilms suffer from overlong opening credititis, where everyone gets a title card with their character's name rank and serial numbers spelled out a la "Nobodee Everherduv as Lieutenent J.G. Whatsherface" instead of the more sensible this (link). Some have minute plus title sequences for films that are barely 5 minutes long, PLUS end credits.
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Interestingly, John Van Citters specifically addresses the question of overlong credits in the interview. It was early on... let me see...
I don't have the time index, but here's the exchange:
You, in particular, should listen to it, Maurice; I believe you would enjoy it immensely. There are whole paragraphs that I transcribed as "[just refer to recent posts by Maurice on the TrekBBS, because JVC is saying the exact same thing]".
I don't have the time index, but here's the exchange:
You, in particular, should listen to it, Maurice; I believe you would enjoy it immensely. There are whole paragraphs that I transcribed as "[just refer to recent posts by Maurice on the TrekBBS, because JVC is saying the exact same thing]".
Well, to be clear... I hope that you are right and I am wrong.That's your interpretation, and mine is different. If we get a cease and desist, I assure you we'll let everyone know.
But as we are looking at different interpretations of this passage, how do you define seasons, episodes and sequels with regards to characters? When is a collection of stories revolving around specific characters not episodic in nature?
Again, I want to be wrong here, so I'm totally open to any legitimate interpretation that you are willing to share. Specially because I, personally, think that good characters are more often grown over time. And if there are definitions of these terms that let that happen, I'd be very open to hearing them.
But CBS/Paramount took the time to add in those terms (seasons, episodes, parts, sequels or remakes) for clarification of their position, so I'm interested in understanding your read of those terms. Please don't shoot the messenger... you and your group are not bound by my interpretation, but it might be a good idea to make sure you are on the same page as CBS/Paramount.
There is an amazing video on youtube of BSG vs Star Trek where a whole bunch of Starfleet ships saves one of the battlestars. I wonder how that video would go..
This is one of my favourite videos ever.
This is one of my favourite videos ever.
There is no prohibition against recurring characters. The guideline in question refers to the story. You cannot have a series of episodes which tell one story. I heard nothing tonight that changed my opinion on the matter.
To be honest, you can define a collection of unrelated stories as a series as well, eg Twilight Zone and Outer Limits.
We have discontinued the use of the terms "episode" and "series" to define our fan film productions, We have had only one true "sequel" over the past six years. We have removed the former series titles from our new productions. Tonight's release was originally to have been an episode of one of our new series. It is now labeled as "The Chronicles of Lanclos" - a Star Trek fan production.
I think we're good.
Endless Pew Pew. Yawn.
