Хотите узнать кто такие фанаты, вот они... кто снимал, кто-то рисовал, а кто-то сочинял музыку..носился в stormtrooperовской форме...
'Star Wars' fan has 'Revelations'
By Anthony Breznican, USA TODAY
A long time ago (three years), in a galaxy far, far from Hollywood (northern Virginia), a graphic designer named Shane Felux set out to make his own Star Wars movie.
Frank Hernandez, left, Gina Hernandez, Holland Gedney and Shane Felux have gained a growing audience on the Internet.
Panic Struck Productions
And Felux, a cross between Han Solo and Don Quixote, did it for the cost of an average Honda Accord.
Fan films had been done before, usually only a few minutes long and with a jokey premise. The online site AtomFilms is full of them, and Lucasfilm hosts a contest every year to honor the best. The most famous short, Troops, was a parody of the TV crime show Cops, featuring Stormtroopers responding to routine crimes.
But Felux, 33, wanted to create a serious 40-minute adventure film, complete with spacecraft chases, lightsaber duels, extraterrestrial cityscapes, treasure-seeking Jedi and a rivalry-obsessed DarthVader.
He spent about $20,000, which is about the same amount Kevin Smith used to make Clerks 10 years ago. And that movie didn't need an exploding star destroyer. (Related video: Watch the trailer for Star Wars: Revelations)
Felux spent a quarter of his budget on a digital camera, another big chunk on computer equipment, and most of the rest on food for his cast and crew. Felux and his wife, Dawn Cowings, cooked the food.
Buying the camera prompted his wife, a stay-at-home mom with a degree in creative writing, to get to work on the screenplay.
"I used it to back her into a corner," he jokes. "It was, 'No more talk. Now we're doing it.' "
Their mom-and-pop film, Star Wars: Revelations, has become an Internet phenomenon. It has had nearly 1 million free downloads since it premiered last month on Felux's Web site, www.PanicStruck Pro.com.
George Lucas says he hasn't seen Revelations or many of the other fan-made tribute films, but he still considers himself a fan of their work.
"I've been pretty busy lately, so I haven't seen them," he says. "But I'm pleased that Star Wars inspires anyone to do something like that. I appreciate that kind of devotion."
Other Star Wars sites offering the movie have been swamped. A disclaimer on TheForce.net reported that demand for Revelations "has blown out our bandwidth."
"It's been a big one," says Jeff Yankey, 32, who oversees the nearly 100 fan films posted at TheForce. "Most people realize that this is incredible for how he brought everyone together. He's not a filmmaker by trade, so I was surprised he did so well on his first try. Usually, it takes a few times to get used to it."
As admirers await the release of Lucas' final prequel, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, on May 19, Revelations has become a kind of Star Wars appetizer.
Felux says he couldn't have made the movie without recruiting likeminded fans from around the world.
His lead actors traveled from New Jersey to shoot scenes on weekends. Some computer animators, who worked for lawyers doing re-creations of car accidents, had experience making computerized special effects. A musical student in England wrote and performed the musical score. Others just wanted to dress up like Stormtroopers.
Often a simple "please" was the only Jedi mind trick that Felux needed to get his shot. He talked a mining company into letting him film in its quarry. A museum let him use an exhibit room for a party sequence, and a rental company loaned him a 30-foot crane in exchange for free Web site design.
The catch is that Felux and Cowings can't profit from the movie. Lucasfilm encourages fan films, but the makers are not allowed to sell them. They can, however, give the shorts away for free.
Felux would like to make another movie, but he doesn't want to serve as director, actor and caterer again.
"Revelations is what I did with nothing. Imagine what I could do with a budget," he says. "Pretty good for a bunch of nobodies."
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