Sins of the Father
By Nathan P. Butler
Star Wars, most prominently among science fiction franchises, makes us aware of the concept of the “sins of the father” and the responsibility that legacy places on the child. In fan productions, one could easily view three major fan media as generations in the fan production family: Grandpa Fan Fic; Daddy Fan Film; and young Fan Audio.
Okay, so maybe they’re Japanese or Bajoran, for the family is the Fan family, and these individual media represent separate genres within that family. Fan films have managed to avoid repeating the sins of the written fiction community, for the most part, avoiding slash (sexually explicit, often homoerotic, fan fiction) and other such pitfalls with Lucasfilm. So, too, then, must the fan audio community attempt to avoid the mistakes and “sins” of its predecessor and progenitor, the fan film community.
For those who are part of both, as nearly all fan audio genre participants are or have been at one time, the lessons can be hard to hear lain bare, but the exploration is a necessary one. There are several roads down which those of us in the fan film community have tread that we would do well to avoid for this new, burgeoning audio genre. We are, after all, supposed to learn from our mistakes.
First, the fan audio community has the opportunity to retain an air of subtlety and caution in the realm of “hype.” There have been a few projects in the fan audio community that have built a fair amount of hype before their release (Rise of Nobility being king with Second Strike and Resurrection coming in close second and third), but the vast majority of the fan audio productions out there have avoided this trap. Coruscant? was nearly complete by the time of news releases about the project. ChronoRadio, Star Wars Fanworks, Requiem of the Outcast, and Space Tits launched with only a modicum of hype. Also, thus far, barring the notable exception of Jedied (which is on its second production phase in as many years), fan audio projects, once announced, have a tendency to actually be completed within a reasonable amount of time. (And who is to say what is reasonable for Jedied but its own crew?)
The hype machine for fan audio has not exploded into action yet, perhaps due to the genre’s size. Creators do not feel the pressure to stake claims on ideas or to scream from the rooftops to gain notoriety in order to secure a niche within the fan audio community. The community is small enough to leave room for all participants.
Second, we have the opportunity to avoid any semblance of “elitism” in the fan audio community. Whether we like it or not, or whether we choose to believe it or not, we’ve seen the fan film community in many cases become stratified into a sort of “fan caste system.” Respect is earned (though some expect to be hailed by all by sheer intellectual legerdemain), but once that respect is earned, all too often it has resulted in a polarization of the “established” from the “uninitiated” and the “near-professionals” from the “blatantly amateur.” The quality of one’s character, it seems, is not a matter of action or integrity, but of quality production values and where one’s film ends up being hosted.
We have an opportunity to avoid this form of “accidental elitism.” (Yes, I still hold that it is accidental in the fan film community.) In fan audio, production values are measured in ways far easier for the amateur to come by. Whether dealing with extensive foley work and high-end mixing equipment as with Rise of Nobility, or with pre-recorded sounds and amateur-run mixing software on a home PC as with Second Strike, a final, nicely done CD quality MP3 release is quite attainable, as are solid performances in a genre where anyone with a microphone and internet connection can, theoretically, audition and participate. The playing field is leveled, and with the relatively small amount of attention garnered by fan audio compared to fan films, many in the fan audio community are here “for love of the game,” rather than to make a name for themselves somehow.
The lesson we have learned: respect is earned, and experience can be a means to earning that respect, but respect does not mean dominance, nor does respect naturally breed elitism. Thus, it can be avoided with care.