kleph
10-04-2006, 01:44 PM
This is a pretty nifty Star Wars fan film titled "Ryan vs. Dorkman" It, as you might expect, features Ryan Wieber vs. Michael "Dorkman" Scott in a lightsaber duel to the death. Turn off your cynicism and give it a gander.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NE5elL30w4&search=Ryan%20vs.%20Dorkman
Supposedly these two are two are effects artists who created this film following a friendly dust-up on TheForce.Net's FanFilms Forum. What is really important here is that Star Wars was an impetus to create this film and it inspired the filmmakers enough to really hone their craft. If you step back from the subject matter itself, you realize this is a really impressive piece of amateur filmmaking.
On his blog The House Next Door (http://mattzollerseitz.blogspot.com/2006/03/saber-rattling-ryan-vs-dor_114333941414011149.html), film critic Matt Zoller Seitz "The effects are convincing, but I'm more impressed by the filmmaking, which not only replicates Lucas' directorial tics, but exuberantly celebrates them. Check out the low-angled master shots, the slow-circling closeups, and the way the lightsabers smear the air when they're whipped around at high speed. And the ending gag is really funny."
The discussion that follows on Seitz site pretty much ignores the whole Star Wars fanboy issue and looks at a lot of the technical prowess of the two young filmmakers. And it is pretty considerable. Look at how they have already learned key skills of pacing and suspense. There is no dialouge and their acting skills are limited at best but they create a very real storyline using just their editing and effects.
Another good example is George Lucas in Love (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhpG17WH0Ek&search=lucas%20in%20love) which came out a few years ago as a parody of Shakespeare In Love done in an unmistakable Star Wars style. Look beyond the running gag and see the level of detail being invested in the film. All the way down to the throwback iris in's lucas incorporated into his films.
Where to you think the real artists of the next generation are going to come from? Right here. Look at Steven Spielberg. He produced his first film at age 12, financed with the profits from his tree-planting business. At 13, he won a prize for his Escape to Nowhere, a 40-minute war movie, and at 16, his feature length sci-fi film Firelight was shown in a movie theater in Phoenix, where he grew up.
Lucas was clearly inspired by the movie serials he grew up with and Star Wars, when you strip away all the special effects and nonsense, is nothing more than a copy of this style of filmmaking. No matter what sins he has committed in the name of this franchise, he has succeded in one respect, transfering that love of filmmaking to an entire new generation. Look to the skinny geeks like the two above if you want to know who will be the next great filmmakers cranking out the movies you are dying to go see.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NE5elL30w4&search=Ryan%20vs.%20Dorkman
Supposedly these two are two are effects artists who created this film following a friendly dust-up on TheForce.Net's FanFilms Forum. What is really important here is that Star Wars was an impetus to create this film and it inspired the filmmakers enough to really hone their craft. If you step back from the subject matter itself, you realize this is a really impressive piece of amateur filmmaking.
On his blog The House Next Door (http://mattzollerseitz.blogspot.com/2006/03/saber-rattling-ryan-vs-dor_114333941414011149.html), film critic Matt Zoller Seitz "The effects are convincing, but I'm more impressed by the filmmaking, which not only replicates Lucas' directorial tics, but exuberantly celebrates them. Check out the low-angled master shots, the slow-circling closeups, and the way the lightsabers smear the air when they're whipped around at high speed. And the ending gag is really funny."
The discussion that follows on Seitz site pretty much ignores the whole Star Wars fanboy issue and looks at a lot of the technical prowess of the two young filmmakers. And it is pretty considerable. Look at how they have already learned key skills of pacing and suspense. There is no dialouge and their acting skills are limited at best but they create a very real storyline using just their editing and effects.
Another good example is George Lucas in Love (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhpG17WH0Ek&search=lucas%20in%20love) which came out a few years ago as a parody of Shakespeare In Love done in an unmistakable Star Wars style. Look beyond the running gag and see the level of detail being invested in the film. All the way down to the throwback iris in's lucas incorporated into his films.
Where to you think the real artists of the next generation are going to come from? Right here. Look at Steven Spielberg. He produced his first film at age 12, financed with the profits from his tree-planting business. At 13, he won a prize for his Escape to Nowhere, a 40-minute war movie, and at 16, his feature length sci-fi film Firelight was shown in a movie theater in Phoenix, where he grew up.
Lucas was clearly inspired by the movie serials he grew up with and Star Wars, when you strip away all the special effects and nonsense, is nothing more than a copy of this style of filmmaking. No matter what sins he has committed in the name of this franchise, he has succeded in one respect, transfering that love of filmmaking to an entire new generation. Look to the skinny geeks like the two above if you want to know who will be the next great filmmakers cranking out the movies you are dying to go see.