Did a 2002 fan film inspire a scene from Star Wars: Episode VII?

Did a 2002 fan film inspire a scene from Star Wars: Episode VII?

In a 2002, a Star Wars fan film used a triple-bladed lightsaber. 12 years later the weapon appears in the new trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Coincidence? Or Not?

By oscargungan - Nov 28, 2014 10:11 AM EST
Filed Under: Star Wars

When I woke up this morning with the expectation of seeing the first trailer for the Star Wars: The Force Awakens I was curious but I was not prepared for what I was about to see. In one brief snippet of footage we see someone of the Sith persuasion ignite a three-pronged lightsaber. It wasn't excitement I felt. It was more like, "Hey! That was my idea!"
In 2002, Lucasfilm introduced the first of many official fan film contests. A group of my friends got together at the time and brainstormed a mockumentary which would open with a shot of a triple bladed lightsaber as a gag. When we screened the finished film for friends that shot always got laughs. We entered it into the contest and discovered we had made it into the finals and that George Lucas himself would watch our movie. The lightsaber shot even appeared in the fan film awards special hosted by Kevin Smith later that year.
Now, we fast foward 12 years  later and I saw a fond memory staring back at me from this new taste of the upcoming Star Wars films.

Here is a link to our film. Really you just need to see the first minute to get the idea: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X36t5xVPLLc



Is this a coincidence or did we have an impact on a future Star Wars film?
Sound off in the comments section and let me know what you think.
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sameoldthing
sameoldthing - 11/28/2014, 10:28 AM
That saber in new trailer looks silly.
Pedrito
Pedrito - 11/28/2014, 10:32 AM
I doubt it. The new saber is made to look like a sword (which is unnecessary). But at least you've got a good parody already made.
EthanSmith1
EthanSmith1 - 11/28/2014, 10:33 AM
The saber actually can protect your hand from getting cut off.
TheBuoyWonder
TheBuoyWonder - 11/28/2014, 10:34 AM
I dunno, your saber is a literal 3 bladed lightsaber.
The VII one is more like a medieval sword with a hilt.
JillyMcBeam
JillyMcBeam - 11/28/2014, 10:47 AM
@Buoy

The principal idea can come from that though.
NYCGEEK
NYCGEEK - 11/28/2014, 11:25 AM
Uh, the lightsaber was used in the comics. Just saying...
oscargungan
oscargungan - 11/28/2014, 11:28 AM
I've been trying to find other references to triple-bladed lightsabers and all I've found were game mods and a fanon wiki. What comics did you see them in?
Superman007
Superman007 - 11/28/2014, 12:18 PM
yes it also has 3 blades but the one in the star wars trailer is totally different....you wont get any money out of it if you were thinking that...
oscargungan
oscargungan - 11/28/2014, 12:36 PM
No, I didn't have any aspirations like that. It would be fun to get some notice but never expected a payday. Our video had been hosted at starwars.com for many years back in the day. They had our permission to use it. We were told George Lucas and other Lucasfilm employees had watched it but we never received feedback. The movie that did win in our category looked more professional and my editing was sloppy. My thinking was if there was a small chace there was any connection it would be fun to know about.
Odin
Odin - 11/28/2014, 2:56 PM
That sword like light saber in the trailer looked so...dumb. Honestly it looked like some fan item created by teenage nerd.
JredTheRed
JredTheRed - 11/28/2014, 4:48 PM
i doubt your design play a part, however, i know its not the best looking lightsaber, but like @EthanSmith1 said, its very practical. How often do ppl loose hands in the SW universe? OFTEN. It would in fact protect against such a blow.
VictorDomashev
VictorDomashev - 11/28/2014, 6:08 PM
@JillyMcBeam

Narp.
oscargungan
oscargungan - 11/28/2014, 7:28 PM
Ok, so one argument against Wan-Abi introducing the concept of a lightsaber with three blades was that it had appeared in comic books. So far the only thing I have found was a listing on the Wookiepedia for crossguard lightsaber. It is found here: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Crossguard_lightsaber.
The problem with this argument is the comics referenced were published well after Wan-Abi was completed.
As far as I can tell Wan-Abi is the very first depiction of a triple-bladed lightsaber. If someone has an earlier appearance I would love to see it. Also, keep in mind, Wan-Abi was screened by people high up at Lucasfilm, including George Lucas.
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