New Star Wars Fan Film Seeks to Explore The Soul of Star Wars

Secrets of the Unknown

A new Indiegogo campaign has been launched to fund Star Wars: Secrets of the Unknown.  The filmakers hope to film this year in order to submit for the 2017 Fan Film Awards.

 

Fan films are an interesting beast.  Due to the varied motivations of the creators, the projects can range from extremely well produced and executed to something made on a 3 dollar budget in your back yard.  On one end of the spectrum you get a well executed, well received film like the recent Darth Maul: Apprentice.  On the other end of the spectrum, you get me and my friends circa 1989 filming on my parents video camera, using wiffle ball bats for light sabers, talking soda cans as stand ins for droids, and making blaster noises with our mouths as the camera rolls (pew…pew, pew!)

 

But more often than not, fan films are an outlet to examine our own fantasies on what we love about star wars.  If you love the lightsaber choreography, you can play in that sand box and make a fight just as cool as you imagine in your heads.  If you really wanted those crazy kids Mon Mothma and Crix Madine to get together after the battle of Endor, retire to Corellia, and open a bed and breakfast…you can make that dream come true.  What is more rare in fan films though is riffing on the original fascinations of the maker himself.  To Lucas, sword fights, rebellions, and romance was secondary to the importance of the central philosophy of the force.  The soul of Star Wars isn’t found its its action sequences, but in the theological and philosophical questions that surround the main story.

 

The mission statement for Secrets of the Unknown seems to indicate it will be following Lucas down that path.

 

Story wise, we approached this from a very simple premise – we wanted to explore the theology of The Force, and the concepts of ‘The Light Side’ and ‘The Dark Side’ and how it plays into Jedi and Sith beliefs. We draw on inspiration from the Expanded Universe (EU) – now known as ‘Legends’ – and even get a chance to see the ancient Je’Daii, precursors to the Jedi Order.

 

 

Fan films are a risky endeavor.  Even with talent and funding, it is difficult to match the tone and feel of a franchise that cranks out movies with some of the largest budgets of all time.  But Secrets of the Unknown seems to be charting a unique path.  By exploring some of the ancient past (recently made fertile ground for exploration by the legends purge) they give themselves room to be creative with their story and the look and design of the film.  And by exploring the theological basis of the Jedi and Sith, they give themselves the grounding on which to create a deeper and more complex fan film.

 

There obviously is no guarantee of quality, regardless of intent or talent.  But if, like me, you are intrigued by the idea of fan films exploring the more philosophical sides of Star Wars, check out their crowdfunding page at indiegogo to see more (including some concept art and videos) HERE.

 

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13 thoughts on “New Star Wars Fan Film Seeks to Explore The Soul of Star Wars

  • May 1, 2016 at 8:16 pm
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    Sounds interesting to say the least… However, using old EU material (which is irrelevant to canon) will make this film as credible as an “Ancient Aliens” show on History channel.

    • May 1, 2016 at 8:50 pm
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      I must admit the choice of material is questionable. It seems like Episode VIII is continuing with the first Jedi Temple that was mentioned in VII, so its pointless exploring that angle. Something in the OT era focused on a small group of Rebels or Stormtroopers could of been interesting and you don’t need to worry about clones.

    • May 1, 2016 at 9:06 pm
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      Being involved in the project I can guarantee you though we are drawing on inspiration from the original content, nothing in the film will openly contradict established canon – Clone War, Rebels, The Films etc. Obviously I cannot speak for the yet to be released content (i.e. Episode 8) but we’re more looking to explore ‘The Force’ itself than establish a new ‘canon’. Drop us a line if you want to see the script!

      All the best,
      Govind Chandran
      Director, Star Wars: Secrets of the Unknown

      • May 2, 2016 at 12:26 am
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        Choosing old EU could easily kill this movie.

        Legends canon itself is in this area, one big convoluted mess which contradict itself on many places.

        Moreover it looks like new movies will touch on this subject too.

        So i holding you fingers. But i doubt this turn out well.

    • May 2, 2016 at 2:22 am
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      Star Wars being LESS believable than “Ancient Aliens”? What a quaint notion…

      • May 2, 2016 at 2:29 am
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        What I meant (just in case it went over your head) is that this documentary will be talking about things that are irrelevant in the STAR WARS UNIVERSE the same way Ancient Aliens talks about things irrelevant in this universe (i.e., the Incas having their own astronaut Corp back in the pre-Colombian era, etc…)

    • May 2, 2016 at 9:08 am
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      Which was still more believeable than the discredited VIII script.

  • May 1, 2016 at 9:46 pm
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    Casting is so important with fan films. Poor acting can make them unwatchable, so that should be a priority, especially if fans will be putting up the money. I’ll keep an eye on the casting and then decide whether to give or not.
    Also, who’s directing and what else have they done.

    I’ve seen a good few ambitious SW fan films that were poorly acted and directed, which is a shame, as a lot of love clearly went into them.

  • May 2, 2016 at 12:18 am
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    EU? I’m there… (sticking it to the man)

  • May 2, 2016 at 1:19 am
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    IDK, I think we are going to find out a lot more about the force in episode 8 and 9. It would be so easy to do something in a fan film NOW that would contradict the new Canon.

  • May 2, 2016 at 7:43 am
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    At the risk of looking like a prick, this project just sounds awful. Fan films have a track record of being generally terrible and one must question the ethical and legal implications of seeking funding for something that is essentially someone else’s intellectual property.

    If you’re going to the huge effort (and I speak from experience) of making a film, why base it on an existing IP which isn’t yours? Why not develop an original concept and script and shoot that? It’s far more logical from both a creative and commercial perspective.

    • May 3, 2016 at 4:35 pm
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      Though I agree with most of what you said, they base it on somebody else’s IP out of a love for that IP, in this case Star Wars.

  • May 2, 2016 at 11:34 am
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    Is this going to be a documentary or a dramatic film? If the latter, would have been nice to see some more elements that they’d hope to put into the film.

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