Darth Vader's Psychic Hotline | |
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Directed by | John E. Hudgens |
Written by | John E. Hudgens Lowell Cunningham |
Produced by | John E. Hudgens |
Starring | Robert E. Bean Heather Harris |
Distributed by | Z-Team Productions Atomfilms |
Release date |
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Running time | 4 min. |
Language | English |
Darth Vader's Psychic Hotline is a fan film that made its debut on the Internet on April 16, 2002, created by fans of the Star Wars franchise. It is a spoof of Star Wars and Miss Cleo-type psychic hotline infomercials, with Darth Vader taking calls and giving advice to various Star Wars characters.
While the film primarily spoofs the Star Wars universe in the format of an infomercial, there are several other notable targets, including subtle references to Star Trek , Babylon 5 , Back to the Future , Battlestar Galactica , and Close Encounters of the Third Kind .
The film also uses a similar concept as the television show Frasier , where many of the guest callers are voiced by celebrities. This film features the voices of Kevin J. Anderson as Luke Skywalker, Claudia Christian as Princess Leia, Peter David as an Imperial officer, and Mike Jittlov as Han Solo.
The film has played at many film festivals, and proven popular with Star Wars fans, winning several awards, including Best Visual Effects [1] and a Special Award for Merit at the 2003 Dahlonega International Film Festival. It was the second runner-up for the Audience Choice Award in the Lucasfilm-sponsored 2002 Official Star Wars Fan Film Awards. [2]
A miniature effect is a special effect created for motion pictures and television programs using scale models. Scale models are often combined with high speed photography or matte shots to make gravitational and other effects appear convincing to the viewer. The use of miniatures has largely been superseded by computer-generated imagery in contemporary cinema.
Darth Vader is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. He was first introduced in the original film trilogy as one of the leaders of the Galactic Empire. The prequel trilogy chronicles his transformation from the Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker into the Sith Lord Darth Vader. His metamorphosis begins when he is lured to the dark side of the Force by Chancellor Palpatine, who later becomes the Emperor. After a lightsaber battle with his former mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi, Vader is severely injured and is transformed into a cyborg. He serves Palpatine for over two decades, hunting down the remaining Jedi and attempting to crush the Rebel Alliance. When Palpatine tries to kill Vader's son, Luke Skywalker, the Sith Lord turns against his master and destroys him. Vader is the husband of Padmé Amidala, the father of Luke and his twin sister Leia Organa, and the grandfather of Ben Solo.
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Mike Jittlov is an American animator and the creator of short films and one feature-length film using forms of special effects animation, including stop-motion animation, rotoscoping, and pixilation. He is best known for the 1988 feature-length film The Wizard of Speed and Time, based on his 1979 short film of the same name.
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