Do you have nine minutes to spare? If so, you can watch THREE full fans films from Australian filmmaker AARON VANDERKLEY. I last interviewed Aaron back in September after the release of the first of three planned SHORT VOYAGES, “UNAVOIDABLE DELAYS.” Aaron had already made quite a name for himself with the release of five full-length NX-01 era fan films…
Then Aaron leapfrogged a century to release a trio of full-length Voyager-era fan films under the banner THESE ARE THE VOYAGES…
Each of the above fan films is truly excellent and absolutely worth watching. But Aaron still had a bit of fan filmmaking left in him. Inspired by the challenge of the TREKS IN 90 SECS contest, Aaron set out to see how short a runtime he could give his own Voyager-era films. And while he wasn’t quite able to shave his times down as far as 90 seconds or two minutes, he did come impressively close. Indeed, as I mentioned at the top of this blog, you can watch all three of his Short Voyages in less than nine minutes total. Check ’em out…
As you can see, each film is unique. The first is comedic, the second quiet and introspective, and the third is full of drama and suspense. That is NOT easy to do when your runtime is three minutes or less!
I also couldn’t help but notice the amazing subdued lighting and shadow-play in “Renaissance.” Since most fan filmmakers aren’t trained or experienced in cinematography, fan films don’t usually feature anything but the most basic, rudimentary lightning—and there’s nothing wrong with that. Fan films are intended to allow fans to play in the sandbox, not to construct an elaborate beach house. That said, it is nice, every so often, to be treated to this level of craftsmanship in a fan film.
The latter two vignettes were released in mid-November and mid-December, just five weeks apart and too quickly for me to cover “Renaissance” and “Desperate Measures” each in its own blog. So I’ll be asking Aaron about both fan films together (with behind-the-scenes photos, as usual, at the bottom of the blog)…
Continue reading “SHORT VOYAGES offers TWO MORE fan films—“DESPERATE MEASURES” and “RENAISSANCE”—that you can watch in 5 MINUTES AND 42 SECONDS! (interview with AARON VANDERKLEY)”