"Tomb Raider Archives", is a polished and gorgeous fan film which
celebrates the adventurous and supernatural aspects of the "Tomb Raider
games", and packs it into a thirteen minute drama that is a clear love
letter to the series.
Synopsis: After being headhunted by a mysterious investor to search for an ancient Incan artifact, Croft goes on a mission to restore both the relic and its companion which, when combined, has devastating powers to cast the world in internal darkness and worldwide panic. Threatened and betrayed by the people he trusted, Croft must hunt down a dangerous cult who refer as themselves as The Saleries, who plan to use the relics for their own nefarious ends and remake the world
Leading the project is Devanté Jones, a twenty-five year old filmmaker hailing from Huntsville Alabama, who first fell in love with the series over two decades ago. "I became a 'Tomb Raider' fan when I was four years old and it was because my big cousin would let me play demo games on the PS1 and that's when I first spotted Lara Croft and her amazing Adventures on Tomb Raider II and III." Since then he has been an avid cosplayer, representing "Tomb Raider" at conventions such as Dragon Con and at Gamestop's "Shadow of the Tomb Raider" launch event.
As an experienced cosplayer (posting under the name DJ Croft) and a fan definitely familiar with the role he has taken on, Devanté very naturally slips into the Croft role, portraying the sophistication and resourcefulness that the character is known for. As it's a male portrayal of the character, “Lara” is dropped in favour of just “Croft”, but the protagonist’s personality and behaviour is a carbon copy of the series, and one of the most authentic portrayal of the character I’ve seen.
The fanfilm was released in the final months of 2018, a year which saw the release of "Tomb Raider" (starring Alicia Vikander) and "Shadow of the Tomb Raider" which both served as inspiration for the his new fan film. However on the eve of its release, it was Eidos Montréal's new game that kick-started the project. "What inspired to make 'Tomb Raider Archives' was the upcoming "Shadow of the Tomb Raider" at the time of it's promotion. I had already done two 'Tomb Raider' fan films ["Tomb Raider: The Skull of Híízgo" and "Guardian of the Tomb Raider"] before and I was looking to take ideas from news places and new concepts and 'Shadow of the Tomb Raider' gave me the platform."
While "Shadow of the Tomb Raider" provided a clear inspiration for the piece, elements of each iteration of each Lara Croft and "Tomb Raider" title comes through in flashes throughout the film. As Croft walks up, the screen focuses on the golden skull belt from the movies, and in the following scene a conversation similar to the original Tomb Raider’s introduction. Fight scenes from both the recent game and the recent movie were also recreated by Devanté in "Tomb Raider Archives" as a homage to both releases. "I'm just paying homage to Lara as a character overall because she is a badass in the classics and the reboot."
Another aspect of where the fan film really shines is in its use of locations and its direction, highlighted in Alex Contreras’ work as Director, Director of Photography, and Editor. The film takes the viewer from gorgeous blue coastlines to golden cliffs in full blast of the sun, in an impressive array of on-location filming. "I did research since I live in Atlanta, GA now I looked up "7 Wonders of Georgia" and the dirt canyons were definitely a choice for this film since I had already went to a Forrest, caves, and urban environments in the previous two fan films."
For Tomb Raider Archive's impressive and colourful canyon shot, the team travelled to Providence Canyon State Park, an area measuring over a thousand acres of lush trees and rusty cliff edges, a perfect and otherworldly site to film a TR fan film. The time spent filming at the canyon also provided the most memorable filming day, "We were all collectively involved and we made it very fun to film by being silly behind scenes but then rocking in front of the camera too."
"Tomb Raider Archives" has already picked up a lot of interest, gaining over six hundred views on YouTube, but if you haven't already seen it, I genuinely recommend checking it out!
Everyone on the project has done a brilliant job at bringing the fan film to life and put in a lot of work which clearly shows. We're excited to see what's next for Devanté, Alex, and this amazing team, hopefully we'll see a fourth installment soon. In the mean time though, make sure to check out the latest project, HERE!
Synopsis: After being headhunted by a mysterious investor to search for an ancient Incan artifact, Croft goes on a mission to restore both the relic and its companion which, when combined, has devastating powers to cast the world in internal darkness and worldwide panic. Threatened and betrayed by the people he trusted, Croft must hunt down a dangerous cult who refer as themselves as The Saleries, who plan to use the relics for their own nefarious ends and remake the world
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| Screenshot from "Tomb Raider Archives" |
Leading the project is Devanté Jones, a twenty-five year old filmmaker hailing from Huntsville Alabama, who first fell in love with the series over two decades ago. "I became a 'Tomb Raider' fan when I was four years old and it was because my big cousin would let me play demo games on the PS1 and that's when I first spotted Lara Croft and her amazing Adventures on Tomb Raider II and III." Since then he has been an avid cosplayer, representing "Tomb Raider" at conventions such as Dragon Con and at Gamestop's "Shadow of the Tomb Raider" launch event.
As an experienced cosplayer (posting under the name DJ Croft) and a fan definitely familiar with the role he has taken on, Devanté very naturally slips into the Croft role, portraying the sophistication and resourcefulness that the character is known for. As it's a male portrayal of the character, “Lara” is dropped in favour of just “Croft”, but the protagonist’s personality and behaviour is a carbon copy of the series, and one of the most authentic portrayal of the character I’ve seen.
The fanfilm was released in the final months of 2018, a year which saw the release of "Tomb Raider" (starring Alicia Vikander) and "Shadow of the Tomb Raider" which both served as inspiration for the his new fan film. However on the eve of its release, it was Eidos Montréal's new game that kick-started the project. "What inspired to make 'Tomb Raider Archives' was the upcoming "Shadow of the Tomb Raider" at the time of it's promotion. I had already done two 'Tomb Raider' fan films ["Tomb Raider: The Skull of Híízgo" and "Guardian of the Tomb Raider"] before and I was looking to take ideas from news places and new concepts and 'Shadow of the Tomb Raider' gave me the platform."
While "Shadow of the Tomb Raider" provided a clear inspiration for the piece, elements of each iteration of each Lara Croft and "Tomb Raider" title comes through in flashes throughout the film. As Croft walks up, the screen focuses on the golden skull belt from the movies, and in the following scene a conversation similar to the original Tomb Raider’s introduction. Fight scenes from both the recent game and the recent movie were also recreated by Devanté in "Tomb Raider Archives" as a homage to both releases. "I'm just paying homage to Lara as a character overall because she is a badass in the classics and the reboot."
Another aspect of where the fan film really shines is in its use of locations and its direction, highlighted in Alex Contreras’ work as Director, Director of Photography, and Editor. The film takes the viewer from gorgeous blue coastlines to golden cliffs in full blast of the sun, in an impressive array of on-location filming. "I did research since I live in Atlanta, GA now I looked up "7 Wonders of Georgia" and the dirt canyons were definitely a choice for this film since I had already went to a Forrest, caves, and urban environments in the previous two fan films."
 |
| Photo from DJ Croft's Facebook page. |
For Tomb Raider Archive's impressive and colourful canyon shot, the team travelled to Providence Canyon State Park, an area measuring over a thousand acres of lush trees and rusty cliff edges, a perfect and otherworldly site to film a TR fan film. The time spent filming at the canyon also provided the most memorable filming day, "We were all collectively involved and we made it very fun to film by being silly behind scenes but then rocking in front of the camera too."
"Tomb Raider Archives" has already picked up a lot of interest, gaining over six hundred views on YouTube, but if you haven't already seen it, I genuinely recommend checking it out!
Everyone on the project has done a brilliant job at bringing the fan film to life and put in a lot of work which clearly shows. We're excited to see what's next for Devanté, Alex, and this amazing team, hopefully we'll see a fourth installment soon. In the mean time though, make sure to check out the latest project, HERE!
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