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Nathan Fillion is a fitting star for an 'Uncharted' fan film
Fans have been hoping for years that Nathan Fillion would play Uncharted protagonist Nathan Drake in a film adaptation, but now that the long-delayed official movie has refocused to a prequel story, that hope seemed less and less possible. For those stalwarts, here's a consolation prize: The Firefly actor appeared as the games' swarthy protagonist in a 15-minute fan film that does the cinematic adventure franchise justice.
CBS and Paramount settle lawsuit with 'Star Trek' fan film
It's been a wild ride for the folks behind the Axanar Star Trek fan film, but it's finally over -- the fan production group has settled its lawsuit with CBS and Paramount. The terms of the agreement aren't completely clear, but both parties have announced that the deal will allow Axanar productions to finish and release its fan film for free as long as a certain number of undisclosed "substantial changes" are made. Even better? According to Ars Technica, the settlement doesn't require the fan group to pay damages, either.
'Star Trek' fan film loses fair use case, moves to jury trial
It's been a long journey for the makers Axanar, the crowdfunded Star Trek fan film that ran afoul of CBS and Paramont's lawyers. After successfully raising over a million dollars to to create a professional-grade homage to the Star Trek brand, Axanar's producers were hit with a lawsuit, assured that lawsuit would be dropped, and then taken to court. The filmmakers stood their ground and argued a case of fair use, but ultimately lost. Today, U.S. District Court Judged Gary Klausner ruled that Axanar is just too faithful to Star Trek canon to avoid copyright infringement.
CBS and Paramount release 'Star Trek' fan film guidelines
While Paramount and CBS's lawsuit against Axanar Productions is still ongoing, the two studios have finally produced a set of guidelines meant to govern fan-made Star Trek productions in the future. While the guidelines might be a good start, and a sign that studios could be warming up to community input, they are still extremely limiting.
Paramount says 'Star Trek' fan film's Klingon violates copyright
Ever since CBS and Paramount Pictures sued the makers of the Star Trek fan film Axanar, fans have been wondering: what alleged copyright violations were so onerous that lawyers had to get involved? Unfortunately, the studios are more than happy to explain. They've filed a modified complaint that details what they believe the crowdfunded project is doing to run afoul of copyright law... and some of the claims aren't going to rub enthusiasts the right way. For one thing, it believes that speaking Klingon is a violation -- yes, just shouting "qapla'" could get you in trouble. There have been concerns that Paramount might crack down on Klingon use before, but this is the first time it's taking action.
'Star Trek' owners sue to stop a crowdfunded fan film
If there's one thing that CBS Studios and Paramount Pictures are good at, it's showing how much contempt they have for Star Trek fans. The co-owners of the sci-fi property have shoved a proud middle finger at the creators of a fan-made film, demanding that the project be shut down. Axanar, unlike other revival efforts, was the subject of a crowdfunding campaign that raised more than a million dollars across Indiegogo and Kickstarter. It was pitched as the first fan film to hire professionals who'd worked on the show behind the camera, hence the need for serious financial backing.
George Lucas didn't remake 'Empire Strikes Back,' you did
Given recent events, it can be difficult to remember that the internet is capable of pretty awesome stuff sometimes. Case in point: this super-cool shot-for-shot fan remake of The Empire Strikes Back that uses some 480 different filmmaking techniques. Spotted by Digg, it runs the gamut from hand-drawn animation, intentionally cheesy live-action and even a makeshift Echo Base populated with stop-motion LEGO minifigures -- and that's just within the first few minutes. Over 1,500 hopefuls submitted their 15-second scenes, and, like with Star Wars Uncut before it, the folks at Lucasfilm stitched the best of them together to create Empire Strikes Back Uncut. It's pretty impressive on more than a few levels and we've embedded it just below. The video clocks in at just over two hours, so we heartily recommend pouring a frosty glass of blue milk and firing up your Chromecast to watch it.
BioShock fan film tells the tale of The Brothers Rapture
Following up on an intriguing teaser released last week, director Shaun Rykiss and a team of Vancouver film students have produced The Brothers Rapture, a BioShock fan film about a pair of siblings and their experiments with genetics-altering Plasmids in the underwater city of Rapture. If you've played the BioShock games, you might imagine that things don't turn out well for these guys, but the film provides an interesting look at what life may have been like for Rapture's citizens in the years before its fall. The lighting and Plasmid effects are quite nice, too. Director Rykiss has published a commentary track here.
Student film 'Brothers Rapture' revisits BioShock's underwater city
The Brothers Rapture is an upcoming short film put together by a group of Vancouver film students with a bit of Indiegogo funding, and this teaser should give you an idea of what it has in store. Plasmids, audio diaries, and the philosophical battle between art and commerce, oh my!
Super Mario reimagined as a first-person game, conquers the castle of our hearts (video)
You've seen Super Mario evolve from a modest 2D sprite into a 3D world-exploring superhero mechanic, but have you ever seen life through his eyes? Here's your opportunity, as a fanmade animation treats us to a first-person view of the intrepid Italian's adventures through the familiar World 1-1. There are kill streaks, achievements like "headbanger" and "pole dancer," and some extremely realistic sound effects to set the mood. The priceless video follows after the break.
First look at upcoming Tekken fan film
Chances are, you probably won't find this upcoming fan-made film adaptation of Tekken to be as titilating as Maxim's Tekken girls photo shoot. This impressive-looking fan effort, entitled Tekken: King of Iron Fist, will feature some pretty accurate cosplaying, mixed with some action sequences. From the looks of things, this may be better than "official" Ewe Boll-produced film massacres.[Via Gamespot]
WoW Moviewatch: Eternal Legend
Well, since I don't speak the Taiwanese language (I think that's what this is in), I have no idea what they're singing about, but this is definitely one of the best-edited WoW fan videos I've seen in some time. It's called Eternal Legend, and even unintelligible, it's still quite enjoyable. Kudos to the creator; check it out below.
