This film was made using Unreal Engine 5 as an experiment to take an idea from conception to completion with almost no budget and only a handful of people.
A single filmmaker (Scott Barrett) wrote, directed, voiced, motion captured, did set layout, modeled, camera, lighting, editing, coloring, effects, sound design and animation. If you’d be interested in learning how you can achieve this too, please comment below. A comprehensive tutorial series is being considered.
Special thanks to the talented Mark Strohman for providing Tim… Tom? with voice and motion.
This didn’t start out as a series but rather just a one-off but the first one came together so quickly and smoothly that continuing was an easy decision. As of this posting, EP 2, 3 and 4 have been written, recorded and motion captured with the goal of release mid-late 2023.
I am interested in any collaboration on this project if people want to come on board.
Disclaimer: This is a non-profit unofficial fan-film that is not intended for commercial use. It was made solely for fun and learning. Characters are owned by Lucasfilm/Disney and this fan-film is not connected in any way to said companies.
Hope you’re doing well and having a great week so far!
Witty commentary aside, why did this video have to look so insanely high-quality? The reflections? The lighting? The suits? The sheer amount of detail and effort put into this video shows an intense amount of talent (and patience!) As for the true star of the show here, the dialogue is both charming and genuinely funny. Truly incredible work!
Thanks so much for sharing and I hope to see more of your art around the forums
Thanks so much for the kind words. You know, I feel that we’re at a stage right now, with the INSANE tools that Epic (and notable others) have been providing storytellers, that we almost can’t keep up. Many of us are buried in ‘testing’ to learn them, with only a few, comparatively, applying the knowledge of the tools to an end product that people are drawn to watch. Consumers of media (I’m certainly one of them), folks on the couch watching Netfilx, etc. aren’t concerned with the ‘film stock’ or the way effects were achieved, but rather MUST be pulled along by the story, the interaction of characters you care about and so on. The story for EP1 (which was actually written 2nd to EP2 (coming soon)) came to me in a dream as a story, not as a ‘test’ to apply to new tools. I jumped out of bed, wrote it in one sitting, and then, because I’ve been training myself in all these tools, decided to make it using them. This is all to say, STORY FIRST, technique second.
I appreciate the above timeline is a bit confusing. EP2 came to me first, I wrote it, and then a few days later I wrote EP1, and swapped the order when I realized it made sense chronologically to introduce Tom/Tim before our next character Jeremy chats with. Plus it gave me a reason to revisit Tom/Tim in the following EP. I’ve now written 4 of the episodes and a childhood-friend turned writing partner wrote a few more. The only reason I haven’t blasted through production is, despite the tools being free, there are still expenses and I can’t monetize these productions. Perhaps Epic will see fit to bless me with a Megagrant!
Wait! We’re getting not one but THREE more episodes of this highly comical yet lavishly animated Star Wars-themed animation!? That’s the best news we could’ve received, and judging by your work’s hugely positive response on Youtube, I would say the collective majority agrees with me.
A huge thank you to everyone involved with Dark Side’s development and to you for sharing it with us here in the forums!
Just wanted to reach out and congratulate you on something that made me giggle and laugh loud enough to wake my cats on accident. I’m super thrilled to hear that there will be more and I eagerly await to see what Star Wars tales come to us next!
I would also like to agree when it comes to the creative process you mentioned. I always jump into my story elements and iron out the rest as I go so it’s refreshing to see another like minded creative soul out there!
