Day Five - Biggs Darklighter

I'm a Star Wars fan. There, I said it! Actually, I'm a Science Fiction fan, but Star Wars just happened to be 'the big thing' (and still is) when it came to sci-fi as I grew up. I know, there's Star Trek (BiggsTREK anyone?) but Star Wars always seemed to overshadow poor old 'Trek (for me). And yes, I DEFINITELY know that there is life beyond these two franchises. In fact, in a lot of ways, they are possibly the WORST representations of the genre. But that's a topic for another day.

Somewhere along the road I noticed that many people seemed to "latch on" to one particular character or another. One friend seemed to really like Luke, while another had a thing for Han. Someone else had a wookiee thing (that sounds bad... lol). I guess I felt like joining in on the whole "dedication" thing, so I opted to take on Biggs Darklighter. Someone obscure, yet interesting. I even tracked down the plastic figure of Biggs in a toy store.

A few years ago I was watching a LOT of Star Wars Fan Films over at TheForce.Net and I got really excited at the thought of making my OWN Star Wars fan flick. Having already dedicated my Star Wars life to Biggs Darklighter, I knew it would have to be about him. Of course, I had no idea how to make a film, nor did I think I could easily find the people and resources that would be required. That didn't put me off, though. But it did make me pause.

I knew I'd at least need a story to get the ball rolling. Once upon a time I made up a fake Star Wars crawl, telling the Star Wars story if Biggs Darklighter had been the star. That would have been a silly idea for a film (it was much too compressed) but it spawned the idea of telling the previously untold tale of Biggs Darklighter (just what did he get up to en route to joining the Rebellion?) (Actually, it has been told in a Dark Horse comic series, and a couple of other fanfics, but I prefer mine...)

I had no idea how to write a script at the time (I still don't, really, but that doesn't stop me!) so I opted to write the story as a story. After much scribbling, and rewriting, even adding a romantic element to it (and humour), I came up with 'The Adventure Of Biggs Darklighter'. If you'd like to read it, here's a link (the pictures do the same):

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1436055/1/Biggs_Darklighter_i_The_Adventure_of

Not terribly long after that, I started work on a sequel (the original was received well enough, and I had some more ideas I wanted to do.) And so eventually 'Biggs Darklighter ii - One Dark Future' was born. Weighing in at twice the length of the first, it was a much more complex tale, venturing into the fun world of an Alternate Universe (though not really... you'll have to read it to get what I mean):

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2036198/1/Biggs_Darklighter_ii_One_Dark_Future

Plans for a third and final installment got underway not long after that, but unfortunately I haven't sat down and done it yet (got some cool ideas jotted down, though). You see, I found a little product called 'The Movies'... and all my spare time got sucked up!

Of course, one day, I hope to come full circle and actually MAKE the first Darklighter story into a movie, just as I originally planned. Only it'd be machinima. That's still a little ways off yet, but one day, one day...