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Back in 2010, we posted about a Star Wars Crawl Creator you could use for fun. It doesn't look like you can easily download or export the crawl video when you are done, but it was still fun.
Soon afterwards, Foley Productions commented about a free iPhone / iPad application that lets you create the crawl and actually save it as a video. Checking back into it today, I've found that they have released a free version of Crawl Creator. Do you have an iOS device? Go have fun with it!
Because you always wanted to... go to StarWars.com | Star Wars Crawl Creator.
You will thank me.
First the video, with an explanation to follow.
As you may have noticed here, I've mentioned Star Wars a number of times before. If there is one single film in history that has more actively fueled the fire of fan-made films --and by relation, all home video-- then I'd be very surprised. Some of these homages are funny parody, some are just practice and some approach the level of real art. I love them all.
The video linked above uses only footage from the original film, with a very specific filter (I'd assume) that gives it the right silent film look. I don't know all the technical details, but the appearance is spot on. It's in black-and-white, but also has a layer of scratches, muting and noise added to give it old style film resonance. Additionally, the frame speed was slightly sped up in most of the action sequences, giving it a much more herky-jerky movement (technical term, ahem) to the actors. Stylized dialog cards are added for each spoken line. I like that these have the Imperial logo at the bottom and that there are a few misspellings, perhaps purposeful.
The best possible detail used to give this video an authentic silent film theme is the soundtrack, played on an old-fashioned grand piano by itself. If you listen at the right moment as Luke plummets down the ventilation shaft, a descending chromatic scale plays exactly where it is most expected. The entire package comes together perfectly with the scratchiness of the video and audio in sync. It's funny and beautiful at the same time; a very good job.
Just when I think I've seen the best fan-made lightsaber duel that's ever been published...
I've mentioned it before, but George Lucas in Love is one of those short but epic masterpieces of comedy gold that bears mentioning again. If you haven't seen it in a while (or at all) enjoy.
I ran into this again recently on Shamus Young's blog, where even he admits that it has been linked to hell and back
, but sometimes you have to resurrect those old simple favorites. Shamus also links to his own 2006 script treatment of what Star Wars would have likely looked like had it come out in this decade rather than the '70s. The main point being that movie executives would take the script and try and 'sexy' it up a bit to make it the smash blockbuster that they really want. It's worth four and a half laughs.
It's arguable by some that the Star Wars films severely changed the movie industry and created the "blockbuster-or-bust" attitude prevalent today. Thereby making Shamus' joke all the more cyclical --and profound.
This is one belongs under the "That's-No-Moon-That's-A-Space-Station" folder. As everyone knows, I like Star Wars quite a bit. But even I was a little bug-eyed to see these fan-made clips.
In case you can't tell, these are most likely your standard shots collected from home movies around San Francisco. But the effects have been seamlessly and pretty flawlessly added in. Check out the full video of the Death Star over San Francisco on Current.
In movie news, the upcoming Indiana Jones film now has a title.
Read more about this at Star Wars.com.
Jan Ozer at PC Magazine has an article on the perfect setup for video-editing.
Are you a filmmaker? Or a video enthusiast? Or the greatest thing to hit YouTube since that Star Wars kid? You've been editing video for a while, perhaps producing short films, training videos, or maybe even a wedding or two, and the only thing standing between you and an Independent Spirit award is the limitations of your current gear. It's time to jump-start your career with an upgrade.
The first step in your transformation into George Lucas is clear: You'll need a superfine digital camcorder. But once you've spent a cool thousand dollars on the latest and greatest from Sony, Samsung, or whichever manufacturer you favor, you've only just begun your journey from taking cute home movies to making great videos. That camera is only going to get you halfway. But that's why I'm here. I'll show you how to build an awesome editing station to take your video to the next level.
Read the full article at The Perfect Editing Station.
Special effects are usually associated with big name Hollywood blockbusters. However, one interesting fact that goes unnoticed by most people is it's common use in every day television, most especially news, weather and sports broadcasts.
My first notice of this was while watching football. For a few years now, a technology known as chroma keying has been used to paint the first down lines onto the field to better illustrate this otherwise invisible line for the viewer at home. This had many benefits, including making the game more accessible for people being newly introduced to the sport.
A computer system connected to all of the cameras in the stadium with reference points on the field automatically paints this unobtrusive yellow line onto the green field while keeping it from obscuring any players or objects on the field. The end effect makes it appear that this line is actually on the field at any time, though it's position will move constantly throughout the game.
More recently, I've seen it used commonly during the 2006 Olympic Winter Games during the speed skating competitions. The athlete's home country flag appears to be painted or projected in a static position on the ice in front of the starting line. A similar affect was used at the 2004 Summer Olympics to make it appear that a swimmer's country's flag was painted on the bottom of the pool in the same lane they were swimming in. Once again, the information is conveyed to the audience at home in an unobtrusive way.
- Chroma key
- A chroma key is the removal of a color (or small color range) from one image to reveal another image "behind" it. The removed color becomes transparent. This technique is also referred to as "color keying", "colour-separation overlay" ("CSO"), "greenscreen" and "bluescreen". It is typically used for weather forecasts. The presenter appears to be standing in front of a large map, but in the studio it is actually a large blue or green background.
It's also interesting to me that this is the primary technology used for the Lightsabers in the Star Wars Films, though this also involved an older technology called rotoscoping.
For more information, see the definition at Answers.com :: Chroma Key.
