The Internet: Changing Communication and Expanding the Fandom!
The internet is, to me, probably the most significant invention of the past 100 years. Cell phones are amazing, and without computers we wouldn’t even be able to use the internet – but there is just something about endless bits of information freely flowing around the entire globe – for all to see – that absolutely fascinates me. I’m a big fan of communication – and the internet is any ‘communicator’s’ dream.
A few days ago, I came across an old article about DOPPELGANGER: The Symbiote Saga again. The article is simple – it has a few very kind things to say about my film, but mostly sums up the plot of the film and expresses the author’s interest in the finished product. Nothing special, right? Well, there wouldn’t be.
If the article wasn’t in Italian.
To some of you, that was the lamest payoff for an article build up ever. And I can understand that point of view. The first time I came across the italian write up, I simply dismissed it as cool but not ‘oh so very cool’. This time, now that a full year and a half has passed since the release of the film, I’ve had time to distance myself from the film as a piece of work – and I can now think of it as more of a ‘movie’ to enjoy and not critique. With a newfound appreciation for my first big project also comes a newfound appreciation for that italian article. How damn cool is it for my film, a low-budget, hometown shot film to be seen across the globe? Anywhere in the entire world!? And for it to strike up enough interest in someone on the other side of the world that they would write an article about it!? It makes it all worth while.
The original article was written HERE some time closer to the actual release of the film. Here’s a crude translation from Google:
Today I want to show you the first part of eleven of a fan movie about Spider-Man, called Doppelganger: The Symbiote Saga. You can find other parts of the fans movie here. In the movie, we see the classic story of the birth of Venom – one of the deadliest enemies of Spider-Man. All because of an alien symbiote that joined the suit of Peter Parker, making Spider-Man stronger, faster but also more prone to anger. At first everything seems fine, but Spider-Man discovers the symbiote brings more harm than anything else. He then decides to get rid of it. At this point, that sets Eddie Brock, who suffers from cancer at terminal level, who hates Peter Parker and accuses him of all his misfortunes … between the alien symbiote and Brock begins a relationship that is based on hatred for Spider-Man. Thus was born Venom …
I’m still loving the feedback I get on a daily basis for this film. I’m even going back and remastering the entire thing, given how much I’ve learned and improved since I finished production on this film.
I am still in awe, and always will be, of the internet. Perhaps I’ll get to thank the stranger on the other side of the world someday. Until then, true believers.
Jon @ UnCanny
