The Force 2.0: 'Star Wars' site launches video mashups

On Friday, 30 years to the day after the first Star Wars hit theaters, the film's official Web site, StarWars.com, will relaunch with a new design. One of the hallmarks of the new site is a feature that invites fans to remix video and music clips from all six Star Wars movies, as well as add in their own homemade videos. They'll then be able to share them on the Star Wars site with other fans, as well as embed them in their blogs or profiles on social-networking sites.

Licensed remix tools have become popular promotional campaigns in recent months: not only are they essentially free advertising, but they also allow fans to play around with video and audio footage with a reduced potential for copyright infringement lawsuits. The remixing platform for the Star Wars Web site was created by Eyespot, which has also created remix tools for a number of pop singers, comedian Stephen Colbert, and the Broadway musical Spring Awakening.

But the new video-centric Star Wars site goes beyond mashups. Additionally, StarWars.com--operated by Lucas Online, a division of Star Wars parent company Lucasfilm--will be adding a library of hundreds of Star Wars-related video clips. These include official documentary-style videos, selections from the Star Wars Fan Movie Festival over the years, and user-generated videos inspired by Star Wars like the "Chad Vader: Day Shift Manager" Web sitcom. Created by Matt Sloann and Aaron Yonda, "Chad Vader" imagines what would happen if Darth Vader had a less successful younger brother who worked in a grocery store.

In a press release Thursday, Eyespot also hinted that StarWars.com will be rolling out more multimedia features over the coming months, including more games and social-networking features.