11/24/17
-I updated the digital artwork and working on Episode 9 currently. 12/27/16 -R.I.P. Carrie Fisher (1956-2016) 12/22/16 -Just hit 200 unique views....I refuse to spam and annoy people with this website because I know how annoying that is when people are promoting their stuff. Hoping this project just spreads on its own, but promoting any projects online is difficult with alot of competition. If you guys visit this page and check out my Episode summaries, please give me feedback - email me or post on this site as anonymous even if you hate it ! All feedback is welcomed to improve my writing. -Put up some new Prequels Reborn graphics, check out the concept art in the links. |
prequels & Sequels for the original trilogy fans
Q&A
When did you start rewriting the prequels ?
Since 2008. I think after Revenge of the Sith, most fans wrote their own ways of doing the prequels better. But I only writing them and coming up with different ideas only a few times a year. In 2011, I really got the concept I wanted. And in 2015, I finalized it after much negative feedback to give people a Star Wars trilogy that was meant for the original Trilogy fan. I would write it out, put it on forums, get trashes, then rewrite it all over again and repeat the process. So people would trash it, criticize it, hate it...then the more I rewrote it and put it out there, then the less criticism I got and the more compliments I got. It was just the idea to put it out there as much as possible to hear what people thought of it.
How did you go about writing them ?
One thing I did was research exactly how Lucas came up with the Original Trilogy. Researching Star Wars is fairly easy. The one thing I came across was that Lucas made the first Star Wars based on elements of Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress. That is when I came up with my way of writing my Trilogy. I decided to completely erase the Prequel Trilogy characters and start from scratch. What I did was to based each Episode off of two classic films. Use those elements of those classic films to come up with new Star Was elements that feel fresh, yet familiar. For Episode I, since Lucas studied Kurosawa's Hidden Fortress, I decided I would study Kurosawa's other more popular film - The Seven Samurai as my template for Episode I. I also had some other rules that I wanted: Characters are complex, not the plot. Look at the Original Trilogy. The plot was simple. Empire wanted to kill the Rebellion. That was it. The real heart of the film was the relationship between Luke and his father, Darth Vader. The characters made Star Wars. The old wise mentor Obi Wan Kenobi. The rogue rebellious Han Solo, the determined and strong Princess Leia, the traitor but redeemed Lando, etc. These characters made the film. Not the lightsaber battles or space battles. Those were just the icing on the cake. The second rule was LESS IS MORE. Fan Fiction writers have a bad habit of since they can write anything, they tend to over do the plot or the action. My idea is that to concentrate on character arcs and the relationships between the characters. No Yoda with a lightsaber. Yoda is not even in my whole Episode II.
What makes your Prequel Rewrites any different than any other rewrite out there ?
I think because I'm more of a fan of film than a fan of Star Wars. I'm a film geek first, and it just so happens Star Wars is my favorite film. I really would get schooled on Star Wars trivia by a lot of people. My goal of this project was to create new ideas and character arcs that people can relate to.
What is your goal of this project ?
To get as much feedback as possible to develop my writing skills. I have several different story ideas for film projects in my head, some are original ideas, others are bio pics which I am a particular fan of since I'm into history. But this is sort of my experiement project where I can take the criticism here and use that in my other works. The internet is a great tool because the readers can be as mean as they want and trash my work, but that only allows me to become better. I'm not afraid of rejection or criticism. I welcome it, because it creates a stronger writer for myself. Star Wars means a lot to people including myself, so its a project that the name alone can attract readers and since they are passionate about it, increase my feedback. There is no delusion about turning this project into anything else other than collect as much feedback as I can from the readers. I think they are good stories, but I doubt I could even get a comic book made of these.
What is the best Prequel Rewrite you've read ?
I don't read other fan fiction. Mostly because first of all, I don't want to borrow any ideas or rip anyone else off. Their ideas are their ideas, not mine. And seondly, when I did glance at them years ago, all they do is rearrange the current prequel trilogy and just add numerous plot elements. Qui Gon, Mace Windu, Count Dooku, Jango Fett, and mostly all the new prequel characters were not well written, and I don't see the point of keeping those characters if you have a chance to do something completely new and fresh. Once you start reading a fan fiction prequel rewrite and see Dooku and Grevious in there, it just still feels like Lucas' prequels. I was influenced by classic films and hopefully when people read my prequels, they will have the feel of those classic films like Seven Samurai to give them a positive feeling rather than a dull feeling as if they are reading The Phantom Menace all over again.
What is the main issue you have to get people to reading these stories ?
I made a mistake of writing too much. The long version PDF files are about 90 pages each. That is asking the reader for a lot of their time. I could only get so many people to take their time to invest in a writer who has absolutely no credibility. So now, I'm breaking it down and putting all my ideas onto about 3-5 pages for the reader to check out and if they are more interested, then the full versions are available. Its hard to get your website out there. I've tried a lot of different things. I hired a concept artist, I hired amatuer models to advertise it on a video, I hired an editor to make it look nice, and I hired computer savvy guys to advertise the URL. Not only that, but I made social media account for Prequels Reborn - Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, etc. Some worked more than others, but I'm still working on it. It all takes money and time, which I don't have a lot of sadly.
When did you start rewriting the prequels ?
Since 2008. I think after Revenge of the Sith, most fans wrote their own ways of doing the prequels better. But I only writing them and coming up with different ideas only a few times a year. In 2011, I really got the concept I wanted. And in 2015, I finalized it after much negative feedback to give people a Star Wars trilogy that was meant for the original Trilogy fan. I would write it out, put it on forums, get trashes, then rewrite it all over again and repeat the process. So people would trash it, criticize it, hate it...then the more I rewrote it and put it out there, then the less criticism I got and the more compliments I got. It was just the idea to put it out there as much as possible to hear what people thought of it.
How did you go about writing them ?
One thing I did was research exactly how Lucas came up with the Original Trilogy. Researching Star Wars is fairly easy. The one thing I came across was that Lucas made the first Star Wars based on elements of Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress. That is when I came up with my way of writing my Trilogy. I decided to completely erase the Prequel Trilogy characters and start from scratch. What I did was to based each Episode off of two classic films. Use those elements of those classic films to come up with new Star Was elements that feel fresh, yet familiar. For Episode I, since Lucas studied Kurosawa's Hidden Fortress, I decided I would study Kurosawa's other more popular film - The Seven Samurai as my template for Episode I. I also had some other rules that I wanted: Characters are complex, not the plot. Look at the Original Trilogy. The plot was simple. Empire wanted to kill the Rebellion. That was it. The real heart of the film was the relationship between Luke and his father, Darth Vader. The characters made Star Wars. The old wise mentor Obi Wan Kenobi. The rogue rebellious Han Solo, the determined and strong Princess Leia, the traitor but redeemed Lando, etc. These characters made the film. Not the lightsaber battles or space battles. Those were just the icing on the cake. The second rule was LESS IS MORE. Fan Fiction writers have a bad habit of since they can write anything, they tend to over do the plot or the action. My idea is that to concentrate on character arcs and the relationships between the characters. No Yoda with a lightsaber. Yoda is not even in my whole Episode II.
What makes your Prequel Rewrites any different than any other rewrite out there ?
I think because I'm more of a fan of film than a fan of Star Wars. I'm a film geek first, and it just so happens Star Wars is my favorite film. I really would get schooled on Star Wars trivia by a lot of people. My goal of this project was to create new ideas and character arcs that people can relate to.
What is your goal of this project ?
To get as much feedback as possible to develop my writing skills. I have several different story ideas for film projects in my head, some are original ideas, others are bio pics which I am a particular fan of since I'm into history. But this is sort of my experiement project where I can take the criticism here and use that in my other works. The internet is a great tool because the readers can be as mean as they want and trash my work, but that only allows me to become better. I'm not afraid of rejection or criticism. I welcome it, because it creates a stronger writer for myself. Star Wars means a lot to people including myself, so its a project that the name alone can attract readers and since they are passionate about it, increase my feedback. There is no delusion about turning this project into anything else other than collect as much feedback as I can from the readers. I think they are good stories, but I doubt I could even get a comic book made of these.
What is the best Prequel Rewrite you've read ?
I don't read other fan fiction. Mostly because first of all, I don't want to borrow any ideas or rip anyone else off. Their ideas are their ideas, not mine. And seondly, when I did glance at them years ago, all they do is rearrange the current prequel trilogy and just add numerous plot elements. Qui Gon, Mace Windu, Count Dooku, Jango Fett, and mostly all the new prequel characters were not well written, and I don't see the point of keeping those characters if you have a chance to do something completely new and fresh. Once you start reading a fan fiction prequel rewrite and see Dooku and Grevious in there, it just still feels like Lucas' prequels. I was influenced by classic films and hopefully when people read my prequels, they will have the feel of those classic films like Seven Samurai to give them a positive feeling rather than a dull feeling as if they are reading The Phantom Menace all over again.
What is the main issue you have to get people to reading these stories ?
I made a mistake of writing too much. The long version PDF files are about 90 pages each. That is asking the reader for a lot of their time. I could only get so many people to take their time to invest in a writer who has absolutely no credibility. So now, I'm breaking it down and putting all my ideas onto about 3-5 pages for the reader to check out and if they are more interested, then the full versions are available. Its hard to get your website out there. I've tried a lot of different things. I hired a concept artist, I hired amatuer models to advertise it on a video, I hired an editor to make it look nice, and I hired computer savvy guys to advertise the URL. Not only that, but I made social media account for Prequels Reborn - Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, etc. Some worked more than others, but I'm still working on it. It all takes money and time, which I don't have a lot of sadly.
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