Dissertation by Joshua Wille
Fan edits are essentially unauthorized alternative versions of films made by fans. Unlike traditi... more Fan edits are essentially unauthorized alternative versions of films made by fans. Unlike traditional film editing, which is characterized by a new assemblage of original film or video content, fan editing is a form of recombinant filmmaking that reactivates existing arrangements of audiovisual material. Fan edits are noncommercial transformative works that illustrate the mutability of digital cinema as well as the potential for new media artists, experimental filmmakers, and diverse critical voices to emerge from a networked public.
The Phantom Edit (2000) is a seminal fan edit based on Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999) that established a model of production and distribution for fan edits. As a central research problem, this study recognizes that the failure of previous scholarship to account accurately for the history of The Phantom Edit, as well as an evident lack of close engagement with contemporary fan edits, have hindered the ability of scholars to grapple with significant developments in fan edit culture. In general, film and media studies have failed to account for both The Phantom Edit and nearly two decades of progressive work.
This study builds upon the limits of previous scholarship in order to illustrate a historical trajectory of fan editing from The Phantom Edit to its more diverse present state, which is exemplified by Raising Cain: Re-cut (2012), a fan edit based on Raising Cain (1992) that was eventually endorsed by Brian De Palma and sold as the official director’s cut. Furthermore, this study examines practical trends of fan edits and effective means of classification. Combining archival research, interviews, practical fan editing experience, and textual analysis of fan edits collected over several years of participation in the fan editing community, this study offers a foundation of knowledge about the technology, legal contexts, and cultural practice of fan edits.
PDF full text available: https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/handle/1808/26032
Essays by Joshua Wille
Literature/Film Quarterly, Oct 18, 2021
Transformative Works and Cultures, Sep 15, 2015
In this essay, I examine the logistical problems of sharing unsanctioned film versions (fan edits... more In this essay, I examine the logistical problems of sharing unsanctioned film versions (fan edits) on popular online video Web sites like YouTube as well as controversial torrent indexes like The Pirate Bay. Additionally, I explore cases in which celebrity fan editors such as Steven Soderbergh and Topher Grace limited public access to their high-profile re-editing projects, and I introduce the term "vaporcut" in order to differentiate unsubstantiated works, such as Grace’s 85-minute Star Wars prequel trilogy edit, from authenticated fan edits. Moreover, I explore how some fans attempt to replicate scarce fan edits but they inevitably create new transformative works that that reflect their own creative perspectives.
Full text of this essay: http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/view/663/537
Transformative Works and Cultures, Sep 15, 2014
A fan edit can generally be defined as an alternative version of a film or television text create... more A fan edit can generally be defined as an alternative version of a film or television text created by a fan. It offers a different viewing experience, much as a song remix offers a different listening experience. The contemporary wave of fan edits has emerged during the remix zeitgeist of digital media and at a time when digital video editing technology has become more affordable and popular. The increasing number of alternative versions of films and the works of revisionist Hollywood filmmakers such as George Lucas have contributed to a greater public understanding of cinema as a fluid medium instead of one that exists in a fixed form. The Phantom Edit (2000), a seminal fan edit based on Lucas's Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999), inspired new ranks of fan editors. However, critics have misunderstood fan edits as merely the work of disgruntled fans. In order to provide a critical and historical basis for studies in fan editing as a creative practice, I examine previous interpretations of fan edits in the context of relevant contemporary works, and I use an annotated chronology of The Phantom Edit to trace its influence on subsequent fan editing communities and uncover their relationship with intellectual property disputes.
Full text available: https://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/view/575
Notes and addenda: https://wille.tv/2014/09/22/fan-edits-and-the-legacy-of-the-phantom-edit/
Book Chapters by Joshua Wille
Keywords in Remix Studies (edited by Eduardo Navas, Owen Gallagher, and xtine burrough), 2018
Fan Phenomena: The Lord of the Rings (edited by Lorna Piatti-Farnell), Nov 2015
Fan Phenomena: James Bond (edited by Claire Hines), Nov 2015
Interviews by Joshua Wille
Found Footage Magazine, Mar 2021
Joshua Wille interviews Dutch filmmaker Peet Gelderblom about the making of his archival fiction ... more Joshua Wille interviews Dutch filmmaker Peet Gelderblom about the making of his archival fiction feature When Forever Dies, which recombines material from 125 years of film history in order to tell a timeless story of love, betrayal, and redemption. https://foundfootagemagazine.com/issues/issue-7/
Film Studies Journals by Joshua Wille
Found Footage Magazine, 2021
Found Footage Magazine is an independent and printed film journal distributed worldwide. It offer... more Found Footage Magazine is an independent and printed film journal distributed worldwide. It offers theoretical, analytical and informative content that hinges on the use of archival images in media production practices. FFM fills the void created by the fact that there has not been, up to this time, any forum for the collection and dissemination of information, critical thinking, and discussion of found footage cinema including all its manifestations: recycled cinema, essay film, collage film, compilation film, archival cinema, mash-up…
Contributors Special Issue #7: Ernesto Baca, Alejandro Bachmann, Frank Beauvais, Matthew Cole Levine, Paul Cronin, Anna Doyle, Lola Dupre, Clint Enns, Peter Freund, Peet Gelderblom, Christoph Girardet, Audrey Jeamart, Scott MacDonald, Pablo Marín, Jean-Jacques Martinod, Stefano Miraglia, Matthias Müller, Bill Noir, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Catherine Russell, Nazaré Soares, Miriam Tölke, César Ustarroz, Monique Vettraino, Joshua Wille, and The Estate of John Baldessari.
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Dissertation by Joshua Wille
The Phantom Edit (2000) is a seminal fan edit based on Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999) that established a model of production and distribution for fan edits. As a central research problem, this study recognizes that the failure of previous scholarship to account accurately for the history of The Phantom Edit, as well as an evident lack of close engagement with contemporary fan edits, have hindered the ability of scholars to grapple with significant developments in fan edit culture. In general, film and media studies have failed to account for both The Phantom Edit and nearly two decades of progressive work.
This study builds upon the limits of previous scholarship in order to illustrate a historical trajectory of fan editing from The Phantom Edit to its more diverse present state, which is exemplified by Raising Cain: Re-cut (2012), a fan edit based on Raising Cain (1992) that was eventually endorsed by Brian De Palma and sold as the official director’s cut. Furthermore, this study examines practical trends of fan edits and effective means of classification. Combining archival research, interviews, practical fan editing experience, and textual analysis of fan edits collected over several years of participation in the fan editing community, this study offers a foundation of knowledge about the technology, legal contexts, and cultural practice of fan edits.
PDF full text available: https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/handle/1808/26032
Essays by Joshua Wille
Full text of this essay: http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/view/663/537
Full text available: https://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/view/575
Notes and addenda: https://wille.tv/2014/09/22/fan-edits-and-the-legacy-of-the-phantom-edit/
Book Chapters by Joshua Wille
https://www.amazon.com/Keywords-Remix-Studies-Eduardo-Navas/dp/1138699640/
https://www.intellectbooks.com/fan-phenomena-the-lord-of-the-rings-1
http://www.amazon.com/Fan-Phenomena-Rings-Intellect-Books/dp/1783205156
https://www.intellectbooks.com/fan-phenomena-james-bond
http://www.amazon.com/Fan-Phenomena-James-Intellect-Books/dp/1783205172
Interviews by Joshua Wille
Film Studies Journals by Joshua Wille
Contributors Special Issue #7: Ernesto Baca, Alejandro Bachmann, Frank Beauvais, Matthew Cole Levine, Paul Cronin, Anna Doyle, Lola Dupre, Clint Enns, Peter Freund, Peet Gelderblom, Christoph Girardet, Audrey Jeamart, Scott MacDonald, Pablo Marín, Jean-Jacques Martinod, Stefano Miraglia, Matthias Müller, Bill Noir, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Catherine Russell, Nazaré Soares, Miriam Tölke, César Ustarroz, Monique Vettraino, Joshua Wille, and The Estate of John Baldessari.
The Phantom Edit (2000) is a seminal fan edit based on Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999) that established a model of production and distribution for fan edits. As a central research problem, this study recognizes that the failure of previous scholarship to account accurately for the history of The Phantom Edit, as well as an evident lack of close engagement with contemporary fan edits, have hindered the ability of scholars to grapple with significant developments in fan edit culture. In general, film and media studies have failed to account for both The Phantom Edit and nearly two decades of progressive work.
This study builds upon the limits of previous scholarship in order to illustrate a historical trajectory of fan editing from The Phantom Edit to its more diverse present state, which is exemplified by Raising Cain: Re-cut (2012), a fan edit based on Raising Cain (1992) that was eventually endorsed by Brian De Palma and sold as the official director’s cut. Furthermore, this study examines practical trends of fan edits and effective means of classification. Combining archival research, interviews, practical fan editing experience, and textual analysis of fan edits collected over several years of participation in the fan editing community, this study offers a foundation of knowledge about the technology, legal contexts, and cultural practice of fan edits.
PDF full text available: https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/handle/1808/26032
Full text of this essay: http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/view/663/537
Full text available: https://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/view/575
Notes and addenda: https://wille.tv/2014/09/22/fan-edits-and-the-legacy-of-the-phantom-edit/
https://www.amazon.com/Keywords-Remix-Studies-Eduardo-Navas/dp/1138699640/
https://www.intellectbooks.com/fan-phenomena-the-lord-of-the-rings-1
http://www.amazon.com/Fan-Phenomena-Rings-Intellect-Books/dp/1783205156
https://www.intellectbooks.com/fan-phenomena-james-bond
http://www.amazon.com/Fan-Phenomena-James-Intellect-Books/dp/1783205172
Contributors Special Issue #7: Ernesto Baca, Alejandro Bachmann, Frank Beauvais, Matthew Cole Levine, Paul Cronin, Anna Doyle, Lola Dupre, Clint Enns, Peter Freund, Peet Gelderblom, Christoph Girardet, Audrey Jeamart, Scott MacDonald, Pablo Marín, Jean-Jacques Martinod, Stefano Miraglia, Matthias Müller, Bill Noir, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Catherine Russell, Nazaré Soares, Miriam Tölke, César Ustarroz, Monique Vettraino, Joshua Wille, and The Estate of John Baldessari.