Jason Brannon and Thomas Lee, the creative minds behind Bent Tv and the Star Wars Gangsta Rap videos were kind enough to answer a few questions about rapping, inspiration and all things Star Wars. Take a peek at what it takes to make Star Wars Fan Film history.

Tell us what originally inspired you to make Star Wars Gangsta Rap?

Jason Brannon: Our animator Thomas Lee will have a different answer because Star Wars Gangsta Rap was originally a song before it was a short film. The idea came about in college while I was at Indiana University. Chris Crawford and I use to do comedy freestyle rhymes and we did a lot of different characters when we rhymed, like Rednecks and psycho murderers.

I had watched the Star Wars trilogy a ton growing up and I could impersonate several of the characters voices so I would sometimes do freestyles as the Star Wars characters; dorky I know… I remember after we made the song, I thought, “people are going to think this is the dumbest thing ever or love it.”

Thomas Lee: The first and foremost criteria for our inspiration is, not surprisingly, the fact that we are hardcore Star Wars fans. For me personally, it startedway back in the summer of 2000 in my first year of university as a visual arts major in Toronto, Canada (York University), when a friend of mine from the States excitedly forwarded me the original Star Wars Gangsta Rap song by Bentframe. I was so impressed with just how hilariously awesome it sounded that I wanted to have a crack at animating it as a music video… Back then, I had never even animated before, let alone made a music video, so you could imagine how surprised I was when the crudely animated (by today’s standard) Star Wars Gangsta Rap of 2000 had generated so much buzz on the web that it became a watershed moment that has – to this date – led me to the career path that I’m now following – animation.

How long did it take to make this film?

Thomas Lee: 6 straight months of working evenings and weekends – from mid-April to early October of 2009. During that time I had been working full-time as an animator at 9 Story Entertainment in Toronto on cartoon series for kids – a heavy workload in itself with weekly deadlines. I even used up all my vacation days to focus solely on just the music video. Essentially I endured 6-months of 80-hour work weeks and an average of 4-5 hours of sleep every night.

Jason Brannon: I flew from Sydney, where I now live, to Indiana to write and record the song with Chris because I just happened to have a visit home scheduled at the time. We wrote this version in one evening. We recorded the song the next day. I think Chris’ total mixing of the song probably took a week.

What were the different challenges with revisiting the idea?

Jason Brannon: In terms of the song, it was definitely a challenge. In the original SWGR, I wanted it to really be “gangsta” and have the characters talking trash because I thought that was where the comedy would come from…Somehow when Chris and I wrote it, it turned out to almost perfectly tell the story of episodes 4 and 5. I’ll credit Chris’ organization skills when it comes to rhymes for that one. When we decided to make a sequel, it sort of created a dilemma in my mind because I was thinking, “do I just tell the story of episode 6 Return of the Jedi?” In the end, you can’t copy what you did before,  so we ended up opting to do the original idea I had for the first production and make it more “gangsta.” if that’s even the right word. Well, as gangsta as you can be when it’s PG and a cartoon.

Thomas Lee: I am mostly work independently, so I’ve had to draw many elements and assets from scratch. With every work I create, my skills improve, so I am usually very hard on myself on making everything as perfect as possible. It’s gotten to the point that every time I look back at my old works, my cringe gauge cranks to overdrive. I also don’t have the luxury of a team of animators at my disposal, so storyboarding is usually not necessary. I may scribble down ideas for scenes beforehand, but I usually visualize as I go along. For SWGR: Chronicles, I’ve had to hire additional animators to help me out. Seriously, without them, I would still be working on it during Christmas, so my props and shout-out to Yun, Tim, Nic, and Oliver for their wonderful work.

Was there any character who was particularly hard to animate?

Thomas Lee: Yes, Jabba the Hutt. That fat slug gave me more headaches than I’d like to admit, especially the eating part. The emperor turning in his throne was also very difficult. Last but not least – Yoda climbing onto his pimp bed at the end also chafed at my mental health. Most of the the complex dance sequences were done with the help of my trusty animators. So that was a relief!

Do you have a favorite segment of Chronicles?

Jason Brannon: For me its probably Luke and Yoda. I like how Michael Jackson does the moon walk as Yoda says “Star Wars fans never die….” That was totally Thomas. I had asked him to put MJ in Jabba’s palace with the aliens (seemed like a good place for him) and he added the idea of MJ falling down the Rancor pit and them him reappearing as a apparition like Obi Wan later.

Thomas Lee: My personal favorite is probably the Jabba / droid sequence and the final Yoda sequence. Jabba, because I felt very accomplished after the feat of finishing that sequence. Yoda, because I just can’t get enough of the ass-kicking, breakdancing little green bastard. Seriously, what’s Yoda’s species? What’s his home planet? Is he the last of his kind or something? I’m pretty sure some of the more nerdy Star Wars fans can answer those questions, but as far as Star Wars goes, I’m a strict purist of the original series.

Do you have any other Star Wars fan films that you really love?

Jason Brannon: I’d have to say George Lucas in Love and Chad Vader. Vader working at a grocery store – that is just funny.

Thomas Lee: I remember that one where the entire original Star Wars trilogy was created and summarized using LEGO. That was ingenious. Kudos on that!

The fan film community is very supportive and tightly knit, do you have any words of advice to would-be filmmakers?

Thomas Lee: I’m going to take a bit of liberty with the cheese now: Don’t ever give up, believe in yourself, and keep going no matter what! And yeah, learn flash.

Jason Brannon: Comedy goes a long way. I think all the top Star Wars fan films have been comedies.

And that’s how the Q and A went down.

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