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The Lightsabre Interview
Jim Fisher
Welcome to Lightsabre. Our latest guest is
the webmaster
of the long-standing JediNet, one of the original Star Wars fan sites. Please welcome Jim Fisher.
Q -Jim, welcome to Lightsabre.
A –
Thanks, I’ve been a fan of Lightsabre since I found out it existed, it’s good
to sit down and share some thoughts.
Q – Star Wars has had a profound effect on all of us – it’s why we’re
here talking about it, but what was it that started you off on your Star Wars
journey?
A – Heir to the Empire. Well, it sort of restarted the journey.
I had loved Star Wars growing up, seeing it on VHS, but I had kind of
drifted away as I got older. Heir to the Empire came out when I was in
middle school – 1992? I was 12 then. I think I read it a bit
later, around ‘93 or ‘94. It got me interested in seeing the movies
again — I had been playing X-Wing on the PC at that time too.
The Zahn Trilogy was something I really embraced and I found an online
community by way of CompuServe — this was before regular ‘net access was
commonplace, most people used AOL, CompuServe or Prodigy to get online.
I met some great people over their, and a few of us started up a
fanzine called Echo Station. Lee Brown, who you may remember from NewsDroid.com, was the driving force behind the fanzine. We started that in
‘96 or so — by that time I also had a web account and was running a Star Wars
Humor archive as well as The Wedge Antilles Home Page... and maybe even a
book listing? It’s been ten years, things get blurry. Lee left
Echo in ‘98 over creative differences and I followed shortly afterwards.
The Wedge page turned into rebelpilots.com in 1999, which was hosted on
JediNet’s server. That site was up until the end of 2001.
Q – JediNet was started many moons ago and is acknowledged as one of the
original fan sites. How has it been taking over such an established and
well-known site and moving it forward into the 21st century?
A – Well, some more background -- I left the Star Wars community in
late 2001. I had lost interest and needed to concentrate on college —
not classes, obviously, but having a good time and enjoying life.
I kind of got interested in coming back to Star Wars in 2004. I signed up for
an account over at T-bone’s Galactic Senate message boards and started
getting a feel for the community. It had definitely changed in 3 years, but I
was amazed to see some familiar faces from the old JediNet chat server.
I am always someone who needs to have some sort of creative outlet, and I
thought it was time to apply that once again to Star Wars, so I started
tossing around ideas for a new project. Nothing stuck, unfortunately, but in
August of that year I got a message letting me know that John Benson, who had
run JediNet since its inception in 1996, was shutting the site down. I
sent John a message letting him know I’d be willing to take over and we made the
transition that September.
I immediately did my best to shake things up, giving the site its current
design which I love, but in all honesty a couple staff members hated. My goal
was, with Revenge of the Sith coming out in 2005, to make the site the best
resource for news on the film and events surrounding it. I think I did a
pretty good job, but honestly my interest in Star Wars
begin to fall off a bit after the release of the film. Now we’re
almost a year past the release of the film, there isn’t a lot of Star Wars
news coming out, JediNet’s traffic is decreasing and I’m spending very little
time on the site. That’s very typical for me and projects I work on, but I
will always post an interesting bit of news if I see one. I never
wanted JediNet to regurgitate material on Starwars.com or report completely
tangential Star Wars news like “Jake Lloyd in Jingle all the Way 2: Jingle
Harder” like you see TFN doing all the time, so we don’t update as often.
I’d imagine you’ll see JediNet make some more noise once real Star Wars news
starts to happen again, which should be fun — let’s hope, at least.
Q – Which of the six episodes stands out as your
favourite?
A – Oh wow. The standard answer was always Empire. I’ve actually
learned to appreciate Return of the Jedi more and more over the years. It
lingers a bit too long on the Jabba act, but it’s my favorite to watch at
this point.
Q – What is it like to be involved with such an integral part of the Star
Wars phenomenon?
A- I don’t think I’ve been involved in anything integral.
Web sites are fun, and its’ nice to do something for the community, but when
you compare me to a gaffer on one of the movies... the gaffer is more
integral.
Q – As a fellow fan you must have many golden Star Wars memories.
Tell us about some of them.
A – Trudging through the mud in Denver in ‘99 comes to
mind immediately. DragonCon 2000 was a blast, but Celebration 3 had the
best memories. I got to meet and spend a lot of time with old “online
friends” that I’d known, in some cases, for years. Enough alcohol to make
things fun, but not so much that I was laying down on a bed rapping and
making snow angels. So yeah, the conventions are the best memories, without a
doubt.
Q – Which of the Star Wars characters is the closest to you?
A - Wedge Antilles. He’s the man.
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captain antilles - truly he is 'the man' |
Q – What would you change about Star Wars if you could go back in time and
make alterations?
A – Not a thing. The films are Lucas’s to do with as he pleases. I’m not
happy with changes made in ‘97 and ‘04, but I’ve got the original versions of
the films to keep me happy. As a filmmaker, Lucas should be allowed to make
his own decisions and his own mistakes — I’m not arrogant to the point where
I think I can do a better job than he did, which is what fan alterations are
really about when you get down to it.
Q – JediNet places much emphasis on the collecting side of Star Wars.
As a fan and collector what sparks your imagination the most?
A – I’m not much of a collector, personally. Shada runs our collecting
section and she does a great job. I bought my first Star Wars toy in a couple
years the other week — a Darth Vader that transforms into a TIE Fighter. It’s
the coolest thing ever, and will be until I buy a new Star Wars toy.
Q – JediNet has also spoken to some prominent members of the Star Wars
saga. Which interviews have been the most enjoyable?
A – I had the pleasure of interviewing Gil Taylor last year. Gil was the
cinematographer on A New Hope. He also worked with such directors as Stanley
Kubrick (Dr. Strangelove), Alfred Hitchcock (Frenzy) and Roman Polanski
(Repulsion). As a cinemaphile and someone who aspires to make films it really
made me happy to be able to talk to a great cinematographer who had worked
with some of the greatest directors of the last century.
Q –
Now that Revenge of the Sith has been released, where do you think Lucas will
take us next on our trip through the Star Wars galaxy?
A – TV, no? That’s what I’ve
heard. I’m kind of in Star Wars hibernation mode until that happens. I
picked up the new Outbound Flight book and am having a hard time getting into
it — I plan on finishing it, but it may end being one of those books I put
down halfway through and don’t pick up for another month or three.
Q - What do you foresee for yourself and JediNet in the future?
A – Hanging around until the TV show starts up and then making an
impression again. In the meantime, I’m going to give myself a shameless plug.
Go to www.downeffect.com and take a look at my last two movie projects, one
of which is available as a free download optimized for the iPod.
Q – A quick question about our site, Lightsabre. Any comments?
A – Great site — I’ve always enjoyed the interviews and I’m glad to
see that you guys are keeping it going.
Q - It's been a great interview, and thanks for being our guest on
Lightsabre. Just one final question. Luke,
and Chewie are sent on a mission to Las Vegas and are given a budget of $1000
to spend on their trip. What would the three of them spend their cash
on?
A – Drugs and hookers? No, that’s not appropriate? How about
just drugs? We could call it “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.”
That’s been done? Oh well...
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