When Star Wars first burst onto cinema screen in 1977, its then groundbreaking special effects, enormous budget, extensive cast and crew and sophisticated marketing strategies were part of a new era in moviemaking that brought forth what became known as the Hollywood ‘blockbuster’.

“Right now – in our very own Galaxy, ordinary people like you and me are creating Star Wars movies on our home computers using software packages that enable us to create the kind of special effects that in the very recent past have required the resources and backing of major production companies,” according to Dr Liz Hills, Multimedia Lecturer at CQU.

“Literally hundreds of these ‘homemade’ movies are being exhibited across the Internet to a potential audience of millions, and one of these amateur digital movies (the Star Wars spoof George Lucas In Love) actually outsold The Phantom Menace in its opening week of sales at Amazon.com. Star Wars fan films are yet further evidence that the Star Wars series has become a significant cultural phenomenon,” she said.

Not only has Star Wars been an important text in defining the moviemaking practices of mainstream culture, it has also recently become an important point of reference for amateur, regional and fan-based digital moviemaking, especially on the Internet. Even George Lucas has recognised the immense popularity of Star Wars fan films on the Internet, and launched the official Star Wars Fan Film Festival earlier this year. Fan film festivals, such as this, indicate how mainstream movie culture and amateur or alternative movie cultures are merging and converging on the Internet.

In essence, Star Wars fan films have become an important sub-culture in digital moviemaking and are helping to change mainstream and amateur movie culture in general.

This topic and many more IT cultural issues will be discussed at the Community Technology Day and ITIRA Conference on the 26th August – 29th August in Rockhampton.