A fan edit is a version of a film modified by a viewer, that removes, reorders, or adds material in order to create a new interpretation of the source material. This includes the removal of scenes or dialogue, replacement of audio and/or visual elements, and adding material from sources such as deleted scenes or even other films.
The field was popularized by an individual calling himself the "Phantom Editor" (later revealed as professional editor Mike J. Nichols). He removed elements from George Lucas' Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace that he felt detracted from the film, and made minor changes in dialogue, languages and subtitles to give the film's villains a more menacing tone. The end result became known as The Phantom Edit, which was distributed on VHS and later online.
The second major edit was done with Spielberg's AI. However, as the edit was not released by the author, it has not affected the field (it was only mentioned in one article).
The idea of fanediting became popular with the second public release - the "Purist Edit", which changed the LOTR: The Two Towers to more closely follow Tolkien's books. The edit was distributed through P2P and has led many other aspiring editors to creation of their fanedits. Due to extensive changes required to change the story, LOTR edits are among the most challenging. There are at least two full LOTR fan edits available.
After that the trend started to gain popularity and spread to other films in the same fashion, such as the Matrix series, Pearl Harbor, Dune, Superman II, and others. In addition to re-editing films, some fan edits feature basic corrections, such as colors or framing, that maintain or restore consistency within the film.
Before the term "fan edit" was coined, many "alternate versions" of films edited by other fans or professional editors where simply known as a "Cut". In the late 1970s, many alternate "cuts" of films were released in the United States, and foreign films (such as those from Europe or Japan) deemed unsuitable for American audiences underwent further alterations, score changes and re-titlings. Also fan translation (fandubs) of Japanese Anime is similar in spirit to fanedits.
Read more about Fan Edit: Fair Use Issues
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