Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.


Previous revision
Next revision
—horizon-matters [2016/09/14 23:21] – [Why Star Trek–Horizon’s Success Matters] fixes person tense Carlos Pedraza
Line 1: Line 1:
 +{{:horizon-sequel.jpg?nolink}} \\
 +<wrap lo>**TOMMY KRAFT'S** fan film, //Star Trek–Horizon//, is set to overtake //Prelude to Axanar// on YouTube.</wrap>
  
 +===== Why Star Trek–Horizon’s Success Matters =====
 +
 +<WRAP left box 175px>
 +//**__Analysis__**// \\
 +<wrap lo>{{:user:carlos-doku.jpg?nolink&60|}} \\ By [[user>cpedraza|Carlos Pedraza]] \\
 +**AxaMonitor** editor \\
 +August 18, 2016</wrap>
 +</WRAP>
 +
 +//**Star Trek–Horizon**// remains on track to surpass //Prelude to Axanar// on YouTube on or about August 23. Why is this important? Chiefly, because //Prelude//'s popularity is central to Axanar's claim of legitimacy as "the most successful Star Trek fan film ever."
 +
 +<WRAP right round info 50%>
 +<wrap lo><wrap em>UPDATE</wrap> Just before 2 pm PDT, August 23, 2016, //Star Trek–Horizon// overtook //Prelude to Axanar//. //Horizon// had logged 2,565,757 views, compared to //Prelude// at 2,564,967.</wrap>
 +</WRAP>
 +
 +//<wrap lo>See also: [[axanar-accusation|Axanar Accuses Horizon of Buying Views]]// and //[[dummy_tweets|What's Behind All the Simultaneous ‘Prelude’ Tweets?]]</wrap>//
 +
 +[{{ ::horizon-stats.jpg?direct&300|**NIPPING AT THE HEELS** of //Prelude to Axanar//'s astonishing viewership is upstart fan film //Star Trek–Horizon//, projected to surpass //Prelude//'s views on August 23. (Click icon to view full size)}}]
 +
 +You see the narrative spun repeatedly in //Axanar// director Robert Meyer Burnett's Twitter posts and most recently in [[Alec Peters]]' interview for Reason magazine's video. Central to their narrative is the notion that millions of fans watched and enjoyed //Prelude//, and that their wishes for more  content justified Axanar's eventual fundraising goal of $2 million. 
 +
 +And while //Prelude// is, indeed, a notable achievement, its claim has been [[dummy_tweets|quietly threatened]] by an upstart, [[kraft_experience|Tommy Kraft]], whose film //Horizon// has almost eclipsed //Prelude'//s YouTube views in only five months since its release; it took two years for //Prelude// to accumulate that many views.
 +
 +**ON TWITTER**, in the meantime, Axanar [[axanar-accusation|disputed the validity]] of the viewer numbers, accusing //Horizon//'s producers of artificially inflating viewers by [[buying-youtube|buying YouTube views]].
 +
 +<WRAP left round important>
 +[{{ ::rmb-twitter.jpg?150|Axanar director **Rob Burnett**}}]
 +**Axanar Director Won't Define //Prelude//'s Success** \\
 +<wrap em>UPDATE</wrap> In a Twitter exchange August 18, //Axanar// director Robert Meyer Burnett, who had boasted in July that //Prelude// was the most successful Star Trek fan film [[https://twitter.com/BurnettRM/status/751604413811134469|"by any metric,"]] refused to lay claim to any particular metric when confronted with //Horizon//'s rapid growth in viewers.
 +
 +"Nobody cares how many views //Prelude to Axanar// has on YouTube … except you," Burnett tweeted.(([[twit>BurnettRM/status/766508150883168256|Robert Meyer Burnett tweet]], 8/18/16.))
 +
 +In the discussion that followed, I asked, "Seriously though, I'm interested in the metrics you used in claiming //Prelude to Axanar// is the most successful fan film." \\
 +**Burnett**: I leave that up to you. \\
 +**AxaMonitor**: So. Just boast, and then … "We do not discuss it with outsiders..."? \\
 +**Burnett**: C'mon now...you're the expert...again...I ask..what do YOU think?(([[twit>AxaMonitor/status/766518938226221056|AxaMonitor tweet and replies]], 8/18/16.))
 +</WRAP>
 +
 +The more rapid growth of //Horizon// is not the only important difference between it and //Axanar.// Tommy Kraft pulled this off with a budget of less than $30,000 — a feature film, widely praised and wildly popular, that delivered what it promised.
 +
 +<WRAP right round box 50%>
 +//**__« It's ironic that //Axanar//, a fan film concept drawn from the Original Series, is being rapidly eclipsed by the one set in the much-maligned //Enterprise// era. »__**//
 +</WRAP>
 +
 +Axanar, by comparison, with its fundraising success, decided to prioritize building an [[annual_report#the_infrastructure_kickstarter|expensive revenue-generating studio]] ahead of actually producing a film. The cost for that sucked up the biggest chunk — [[annual_report#axanar_spending_by_category|38 percent]] — of Axanar's $638K Kickstarter money. Meanwhile, most of the creative and logistical talent behind the success of //Prelude// has departed, making the leap from 20-minute mockumentary to feature-length narrative an even greater challenge than before.
 +
 +**IT'S IRONIC** that //Axanar//, a fan film concept drawn from the Original Series, is being rapidly eclipsed by the one set in the much-maligned //Enterprise// era.
 +
 +The lesson here is that a creative producer, dedicated to his fans, focused on his goal, putting every penny he raised on the screen, can deliver a high-quality production that has attracted an astounding audience in record-setting time, solely on word-of-mouth, without having to rely on a sophisticated marketing operation. 
 +
 +One might observe that's a sign of the most successful Star Trek fan film ever. {{:axamonitor-ico.gif?nolink|}}
 +
 +----
 +==== Watch ====
 +
 +Both //Star Trek–Horizon// and //Prelude to Axanar// are available on YouTube:
 +
 +{{youtube>l94v4YOqxOc?medium|Star Trek – Horizon}} \\ {{youtube>1W1_8IV8uhA?medium|Prelude to Axanar}}
 +
 +----
 +**Keywords** {{tag>fan_films}}