Some Suggestions for Fan Films

[Robert Simmons]

Telling the good guys from the bad guys based on their hairstyle? One day, perhaps in some distant century, we will live in a world where people will not be judged by the style of their hair, but by the content of their character.

I like to think that too. But I am referring to how "Sensible casting" and presentation of 1960's character types ( as Roddenbury distastefully referred to it..) crafted to be palatable for a general viewing public conditioned to think and process along those lines. Hair often was chosen as part of the careful presentation of the characters as to communicate the type of people they were for the benefit of the audience to help keep it simple. Well groomed often communicated...kept...disciplined...restrained...safe...ergo...good guy. Sometimes a subconscious statment about a character, sometimes more blatant. ( Some of the bad guys in westerns had short haridos too if I recall...so the old moniker of white hat / black hat would be the rule at a glance for the viewer to clue in on. On a curious lark I might want to go back and watch "The Villain" just to see it they skewered those lines of reasoning...) A instant first impression of the character of who they were at a glance. Odd behavior quirks or conduct might instead be the subtle obligatory tip off that something is not right about the character despite their being presented one way or another by their hair or clothing. Dis-sheveled hair and dirty meant unstable or shifty and or dangerous like some examples in TOS. ( Lazerus as an offhand example...Ron Tracy...nah....he would comb it if he had a mirror while killing Yangs....the Doc in Garth's cell we can excuse....torture...) Times and perceptions have shifted to where it is not necessary to adhere to that. But I would think if a film strove to be a convincing period piece to be taken for a production form that era that would have been expected to tailor to the sensibilites of that era the Networks were interested in catering to.....then this should at least not be ignored either. Or at least given some consideration. To disregard it may invite the viewer to toss any credability or acceptance of viewing it under the prism of "suspension of disbelief" harkening to that era. If I decided to do a fan film documentary of Jimmi Hendrix would I run afoul if I wanted to show him with a bald head? Yes...cause those who know about him and the time and who he was know enough to instantly see through it and use their memory to make them balk the instant they recognized the difference.

Hey Greg...by that reasoning...you ought to be REALLY Good then.
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[Robert Simmons]

On a even more amusing note.....as a answer to the name of this thread....

1. load film in camera
2. aim at actor
3. pull trigger
4. don't wince or be scared
5. keep all breathing as silent a possible.
6. Stop when they stop.
7. play cool and hope they didn't see you more nervous than they were.
8. always develop film in dark. Keep door closed.
9. loop end of film toward back reel on projector.
10. Don't show mom and dad. if you fear them grimacing.
11. Let reel sit on top shelf in closet for 25 years.
12. Post on youtube when no one is looking.
13. Sit back and watch them wowed that someone did this a long time ago.
14. Tell them only the trailer for the film is all the survives.
15 . Laugh butt off watching them in stitches over the news.

 

[Captain Robert April]

I would think the uniform would be a better indicator of which side is which than hairstyle...

 

[Maurice]

BACK to the subject...

Make sure you have script worth shooting before designing starships and building props. Too many wanna-be filmmakers put the cart before the horse and start building elements required for production and post production before they've done any if the real work of preproduction. You need a (shootable) script first.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

BACK to the subject...

Make sure you have script worth shooting before designing starships and building props. Too many wanna-be filmmakers put the cart before the horse and start building elements required for production and post production before they've done any if the real work of preproduction. You need a (shootable) script first.

As I've always said ... pretty sets, accurate costumes and dazzling CGi won't matter unless you have a compelling story to hang them on.

In terms of storycraft, script writers for these fan ventures should examine television shows other than the one they are emulating. This allows to see how other shows construct story. *

One of the things that made the original Trek so good was that the writers were well-versed in literature and other genres, not just television and Trek.

A writer should be a student of all writing not just the genre (in this case, Trek) they desire to write for. As a writer, I study other television shows, dissect novels and short stories, and read a variety of newspaper and magazine articles.

For instance, journalism has taught me precision writing — to say more with fewer words. Scriptwriting has taught me to tell a story in pictures. Novels have taught me that ... I should really outline first. And short stories have taught me I'm rubbish at them.


* The folks at Intrepid are a good example of this. From their outings, I can tell they are influenced by more than Trek. There is a Whedonesque element to their dialogue and their characters.

 

[Robert Simmons]

I'll second all that.
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[Mark 2000]

In terms of storycraft, script writers for these fan ventures should examine television shows other than the one they are emulating. This allows to see how other shows construct story.

I agree with this. There is a feeling that fan films are often written by people who are just trekkies. They make a lot of self referential wish fulfillment stuff. For instance, I don't think I've seen a fan production that didn't have an "epic space battle", which was a rarity in all the shows except DS9. Does Phase II even have an episode where the enterprise isn't going up in flames at one point or another? Makes me wonder how they're going to fit in some explosions in the remake of "The Child".

 

[USS Intrepid]

* The folks at Intrepid are a good example of this. From their outings, I can tell they are influenced by more than Trek. There is a Whedonesque element to their dialogue and their characters.

Thanks for noticing. Joss Whedon isn't my only influence by a long shot, but he's certainly one of them.

I agree with this. There is a feeling that fan films are often written by people who are just trekkies. They make a lot of self referential wish fulfillment stuff. For instance, I don't think I've seen a fan production that didn't have an "epic space battle", which was a rarity in all the shows except DS9. Does Phase II even have an episode where the enterprise isn't going up in flames at one point or another? Makes me wonder how they're going to fit in some explosions in the remake of "The Child".

There have been some. I believe Potemkin has been focussing on small character vignettes so far. And the last thing Intrepid put out was essentially nothing more than a 7 minute conversation. And just to bore people further, we have another couple of those coming up later this year. Nor do any of the scripts I'm currently writing have any starship battles.

But I do agree it's a fair point.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

In terms of storycraft, script writers for these fan ventures should examine television shows other than the one they are emulating. This allows to see how other shows construct story.

I agree with this. There is a feeling that fan films are often written by people who are just trekkies. They make a lot of self referential wish fulfillment stuff. For instance, I don't think I've seen a fan production that didn't have an "epic space battle", which was a rarity in all the shows except DS9. Does Phase II even have an episode where the enterprise isn't going up in flames at one point or another? Makes me wonder how they're going to fit in some explosions in the remake of "The Child".

"Epic space battle" is often used as a substitute for character and story in some fan productions. There's seldom anything at stake and it all adds up to fancy 'splosions.

I'm also tired of episodes starting with a starship in the midst of another "shields at 40%" battle as its cold open hook.

* The folks at Intrepid are a good example of this. From their outings, I can tell they are influenced by more than Trek. There is a Whedonesque element to their dialogue and their characters.

Thanks for noticing. Joss Whedon isn't my only influence by a long shot, but he's certainly one of them.

Oh, I was sure there were more influences, but Whedon was the one I could remember off hand.

 

[Tom Hendricks]

In terms of storycraft, script writers for these fan ventures should examine television shows other than the one they are emulating. This allows to see how other shows construct story.

I agree with this. There is a feeling that fan films are often written by people who are just trekkies. They make a lot of self referential wish fulfillment stuff. For instance, I don't think I've seen a fan production that didn't have an "epic space battle", which was a rarity in all the shows except DS9. Does Phase II even have an episode where the enterprise isn't going up in flames at one point or another? Makes me wonder how they're going to fit in some explosions in the remake of "The Child".

I can say that Tales of the Seventh Fleet http://www.podship.com/totsf_files.htmhas not had an epic space battler yet. In our "pilot" we do fight the Doomsday Device, our whole second episode takes place in Dry dock. Our third episode has a small skirmish but no epic space battle.

I'm not saying our little fan series is well written because of it. However we made a conscious decision not to be about "space battles." However that doesn't mean we weren't going to have them, in fact the next episode is called "Street Fight" and is suppose to be our big battle episode. However I would still not call it epic. Its basically one ship vs our little ship.

 

[tobiasrichter]

Makes me wonder how they're going to fit in some explosions in the remake of "The Child".

You´ll be pleasantly surprised then - I think we have one phaser shot and no explosions at all in this episode

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

I think this quote succinctly states the point I was trying to make unthread:

"Read a lot more than just comic books. The industry is awash with writers whose entire literary experience is comic books and action movies. Writers should be reading newspapers, magazines — anything and everything. Because if they only read comic books, we're just going to get rehashes of old comic books instead of new stories."

— Tony Isabella, writer/columnist​

From The Writer's Guide to the Business of Comics By Lurene Haines, pg. 11

Read. Read everything as possible. Screenplays to movies you admire. Screenplays to movies you hate. Novels, even that high-brow literary stuff. Bad novels. You'll learn something from all of them, even if it's what you don't want to do in your own writing.

 

[Maurice]

^^^Middyseafort reads my scripts for examples of what not to do, so I'm at least helpful that way.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

^^^Middyseafort reads my scripts for examples of what not to do, so I'm at least helpful that way.

Only because you've already done it better than I could.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I have watched (and read scripts for) a lot of westerns and war movies in the last four years.

Ultimately, you have to write characters based on your actual life experience with people. All of this study of technique is just that - learning what the rules and techniques are, within a particular genre or format, for portraying what you've observed and feel.

 

[Robert Simmons]

I have watched (and read scripts for) a lot of westerns and war movies in the last four years.

Ultimately, you have to write characters based on your actual life experience with people. All of this study of technique is just that - learning what the rules and techniques are, within a particular genre or format, for portraying what you've observed and feel.

Beautifully said. Simple but effective.
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[USS Intrepid]

Ultimately, you have to write characters based on your actual life experience with people. All of this study of technique is just that - learning what the rules and techniques are, within a particular genre or format, for portraying what you've observed and feel.

Ah, so that's why I always end up writing characters as smart asses.

 

[Maurice]

^^^Middyseafort reads my scripts for examples of what not to do, so I'm at least helpful that way.

Only because you've already done it better than I could.

Done what not to do better than you could? I think I just insulted myself.

Ultimately, you have to write characters based on your actual life experience with people. All of this study of technique is just that - learning what the rules and techniques are, within a particular genre or format, for portraying what you've observed and feel.

Ah, so that's why I always end up writing characters as smart asses.

Better than a dumb-ass...or should that be "dumb-arse"?

 

[Captain Atkin]

Hairstyles don't bother me... what bother's me with some of these fan films is the bad wigs! As a bald man who works from time to time as an actor, I have had to wear wigs in a few productions. On a feature film or television show, professional fittings, measurements, and coloring are done to ensure that a wig looks just right. A professional fan film should strive to do the same. Don't just buy a wig and slap it on the actor's head. Making sure that the hair is right is just as important as making sure the costume fits right. Everything should look and feel natural with the character.

As far as "Epic Space Battles™" go, I don't mind seeing these in Trek films; especially if it is just a one-shot film (a web-series, on the other hand, should avoid doing this in every episode). A battle in space should serve the film, and not just be there to look cool. I've seen a number of fan films start with a battle already in progress, and it takes away some of the tension. There should be a build up to it.

Also, Starfleet is a branch of the military. These guys are cool under pressure. Every command to "Fire" shouldn't be a scream that every deckhand on the ship can hear. Nor should it look like an enjoyable moment for the Captain/OIC giving the order to fire.