FanMade

Raiders of the Lost Ark is a fan favorite. It’s been parodied, sweded, and the entire opening sequence of the movie that shaped my childhood is based, nearly shot for shot, from ‘Raiders’. That movie is UHF with Weird Al Yankovic. If you’ve seen that movie, then it helps to explain why I am the way I am.

Darkwooddub993 loves ‘Raiders’ as well. He loves it so much he also has a live action version of this and a fight scene on his YouTube page. Apparently, he also loves to move the camera around during stop animation. With that in mind, I would suggest you do not view this video in full screen as it may make you physically uncomfortable. That may have just been my personal experience, and I’m sure I could partially blame that on the combination of Limeade and Poptarts.

If there was ever a movie celebrating Fandom, it would be ‘Be Kind Rewind’ with Mos Def and Jack Black. In the film, the two lead characters remake popular films using household props and a cheap video camera after the entire collection of videos in their video rental store get magnetically erased. They claim the remade versions are special edition versions from Sweden, thus, they are ‘Sweded’.

AlwaysWatching.Net has compiled a list of 10 of their favorite ‘Sweded’ films as done by fans of fandom. However, the list has been chopped to shreds because of copyright claims and “YouTube Approved Music” (see *RANT, below), but there are a few gems still left shining.

This is one of my favorites (from swededfilms.com):
I love the Halo cameo and the “soundtrack”. Very well done.

*RANT: Why??? Why would a big corporation block, restrict, and shut down their own fans? Clearly these are people who do not love what they do. The fans pour so much time, energy, love, and money into a product, service, or story that they love, and the company shuns them? How dare they??! I can only equate it to spending hours making a birthday card for your best friend, just to have them rip it up and say they don’t love you anymore. (panting heavily) Ok, I’m done ranting. For now.

CRAIG SAYS: Here’s to fanmade.org never being shut down.

When I was 7 years old, I had a picture of myself in my head. I was a perfect blend of McGyver and Han Solo. “Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster, swiss army knife, stick of gum, and a coat-hanger at your side, kid.”

Not much has changed in almost 20 years, however, I’ve added to my list of supplies, and they now include several cameras, a few computers, a wife and two kids. I am a photographer slash videographer slash internet junkie slash nerd. I love to write because ultimately I love to tell stories.

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark is an amazing movie, but take away the special effects and camera tricks, and at it’s rawest form, it’s a brilliant story. One that could be told around a camp fire, in a series of bedtimes, or acted out with stuffed animals in a quiet dining room. It’s those kind of stories that get me amped up and, at the end of the day, make me a fan. There is something deep in the heart of each of us that longs for a good story. We need our imagination stimulated, we need our attention focused, and we need to be entertained. It’s part of who we are as humans.

I am a fan of good stories, and of good storytelling. And that’s not limited to blockbusters and bestsellers, I’m a huge fan of the guy telling his stories with stuffed animals in that dining room. I was pretty good at entertaining myself with nothing but my LEGOs, a blanket, and a story. So, fans, thank you for loving the stories that make you fans. I am your biggest fan.