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The City on the Edge of the Yarra
| Fan Film | |
|---|---|
| Title: | City on the Edge of the Yarra |
| Creator: | Stephen Bates and Paul Murphy with Austrek |
| Date: | 1979 (premiered 1980) |
| Length: | |
| Medium: | |
| Genre: | gen |
| Fandom: | Star Trek: TOS |
| URL: | |
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City on the Edge of the Yarra is an Australian Star Trek: TOS fan film by Stephen Bates and Paul Murphy. It was filmed at Austrek functions and on the streets of central Melbourne.
Not counting 1960s efforts that were on par with home movies such as the classic Junior Trek, City may have been the second actual Star Trek fan film ever created and released at the time (within limited scope) to the public. City was preceded by Paragon's Paragon, a 1973 fan film that was made in Michigan[1].
City on the Edge of the Yarra premiered at Trekcon 2 on 12-13 April 1980.
In 1979 the club made its first fan film called "City on the Edge of the Yarra" by Stephen Bates and Paul Murphy. This was filmed on a Super 8 camera and featured a comedic story about Kirk and Spock using the Guardian of Forever to arrive in the city the day a science fiction convention is being held, which in turn causes all measure of problems for them. Though once considered deteriorated and lost, this film has since been rediscovered and digitised. [2]
In a 2023 interview, Paul Murphy recalled that, while wandering the streets of the central business district in Melbourne and dressed as Spock, he was accosted by questions from members of the public asking him if he was supposed to be 'Doctor Spock'. He also recollected that the film budget was maybe $100, which was mainly spent on purchasing film stock.[3]
Fan Reaction
The first Australian Super 8 fan film I saw was from the Melbourne Star Trek Club, Austrek, called "City on the Edge of the Yarra" (as in Yarra River) and it had some rather bizarre Rocky Horror Picture Show influences when Kirk and Spock stumble across a science fiction convention.[4]
Gallery
Title shot for the film, City On The Edge of the Yarra
Standing in the street outside Flinders Street Station near the Yarra River, Paul Murphy is Spock in the fan film City on the Edge of the Yarra
This "crowd" scene in the City on the Edge of the Yarra was filmed at an Austrek meeting
References
- ^ Jonathan Lane, Executive Summary, A History of STAR TREK Fan Films, fanfilmfactor.com, January 2016.
- ^ from The History of Austrek: How it all began...
- ^ Paul Murphy interviewed by Geoff Allshorn, Trekking on the Edge of the Yarra, Humanist Blog, 10 April 2023.
- ^ Therin of Andor, "Viva the fan film", Have Phaser, Will Travel,18 November 2007.