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Tag: Fan Films

  • Star Fox Gets A Fan Film Because Nintendo Isn’t Making A New Game Anytime Soon

    You better give up on a new Star Fox game coming anytime soon. Nintendo seems about as interested in resurrecting the franchise as it is in resurrecting the Metroid franchise. In short, it’s not going to happen unless Platinum Games convinces Nintendo to let them make it.

    As you slowly wipe your tears, just know that fans’ collective love for Star Fox is still strong. Even after Star Fox Adventures broke their spirits, they continued on in the hopes that Nintendo would give them a game just like Star Fox 64. Barring the 3DS remake, no such hope has arrived just yet.

    But wait, what’s that? Off in the distance, a brief glimmering shard of hope has arrived in the form of Star Fox: Invasion – a fan film created by Warialasky. While it’s not a new game, it keeps the hope alive among the Star Fox faithful that one day Nintendo will create something even half as awesome as this.

    But really, Platinum Games better be making a new Star Fox game.

    Image via Warialasky/YouTube

  • ‘Portal’ Fan Film Depicts the End of Humans at Aperture Laboratories

    It’s easy to see why the Portal games have such a devoted fanbase. The games feature no combat to speak of, and (in addition to wonderfully-written non-human characters) the mind-bending nature of the games’ puzzles speak directly to what gaming is at a basic level: progressing through increasingly difficult levels on the way to a memorable ending.

    So, Portal fans are fairly obsessive over the franchise, etching music into stainless steel, creating mash-ups, and filming several fan films, most depicting what it would really be like to have a portal gun. This week, yet another fan tribute to the series has appeared on YouTube.

    Titled Portal: Survive!, the short film starts off with a depiction of Chell, the player character in the Portal games. It then moves into a bit of backstory, depicting the final moments of the (human) scientists working at Aperature Laboratories. The events and references seen in the video are taken from the story gleaned from the Portal games, as well as the web comic Portal 2: Lab Rat.

    According to the its YouTube description, the movie was created by Colin and Connor McGuire for less than $500. It was filmed at YouTube Space LA, a production house in Los Angeles that helps YouTubers create original content for the site.

  • Wonder Woman Fan Film Succeeds Where DC, Warner Brothers Fail

    Whenever the subject of a Wonder Woman movie or TV show is discussed with those behind bringing DC’s heroes to the live-action screen, words like “tricky” and “getting her right” are often used, and meanwhile, fans are left, well, wondering where the hell their Wonder Woman live action content is. Thankfully, some fan films have come along to fill the smoldering gap that is littered with names like Adrianne Palicki and Joss Whedon. Aside from almost perfectly capturing the tenor and tone of the Wonder Woman character, these fan creations also act as mud in the eye of those behind getting the comic into made into a quality live action offering, preferably in the form of a feature film instead of television.

    The latest, courtesy of Rainfall Films, shows getting Wonder Woman right might not be that tricky at all. All it takes is a little effort, some good casting, and the involvement of folks who care about the subject matter. The end result looks as good as any of the hero stuff that airs on the CW:


    The movie’s centerpiece is played by Rileah Vanderbilt, and she’s rightfully enjoying the accolades she’s receiving, while offering some behind-the-scenes information:


    Over at the video’s YouTube page, the movie’s director, Sam Balcomb, explains the motivation behind the film:

    Firstly, thanks for watching. Whether you like, or dislike, our live action interpretation of Diana of Themyscira, Wonder Woman, born of clay, I think (quite a few of) you will agree she is a character just as vital and crucial to our understanding of humanity as any other superhero… if not more so.

    We spent the majority of 2013 working on this — the look, the feel, the aspects we most wanted to portray. It’s a scant two and half minutes, but in the end, it’s one hundred and fifty seconds of pure fantasy, where I get to consider the two sides of my favorite warrior: a crusader in man’s world, and a paragon of virtue told through Greek mythology.

    It’s a fun world to hang out in. I hope you enjoy it.

    – Sam

    With that in mind, it would be nice if DC and Warner Brothers took the same kind of approach to making sure a quality Wonder Woman project was actually realized.

    [Lead image courtesy of Rainfall Films]

  • Grand Theft Auto V Mythbusters Searches For The Truth

    As you might expect, the overwhelming popularity of Grand Theft Auto V—a billion dollars in three days is astounding–has led to the creation of user-generated content celebrating the game and all the things you can do. reddit, is, of course, one of the primary ground zeroes for such content, as is the ubiquitous YouTube. For those of you who follow the video game/YouTube content creation industry, you are well aware of how lucrative it can be. For those of you who aren’t, make no mistake, the term “industry” was not used lightly.

    Aside from creating awesome content, it helps to either be really early to a trend, or create a niche people didn’t know they wanted. This appears to be the case with Grand Theft Auto V Mythbusters, a combination of two great tastes that, at least in the first issue, tastes great together. The idea is simple enough, the creators–DefendTheHouse–take suggestions, or “myths” about GTA V’s gameplay, and try to determine whether they are true or not.

    The success/failure of their attempts confirms or busts these gameplay myths, which was demonstrated nicely in the first episode, meaning there are more to come:

    To generate feedback and ideas for upcoming content, the creators asked viewers for suggestions, which helps complete the “make money from YouTube” circle. More episodes, more video views, and more subscribers. And this, folks, is where the money from YouTube is made. Just ask PewDiePie about his bank account if you have any questions. As for the potential earning power of the GTA Mythbusters videos, the first one has received over 1.2 million views in only two days, and it features a healthy like-to-dislike ratio. The question is, will the creators capitalize on their opportunity and keep these viewers coming back.

    So far, the 305,000-plus subscriber count is a good sign.

    [Lead image courtesy of Rockstar]

  • Adding Street Fighter’s Chun-Li To Fail Compilation Videos Wins

    If ever anything was meant to be collected and presented in a compilation video, it’s people failing on a day-to-day basis. I mean, is it right to laugh at the misfortune of others? No, but who cares, especially when it’s in video format. No one can judge you if you’re laughing from the safety of your own home/office/cubicle, right? To give you an idea of just how popular fail videos truly are, when you search for that simple term, there are over 12 million results. Have fun sifting through that particular morass.

    With that in mind, if you want your video to succeed, it has to stand out and grow some viral wings. One tried and true way to do that is to add some remix flavor to the proceedings in the hope that your creativity catches the eyes of blogs and web news sites around the globe. Using a popular video game character in your remix never hurts, either. Just ask the guys at ParodiePub. You might recognize the name from the “Blanka is a Troll” videos, a series that clearly demonstrates the creator’s love for Street Fighter characters.

    As the title suggests, in their latest video, the group placed another popular Street Fighter character, Chun-Li, in the middle of the action, and let’s just say she doesn’t take kindly to people making fun of her powerful thighs. Observe:


    While we’re a little late to the party–the video was posted two weeks ago and has almost 1 million views–it’s the thought that counts. And hey, if you haven’t seen it, it’s still new to you. Whatever the case, I truly hope this isn’t the first time we see Chun-Li wreaking havoc on those who were foolish enough to be in a position of failure while in her presence.

    [Lead image via Dual Shockers]

  • Celebrating Mirror’s Edge 2 With POV Parkour

    So this is pretty awesome. What we have is a short film shot with a point-of-view camera, with the actor doing some pretty slick Parkour around the city of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. While Parkour and POV cameras go together like peas and carrots, when you add the some themes from the game Mirror’s Edge, the result is something that’s, well, pretty damn awesome. Just ask Scott Bass and Neil Cointet, who created and posted a video of Cointet running around jumping over walls, buildings, and any other obstacle that gets in his way.

    As indicated, Cointet has a POV camera on his head, and the clothes he’s wearing looks awfully similar to the items worn by the Mirror’s Edge protagonist, Faith. Have a look for yourself:


    Of course, the big difference between Mirror’s Edge and this video is Cointet is really doing these stunts, which, despite the popularity for ME, the edge goes to actor with the POV camera on. Over at the video’s page, the crew makes sure to profess their love for Mirror’s Edge, saying the sequel announcement was all the motivation they needed to make their video:

    We’re massive fans of Mirror’s Edge, and are always getting comments and comments saying ‘Wow this is like real life Mirrors Edge’. Well EA/DICE recently announced Mirrors Edge 2, and out of excitement we decided to put together this POV video! If it does well, we’ve got some plans for a second one!

    Concerning the video’s performance, while it’s viral legs are still growing, making it to the front page of reddit’s Gaming section should help a great deal, provided it stays long enough to catch everyone’s attention.

    For those who like counting anomalies, by YouTube’s count, the video has only amassed 1071 views as of this writing. There are, however, over 1300 likes for it (as opposed to only 7 dislikes), meaning YouTube’s counter still doesn’t update in real time.

    [Lead image via the Mirror’s Edge official site]

  • “First Impressions” Fan Film Proves Making A Quality Wonder Woman Is Possible

    While we are indeed in what appears to be the golden age of converting well-loved comic books into movies and television shows, there’s one iconic character who has happened to miss out on the fun. Yes, there have been rumblings about the CW making a Wonder Woman show for next fall, the fact is, it shouldn’t be this hard. The battleground is littered with failed attempts, most notably, the Adrianne Palicki-driven vehicle that never made it passed the pilot stage. Although the casting choice was a correct one, footage from David E. Kelley’s Wonder Woman shows something, well, off.

    Perhaps choosing Kelly to make Wonder Woman was the wrong choice, something that looks quite possible after taking a quick look at his IMDb page. Aside from possibly Lake Placid, Kelly doesn’t have a great deal of experience dealing with geek content. Nevertheless, Kelly’s failure, and the failure to produce a quality Wonder Woman program, is magnified by the fact a fan film has surpassed pretty much everything done for the Wonder Woman character. Outside of the comic book, at least:

    As pointed out by Topless Robot, fans should just making these in hope of shaming DC and Warner Brothers into making something comparable. Or they could just hire the creative team who made this. As the credits indicate, the First Impressions fan film is presented by Intelligent Artists and was directed by Leo Kei Angelos.

    At this point, I can’t help but wonder if the CW’s version will be inferior to what we just watched. Granted, it may not be surprising if their version of Wonder Woman is too tween friendly, but it will certainly add to the disappointment.

  • Fistful Of Rupees Is The Zelda Western We Never Knew We Wanted

    I love The Legend of Zelda franchise. Likewise, I love Westerns. I never thought that the two would meet, but my subconscious desire has now been fulfilled thanks to a fan film.

    The Game Station has taken it upon themselves to produce Fistful of Rupees. It’s the story from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, but set in a Western setting. It seems like an odd fit, but it totally works. The casting is top notch with nerd goddess Lisa Foiles taking on the role of Zelda. What really makes the genre bending work is that Link is the silent hero, just like the greatest Western heroes.

    I hope the trailer wets your whistle for more Zelda Western action. The premier of Fistful of Rupees will go up on YouTube on August 7. It’s also worth noting that this is only the first in a series of three short films.

    Now that Zelda has a Western adaptation, it’s time to start thinking about what’s next. I think we can all agree that a steampunk Zelda film, or game for that matter, would be about the most amazing thing that humanity could ever achieve.

  • Check Out This Awesome Legend Of Zelda Live Action Film

    I love the idea of video game film adaptations, but the execution never works out. The studios make the movie for a general audience instead of the gamers. This leads to plenty of terrible films that don’t stand as good movies or good game adaptations. Thankfully, there are fans who are good at making movies whose love of the source material transfers perfectly to film.

    One of those instances is here for us today in the form of a live-action short from Somewhat Awesome Films based on The Legend of Zelda. Link’s adventures have never really been able to translate well outside of video games because Link can’t talk. If he did talk, we would end up with something like this again:

    It’s the reason above that has convinced fans around the world that Link should never talk. That’s why the Link in this particular fan film thankfully remains silent. It surprisingly works as the actor has to use body language to convey the scene. That’s what we get in this fan project from Action News which features Link walking with Epona at night only to encounter a Poe.

    It’s a little disappointing that the film is so short. It more than makes up for that with its quality though. If the film was only meant as a preview of better things to come, I think we have a lot to be excited for. It’s an exciting time for gamers as fans are beginning to make better and better films based around our favorite franchises.

  • Hughes The Force Mashes Up John Hughes, Star Wars

    So what happens when you mix John Hughes, Star Wars with a touch of Kevin Smith? It might be something like Hughes the Force, a 35 minute movie that mixes one part Weird Science and one part Fanboys as some high school Star Wars-loving teens try to get into the end of the year high school party. To do, the duo, Simon and Henry, need to bring one hot girl with them, which leads directly to them creating a real-life Slave Leia, much like Gary and Wyatt did in Weird Science.

    While the end result isn’t Kelly LeBrock in a white t-shirt, it’s nothing to turn your nose up at, either. In fact, because of the Slave Leia costume, the result might actually be superior. Of course, after their creation is complete, the trio sit on the couch and watch movies, much to the chagrin of their attractive creation.

    From there, the adventure really begins. I’m not going to spoil anymore, so check it out for yourself:


    If watching it on YouTube is, for some reason, not good enough, you can go to HughesTheForce.com and download the movie to your hard drive, complete in 720p for mobile users and 1080p for tablet and PC/Mac users. There’s also bonus content for the completist in you if you’d like to see some deleted scenes and experience Kevin Smith’s outtakes. It should be noted, however, that Smith did not direct, write, or produce Hughes the Force, but he does have a cameo in it.

    Naturally, when you attach his name to a geek project, it provides some recognition and increased credibility, even if the creation itself doesn’t need it. In this case, Hughes the Force may not need Smith’s attachment, but it certainly hasn’t hurt, either.

    [Via Geeks are Sexy]

  • Battlefield 3 Conquest: Fan Films At Their Best

    No, this is not a case of someone simply posting actual footage from the Afganistan front line. Instead, it’s a live-action recreation of a game of Conquest from Battlefield 3, courtesy of YouTube user, ThereIsaCanal. It’s such a good recreation of what the video game offers that it rivals those “real life” Call of Duty: Black OPs commercials. You know the one I’m talking about:


    As you can probably imagine, ThereIsACanal’s creation was created with a much smaller budget than the CoD commercial, which, from my perspective, gives the Battlefield 3: Conquest in Real Life the leg up on its bigger budget competition. And no, I’m not trying to turn this into a CoD versus BF3 argument either. I’m just really impressed with Conquest recreation.

    The sound effects in the video are the same as you would find in the BF3 game, and the inclusion of an airstrike and the first-person perspective helps the fan film a great deal. The animated tank was well done, and the dance sequence during the credits only helps this video’s immense charm. Apparently, those who have seen it feel the same as well. The video has been online for seven days now, and it’s already amassed over 100,000 views, with a like/dislike ratio of 5806 to 164. That’s a very acceptable breakdown.

    The comments reflect the quality of the fan flick as well, especially such gems like:

    hahahahahaha this shit is beast xD

    DomBallingHard

    And:

    LMFAO this shit is fucking awesome! But I don’t get why the Engineer didn’t run for cover from the Tank like his team mate did? lol… Also, why is the US Assault Rifleman white?… aint the dude supposed to be a black guy??? lol

    x5NYx

    So there you have it.  It’s hard to argue with that kind of logic.

  • Halo Fan Film Gives Gamers A History Lesson

    Halo has always been an obvious choice for a film adaptation due to its massive popularity and mainstream appeal outside of the gaming population. It’s just had the unfortunate luck of no studio wanting to actually fund it. Good thing there are fan films that realize our dreams.

    Halo: The Fallen is a new film project that seeks to tell the story of the marines during the first Halo game. It’s a massive undertaking as there’s not a lot in the Halo lore about the regular marines since the focus has understandably been on the Spartans. I welcome this unique take on the Halo universe, but rest assured that Spartans will also feature in this new fan film. It wouldn’t be Halo without them.

    While the film isn’t out yet, the team has released a prologue that sets up the first contact between humanity and the Covenant. If this premise isn’t enough to sell you on how awesome it is, the attention to detail and CGI push it into the higher echelon of fan projects. It’s even more impressive that these guys made the prologue with a budget of $200.

    Check out the prologue and tell us what you think. I for one can’t wait until the full film is out.

    [Hat tip to Joystiq]

  • Superman Versus The Hulk: Fan Film Excellence

    How many of you have wanted to see two of the most powerful entities in the comic book universe square off in battle royale outside of the comic book pages? Since neither Marvel or DC Comics will cross their content streams in the world of movies–crossover comic stories don’t count; nor do video games–it’s up to the fans to provide what’s missing.

    And that’s just what Michael Habjan did by bringing us installments of his “Superman vs Hulk: The Fight” series. There have been three of these installments of the fan-made series, with the latest one dropping earlier this week. Part one of the fight hit YouTube on June 11, 2011, and after over 4 million views, the incentive to continue with further “episodes” was obvious. It should be noted the series began with an introduction video before the fight episodes, acting almost as a trailer for the upcoming videos.

    Note how Habjan made his Superman look like Christopher Reeves:

    This led to the first episode of the fight, which dropped six months after the initial video, which gives you an idea about how long it takes Habjan to make these videos. Next up is the first installment of the Hulk/Superman throwdown:


    For part two, Habjan concentrated on improving the look of the models he used for both Superman and the Hulk, and the results are noticeable:


    Notice how it ends with something of a cliffhanger? Will the Hulk pound Superman into dust or will Kal-El be able to turn the tables and get the upper hand? Since Habjan has already indicated Part 3 will soon be available, it’s clear the fight between the two comic book power houses isn’t over. Not even close. As for the production and the credits, Habjan lists them over at video’s YouTube page, while acknowledging he’s not affiliated with either Marvel or DC. With that in mind, it’s a little surprising neither company has stepped in and issued a cease and desist request.

    The credits, according to Habjan:

    This is the second part to my ongoing animation project, a tribute project to Superman and The Incredible Hulk. As you’ll notice, the models and overall look has evolved and will continue to do so in future sequences. I’m already working on a new look for the Hulk on the next one. I got professional help this time in the music and sound design department, provided by the talented Francois Gratecap, which has made the whole project that much better. So my thanks to him.

    Hat-tip to Geeks are Sexy for pointing the second episode out.

  • Skyrim In Real Life is Accurately Geeky

    Skyrim In Real Life is Accurately Geeky

    There’s a certain amount of melancholy when watching these kinds of fan films; the ones where they take the game in question and “convert” it to a real-life setting. Granted, with Skyrim, it’s hard to reproduce dragons, orcs, and the power of the Thu’um, but these guys give it the old college try. The result, especially when they use the Thu’um shout, is impressive.

    As for the melancholy side, is this how outsiders view video gamers? A bunch of nerds who are digitally roleplaying their lives away?

    Concerning the video itself, it certainly leaves any Skyrim fan wanting more. With that in mind, the video strikes me as a trailer, with promises of more to come. Considering the group responsible for the video–compactpictures–doesn’t feature any full-length fan flicks, I’m not sure if we’ll see their “Skyrim in Real Life” vision come to full fruition, but then again, perhaps the goal of the creators is to leave viewers wanting more.

    As for the video in question, does such a fan film increase your desire for a real, big budget Skyrim movie with someone like Peter Jackson involved in the creativity aspect? With that in mind, one wonders how Michael Bay would capture the world of Skyrim. Whatever the case, the dragon explosions would be incredible to look at.