Oct 162014
Sep 202010
If that post title got you excited, I apologize.
For a while now, I’ve toyed with the idea of doing some kind of Star Wars fan film, being both a Star Wars nerd and an amateur filmmaker. One idea that popped into my head recently, while recollecting fond and cherished memories of playing the TIE Fighter computer game, was to adapt the game’s story into a TV (well, web) series. The game was story-driven enough that I think it could work, and had enough characters that it could be interesting. I’m not suggesting I’m going to do this. I barely have the time and energy to do all of the current projects I’ve saddled onto myself, let alone adding something as megalithic as this. But it’s still fun to think about.
According to lore, the TIE Fighter player assumes the mantle of Maarek Steele. Seems like a good choice for the series’ protagonist. As the game progresses, a number of major secondary characters and antagonists are introduced. Among them are then-Vice Admiral Thrawn, the rogue admirals Harkov and Zaarin, and Darth Vader puts in a cameo, too. Including the Imperial officer that briefs Steele before each mission, as well as the member of the Emperor’s Secret Order that provides secondary objectives, might work as well.
In terms of adapting the game, I think I’d first just go through the game mission-by-mission and isolate the major story components from each. These would get woven into the major arc of the series, which itself might even be split into seasons to mirror the distinct campaigns in the game. Once that had been done, the next step would be to pick out key bits of dialog from the game and weave those into the episode script. Nostalgia, man! It wouldn’t have to be line-for-line, but it’d be a fun callback to hit some of the key lines.
I might visit the idea some time in the distance future. TIE Fighter stands as my favorite game of all time (yes, even over WoW), and it nicely dovetails with the desire to do a Star Wars fanfilm. Of course, I’m not sure if I will ever be able to commit the amount of time doing an entire series would require. But hey, it’s fun to dream.
Jan 092009
It’s been a while, so it seemed high-time to talk about some of the things I’m working on.
Novel: Gold (tentative title)
This past November, I participated in and “won” NaNoWriMo by completing a 50,000 word manuscript. It’s the story of a young woman that wakes up in a strange, burning office with an unfamiliar voice in her head urging her to jump out of the window…to save her life. Once I completed it, I sent it to a number of people for a first review. I haven’t touched it since, taking the advice of Stephen King to let the first draft sit in a drawer for a while before returning to it. My parents have recently finished reading it and are going to be sending me their feedback this weekend. I’m still waiting to hear Cody and a few others’ thoughts as well. Once I have the combined feedback of everyone, I’ll set to work writing the second draft. My hope is to publish it sometime this summer.
Film: Wec: The Sequel
Wec 2 has been in stasis for a while, superceded by work, more immediate hobbies and diversions (Xbox games, Fallout 3, novel-writing, etc.). However, I do still plan to finish it. It’s hard to bring myself to work on it specifically because it’s a film that deals with an entirely different era of my life. I’m not that guy anymore, and so the movie’s personal relevance to me is greatly diminished. However, with Ron’s help, I still think the movie itself is salvagable and will actually be interesting. I recently showed Wec: The Movie to a co-worker of mine in preparation for a new project (see below), and I realized (again) how inane that first movie is. I want the second one, as silly as it is, to actually be enjoyable for more than the sheer lunacy value. I think it can be.
Film: Untitled Star Wars Fanfilm
I’ve played with the idea of doing a Star Wars fanfilm many times in the past. A few weeks ago, an image formed in my head that caused inspiration to strike: an X-wing, floating “hidden” behind an asteroid, and then maneuvering like a real spacefighter (a la BSG). This prompted the idea of creating a film based on a some X-wing pilots, in the vein of BSG. It would play with established SW conventions (i.e. X-wings would actually maneuver like space fighters) and make a more “hard” sci-fi version of Star Wars.
Co-worker and fellow SW fan Steve was intrigued by the idea when I told him about it and with a bit of convincing I’ve gotten him pretty enthused about the project. We recently asked Ron to help us with the writing, and the last week has had us working through the first draft of the treatment he wrote up for us. He’s now busily working on the second draft that Steve and I will use to write the first draft of the script. Once we’ve done that, it’ll go back to Ron for a dialog polish (George, why didn’t you do this?) and we’ll start material pre-production (set building, costumes, etc.). So far, the film will star Steve, Cody, and myself, along with a cameo by Steve’s wife and children.
Other Novels
I have several other novel ideas that have been banging around in my head, begging to be written.
- A mostly-hard science fiction novel dealing with the rammifications of space warfare after the advent of practical defense shields.
- A science fiction novel dealing with the setting that I’ve had in my head forever, first implemented in any practical form as the UEDF Illustrious Defender e-mail RPG.
- A sword-and-sorcery fantasy novel wherein a character joins a guild of assassins and uncovers a plot that led to her father’s murder.
There are more, but those three are the most fully-formed.
RPG: Vampire
At some point in the near future, I also plan to resume my Vampire game. I’m not totally sure when this will happen, though it is likely to take place on Saturday evenings. The timing is up in the air right now because many of the players are currently in unstable situations (as it pertains to regularly meeting on IRC, that is).
So, that’s about it from my neck of the woods. Going to be a busy year!