What do you want from a fan film

[jackoverfull]

Which is also quite peculiar that’s so popular among fan film makers, as none of the main captains was usually reluctant.

Kirk, Picard, Janeway and Archer were pretty much convinced that their place was in command, Sisko was reluctant for like one episode. Even Pike doesn’t seem reluctant in the new series, so that was probably just a phase...

 

[MikeH92467]

Which is also quite peculiar that’s so popular among fan film makers, as none of the main captains was usually reluctant.

Kirk, Picard, Janeway and Archer were pretty much convinced that their place was in command, Sisko was reluctant for like one episode. Even Pike doesn’t seem reluctant in the new series, so that was probably just a phase...

Even in The Cage Pike wasn't really reluctant (he was already The Captain) so much as he was suffering from a short term case of burnout. He went on to become a legendary figure in Starfleet so it stands to reason that he was back to his old self after some R&R or perhaps an extended leave.
I doubt if you will find a reluctant captain in any navy even today. It takes too much drive and ambition to climb that greasy pole.

 

[jackoverfull]

Well, he was pretty much back into loving his job by the end of the episode...In fact his burnout was part of the story (as it should be!) and a subplot was that loving those illusion he actually realized he DID want to be a starship captain.

 

[Boris Skrbic]

I want from a prospective fan film director to wake up one day with the revelation that they could apply the resources they have towards creating their first original film (not even Star Trek with serial numbers filed off), then the next one and the next one until one day I can rent one of their films on iTunes.

 

[jackoverfull]

I want from a prospective fan film director to wake up one day with the revelation that they could apply the resources they have towards creating their first original film (not even Star Trek with serial numbers filed off), then the next one and the next one until one day I can rent one of their films on iTunes.

there are PLENTY of independent SF films, but they are not Star Trek, so they get much less audience and are much harder to fund.

We’re in the middle of casting right now and we have 30 or so actors that applied to the project, well knowing it won’t be paid, we have a great CGI artist that has been doing great quality scenes for free for a while and a VFX composer and makeup artist both just joined hearing the word “Star Trek”. If we were to film one of my original stories (which I hope one day to do) I suspect that a lot of these people wouldn’t be THAT interested in spending so much unpaid time on it.

The thing is that for many of us Star Trek is something special and something fun, other IPs can be great but it’s harder to get people as interested.

See what the Star Wreck people did, for example: they did 7 fan films, the last of which of great quality, then started their own series and are now on Netflix...Yet, as much as I’ve been wanting to check out Iron Sky I never took the time to do it.

 

[fireproof78]

I like reluctant captains. Probably why I'm not a captain.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

FWIW, TV Tropes has a relevant page: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IJustWantToBeNormal

I'm wondering whether the popularity of the trope in fan film origin stories is because there's often a parallel between those stories and real-life production, where "am I worthy to be captain" as a question that the character asks himself is parallel to "am I worth to be playing the hero on Star Trek" as a question that the filmmaker asks himself.

 

[jackoverfull]

FWIW, TV Tropes has a relevant page:

of course they do. I mean, is there something they don’t have a page about?

I'm wondering whether the popularity of the trope in fan film origin stories is because there's often a parallel between those stories and real-life production, where "am I worthy to be captain" as a question that the character asks himself is parallel to "am I worth to be playing the hero on Star Trek" as a question that the filmmaker asks himself.

never thought of that...but the idea of the old captain reluctant to go on is very relatable to many somehow and certainly somewhat romantic.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

of course they do. I mean, is there something they don’t have a page about?

Seriously!

 

[Maurice]

Using an established franchise with a fanbase means you may get some attention automatically. OTOH I see plenty of fanfilms and parodies that even after years of being online have only a few hundred or a few thousand views. So that franchise cache is no guarantee of finding an audience but it might increase your chances somewhat.

 

[captainkirk]

The best fan films such as "The Tressaurian Intersection," the Aurora episodes, and Klingon Propaganda bring something new to the table. The further away a fan film is from "let's just play Star Trek," the better.

I think what a lot of fan filmmakers forget is that when TOS started they were heavily influenced by westerns and sci-fi literature. Most fan films and even the official series are just influenced by what's already been done in Star Trek. It's basically cinematic in-breeding. I want fan films that actually boldly go.

 

[Bixby]

I am waiting for the day a Trek fan filmmaker decides to do a short with NO ship battles, and just do something simple like, an accidental collision makes the ship`s oxygen deplete dangerously, or a landing party gets infected with a deadly virus (I loved those where they get horrible purple splotches on their bodies).
Not as much fun as phaser duels, but dramatic gold

 

[USS Intrepid]

I am waiting for the day a Trek fan filmmaker decides to do a short with NO ship battles, and just do something simple like, an accidental collision makes the ship`s oxygen deplete dangerously, or a landing party gets infected with a deadly virus (I loved those where they get horrible purple splotches on their bodies).
Not as much fun as phaser duels, but dramatic gold

We’ve done a number of short films without ship battles and we’re not alone in that. Randy Landers, for example, tends to tell more stories in that vein. Vance Majors’ stuff is often mostly people talking to each other. Though those sorts of films don’t generally get the same attention as the flashy stuff, but personally, I don’t really care, because I prefer them too.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Ship battles are an odd one in fan films. Of Gods and Men wanted $150 million budget for it's space battles but did it on $15.95 yet somehow it's charming and works (IMHO, at least). Hidden Frontier was choc-full of space battles and they worked. But most of the time they're a yawn fest.

 

[Rhodo]

I am waiting for the day a Trek fan filmmaker decides to do a short with NO ship battles, and just do something simple like, an accidental collision makes the ship`s oxygen deplete dangerously, or a landing party gets infected with a deadly virus (I loved those where they get horrible purple splotches on their bodies).
Not as much fun as phaser duels, but dramatic gold

Agree completely, likely because I prefer character development to overall/long-running plotlines. When these sorts of everyday disasters happen, the characters' personal priorities emerge and usually conflict with their professional priorities or duties. That's what I find most compelling about Trek in general.

Part of the reason people can't be bothered by shield percentages is that it's not relational or relatable. It's a statistic - above 50% is pretty good, below 50% is oh no bad times. I vastly prefer lines like "how long do you think this ship can take the pounding", or "we can't take another hit". C̶a̶n̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶t̶e̶l̶l̶ ̶I̶'̶m̶ ̶a̶ ̶T̶O̶S̶ ̶f̶a̶n̶?̶?̶ It creates drama and urgency without getting clinical.

 

[Maurice]

Speaking of space battles, weirdly enough, while searching the WGAw website for information on the contract distinction between a "format" and a "bible" for a TV series, I just happened to see this (link):

79 STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - TIE
Created by Gene Roddenberry

Aired: SYNDICATED, 1987-1994

For his follow-up to a sci-fi series phenomenon roughly the size of the cosmos, Gene Roddenberry wanted to demonstrate, as he put it in a 1991 Los Angeles Times Magazine article, "that TV need not be violent to be exciting." The article noted that Roddenberry's show bible for the future Peabody-winning Star Trek: Next Generation contained an entire list of thou shalt nots'" and the proviso: "Beware of spaceship battles: They cost enormous amounts of money and are not really as interesting as people conflicts." No longer helmed by Capt. Kirk but by Capt. Picard (the British actor Patrick Stewart), The Enterprise was still boldly going but its crew were less other-directed and more self-examining. SNG vets Rick Berman, Michael Spiller and Jeri Taylor would go on to co-create Star Trek: Voyager; another SNG writer, Rene Balcer, became one of the driving creative forces in the Law & Order franchise.​

I assume SNG means Startrek Next Generation.

 

[jackoverfull]

I am waiting for the day a Trek fan filmmaker decides to do a short with NO ship battles, and just do something simple like, an accidental collision makes the ship`s oxygen deplete dangerously, or a landing party gets infected with a deadly virus (I loved those where they get horrible purple splotches on their bodies).
Not as much fun as phaser duels, but dramatic gold

Plenty of fan films with no battles (or action!) at all. As always, if things are done well even a room with a single person talking can be exciting, if done badly even the biggest starship battle can be extremely boring (and many are not talking only of fan films).

Ship battles are an odd one in fan films. Of Gods and Men wanted $150 million budget for it's space battles but did it on $15.95 yet somehow it's charming and works (IMHO, at least). Hidden Frontier was choc-full of space battles and they worked. But most of the time they're a yawn fest.

Honestly, Hidden Frontier's CGI was always top-notch for the times and I remember finding OGaM's one pretty underwhelming in comparison (the film had other merits, obviously). Even more impressive if you think that HF's was almost completely Rob Cave's work.

Agree completely, likely because I prefer character development to overall/long-running plotlines. When these sorts of everyday disasters happen, the characters' personal priorities emerge and usually conflict with their professional priorities or duties. That's what I find most compelling about Trek in general.

Agreed, hard to get interested in a story if you can't relate to the characters and interpersonal conflicts are a way to do it. And this doesn't necessarily mean that some of the character have to come off as unlikeable.

Beware of spaceship battles: They cost enormous amounts of money and are not really as interesting as people conflicts

This should be sent to A LOT of writers.

 

[Maurice]

Beware of spaceship battles: They cost enormous amounts of money and are not really as interesting as people conflicts.

This should be sent to A LOT of writers.

Except nowadays CGI makes spaceship pew pews easier to do than live action for a lot of fan filmmakers.

 

[jackoverfull]

Except nowadays CGI makes spaceship pew pews easier to do that live action for a lot of fan filmmakers.

not only “fan” filmmakers.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

And STOP with the reluctant captain trope. STOP. STOP. STOP.

Agreed; one can assume being a starship captain is not a position / rank you just stumble into--it took work and focus to achieve the rank, and it also takes interest, which means its less likely the captain is going to be on a permanent downer, or doubting why he or she is there in the first place. Captains can suffer from burnout, regret--any number of normal emotional states, but in the finite structure of a Star Trek story dealing with Starfleet, its unrealistic to see so many captains go through the "what am I doing here?" phase, only for a pivotal and/or great incident to give the captain a renewed interest in doing the job.

Pike was more than enough of that.

And also STOP with the fuckin' shield percentages and space battles. There are other means of drama and action. Find them.

A battle here and there is fine, but one thing I cannot stand is the crash zooming / "handheld" / lens flares in space. Its not a home movie or breaking news. There's no camera crew shooting spaceship battles, so there's no excuse to use those horrible techniques.