SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND (KRON) — An animated fan film created by a “Star Wars” enthusiast and artist took more than four years to create and has captured the attention of nearly three million YouTube views within a few days of posting.
Generally, Paul Johnson said it takes him about two years to complete an animation, according to his YouTube channel where his identity is listed as OtaKing777077.
But for the “TIE Fighter” short film that runs longer than seven minutes, the project filled his weekends for four years as he created what he called his “Empire-focused short Star Wars animation, drawn with the crazy detail and shading of classic 80s anime,” according to Johnson’s description of the project.
Episode VII in the Star Wars Saga, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” opens in theaters December 18, 2015.
Johnson offered special thanks “to the good folk at Lucasfilm for encouraging people to get creative and make these kind of projects.”
In addition to the short film, Johnson created a movie poster for download at his Deviant Art web page. And in the spirit of artists showing how animators make their creations, he offers a video on how he used 3-D imagery as a reference for his film: