MY CONFESSION

article written 2/24/2003

Some of you may know that before Run Leia Run, which I'm very proud of, I made another fan film.

It was called Young Jedi: High School Student. It was about Obi-Wan Kenobi as a nerd in high school, trying to work up the nerve to ask Jenny Jade to the senior prom, while dealing with bullying and put-downs from popular Leonardo Darthnik.

I made it with my friends on video cameras—sometimes even sinking as low as VHS format. Not only did I write the script, but I co-directed, and even starred as Obi-Wan Kenobi.

I gave the worst performance in the film and of my life.

Our sound quality was poor. Our Web compression made the film look like crap, not that maybe it didn't before. Our lighting was bad (nasty built-in fluorescent lights).

The typography (which I'm always going on about in my reviews)? Pretty bad. The end credits were way too long.

The effects were occasionally good, but sometimes pretty crummy. Our sabers aren't the best, and our duel isn't the most exciting thing. (As a bonus, it involves a guy in black robes holding a red double-bladed lightsaber! And our music is "Duel of the Fates"! No forest, though.)

Sometimes I'm embarassed to watch this movie. I cringe at times.

If I'd been reviewing it, I'd give it something in the C range. Maybe a B- if I was really in the mood for high school Star Wars humor at the time.

It's just not that good a fan film.

But I'll never apologize for it.

I learned a lot about moviemaking from doing it—even to the point of wanting to be a film major and one day a filmmaker.

I had a great time.

I'll never forget the thrills of seeing myself holding a real lightsaber, or watching the final cut with glee, or projecting the finished product in our high school auditorium where the whole school could cheer for our stupid little movie.

Because they didn't think it was stupid. They didn't know how much better other fan films' lightsabers or costumes were. All they knew was that they were seeing an honest-to-God Jedi Knight, and lightsaber duel, and Gungan, and TPM-style-laser-gate, right in the hallways that they walked every day. They thought that our lightsabers were the coolest things ever. "How'd you do this?" "How'd you do that?" They even asked questions about saber levitations done with fishing wire.

Young Jedi: High School Student was not a huge success.

But it was for me.

So this is my confession: I made this rather bad fan film. (Okay, Kent made it too, but he can make his own Web site if he wants.)

And this is my other confession: I'm glad I made it.

Go make your films, everyone. Even if they're ignored or bashed on the forums, even if you don't think it'll be any good, make your stupid fan film.

Because once you've made it, no one can take it away from you, and you'll have done something nobody else has done.

I thought about taking Young Jedi: High School Student off the shelf and out of its DVD case and watching it for this article... but I figured I'd just feel stupid watching what's not a very good movie.

But I like knowing it's there.

For more information on Young Jedi: High School Student, visit the official Web site.