As far as Star Wars is concerned and learning about the Force, we’ve seen a large portion of it from the point of view of the Jedi. When we see training, like Anakin, Luke, and now Rey, the voyage starts from the light side.
Clearly, Anakin transforms into one of the record-breaking awesome baddies, and we’ve yet to perceive what will happen with Rey. As it is, she may be setting out towards the Grey Jedi domain. All things considered, when it comes to perceiving how these warriors study and train, it’s mostly in favour of the great folks. We don’t, for example, have numerous stories wherein Sith Lords take in their dark characteristics from a Sith Master.
However, a brand new Star Wars fan film, debuting today on Creators, does that. It’s called Dark Legacy. Furthermore, it had been directed by Anthony Pietromonaco, produced by Manifest Film, and has special effects by Jaremy Aiello and Mo Meinhart.
The film focuses on the idea in Sith legend that states,
“Training is complete only with the death of the master or the student.”
The quote originates from Sorzus Syn, a female Jedi who swung to the Dark Side and created the Sith Code. In Dark Legacy, we see an apprentice, called Kia (Erin Wu), detained against her will by a Sith Master (Fabien Garcia) who is searching for an apprentice who can either execute him and acquire his legacy, or die while to do so attempting. The Master has searched for numerous disciples who he has then held hostage and compelled them into challenging him and learn the methods for the dark side. Kia is the most recent of his detainees and a conceivable hesitant Sith Lord.
Pietromonaco told Creators;
“I’m bored by villains that are one-dimensional. For me that kills the story. One of the most fascinating elements of Sith philosophy isn’t that it’s ‘evil.’ It’s utilitarian. We wanted to create a situation where an apprentice was forced to use the dark side as a practical element for survival. Not because they were bad, but because they had no choice. Our story grew from there.”
The story is set on a far off, overlooked planet where the Master has, for a long time ago, entrapped his students. When he is training them, for each goof-up they make he gives them a lightsaber burn, which Kia has down her arms. At that point, if they fail to completely outfit the dark side and can’t vanquish him, rather than simply giving them a chance to die, he transforms their bodies into a host for an abnormal parasite that harvests upon their “essence,” eventually transforming them into a crystal.
Pietromonaco further says,
“We wanted to tell a story that fleshed out some of the mythology that we found most interesting, and using a Sith framework was a great way to do that. It also enabled us to take a lot of creative liberties while still honoring the source material, showing unique visuals that had been suggested but never seen.”
It was additionally an incredible chance to shoot some lightsaber fights, and acquire some exceptional takes against these famous weapons. In this way, Pietromonaco noted, they took the flimsy lightsabers that we saw with Kylo Ren in The Force Awakens, and gave The Master something that was similar. It was an early and simple lightsaber, essentially only a Kyber crystal which was wrapped in leather. Kia’s saber uses one of the parasite’s crystals which was of her dead brother.
“We wanted our Sith’s saber to feel ancient, archaic, as if it was by sheer power of will that the Sith Master was able to control it. In contrast, we wanted Kia’s to feel more traditional, but we personalized it by adding to the lore of Kyber crystals, introducing a creature that suggested that in a way she was fighting with the essence of her dead brother.”
To breathe life into the battles, they had a stunt team which included Phil Tan and Fabien Garcia. It was choreographed utilizing impacts from Chinese Wushu and some progressive techniques.
Pietromonaco clarifies;
“We cast real martial artists who weren’t just actors but also athletes. The nuanced performance in their movement is one of the strongest elements of the piece.”
Pietromonaco likewise takes note of the fact that they enrolled Emmy award winning sound design team Unbridled Sound.
He further stated;
“[The sounds were] custom and unique, so our lightsabers sound different than any sabers you’ve heard before.”
The music was made by Michael Meinhart which gestures to John Williams’ iconic scores, yet transforms them simply enough, as well.
The outcome, similar to a ton of fan movies, and now with the sequels, is something new yet likewise well-known. Be that as it may, unlike the spin-offs, what Pietromonaco wanted to include was something darker and more troubling, as well.
Of this, he stated,
“There are still elements that you might recognize from The Empire Strikes Back, but instead of using a swamp, we shot in a desert. Instead of Yoda, we have our Sith Master. Instead of having giant Jedi statues (like in Rogue One) we used something more grotesque and Sith-like. We wanted everything to feel more raw, so we drew inspiration from Ridley Scott and Giger when designing our characters and props. I think people are hungry for a grittier interpretation of the Star Wars universe. After all, most of us were much younger when we first saw the films, whether it was the original trilogy or the prequels. We’ve matured, and I think our interpretation of the material has matured with us.”
Watch the short film underneath:
Discover more about Dark Legacy at the film’s Website and Facebook. You can see more work from Anthony Pietromonaco at his website as well.
