Matthew Erlebacher Looking Outward-01

TIE Fighter – Short Film

One piece of media that has inspired me is the YouTube video “TIE Fighter – Short Film” by Paul Johnson. The film was a homage to the 1994 video game with the same name. According to the credits the project was made by a team of only three people. Paul Johnson was the animator, Zakir Rahman composed the music, and Joseph Leyva worked on sound design. Paul and Zakir were housemates, so it was easy for them to work together. The description also states that it took them four years to complete.

From what I’ve read, the team didn’t create new programs or software to complete the piece. This would put it more in the category of last word art. The obvious inspiration of the creator was the Star Wars franchise. However, he was also a huge fan of 1980’s anime. This was shown by the stylized faces that Paul gave each of his characters. One of his previous works was a Doctor Who animation. He is now working on a mech animation which he stated would be inspired by Generation Kill.

Sources Used:

• C., Jordan. “Animator Paul.” Mass Appeal, Mass Appeal, 18 Aug. 2015, massappeal.com/animator-paul-otaking-johnson-talks-his-insane-star-wars-anime/.
• https://massappeal.com/animator-paul-otaking-johnson-talks-his-insane-star-wars-anime/
• Johnson, Paul, director. TIE Fighter – Short Film. YouTube, 24 Mar. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN_CP4SuoTU.