A Fan Edit is a fan-made alternative version of an existing film, created by the insertion, deletion or re-ordering of scenes within the movie.
A Preservation is a fan-made digital copy of a film (or version of a film) that has never previously had a studio DVD release. Although Preservations are usually sourced from obsolete formats such as VHS or laserdisc, sometimes they can come from captured TV broadcasts.
A Custom DVD is a fan-made disc containing a film essentially the same as the official retail release, but with differences in technical details such as sound mix, picture quality, and so on.
Currently in beta, fanedits.com is an online fan project database with the goal of featuring all film projects produced by fans. This may include traditional fan edits, film preservation efforts, custom and fan-made DVDs, and fan films and documentaries.
Whether you're a fan editor yourself or an avid viewer of fan edits, you're welcome to participate in building our fan edit database. You will first need to create an account (click the "Sign Up" link above), then you will be able to submit new projects using the "Submit a Fan Project" link.
You can add a new category to our database, just use the add a new category link when submitting the proejct. Please make sure you enter a clear description for the new category.
HTML code is not permitted. Currently you can use the following special symbols in your text:
Links:
[URL=http://www.myurl.com/] or [URL=http://www.myurl.com/]my link text[/URL]
Bold:
[B]The text you want bold[/B]
Italics:
[I]The text you want italicized[/I]
Please link only to sites containing relevant information or references. In accordance with our code of conduct, you may not link to sites offering torrent files, NZB files or ED2K hashes to facilitate the downloading of material subject to copyright. Do not link to websites selling bootlegs or eBay auctions for non-official media.
Click the "Contact Us" link above and complete the contact form to send a message to the site administrators. A forum is planned; brand new proprietary forum software is being coded and fanedits.com will be the testing ground when the beta is approved for release. For the time being, you are welcome to use the fan edit forums at originaltrilogy.com for feedback and bug reports.
This is a beta release, full functionality is not yet enabled.
See question 7 above; unfortunately, you will have to wait until this feature is implemented before you can correct any errors.
Yes. Please try to keep all text description neutral and objective. A user comments/review section is planned to be implemented at a later date.
To avoid confusion, each version should be entered as a separate project. You can differentiate between each entry by adding tags after the project title. A project copy feature is planned for the future to facilitate the addition of multiple versions.
As the site is wiki-based, we have very little control over what is or isn't added. Use the "Contact Us" form above, and an administrator will get back to you to discuss your concerns.
We have the following features planned for the coming weeks:
- Image uploads (menus/screenshots/DVD covers)
- Text (NFO) file upload
- Project subscriptions and email notifications
- Source material details and specifications
- Contributor profiles and blogs
- User ratings/reviews
- Forums
Even with all this planned, we naturally want your opinions, feedback, and feature suggestions. Please post feature requests in the fanedits.com feedback/feature request forum thread at originaltrilogy.com.
Head on over to our password renewal form to request a new password using either your username or e-mail address.
Firstly, please respect the first golden rule of fan edits: you may only obtain a fan edit if you own the offical retail release.
The fanedits.com database provides information about fan projects only. Due to the underground nature of the fan edit scene, there are no downloads or torrent links hosted here. You are expected to search out these projects yourself. Limited help and hints may be found in our forum (coming soon).
No. The second golden rule of fan projects is that they are strictly non-profit.
No, not at all. We respect any concerns you may have regarding legal issues. We would however like to read about what you did, why you did it and how you went about it. Such topics may be an inspiration to others to attempt similar projects.
In the first instance you should start with the guides available over at Doom9, particularly the analogue capture guide. If you have any questions, our members may be able to help if you post it in the technical discussion forum.
See ADigitalMan's Guide to MPEG2/AC3 Editing. Simple projects can be undertaken using free tools such as AVISynth, or cheap MPEG editing software such as Womble. More complex projects would be easier to accomplish using a non-linear video editing package such as Sony Vegas or Adobe Premiere (PC), or Final Cut Pro (Mac). Again, if you get stuck, post in our technical help forum.
In 1999, "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace" was released - the first of the eagerly awaited Star Wars prequels. The movie ultimately did not live up to its high expectations and was widely regarded as a disappointment.
In 2001, VHS copies of a mysterious re-edited version began to surface. Titled The Phantom Edit, the tapes contained a version of the movie that was around 20 minutes shorter than the original. Created by an anonymous fan calling himself the "Phantom Editor," the edit removed scenes and lines of dialogue that many fans had found objectionable. Initially the Phantom Editor was rumoured to be film director Kevin Smith, but was later revealed to be editor Mike J. Nichols (who supervised the production of DVD Extras for such Hollywood films as "Jarhead" and "Rent".)
Word of this new edit, which was considered by many fans to be an improvement over the original theatrical release, spread quickly through forums and chat rooms on the internet, and a huge media buzz was generated - largely thanks to articles on the entertainment news website Zap2it.com. The term "fan edit" was born.
Inspired by the media attention from the original Phantom Edit, other editors flexed their talents on the movie, and over the space of a few months towards the end of 2001 several other versions started to appear. These fan edits were initially traded on VHS by fans who had traditionally dealt in bootlegs and workprints. Low quality AVI or VCD versions appeared on peer to peer networks and could be downloaded with software such as Kazaa or Gnutella.
The emergence of the fan edit craze produced several other notable projects. In 2002, an independent film maker named DJ Hupp created an edit of the Speilberg-directed AI in an attempt to make it more consistent with Stanley Kubrick's vision of the story.
In 2003, a version of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers called The Purist Edit appeared on the eDonkey P2P network. Edited by an unknown fan, this version aimed to undo Peter Jackson's changes to the story and make a film more faithful to Tolkien.
Also in 2003, Jack Marshall, the creator of the Star Trek: New Voyages fan film series, edited Star Trek V: The Final Frontier into the pilot episode of Star Trek: Phase II titled "In Thy Image".
2004 saw the first version of "Never Say McClory Again" - a re-edit of the James Bond film Never Say Never Again, with altered music and the insertion of the famous gunbarrel introduction and pre-titles sequence in an attempt to add the 007 atmosphere that was noticeably lacking in the original.
Initially discussion of fan edits was spread around various different internet fan sites and forums. The discussion began to converge on the originaltrilogy.com website. This site, set up in 2003 by Star Wars fan Jason Sylvester, originally focused on an online petition to convince George Lucas to release the original theatrical cuts of the first Star Wars trilogy on DVD. In 2004, when the Star Wars DVDs were finally released and found to contain enhanced special edition versions of the films, the focus shifted to "preserving" the original versions by converting digital captures from the obsolete laserdisc format into DVDs.
Since The Phantom Menace was a popular target for the first fan editors, and originaltrilogy.com's members were predominantly Star Wars fans, naturally there was a great deal of discussion about these edits in the site's forums. Thus, the site evolved into the hub for fan edit information and discussion, culminating with the creation of separate forums specifically for fan edits. In 2007, Jason set up a new site, fanedits.com, based around a wiki-style database of fan edit projects.
Fan editors have always strongly asserted that their works should never be sold for cash or profit, and fans are encouraged to buy the original studio-released DVD. Still, although the act of creating a fan edit may be covered by "fair use" in some countries (in other areas of the world, the mere act of copying the data from a DVD onto a computer's hard drive is illegal), distributing such material is technically against the law. Much the same as the situation with bootleg music featuring unauthorised remixes or samples, the art of the fan edit is for the time being going to remain an underground phenonemen.
Further background can be read at the following links:
Zap2it.com series of articles on fan edits
Guardian Unlimited — Hollywood: The People's Cut
A.I.: The Kubrick Edit
Wikipedia article on The Two Towers: The Purist Edit
Star Trek V: In Thy Image discussion at originaltrilogy.com
Official website of the Never Say McClory Again project