Reason.com In 1974 a carpet layer from Michigan spent $2,000 to build a replica of the Starship Enterprise bridge and made Paragon's Paragon, one of the first serious Star Trek fan movies. In 1985, a fan convinced George Takei, who played Sulu on the original series, to reprise the role in Yorktown: A Time to Heal. In subsequent years, putting original cast members in fan productions became increasingly common, with Walter Koenig (Chekov) and Nichelle Nichols (Uhura) starring in the feature-length Star Trek: Of Gods and Men in 2007.
For decades these efforts were largely welcome.
8 comments:
This is so interesting because fan fiction is already so present in the lives of most people they just don't know it. Fifty Shades of Grey is based on a fan fiction about twilight, and a lot of new creative projects are based on things that are written on the internet, or ideas that come from fan fictions. Obviously, this is probably the most substantial fan fiction to become real, and I think that there is something so cool about that. People always complain about how the internet and technology stifles creativity and this is a perfect example that it is not. In fact it is doing the exact opposite. The web not only gave this man a platform to share his work that he wouldn't have had otherwise and create a fan base, but he also was able to get people with power involved in the project. Fan fiction is a new form of media that we are just learning how to harness in a profitable way, and this is really good start to that. It's really exciting to see that we re starting to use "millennial" forms of art and bringing them to everyone. There is a whole world on this internet that people under 25 have explored, that is very cool, and actually a lot about and creation.It's nice that we are getting to a place where we can start to share that.
Ultimately, franchises are strengthened by the enthusiasm of their fans and allowing them to build communities through creativity and sharing will make them more money. The individuals who feel strongly enough to write fanfiction and make movies are the same individuals who will pay to see your movie twice, three times, and drag their friends with them.
I realize that this article is about a particular fan work that, unlike most, was made so professionally and had such a large following that CBS and Paramount felt it was a threat to their copyright. And perhaps it was. I can’t honesty say I blame them. It would be like someone raising a million dollars and making a Harry Potter movie with Maggie Smith in it. But I don’t know if shutting down the movie’s filming is the wisest course of action. It will only make your fan base angry. Perhaps demand a share?
I have never actually enjoyed fan fiction for any of the numerous franchises of which I am a fan, so it might be a little incongruous how strong my feels are that these people should be allowed to continue making Axanar. While I have no doubt that some of the people involved in the production of the fan movie are not actually doing it because they believe in the content, they are only there because they are getting paid, I still that it is a fundamentally free Enterprise. I am sure that Gene Roddenberry is rolling over in his grave right now, and haunting the dreams of the copyright lawyers who are trying to “protect” the universe that he built. The Great Bird of the Galaxy was of the great storytellers of the last generation, and I believe would want anyone to be able to express whatever story they want to tell, and I think he would be honored that so many people car so much about the universe he made.
I am a HUGE fangirl (a.k.a Trash). As a middle schooler, I did dapple into some fanfiction myself (sometimes still do when I feel particularly trashy), and it is my belief that fanfiction (including fanart, fan au’s, fan whatever) can be a horrifying, terrible, and absolutely beautiful thing. It is the expansion of something that has inspired so many people and is loved deeply (in some cases too deeply). And when you have one of the good ones, and it grows beyond the fans and into the actors, the directors, and the ones who made this amazing thing a reality in the first place, then that is not only huge, it’s revolutionary. It starts to become more than your love for that thing and becomes something that connects people. I am not a particular Star Trek fan, as I’ve only watched the newest movies, and Wrath of Khan, and haven’t gotten a chance to delve in it, but It makes me so happy to see a project like that becoming more and more serious. And I agree with the article, CBS, Paramount, what are you doing?! If this fan film gets on its feet and becomes huge, that is just more publicity for your audience and beyond. It gives us, the fans, a chance to make our own stories of the world a possibility to become legit and a reality, we get to part of something big. So if you take that possibility away, who will stand by you when you want to sell us something? Certainly not all of the people you discouraged away from your product. I hope everything goes well, and the film continues its production, because if it works then that could lead to a whole new world of possibilities.
Honestly I've never seen a successful fan fiction that's even compatible to the original story. I feel like this is something that if you do it for fun out of real love and respect of the original version, and other people read/see it for fun, it's definitely an interesting and cool thing to do. I've seen some pretty good sequels or stories about supporting characters from people's blogs. However, if it comes out as a real published book or a real movie, the audience/readers expectations will change for sure. Because it becomes serious, and it costs money to see it, people will judge and I think that's part of the reason why fan fictions may not be as good as the producers would assume. Besides, copyright is a real issue. And one should not circumvent the law and try to call it "fair use" and say things like "You don't want to police this sort of fanzine to such extent that you're disenfranchising your audience." It's like saying, "don't piss off your fans, it will backfire!" I mean if you produce something based on an existing work to make money without the full permission of the original creators, you ARE infringing their copyright!!
I love that this article articulates the expansive beauty of fan fiction, its ability to "bring us stories that the studios aren't interested in doing, explore characters that the studios don't put a lot of energy on, and in a sense flesh out the world and build even more interest," What started with such franchises as Star Trek, Star Wars, and the like has grown into community upon community of online fans who connect with and honor the stories they love further through their own self-driven exploration. Just take a look at tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram, Wordpress, even twitter and Facebook - all these sites have become tools by which fans can drive their love of the worlds film and television writers create. More so, in expanding these worlds through social media these fans expand their own, communicating with fellow obsessors across cities, states, countries, continents, and time alike to help bring to life the universes in which the characters they love, the characters they see themselves in, operate, live, and breathe. If you think about it, these shorts and even feature length additions were and still are only a fraction of what is possible when fans fall in love with fiction. A true lover of fantasy develops boundless potential in the face of modern technology.
Often writers talk about how they like to avoid the fan fiction and theories on the internet, because though they foster a passionate community among fans, they are often not helpful for the authors. The authors have their intent, and intend to keep it that way.For instance, George R.R. Martin types every Game of Thrones book onto a typewriter so he can stay away from the internet. J.K. Rowling once said she only made Ron and Hermione get together is because of the fans, and the fan fiction. So, in my opinion fan fiction is a fun way for the fans to share among one another their interpretations of the characters, and flesh out a world they love even more.
However, Axanar seems like more than that. It seems like yet another reboot that could potentially be picked up. And i guess that brings forward the question- when does fan fiction go from blog posts to something that could be actualized. And should it be, if it's not created with the original author's intent or permission?
J.J. Abrams loved Star Wars as a kid, the director for the newest Star Wars, and so did Phil Noto, the new artist for the cannon Star Wars comic books. So on the other hand, fans now, are eventually becoming so successful in their own work that they can eventually create the cannon fiction of their own.
I am totally a fan of this. Fans in general do the craziest things including fan fiction. What I really like about this is that is that the big shot companies are listening to what the fans have to say about the work that is being produced, and where they want it to go. More often than not a show ends or goes on hiatus, and you as the viewer were not prepared for things to end so suddenly. This is a great way to bring the audience in, and make sure that they come back for the next season or the sequel. This also seems like it would be a pretty low production cost, but bring in a lot of revenue. I say this because you can use the pre-existing set and costumes, so you are only really having to pay for the people required to create the film.
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