More so than most other media properties, Star Wars has, from the iconic opening space ship battle fly-over of A New Hope to Vader’s questionably anguished cry at the end of Revenge of the Sith, somehow felt like it’s ours. Many took it personally when creator George Lucas altered the originals to align more closely with his “original vision” or were let down when the Force, that which “binds the universe together,” turned out to be (SPOILER) a bunch of symbiotic microbes.
This sense of communal ownership is one of the reasons I’ve been so intrigued by the slew of fan-made Star Wars trailers (aka “sweded” trailers) being uploaded for the much anticipated The Force Awakens, which, in the unlikely case you are an alien and have landed on Earth for the very first time, comes out this Friday (BTDubs my alien friend, you should buy tickets right now).
At its most basic level, acting out Star Wars is just fun. These trailers give a unique way for even casual fans to use their skills and materials at hand to participate in the events that took place so long ago in that galaxy far, far away. And you can, too!
Star Wars: The Force Awakens Trailer – Homemade Shot for Shot
CineFix has a range of movie-centric videos on YouTube, including a series where they make homemade versions of popular trailers and often include how-to videos for some of the props they used. The miniatures sets are pretty cool and rely heavily on Lego. The uniformity of Lego minifigs is a pretty good analogy for the oppression of the First Order. Also, extra points for the prevalence of “pew pew” sounds for the laser blasts.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens – The Sydney Salazar Sweded Trailer #2
Sometimes, making a fan film is a family affair. Filmmaker Jason Salazar teamed up with his daughter Sydney to make this reimagined trailer. And while I’d like to imagine they probably had those Star Wars toys lying around, making a movie is also a pretty good excuse to go out and buy that sweet Millennium Falcon quadcopter.
Star Wars : The Force Awakens PAPER Trailer
Okay, so let’s say acting isn’t your thing or, heaven forbid, you can’t find any cardboard. No problem! YouTube user AndTheWorldWasPaper uses paper cutouts to animate this and other familiar trailers.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens Trailer Sweded
Dumb Drum’s Bryan Harley and Roque Rodriguez remade the trailer shot-for-shot with a homemade soundtrack and some sweet cardboard space battles. In fact, cardboard is all over this production as stormtrooper costumes and set pieces big and small. There’s also quite possibly one of the best Chewbacca costumes I’ve ever seen in a blink-and-you-miss-it clip towards the end.
Little Star Wars The Force Awakens: Kids Parody
This one is a little slicker than the others, but gets bonus points for letting kids dress up like Star Wars characters and have actual lightsaber battles.
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