Duality (film)

Duality
Directed by	Mark Thomas Dave Macomber
Starring	Dave Macomber Mark Thomas Stephen Muraoka
Music by	John Williams Alan Derian
Cinematography	Kevin Jones
Studio	Crew of Two
Distributed by	TheForce.net
Running time	6:15
Country	USA
Language	English
Budget	$3,000

Duality is a Star Wars fan film created by Mark Thomas and Dave Macomber that made its debut on the internet on February 10, 2001. It is one of the first fan films to exclusively use bluescreen footage composited onto virtual backgrounds.^[1]

Plot

Sith apprentice Lord Rive (Macomber), is tasked by his master, Darth Oz (Thomas), to battle another apprentice, Darth Blight (Muraoka), as a final test determining who would serve by Oz’s side. The two would-be Sith clash violently with their double-bladed lightsabers while Oz watches via hologram. After a long and vicious lightsaber duel, Rive's weapon is severed in two and Blight loses his saber. A quick brawl later and the two engage in a final bout with the two halves of Rive's saber. It ends with Rive impaled and Blight bisected through the waist. After they die, Darth Oz appears in the flesh. Consumed with fury and wrath at his failure to procure a permanent apprentice, he electrocutes the bodies of the two failed apprentices with Force Lightning.

A comparison of the storyboards, raw footage, and final frames

Production

Macomber and Thomas originally produced Duel as an acting/choregraphy demo for an actor, but felt they could make a better film with CG stages, as opposed to the location work on the original.^[1] The cast consists of three actors, two of whom are the creators.

The script was first written by Thomas, with Macomber devising the fight. After about 14 months of pre-planning, filming took place at Alamo Studios in Santa Barbara, California in September of 2000.^[2] Post-production was split between Thomas and Macomber. Thomas primarily handled the digital backgrounds and 3D animation, while Macomber handled compositing and the lightsaber effects. The final version took four months of post-production, using off-the-shelf software from Electric Image, Adobe, and Apple, and about $3,000 in out-of-pocket costs.^[1][3]

Soundtrack

The first cut of the film featured music and sound effects taken from Star Wars films,^[2] but a later release had all-new music by Alan Derian.

Reception

Reaction to Duality was mostly positive, generating over over a half million downloads in its first year of release.^[4] Entertainment Weekly said its effects "have the impressive digital sheen of Episode I".^[5], while IFILM programming director said the film "absolutely blew me away, and a lot of people out there are saying this is the best they've ever come across."^[5] The film showed that film-level special effects could be produced by the common fan.^[1] Macomber and Thomas said they had "taken a few calls" from Hollywood effects houses after the film premiered.^[5]

In August 2010, Time magazine's online visitors listed it at #7 on their list of the Top 10 Star Wars fan films.^[6]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Eaton, Nancy (June 2001). ""Duality": A Home-made Sci-fi Epic Film". Apple.com. Archived from the original on December 17, 2001. http://web.archive.org/web/20011217112524/http://www.apple.com/hotnews/articles/2001/06/duality/. Retrieved March 8, 2011. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Virata, John (2001). "The Crew of Two Creates Dueling Darths on Dual 500MHz PowerMac G4s". DigitalProducer.com. http://www.digitalproducer.com/aHTM/2001/feats/duality/duality.htm. Retrieved March 8, 2011. 
3. ^ "Digital opens film doors". The Sacramento Bee. June 21, 2001. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SB&p_theme=sb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0ECD36F8F89345E0&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM. Retrieved March 8, 2011. 
4. ^ "Fan films on the Web". Videomaker Magazine. August 1, 2002. http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-1902131/Fan-films-on-the-Web.html. Retrieved March 8, 2011. 
5. ^ ^{a b c} Gaslin, Glenn (June 01, 2001). "'Star' Turns". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,256346,00.html. Retrieved March 8, 2011. 
6. ^ The Top 10 Star Wars Fan Films, Time.com, August 24, 2010, http://www.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,589287877001_2012690,00.html, retrieved September 15, 2010 

External links

• Duality at the Internet Movie Database
• Duality on YouTube
• Duality on ifilm