There has always been an audience for compelling stories and skillful storytellers. From campfire tales of heroic adventures and deistic misadventures, to Homer's Odyssey, to the comic book birth of Superman in 1938 and the pre-millennial X-Files of Mulder and Scully, words and pictures that capture our imagination can take on an epic, transcendent quality, becoming part of our cultural consciousness.
What these stories also do is create a unique, vociferous strata of sub-cultures where creativity is key.
Contemporary fan-culture had its origins in fan-zines, hardcopy, themed publications produced by admirers of science-fiction in the early 20th Century. In a 1993 feature for American Journalism Review, Jim Romenesko explained: “The medium has been around for at least six decades. Originally called fanzines (from fan club culture), the zines had their roots in science fiction pulp magazines. The earliest ones - Comet and Time Traveller - have been traced to about 1930.” Many zines had a creative element from the outset – a letters page where fans could record thoughts about authors and ideas that excited their senses, and fan- submitted stories riffed from a popular literary universe or a general idea in the fantasy community.
Fans could also be creative at conventions - large scale, organised events where attendees from around the world gather to dissect the object of their fandom with the expertise of a scholar. The longest running convention, Worldcon (The World Science Fiction Convention), was first held in 1939, and continues to attract hordes of fans with guest speakers, panels, awards, art exhibitions, live performances and more. These days, conventions are enormous money spinners, with hefty entrance fees and masses of mass merchandising.
But it was the arrival of the Internet that changed the face of fandom, and provided a rare platform for creative potential.
The modern fanguy or gal - commonly a devotee of science-fiction or fantasy TV shows and films which echoed the ‘Homeric’ quality of those campfire tales (epic quests peopled with larger than life characters) – now had a virtual space to congregate, and took to early chat forums and BBS' in droves to discuss the ‘mythology’ of their preferred content.
Communities and themed webpages grew rapid-fire. Fan writings that once appeared in zines were now uploaded. Creative fandom had moved from narrow, localised hardcopy, to a global audience of tens, even hundreds of thousands of willing readers who could deliver instant call and response to the work.
The evolution of digital technology and the rise of the web also thrust fan films into the spotlight. A long-time staple of fan-culture (fan-made Star Trek, Star Wars and Doctor Who flicks appeared at early conventions in the 1970s) these short and feature length visual ‘fan-fics’ were as costly as they were innovative (with fans relying on 8mm to capture their ideas). But the multimedia juggernaut made the creation of original filmic adventures based on characters from a particular fandom infinitely more achievable, and some fan-film creators now enjoy their own fandoms as a result of their efforts.
Alongside fan films, fan videos also found a voice. Harnessing readily accessible footage and mp3s, fans created vids using clips from shows or films set to music. In many ways a mini fan-film, these videos are a way to offer artistic appreciation for the images and songs involved, as well as artistic interpretation (‘re-imagining’ the context of a fictional relationship or series of events through choice of underscore).
Fan artwork also made the jump to the Internet, with virtual galleries emerging to cover every taste, and fan music (dubbed FILK has mushroomed.
Many of those who actively engage in fandom are creatives by trade – writers, scholars, artists or filmmakers for whom whipping up a story or video compilation is an organic offshoot of their daily practice. Significantly however, more still are not. In the culture of fandom, individuals who are not inclined, or perhaps not permitted, to express themselves artistically in daily life, can explore their creative capacity in a ‘safe’ space, enjoying the support born of a network of shared passions.
Venessa Paech Venessa Paech - Editor & Founder. Venessa holds a BFA from NYU. She has done the arts to death, and has been in love with the web since she "discovered" it at a CyberCafe in NYC in '93. She wants to be a podcaster when she grows up.
Doctor Who is a long-running award-winning British science fiction television programme (and a 1996 television film) produced by the BBC. The series shows the adventures of a mysterious time-traveller known as "the Doctor", who explores time and space in his TARDIS time ship with his companions, solving problems and righting wrongs.
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Venessa Paech - Editor & Founder. Venessa holds a BFA from NYU. She has done the arts to death, and has been in love with the web since she "discovered" it at a CyberCafe in NYC in '93. She wants to be a podcaster when she grows up.
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