'Star Wars' on a shoestring

You could say that Shane Felux is the new George Lucas. At least that's what George Lucas is saying, sort of.

The next wave of innovative film-makers, to quote the Star Wars mastermind more directly, won't be found in major Hollywood studios, but rather in basements and garages around the world.

That is because technology is making it possible to produce top-notch movies without the top-notch budget.

Felux recently released Revelations, his 40-minute opus set in Lucas' Star Wars universe. While it's not the first fan-made Star Wars film, its ambitious scale, lavish production values and innovative creation process have made it a sensation on the internet since its release two weeks ago. And more than ever, the film is proving Lucas's prediction true.

"This was a professional production - the only thing missing was the money and the big studios," Felux said from his home in Washington. "I'm not a big studio, I'm just one guy making a movie out of his home."

Revelations started three years ago as a simple purchase on eBay. Felux, a 33-year-old graphic designer, had always wanted to make a Star Wars movie, so he bought a Canon XL1-S miniDV for US$3500 on the online auction site and told his wife to get to work on a script.

Three months later, he began pre-production on costumes and sets, then started filming with his friends playing all the parts. Some of the footage was done using sets and locations, but like the real Star Wars films, much of the shots took place in front of a green-screen backdrop.

The story takes place between Episode III: Revenge of the Sith - which hits theatres on May 19 - and Episode IV: A New Hope, and follows the adventures of heroine Taryn Anwar as she searches for a Jedi artefact while avoiding the clutches of the Empire. While the story is original, the Emperor, Darth Vader, the stormtroopers and a host of Star Wars familiars all figure into the tale.

With filming finished, Felux hit the internet and began "flooding" every computer graphics forum he could find in search of artists who'd be willing to work free.

"Everybody and their brother is looking for a talented CG artist to work for free," he said. "My hook was, this is Star Wars and everybody loves to play in that universe, and I had already shot footage to show them what my movie is going to look like in terms of scale."

After receiving scores of demos, Felux recruited a small group of artists from all over the world - the United States, Canada, Britain, Sweden, Australia, even Lithuania.

He set up a server that his artists could log into and download the raw footage. After editing in effects, using a variety of off-the-shelf 3D animation software including 3ds Max, LightWave 3D, Maya, Terragen and Bryce, the artists would upload the footage back for Felux's comments and direction. Each scene would go back and forth, across the world over the internet, until it was finished. Sound and music was later added in similar fashion.

Felux edited the whole thing in Adobe Premier Pro on his home PC, a P4 with "several terabytes of memory" .

The result is very close to the real thing. While some of the dialogue and acting in Revelations is bad, the production values and effects are stellar - much like the previous two Star Wars films, some would say.

In the end, Felux said, Revelations took him three years and US$20,000 ($27,558) to produce. While it's a small film, it's being noticed and could have far-reaching impact on how movies are made.

"I don't know of any other film that has done this, in terms of co-ordinating the entire thing via the internet and telecommuting all the tasks with guys from around the world," Felux said. "Large production houses could probably learn a lot, streamline and cut costs on production.

"You don't have to have a big studio, production house, and you don't have to have all your guys there in the same building."

Of course, the big question remains: why? Why go through so much time, trouble and money? Lucas generally approves of fan films using his intellectual property, so long as they follow two key rules: they don't debase the Star Wars name or universe, and that they don't make a penny.

Felux gives the only answer he can: "Why not? I got to live my dream for 40 minutes. I got to live Star Wars."

The budding director doesn't expect anything to come of Revelations, but hopes it will gain him enough notoriety to help finance another film, this time an original.

"I see it as a financial investment, or a financial gamble - hopefully it'll pay off, but if not, it's still worth it."

* For a low-tech but absolutely hilarious local Star Wars fan "film", check out www.asciimation.co.nz.
New Zealander Simon Jansen has been going about the painstaking process of animating Episode IV in Ascii, a simple code using standard text, since 1997.