Moving Right Along

Well, things are going pretty well over here, working on BTTF IV. I've gotten just about all of the preliminary story work done. All that I have to do now is run the current storyline by my co-writers, and BTTF IV will be steamrolling it's way onto the internetwebulator well on-schedule. That brings up the issue of the schedule itself, however. One of the big things we don't want to do is let this thing fizzle out too quickly; to let it finish before it really gets going. Now, I'm not much of a procrastinator, but I will say that I'm interested in letting this project build up some interest before I post the bejesus out of it. Hopefully, once I've spoken to my co-writers a bit, we can set a firm release date, but, for now, it looks will happen, we just want to make sure this thing that we've poured a lot of time into doesn't get passed by in the grand carnival of the internet.

With that in mind, if we don't want this to get passed by, we have to bring some new things to the table. One of the big things we've tried to do with BTTF IV is a reinvention of what's old. Folks have already seen three films centered around Marty and Doc outsmarting Biff. Why would that happen again? In short, it wouldn't, really. Now, before you all go off, thinking that I've 'nuked the fridge,' fear not. The original cast of characters are all still here. What I and my fellow writers have done, though, is tried to put a fresh spin on things. There's a reason the original Back to the Future franchise is so loved by people, and we don't want to simply disregard that. Even the medium we're using is fresh. Not since the novelizations of the films has their been a Back to the Future story told in printed prose. This is going to be a unique story with both dialog and narrative exposition. It's, basically, going to be a book. So, while we haven't reinvented the wheel, per se, we haven't simply slapped a fresh coat of pain on the old DMC '81, either. We're all really looking to do the characters justice.

In fact, everyone who's been involved has been incredibly enthusiastic about everything. It's clear that the people we've got working on this little project are all big fans of the series. A great group of talented people are coming together to really try and produce something of quality in BTTF IV, and it looks like we're all going to do just that. At last count, we had 7 great poster-like images put together (excluding the one from my last post), about 5 trailers ready to be posted, and a fresh, original story line that (from what we've been told) echos the heart of the original franchise to a tee.

In short, we're all really excited about what's going on with BTTF IV and can't wait for things to pick up speed.

See you in the future!

-The BTTF IV Project

The Back to the Future Part IV Project - Beginnings

BACK TO THE FUTURE PART IV

When I was a kid, Back to the Future was my favorite movie, and it still is. One day over the summer, I sat down on a rainy afternoon and watched the trilogy, and an idea started to form in my head. I started to wonder why Back to the Future Part IV was never made. Obviously, monetary factors, as well as Michael J. Fox's overall health had rolls. To this day, however, the original writer and producer of the Back to the Future trilogy, Bob Gale, is vehemently opposed to a revival of the series. That is, of course, understandable. Gale may well end up being known exclusively for Back to the Future in the long run. Back to the Future may, indeed, become his greatest, and single, legacy. I was, however, struck by that single question which has fraught mankind since it's conception: what if? What if Back to the Future Part IV had been put into production? What would the story be? What would the characters do? How would Marty and Doc Brown find a way to incorporate that now-classic phrase, "back to the future!" into the film? These and other questions started to tumble down the metaphorical hill in my head, and snowballed. Slowly, after about a week, ideas began to take shape, dialog was scribbled down, and Photoshop was left open for hours on end. I had started my own project of BTTF IV The ideas slowly gelled together as I ran them by a close friend of mine, one of the folks whom I trust most deeply to critique my writing accurately, ensuring that they the thoughts I had developed rang true to the style of the original Back to the Future universe.

With that story now realized, all I have left are the finish touches, and, then, my vision of will be a reality. I plan to publish the Back to the Future Part IV narrative I have written on here, as well as on some other sites, hopefully at some point in the fall. Currently, there is a slated release time frame of mid to late September. I'll be keeping this updated with news and other things (if I remember, of course. This is my first Blogger experience.).

As for legalities:

• I would like to explicitly state that I do not own any of the elements of Back to the Future.
• As an English major and Theatre Minor at University, I primarily have taken up this story for the educational purpose of further understanding the path a story must take to move from idea to completed work. This includes the creation of promotional material, such as images and videos. Therefore, the piece itself could be considered as falling under the scholarly portion of the fair use doctrine (though the language of the doctrine seems to indicate that the works are to be of a scholarly nature, i.e. a dissertation, if they are to be protected.).
• This work is not for profit. I will, in no way, gain and monetary interest from its creation.
  
• Back to the Future and all related names, characters, and other elements are from films distributed by Universal Studios. The creative team behind the original film includes Bob Gale, Steven Spielberg, and Robert Zemeckis.
• According to the United States Copyright Office Circular 14: "A typical example of a derivative work received for registration in the Copyright Office is one that is primarily a new work but incorporates some previously published material. This previously published material makes the work a derivative work under the copyright law. To be copyrightable, a derivative work must be different enough from the original to be regarded as a "new work" or must contain a substantial amount of new material. Making minor changes or additions of little substance to a preexisting work will not qualify the work as a new version for copyright purposes. The new material must be original and copyrightable in itself. Titles, short phrases, and format, for example, are not copyrightable."
• To the above end, that it is substantially different from the source material, the story I have created in Back to the Future 4 is Copyright E. Devin Lewis, 2009. I do not own the rights to any of the characters, images, or any other forgotten elements relating to Back to the Future.
• THIS IS NOT A PART OF THE BACK TO THE FUTURE STORY AS CREATED BY BOB GALE, ROBERT ZEMECKIS, OR STEVEN SPIELBERG. DO NOT BE CONFUSED.
  
• GO WATCH BACK TO THE FUTURE!
  

Until then, here's a teaser image of Back to the Future Part IV.

Click for a larger view

See you in the future,
The BTTF IV Project