A couple of clicks away on the web are scores of films made by fans – by turns hilarious, ingenious and ambitious. Lurking among their makers might be Hollywood's next generation. Jane Graham guardian.co.uk, Thursday 13 May 2010Many still regard them as flatulent waste products of the socially deficient unemployed-layabout community. In most cases, they're pretty much right. But it looks increasingly likely that some of the amateur fan films that pervade YouTube and other online broadcasters will one day be cherished by movie-lovers as the formative works of the next generation of cutting-edge film-makers.
The idea of the fan film – an amateur, not-for-profit work inspired by a commercial movie, TV show or comic book – isn't new. Even before science fiction conventions in the 1970s began to provide sizeable audiences for homemade homages to much-loved sci-fi/fantasy franchises, teenage movie geeks such as Hugh Hefner and Batman fan Andy Warhol were finding their film-making feet making short and shaky tributes to their favourite flicks.
What has changed, in ways that could have a serious impact on commercial cinema in the next decade, is the level of quality, professionalism and ambition in the cream of the contemporary fan-film crop. The wide availability of cheap and portable high-calibre equipment, instant distribution through the internet, and the increased involvement of acting and film-school graduates, means that the most popular offerings are no longer characterised by (in the words of veteran fan film-maker Larry Longstreth) "some goofy dipshit with access to a few costumes on the top of a parking deck". They're just as likely to be sharp, witty, original pieces of work with impressive production values and strong performances.
These films take themselves, and their audiences, very seriously, and find reward in doing so. Some of them, like last year's highly ambitious Lord of the Rings prequel, The Hunt for Gollum, were preceded by a number of teasers and trailers "announced" online before the film's unveiling – in Gollum's case at the Sci-Fi London film festival. Many of them – like the full-length, lovingly rendered Return of the Ghostbusters – will be screened in independent cinemas as part of fan-organised events all over the world. Academy Award Winning Movie Trailer, a clever, knowing, and very funny parody of the Oscar-chasing Hollywood promo, made by a couple of film-school graduates in Atlanta, had half a million hits on the first weekend it went up on YouTube in March – that's 499,989 more people than went to see Uma Thurman in Motherhood on its opening weekend in the UK.
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Here's three of the best fan movies...
Academy Award Winning Movie Trailer - this is a work of genius...
Nick Kocher and Brian McElhaney took 10 days "from first draft to final edit" to compose this well-crafted parody of Hollywood trailer clichés and have seen their stock rise.
See it: bit.ly/b70pRr
Wes Anderson Spider-Man
This trailer for the new Spider-Man – if Anderson were directing – was inspired by 20-year-old student Jeff Loveness's passion for "absurdist" comedy such as Monty Python and The Office.
See it: bit.ly/by7bwa
The Hunt for Gollum
Despite its paltry budget of £3,000, British computer engineer Chris Bouchard's Lord of the Rings prequel is seriously slick. The 40-minute-long work has notched up more than 5m views.
See it: bit.ly/BSoVy
