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FAN FILM FOLLIES-THE WORLD OF STAR TREK
BY CHRISTOPHER MOSHIER
We're back!!!
Fan Film Follies was a fan film column I wrote many, many moons ago
for the website www.coolcollecting.com. As time passed I started getting into writing other things having little time to continue
the articles.Cool Collecting turned its format into a DVD news site. Now after two years I was itching to start up "Follies"
again missing the fun I had sipping on beers (root I assure you!) and watching these fine fancreations. My only problem was
I didn't want to host the articles only write them. It didn't take me long to find "Fanboy Theatre." After reviewing www.fanboytheatre.com
I thunk to myself, "SELF! This is exactly the site I should be writing for." I contacted Will (what is his last name?) and
the rest as they say over and over again is history. I think it is important for it to be known I am not here to bash anyone's
work, but again I am not here to kiss anyone's butt. I'm sure no film maker wants either to be the case. I will never cover
a topic or film that I do not like. If I think your film sucks then I won't even mention it. If your film is a part of my
articles then I really dig what is being done for various reasons. With this said take any criticism directed toward a given
film as constructive criticism. ALSO! I am a big Star Wars fan, but I will never cover the subject on Fan Film Follies
because it is done with perfection over at The Force.net(http://www.theforce.net/fanfilms).
So now what?
Time to choose this month's article subject matter!
Pulling the paper out of the hat and opening it up meesa sees this
month's column deals with Star Trek. OH! STOP MOANING AND GROANING! There will be a spanking brand new subject each and every
month. If you aren't into Star Trek then read two Batman comics and call me in the morning. That number is 1-900-hot-love.Faster
than you can say, "Mr. Sulu is what?" Star Trek fan films have found a giant niche on the Super Information Highway.
| STAR TREK-HIDDEN FRONTIER |
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HIDDEN FRONTIER (http://www.hiddenfrontier.org)Star Trek the original series brought us the first interracial kiss onTV.Star Trek: Deep Space 9 brought us the
first lesbian kiss on TV.Star Trek: Hidden Frontier brought us our first male kiss in the Star Trek universe.The episode is
"The Battle Is Joined", Season 5's final for the online Star Trek series "Hidden Frontier." Being a heterosexual (NO! REALLY!I
AM! I mean I could be if I tried!) I found this scene about as disturbing as a white knight of the Ku Klux Klan did watching
Captain Kirk and Lieutenant Uhura kiss back in the 1960's. That brings about the true nature of Star Trek, breaking down the
barriers.YES! Star Trek was just a TV show. OK! Star Trek was 5 TV shows, 10movies, a cartoon, novels, comics, underoos, but
Star Trek was/is also an ideal. If you were or are a fan of the shows you know of what Ispeak. Racial, sexual, religious,
political differences are accepted in this Roddenberry world. Poverty and war are extinct. Material needs are non existent.
The Federation is a utopia where exploration was humanity and their allies' greatest goals hence the 1701's five year mission
that was cut short by the retards that ran NBC at the time. Did I say retard? I meant mentally challenged! We must be "politically
correct."Hidden Frontier has grown over the years. It has been a fan's staple into Trek lore and they stand up to the subject
matter as well as the actual TV shows. With the cancellation of Enterprise fan films keep the franchise alive. Hidden Frontier
carries the torch of the social issues and that extra boost of action that Star Trek was foundational for.This online show
has built the vision of the Trek fan film and with each season proves these fan productions can be far superior to what the
studios keep throwing money at. Enterprise got it right the last season(except the last episode.thanks Berman and Braga!),
but the fans get it right 99.9% of the time and Hidden Frontier is the proof.
NEW VOYAGES (http://www.newvoyages.com)"In the 23rd century, space is the Final Frontier. Join Captain Kirk,
Mister Spock, Doctor McCoy and the rest of the crew as year four of the five year mission continues. Boldly go back to where
it all began aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise and travel the stars to worlds as yet unknown, seeking out new life and new civilizations.
THIS is Star Trek- New Voyages."This is a very impressive series. I watched "In Harm's Way" and they took a lot of concepts
from episodes of the original show and interwove them into a compelling story worthy of the name Trek. There are even guest
stars from the original 60's show. How cool is that? Yes at times the acting is rather stale. Jeffrey Quinn's Spock makes
up forJohn Kelley's McCoy. James Cawley makes a pretty good Kirk even at times over acting as well as William Shatner ever
could. In my opinion it is the best fan Trek on the Internet. This is a fan production and with time as everything Trek they
will improve their weak points and over achieve their strong points. I will be there to watch!
EXETER STUDIO (http://www.exeterstudio.com) The Starship Exeter is a fan film taking the old school approach
mirroring the classic Star Trek TV show from the 1960's. As New Voyages tries to modernize the classic show Exeter complements
it and tries best to be the 1960's show. It works! What you get is a really fun fan romp of the classic series cheese and
all. From the sets, to costumes, to props if you didn't know any better you would think you were watching a spinoff of the
original series. I am going to sound (or read like one anyways) like a broken record, but the acting needs help. To be ultra-critical
I blame the directors more than the performers. It is a director's job to make the actor shine and in many of these fan films(Trek
and Non-Trek) the look of the film outweighs the performance of the film. Yes I am a critic and critics are like you know
what's and everyone has one, but I really like these fan productions and I really want them to rise to the next level, hence
the criticisms.If I had the ultimate advice for any fan based film work on the acting! NEXT PLEASE!
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STAR
WRECK ( http://www-fi3.starwreck.com) A worm hole is a maggot hole! Toilet paper is still used in the future! Europeans
have too much time on their hands! These and many more revelations will be learned in "Star Wreck"!I thought this movie was
going to be the ultimate of stupid. I was pleasantly surprised that it held my interest. It had two things working against
it as I went into it, it was a spoof and it is subtitled. The film itself was not gut wrenching funny, but it was humorous.
The effects and set were very impressive. It clocks in at an hour and forty minutes so make some popcorn, mix a pitcher of
martinis,and enjoy a film better than all the Next Generation movies put together. OK! Minus First Contact.
TALES OF THE SEVENTH FLEET (http://www.ussjustice.org/tales7thfleet.htm) Tales of the Seventh Fleet reminds me a lot of an old Star Wars movie
I made with SUPER 8 film many moons ago. The series does need some tweaking, but I don't underrate their efforts as I see
a lot of work was put into this production. I have great confidence in the USS Justice and Her Seventh Fleet to get bigger
and better with age.
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STONE TREK http://stonetrek.com Wow! The
Flintstones, Star Trek, When you think about the two don't they nicely go together hand in hand. "WILMA!!!"You do yourself
a disservice if you don't check this series out. You don't have to be a Star Trek fan or a Flintstones fan to enjoy this,
but being both intensifies the experience. The animation and voice work is top notch.
SOME GOOFY TREK
BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD MEET STAR TREK
(http://jefzef.com/beam.htm) Ha Ha Ha, He said blow the hatch.It is amazing what you can do with
a computer these days. You can take an incredible science fiction show and mix it with Beavis and Butthead and make a parody
with little effort. I was truly offended by this mixture of the animated idiots and my favorite show of all time.OK! NOT REALLY!I
laughed my BLEEP off.
SIM SHATNER (http://simshatner.fanspace.com) This is an oldie, but a goody. You can now be James T. Kirk and be as bizarre as William Shatner
could ever try to be.
ONLINE SHOWS TO WATCH FOR
Here are some online Trek shows not out of the gate yet, but keep an eye on them because it looks like they have some great
entertainment for us on the horizon.
| ANDROMEDA |
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ANDROMEDA (http://www.startrekandromeda.de) Based upon Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry", this project has been launched by great fans of
Star Trek living in Germany. This started off in 1997 with a production of an audio series, called StarTrek, the undiscovered
series. The cast has always wanted to do a fan film of Star Trek, with a lot of experience and time, the cast finally has
the ability to make one. Gene Roddenberry receives creator credit on all episodes of Star Trek Andromeda.
INTREPID (http://www.ussintrepid.net) Over 300 years have passed since the historic groundbreaking of the Warp5 research and development facility
on Earth, where the legendary Zefram Cochran gave his commemorative speech, which ignites the vision of multiple generations,
".Imagine it. Thousands of inhabited planets at our fingertips. and we'll be able to explore those strange new worlds...and
seek out new life and new civilizations. go boldly... where no man has gone before." Today, when much of the Federation finds
itself recovering from internal strife and external conflict, there are those who still embody the rugged individualism of
the early explorers. There are those who still understand the founding purposes and strive to fulfill the vision of Starfleet.
There are those who are still out there ...forging a new frontier.
LEGACY (http://www.startrek-the-legacy.de) I first spotted this fan film while watching Trekkies 2. I'm not sure if we will ever be
able to view it online, but I thought it was fitting to add it to "Upcoming".
STARSHIP FARRAGUT (http://www.starshipfarragut.com) Starship Farragut is based on the crew of the U.S.S. Farragut, a Constitution
Class Starship (NCC-1647), and takes place during the time of legendary Captain James T. Kirk of the Starship
Enterprise (NCC-1701).
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USS HATHAWAY (http://www.usshathaway.com) Star Trek: U.S.S. Hathaway is set in 2285 (this is the same year of StarTrek
II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock) and begins as Captain Jeffery Pierce is
just taking command of the newly commissioned ship.The show will take place during
the "movie era" of the original series crew. Our visual and audio inspiration comes primarily from what
the producers consider the best of the Star Trek movies, The Wrath of Khan.We hope
to explore issues that are current to today's world, much like what the original Star Trek did in its
day.
In closing to this edition of Fan Film Follies I found an interesting
campaign on the internet called "Bring Back Kirk". The site is a rallying cry to the owners of the Star Trek franchise to
bring back William Shatner as James T Kirk. His demise in Generations was pretty lame. If Captain Kirk was to die it should
have been on the bridge of the Enterprise. I think "Bring Back Kirk" it is a great idea.You can check out the nicely done
trailer on the official site. Be prepared to be impressed http://www.bringbackkirk.com.That's it for this month's edition of Fan Film Follies. In the coming weeks we will be posting interviews from the people
who have been spotlighted in this article so keep an eye out at Fanboy Theatre for that. I also have some other really cool
content you'll all want to watch as we march forward towards 2006. Stuff you probably don't even know is out there. HEH! That
is what you got me for! If you have any suggestions for articles or want your fan film spotlighted on these here pages or
just want to tell me what a great job I am doing please email me at cmoshier@rochester.rr.com.
See you next time. Be safe! And as always.
PEACE!
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