One year since the start of the Avatar Communitied Film Project!

[Alan]

Kaltxi folks,

Well can you believe it, the 25th May marks the one year anniversary since I posted an idea for an Avatar Fan Community Film Project.

The idea came about from the numerous discussions that were going about to look after our planet; one of the themes running through Avatar. So I posted up the suggestion ('I've got an idea...') to make a film together on the subject. I came back a couple of hours later to see there had been 38 replies!

It was at that point that I thought just what had I got myself into! There was not option but to take it to a whole new level... So I put a bit of time to writing a script, which was proof read by Sempu. Although I postedthe idea on Avatar Forums, it was not long until a guy called 'Madman' posted it on Tree of Souls and more joined the volunteer film crew.

A link to the script was sent out to allow people to pick which scenes or shots they would like to do. Before long the shots started to roll in and editing got underway. As time went on the project grew. One Unil Makto volunteered to make an App for the iPhone that would not only incorporate the final film, but also a quiz for people to play.

A total of 20 people from 9 different countries who took part. Not all of them were filming. Three guys under took some graphic design for the DVD/Bluray discs, box cover and the title sequences in the middle of the film. A number of the film crew were from non-English speaking countries, and they kindly translated the script into their native tongue to allow subtitles to be added.

With time ticking by we needed an end date as four months had passed since the initial start. So what better than having the release date of Avatar SE as our own film release date. Remarkably this was achieved and so on 26th August 2010 'Our Only Home' was posted on it's own channel on You Tube: YouTube:-OurOnlyHome Channel

But that was not all, a version was also released on iTunes in addition to the iPhone App. A 'making of' film was also made, which turned out to be longer that the main film!

We really had come along way, but there was this one last thing that we needed to do. Something that every film does and that it to be shown at the cinema. But just how was I going to achieve this. At the time Avatar SE was finishing its run and I thought it would be a great idea to have a bit of a meet up to watch Avatar for one last time. So I rang up 'a cinema' to see if it would be possible. Whilst chatting to the lady I edges my bets and mentioned that we had made a film together. I then asked if it would be possible to have it shown before the start of Avatar. Just as I was about to get on my knees and start begging I here the reply "Yes, no problem". When I managed to regain my composure and pick my bottom jaw off the floor, I made arrangements to get a copy to the cinema for them to view and try out.

And so it was on 5th November 2010 that the Avatar Fan Community Project, 'Our Only Home', was shown to an unsuspecting audience before Avatar SE. However, this was no ordinary cinema, it was in fact the IMAX cinema in Birmingham! A total of six of us from the forums were there to witness the amazing sight of having the forum film shown on the BIG screen. The Avatar Forums and Tree of Souls fan forums now had something in common with James Cameron - we had both had a film shown at an IMAX cinema.

As I look back over the past year, I can not believe what a profound and amazing ride it has been for me. I find myself so humbled by the trust those 20 aytmuke sì aysmukan placed in me. They did not know me or know if I could pull it off. Yet those good people, who's ages ranged from 14 to 48, gave it their all. Many of them I now consider very close friends though we may be separated by many miles.

If anyone would like to read the complete story they can download it from here:Journey of an Avatar Fan Film

The people who took part in the film project were:

ArlungTR - Brazil
AV Daedric - USA
Colin - UK
CyanRachel - USA
Fko Lrrtok - Australia
Gunny - USA
Hunter of the Glade - USA
Jake's Mango - Germany
Josie20 - USA
Na'vi_Supporter - Czech Republic
Nicodem - Australia
Pandora in Dream - Thailand
Sempu - Canada
Stanley_9875 - USA
This One Goes To Eleven - USA
Tirol - USA
tm20 - Australia
Tsu'at - Finland
Unil Makto - USA

To all of you who took part, words can not really do justice to how humbled and grateful I am to you all. You have freely given of your time and shared your friendship with me. You have allowed me to see a bigger world out there and grew me beyond whatever I imagine I could be. Irayo my brothers and sisters. This is what life is really about my friends.

Eywa ngahu,

Alan