Reflections of Evil Update

Q: How much work is left to be completed on 'Reflections?
Joel: (Laughs) A lot. We got back to work on Reflections just a week or two after Fool's Errand was released. And we've completed almost all of the principal photography. The first half of 2007 will be primarily F/X work by Webb Pickersgill. Everyone loved the floating orbs in the forest scene of Fool's Errand and Webb is working once again to accomplish several amazing sequences to top what we've already seen.
Webb: Basically we have had a rough edit of RoE for over two years. We would slowly tweak it over the years but we put most of our effort into finishing Special Edition and Fool's Errand. We have also filmed a few pickup scenes along the way and we have a few more still to do. Since we really haven't started on post, other than the rough edit, I'd say we have a LONG road ahead of us. I would dare to say that this film has more CG and effect shots than the other two films combined. *sigh* ... yeah, I guess I better get to work.

Q: Why is it taking so long?
Joel: Because Fool's Errand has a cliffhanger ending, a lot of people want us to get Reflections done quickly but the truth is that we have to keep challenging ourselves by adding more action, more story, and more effects than the previous installments or the project would stop all together. It has to be interesting to us and that takes time. Another key reason being that most of the cast and crew are starting to find other successful projects besides ours. Webb Pickersgill now has his own company that he's running and I'm continually jumping from paid project to project. Webb also became a daddy for the second time during post production on Fool's Errand.
Webb: Yeah, a Star Wars fan film project is tough to do... mostly because life always tries to get in the way. I used to work on this film as my hobby.. you know, "on the side". But now I'm doing video production full time, so when I do get a break I want to get away from my PC. The upside of this is that my skills over the past few years have improved so that when I do get time to work on RoE I get a lot more done in a much shorter amount of time.

Q: What can you tell us about the plot?
Joel: Unfortunately not much (laughs). But the key word is "Reflection". There are multiple issues being faced that bring many of our character's experiences full circle. Especially for Kit Parson (Kevin Herrmann) and Celeese (Elizabeth Grasham). We will also discover the history of the crystal that caused Kit to collapse in Fool's Errand.
Webb: Let's just say that you might be surprised with the love scene between Kit and Master Bendeen, or lover's quarrel lightsaber duel between Jan Ors and Kyle, or the pear and the lime that come to life and sing a song. We're just going to be full of surprises this time. I could tell you everything about the plot... but Joel would kill me. ;)

Q: Will we meet any new characters in the final chapter?
Joel: Absolutely. I think I'm safe to say that we have had more people on screen for this final chapter than part one and two combined. Some of the characters are more significant than others but filling a galaxy with people is always a fun challenge.
Webb: OOooooo yeah, lotsa new people. We pulled in all of our friends to get this finished. I'm just glad that Joel has more friends than I do... hehe.

Q: There was a rumor going around that you had cast Star Wars author Michael Stackpole in the third film. Is that true?
Joel: Yes! I am pleased to say that it is. Mike and I met about two years ago at the Phoenix Book Festival and we corresponded through letters from time to time. I sent him a copy of the first film and he asked me to speak at a fan film seminar with him on Star Wars. He downloaded Fool's Errand and liked it very much. So I took a chance and asked him if he wanted to have a small role in the film and to my delight he said yes. It was a short scene but Mike was so much fun to work with. He even rewrote a few of the lines we him. What was I going to do, argue with him? (Laughs)
Webb: Aboslutely. Mike was a lot of fun to work with... but I really feel sorry for him. He got a brutal taste of true "no-budget" filmmaking.

Q: So the ultimate question is... When will Reflections of Evil be released?
Webb: Well, as with all fan films it'll be done when it's done.
Joel: Yeah yeah Webb... Our goal is to have it done by late 2007 though.