The Observatory: DIY Fandom ... Continued

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Cawley began collecting props, costumes and ephemera from the original "Star Trek" series in 1997. Cawley was no stranger to the production of episodes; he worked for the costuming department on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (and during that period, he acquired the original blueprints for the original series Starship Enterprise).

"I watched the original series since I was about 5 years old," says Cawley. "As a child, it was the outer space action of it I was drawn to. But as a teenager and older, I was intrigued by how real-world subjects were recast into this 23rd century world.

"I loved the humanity of ['Star Trek'], and loved the fact that it was, and is, such a positive vision of tomorrow. 'Star Trek' was always about how humans are special, and if we work together we can accomplish this amazing future. And that ultimately was the magic of the show."

He subsequently spent more than $100,000 on the creation of museum-quality reproductions of "Star Trek" sets, largely funding his hobby by working as an acclaimed Elvis impersonator. "I worked as an Elvis for 23 years," Cawley says, "not just doing birthday parties or weddings, but Vegas, Atlantic City ... all those places where you really have to be an actor and a singer and really have to convey that person."

With the help of a growing army of volunteers, Cawley began shooting new episodes of "Star Trek," casting himself in the role of Captain James T. Kirk, and in 2003 released the first of the "new" voyages of the Enterprise, as part of a "lost" fourth season of the original series. Working together to achieve something special, indeed.

Though still clearly an early effort, the addition of fairly strong computer animation (notably a collection of Enterprises battling an extra-galactic mechanical menace, a callback to the original "Trek" episode "The Doomsday Machine") and an ambitious storyline combined into something that was clearly original in its voice, despite being based on existing property, and did it at the same length as the original episodes, quite ambitious for an all-volunteer team.

What's fascinating here isn't just the scope of Cawley's project -- and it is ambitious, and possibly a touch obsessive. It's the fact that these "Phase II" episodes (as the Cawley series has become known) has grown into something with shockingly high production values, and keen attention to detail. With the advent of affordable tools that create professional results, right in your own home, we're watching the birth of an almost new kind of storytelling and creativity. It's almost a new medium unto itself, using the contemporary tools mated to long-established forms.

"The show has given me a lot of great opportunities that I may not have had otherwise," says Ben Alpi, a filmmaker, who runs an independent film company called Runic Films) and has worked in various capacities on "Phase II." "Not only have I been able to practice my craft, I've gotten to work with Emmy, Oscar and Hugo Award winners and icons of the industry as well as make new friends who never thought they'd get the chance to make 'Trek' either. When I was young, sure I dreamt of being on the bridge with Captain Kirk. But, perhaps different from other fans, my greater dream has been to actually make the show. And I think in many ways that's what 'Phase II' is fulfilling dreams. And, certainly, I've met a ton of great people who I now am lucky enough to call friends and hope to work with again in the future."

Some of the volunteers who have donated time and talent to the project may come as a surprise, as well. Cawley attracted members of the original cast, and writers from the original series (including former "Star Trek" script consultant D.C. Fontana, and "The Trouble With Tribbles" writer David Gerrold) to create new adventures of the Enterprise crew, long before J.J. Abrams blasted Chris Pine onto the Enterprise bridge.

Gathering creators like Fontana and Gerrold, along with original cast members such as George Takei, was simply a case of luck, perseverance, and the generosity of Walter Koenig, who played Ensign Chekov on the original show.

"Walter and I had a mutual friend, who introduced us, and we pitched Walter the idea of playing Chekov again. He agreed to do it, if the script was something he liked, and it was Walter who offered to call [Fontana]." Once Fontana was aboard, before long veterans like Takei and Gerrold (and several other "Trek" luminaries) entered the fold.

And speaking of the new Enterprise captain, Cawley got to spend some time on the new Enterprise bridge, too.

"I was at Paramount for a meeting, and while on the lot I literally bumped into J.J. [Abrams], who recognized me ... and asked me if I wanted to be in the film." Sharing screen time with Zachary Quinto's Spock and "nearly being knocked over by Chekov [Anton Yelchin]" was a dream come true for Cawley. "J.J. is terrific, man, and I want to really make sure people know that. You wouldn't believe it, he's just down to Earth and genuine. It was a terrific experience."

Cawley's "Star Trek" voyages are not the first, and clearly they won't be the last. And it isn't just "Star Trek" fans creating new adventures for their beloved heroes.

Check out James Cawley's "Star Trek Phase II" 

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May the Force Be With You

"Star Wars" fans have been making fan films for quite a while; the venerable "Troops" (a satire of Imperial Stormtroopers shot in the style of "COPS") sparked a slew of fan-generated content.

George Lucas took the unusual step of actually endorsing some of these films, in the form of a competition, adding a real immediacy to the interaction between the "official" creators of the material and the fans eager to get into the act. It's that single factor that, in my opinion, makes this do-it-yourself, fan-generated creativity a nearly new form of media.

And the barrier between dedicated fan and seasoned professional is also weakening.

Ryan Wieber and Michael "Dorkman" Scott achieved a fair amount of notoriety with a pair of fan films: "Ryan vs. Dorkman" and "Ryan vs. Dorkman 2."

These seemingly simple short films aren't particularly story-driven; they don't involve Imperial Stormtroopers or 'Droids, or any of the major "Star Wars" visual touchstones.

What they do feature are a pair of high-energy, crackling lightsaber duels, meticulously and breathtakingly choreographed, with professional quality sound and visual effects.

In the wake of their "duels," both Wieber and Scott have moved into the professional filmmaker category. Wieber worked for LucasArts (the videogame production arm of Lucasfilm, the George Lucas media empire), developing visual effects for various videogames, including, of course, "Star Wars" games like "Republic Commando." And Scott has begun developing films based on other properties, including an adaptation of a Dark Horse comics series, "The Descendants" (featuring "Star Wars" cast alumnus Ray Park).

And then there are the Hobbits.

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One Ring to Rule Them All

"The Hunt for Gollum" debuted at the Sci-Fi London expo, prior to being made available, for free, via the internet.

An expansion on existing material from the venerated J.R.R. Tolkien novels (and clearly inspired by Peter Jackson's Academy Award-winning film adaptations of them), "The Hunt for Gollum" spawned a new term: "sidequel" -- a story that, unlike a sequel or prequel, exists alongside the main story.

The film is long by fan-film standards, clocking in at roughly 40 minutes, and is of astonishing quality, shot in high definition. The acting is solid, the visuals crisp, the soundtrack vibrant, and the cast members look quite a bit like the cast of Jackson's epics.

The film itself exists in a legal gray area, a refrain that we're going to hear over and over again as fans continue to generate material of professional quality -- work so good that other fans would likely pay for it, always a scary beast to major media conglomerates.

Watch "The Hunt for Gollum" online for free 

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And the Rest ...

What typifies all of these projects is a do-it-yourself ethic, combined with a diehard fan's obsession with detail and faithfulness to the source material; and it's not so far outside of the Hollywood mainstream. One needs to look no further than Joss Whedon's immensely amusing "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" to see a similar mindset at work. We're clearly in an era where "user-generated content" is the future. And many of these productions lead to new projects.

"[Runic Films] is developing a number of Web series, shorts and features which you'll start seeing more about this year," says Alpi. "We're also helping executive producer Mike Feurstein market his awesome children's series 'eScape.' And, personally, I rarely take acting roles, but I currently star as the 'adorably incompetent' starship captain Zerks in the Web series 'Zerk's Log,' great sci-fi comedy inspired by the captain's logs on 'Star Trek.' Being an original series from Storyforge Labs, 'Zerk's' has taught me even more about independent film for Web and viral marketing. We'll be starting production on our second season later this year and I'm really looking forward to getting back in the suit."

And, really, that's the point of all this: the future. This is where we're at right now. Where will it be tomorrow? I for one am eager to see what these undeniably creative, passionate fans produce when they're no longer serving someone else's creative vision, and start producing their own original material. And, as many of them actually make their way in Hollywood, it'll be interesting to see what they inspire in the next generation of fans.

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Do you have a favorite online fan film series? Send them to us -- observatory@live.com 

Eric Trautmann is a writer and graphic designer based in the Pacific Northwest. He has worked on various videogame (Halo: Combat Evolved, Crimson Skies, Perfect Dark Zero) and comic book (Checkmate, Final Crisis: Resist, and JSA vs. Kobra: Engines of Faith) properties. He also can be found at his website: www.eric-trautmann.com.