Star Wars: Revelations is a Star Wars "fan film" being made by Panic Struck Productions and a large group of volunteers. As the name implies, a fan film is made by fans and set in a universe created by someone else--in this case, Star Wars. This film is not made for profit and will not be sold (Lucasfilm tends to look the other way as long as no one tries to make money); when it's finished, it will be probably be shown at conventions and/or online.

I was recruited to be an extra for a day of filming in a rock quarry in Virginia; my set report and behind-the-scenes photos are below. The basic setup is that this is a prison planet where Imperial stormtroopers are guarding a group of prisoners being worked to death in the mines. A Jedi warrior comes to the planet but is captured. I have not read the entire script, so I admit I don't know what else is planned, other than a segment that will be shot in a nightclub some time in November. It will probably be a year before the entire film is finished.

The pictures below were taken by my camera. More pictures taken by others are available on the Panic Struck website.

Anyway, read on to find out about this day in the life of an unpaid extra!

--Melissa (radegund@yahoo.com)

Saturday, October 19, 8:00am. Star Wars fans gather at the Luck Stone Quarry to sign in. It's COLD!!! Brrrrrr!!! We line up to sign all sorts of paperwork swearing we won't sue anyone if rocks fall on us or whatever. This is a working quarry, and heavy trucks are rumbling in and out constantly. Dawn Cowings, Shane Felux, Sarah Yaworsky, and the rest of the Panic Struck crew are already down in the quarry. Brian Sarcinelli is shuttling people and materials up and down in a van, and he recruits me to sit in the back and keep two full water containers from tipping over during the trip. We drive past the working section of the quarry and head into an unused area, where we encounter...

Panic Struck Base! For the rest of the day, this is where everybody hangs out when not on camera. The tables on the left contain food and drinks to sustain us. We're working in an unused section of the quarry which has already been dug out. With the high gray rock walls and gray overcast skies, the place really does look like an unpleasant alien planet. The trucks from the main part of the quarry don't go through here, so we have the area to ourselves.

Here are a couple of shots of the quarry. The distance shot of Panic Struck Base gives you a sense of scale. In the left-hand photo, the black cube on the right edge is a milk crate. They really do get everywhere!