As the planned final phase for Star Wars: The High Republic comes to an end, that doesn't mean that the love and hype for the books has ended. The media initiative has been wildly successful with multiple bestselling books, comics, two TV shows, audiodramas, and nods throughout video games. As fans continue to show love for the initiative, one BFA student took their fandom to another level.
Tali Fortis, who has been sharing updates throughout the project on their Bluesky account, released a title sequence on their YouTube for Phase I of The High Republic. There are various familiar imagery like the crossguard lightsaber of Jedi Master Stellan Gios and gorgeous shots of one of the most important locations being the Starlight Beacon. Ominously looming is the helmet of Marchion Ro, the main villain of the series, with the red Eye of the Nihil glowing in the darkness.
Throughout the video the "credits" are playing, showing the writers for the books and comics, illustrators, inkers, colorists, and more float among the scenes. This is a neat touch because they are the people who brought this world to life. As a comic book lover, I adore seeing the colorists, inkers, and the more overlooked people featured who normally don't get a nod.
Fortis shared in the video's description that while the music was royalty free and the Starlight Beacon was a model, the rest of the objects in the video were "modeled, textured, lit, animated, and composited" by the artist. That Marchion helmet is excellent!
They also shared why they created the video, saying, "My capstone project for my animation BFA at DePaul! It's my first time using Blender and I wanted to challenge myself to learn the software and push myself to try to conceptualize what a possible main title sequence would look like for the incredible High Republic project."
I would say that Fortis was successful, because this video is so cool. I've already shared it with multiple other High Republic fans and screaming at whoever will listen. They should be proud of their work and get all the praise, because this is an incredible video.
Well done and keep studying hard, Tali Fortis! If this is just your capstone, you have a bright future ahead.