Fans Re-Create 'Star Wars' Online

Nov. 24, 2009— -- Fans of the original "Star Wars" movie are chopping the classic film up and making their own version of it 15 seconds at a time.

It's all part of a project called "Star Wars: Uncut," developed by 25-year-old Casey Pugh, a Brooklyn-based interactive developer.

He began with an ambitious idea: What if fans could take 15-second clips of the classic 1977 movie, recreate them in inventive ways and assemble them into a new version of the film?

Pugh launched the site in July. Four days later, all 473 scenes had been claimed. He ended up adding more rounds of clips, meaning each scene can be recreated by different people.

Pugh said he was stunned at the response. In all, the project includes more than 1,600 fan-made snippets of the film.

"I've seen every single scene at least twice, so it's hard to pick favorites," he said.

In fact, Pugh has bookmarked more than 80 that caught his eye -- each one taking a new approach to the classic film.

One of Pugh's favorites uses 3D animation to create lifelike versions of Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Han Solo and Chewbacca as they watch the Death Star come into view.

Another took a drastically different approach: simple black and white illustration. When played in sequence, the 90 individual frames show Obi-Wan giving Luke advice on The Force.

Pugh said he even heard from Lucasfilm, director George Lucas' production company, and Pugh said the company was OK with the project so long as he didn't try to profit from it.

Greg Nemec, 43, an illustrator and art instructor, got involved with the project with plans to recreate just one scene.

"Then I liked it so much that I did another, and I liked that one so much I did a third," said the artist from Pleasantville, N.Y.

He was hooked. "That was one of those things that by the end, my wife was saying 'Are you done yet?'"

Within Nemec's trilogy is also one of Pugh's favorite clips. In it, R2-D2 and C-3PO avoid capture by jumping in an escape pod, taking with them the stolen plans for the Death Star and a holographic recording of Princess Leia.