Honestly, I emailed hundreds of people for the last year and never found anyone interested, so I am extremely excited to to say 3 people (counting you) in the last week expressed interest in the project. Meaning, we can split everything 4 ways and make a ton of progress with a little work. Say someone draw landscape, someone draw Imperials, someone draw the Rebels and someone draw vehicles and props. For example, your Solider Monkey Design Fun Pack, would be all I need to animate TONS of scenes (obvi laid in psd with layers), so you wouldn't need to do any animating.

At this point you are probably wondering what the film is about and if you are really interested in putting some time into the project. Let me be clear, we aren't millionaires with nothing better to do, well at least I'm not. Quite contrary, I am married and currently attending PSU getting my MBA, and I work full-time as a Marketing Manager for $3 Billion Company, thus time is precious for me. I understand you have a life, other projects, so there is no unrealistic time-frame to get done, after all, if this isn't FUN, why do it? I felt it necessary to hit this idea home with everyone since this project should be first and foremost enjoyable from start to finish.

OK - on with the good stuff. I am not the equivalent of a Trekkie when it comes to Star Wars, although I really enjoy the films and the animated series, and have seen them all dozens of times. My day job has led me to become familiar with film production and my hobbies have led me to doing some animation in Flash and Anime Studio Pro. I see this as my role on the production side of things to help you out the artists. I also found a cool Star Wars Wiki, called wookieepedia, I have been using this site to keep the screenplay for the film as 100% accurate to the Star Wars canon as possible. Sine the timeline of the film spans the original trilogy, but mostly occurs in the months following the Battle of Endor after Ep6, I have been trying to reference material from that time period to write the story. On a final note, I don't expect you to be able to recall all the characters, names and places from reading this overview, so no worries. I do however have a ton of script completed. The stories continues way beyond this first installment, of which I believe can be broken up into a number of 30 min. webisodes.

ABOUT THE FILM

Tone, Look and Feel

Although you are familiar with Brian Schmoyer's artistic style from the link I sent you a few weeks ago, I am not married to that style if you guys collectively think we should go a different direction to achieve the look and feel of this project. I see this film being extremely gritty and dirty in terms of tone and subject matter. In other words, it ain't cute ewoks and gungans poking around the woods. If you're familiar with the new Battlestar Galactica, you know the producers went for a very raw and realistic look at the characters, their tough military life and protocol, personal flaws, triumphs and tribulations. I also have become extremely tired of fan films focusing just on Jedi vs Sith. Cool as it is, I want to create something original, that gets people involved in the characters, their losses and the victories. Making the subject matter and themes very harsh will only help capture the realistic feel of the character's struggle.

Characters

The hero is Captain Slade Bannon, head of the special forces unit known as the Elite Commandos of the Republic (ECOR) that is charged with bringing the surviving Imperial leaders to justice for war crimes against the Republic in the wake of the Empire's defeat at Endor.

Slade's older brother, Duke Bannon, is a Major in the New Republic Defense Force, and decorated veteran of the rebellion like his younger brother Slade. Their paths cross frequently throughout the story.

Timeline

10 BBY – 5ABY

BACK STORY

Stasis

Duke Bannon and his younger brother Slade live peacefully and humbly on their home planet. Their parents are pacifist as well as skilled brew masters and they operate a small pub in their village. The Bannon’s life is not extravagant, but their needs are met and their lives are filled with love and joy. Their uncle, is the leader of the local militia and the Bannon’s have a great deal of respect for the military.

Trigger

The Grand Mof governing the planetary region where the Bannon’s reside is reported to have sympathy for the Rebellion against the Empire. An immediate order is issued to Aramis, a special operations officer in the Empire to eradicate the threat. Slade Bannon’s uncle is secretly working with the Rebellion and is quickly sniffed out. This connection allows Duke and Slade to learn of the Empire and the Rebellion, but the experience it first hand when Aramis and his special operations unit of Stormtroopers arrive and raze the city and its entire population.

Slade and Duke narrowly escape after seeing their parents killed at the hands of Armis and his Stormtroopers. They join the Rebel Alliance and vow to avenge their parent’s death by killing Aramis and destroying the Empire to restore peace to the Galaxy.

The quest

Duke and Slade prove their worth by climbing the ranks of the Rebel Alliance, and after the defeat of the Empire at Endor, they find their careers have lead them to the last leg of their journey, capturing the remaining Imperial leaders and bringing them to justice. The New Republic forms the Elite Commandos of the Republic (ECOR) as a Special Forces unit to lead the campaign with Captain Slade Bannon as the field commander.

RISING ACTION

Surprise

· Aramis and his Loyalist Brigade of Stormtroopers are one of the few groups holding out against the New Republic. The ECOR learns they are the foot soldiers of the Palpatine Veneration (PV), a terrorist group that remains loyal to the government and teachings of Emperor Palpatine, whom is led by a force-sensitive human named Emperor Vicorian. They kidnap and murder a number of political leaders in the New Republic, and are feverishly hunted down by the ECOR.

·Also revealed is a plan to merge the remaining Imperial leaders with the Black Sun Crime Syndicate and the PV to force an insurrection in the New Republic.

·The ECOR slowly captures the former Imperial leaders at a heavy cost of men and material, including the mad scientist Dr. Tokrin Lokar. His human testing lab yields the capture of a half-man, half Wookiee super soldier known as A13, but later Wookiee name is revealed as Chalurra. Chalurra eventually joins the ECOR.

·A mole is discovered inside the New Republic Intelligence (NRI) office that is tied to the Black Sun Crime Syndicate. That results in the near annihilation of the ECOR.

·Master Plett and a few surviving Jedi crawl out of the woodwork and rejoin Luke Skywalker in fighting to defend the New Republic. They are immediately pressed into service to help the ECOR and the New Republic Defense Force (NRDF).

·With the escape of Grand Admiral Goldleaf, the next target, Grand General Daschaac is located and chased down to the remote ice planet of Polus by Jedi Master Plo-Cha and Major Duke Bannon of the NRDF.

Critical choice

Master Plo-Cha and Duke fight a long and bitter trench campaign on Polus that leads to General Daschaac's fortress being surrounded. The cold weather has not allowed any ships to enter or leave the atmosphere, however the ECOR Gunships have finally been successfully adapted to the cold and ordered to lead reinforcements into Polus and to capture Daschaac. Upon Slade’s arrival a distress call is fielded from Duke and Master Plo-Cha’s position -- Daschaac has ordered a breakout counter-offensive as he was tipped-off Slade was en route to the system with back-up. Daschaac’s final push leaves him vulnerable for capture as he personally is defenseless in his lair. Slade must choose whether to reinforce Duke and Master Plo-Cha’s position, or capture the defenseless Daschaac.

CLIMAX

Slade radios to Duke and Master Plo-Cha to hold-out as he plans to capture Daschaac before providing reinforcements. The ECOR quickly infiltrates the fortress and snatches Daschaacaway, leaving behind the reinforcements. The counter-offensive is successful and destroys nearly all of Duke and Master Plo-Cha’s units. In a last ditch effort, Duke covers the retreat of the remaining squads, but falls in combat while holding back the tide of Snowtroopers and enemy militia. The reinforcements arrive as the retreating NRDF repositions under the leadership of Master Plo-Cha.

Reversal

Slade brings Daschaacto justice at the cost of his brother’s life. Slade is a hard man due to the murder of his parents, but losing his brother is more than he can bear. Slade returns to Polus to help Master Plo-Cha complete the campaign and discovers he is a changed man. Blood thirsty and consumed by hatred, Slade will internally struggle with his role as a military leader and his lust for revenge.

Resolution

Slade and Master Plo-Cha return to Coruscant to regroup for their next mission. Master Plo-Cha airs his concern with Master Skywalker, Master Plett and Generals Madine and Cracken. Madine and Cracken quickly side with Slade, but pull the ECOR offline to regroup. In the interim Master Plo-Cha and his padawan are sent to capture Grand Admiral Goldleaf. With pressure from the Jedi, Slade takes a temporary leave of absence from the ECOR.


END PART 1


Hopefully I haven't scared you off yet. If you are still game let me know. And remember, slow and steady wins the race, let's take our time, have fun, and make something great.

Shawn

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The revolution of the musician middle-class is coming.freemarconi.com