Video game fan films, there's no denying that there's a glut of them, however, an up and coming film has a chance of standing out. A band of intrepid Australian filmmakers, self-dubbed Team Lanius, have come together in an attempt to create a genuine, polished Fallout: New Vegas fan film that could potentially leave Fallout fans, and even non-fans, salivating.

The flick entitled Fallout: Lanius is based on one of Fallout's main antagonists, Legate Lanius, the volatile military commander of Caesar's Legion.

As the project's producer, director and writer, Wade K. Savage, explains the team have a number of obstacles to tackle before the film hits its release target of early next year.

Savage identified that creating a story within the Fallout universe with substance and respect to the subject matter was the biggest hurdle for the project - aside from acquiring funding for the project. The team has even ventured into the vast quarries amongst the foothills of Perth, to capture the atmosphere of Arizona's rocky and arid hills, the in-game location relevant to the Lanius character.

"Doing the material justice in a tasteful way I think is the major hurdle. Coming at the plot and characters from a really dramatic fashion, rather than it just being something silly," Savage said. "Some of the team I'm working with have over 30 years in the cinema business and their feedback to me is always about making the film have a sense of scope and style - but never at the cost of the dramatic core."

Another challenge directly relates to the film's central character: Lanius. Difficulties may arise in the portrayal of such a bloodlust filled character; however, it would be misguided to presume that the team would tack a human side onto the character to add extra facets.

"He's a very difficult character to write for, as he only really lives for bloodshed. His only human faculties are honour and pride," Savage explained. "I'm trying to get people to appreciate that he's a product of a very battle-worn people, and even amongst them he's reviled. I don't think he even has a human side, he's basically a force of nature."

To nail the Lanius character and the Fallout universe, the team approached Fallout: New Vegas senior designer Chris Avellone and lead creative designer John Gonzalez for notes. Being game designers of blockbuster Triple-A titles, how receptive were they of being asked to weigh in on a fan film, especially with the myriad of other Fallout fan films out there?

"They were very supportive throughout the process. I'd imagine they would have been more wary if we had just made our announcement and just blundered into the whole process without consulting them," Savage said. "I even chased down John Gonzalez who doesn't work at Obsidian any more as it was so important to me to get this character right."

There will be other well-known New Vegas characters. Wade teased that Joshua Graham (The Burned Man), the shunned co-founder of Caesar's Legion and leader of the Dead Horses clan, will feature in the film but he isn't revealing under what circumstances.

A factor guaranteed to contribute to the films legitimacy, is that the voice actor behind Lanius, Mitch Lewis, is on board to reprise his role in the film. With actor Johnny Domino playing the physical Lanius, the team have a plan to meld the two elements together to forge the ultimate live-action Lanius Legate.

"Basically, we are recording all of Mitch's Dialogue first and then using playback on set whilst Johnny 'performs' the lines. I joke that's kind of like a reverse Spaghetti Western," said Savage. "This process means that our performers can react to the man's voice and physical animosity on set."

The budding filmmaker believes that the crew of Team Lanius will be the winning factor to make the film stand out from the over saturation of fan flicks. A few crew members include stunt and fight choreographer Kaneda Cruz, makeup FX artists Naomi D. Lynch (Drift) and Kate Anderson (Perished), SFX artist Jeremy Shaw (The Lord of the Rings and King Kong), production designer Alana Starcevich (De Choix, Hunt). Stage actress Caris Eves - former Australia's Next Top Model contestant - plays the part of Hidebark tribal woman 'Quill'.

"We've all worked on some huge films and documentaries and are bringing a level of technical prowess rarely shown to these kinds of projects," said Savage.

The Fallout universe is adorned with violence and with violence comes gore. The alchemy of transferring in-game gore into live action gore can be tricky to balance, especially when the amount and style can be lost in the translation. Wade explained that although the film will contain a high level of gore, the style in which it would be done won't drown out or unbalance the production.

"The film will be quite gory, but not in a ridiculous manner. I want the style and movement of the film to always be cinematically classic - cartoon violence would only ruin that."

The whole creative endeavour would be lost if the owners of the Fallout rights, Bethesda Softworks, weren't onside. With so much heart and time invested into the short, Team Lanius made sure they addressed such a potentially crippling issue.

"Very early on I made sure to send a letter to Bethesda's Legal team outlining exactly what we were wishing to do with the film," explained the writer. "We were looking to make a Fan Film using a very particular production model."

"I also outlined that in no way would the team make any money or indicate we had any ownership of their IP. So long as we keep to the model, we should be fine."

A major hurdle yet to be tackled successfully is funding for the film. Savage estimates that over $5,000 has already been spent on production costs, straight out of the crews own pocket and time.

"I'm more than happy to do it, as I really believe in the project and I love the Fallout Universe so much. It's such an amazing removal from the kind of films I usually make", Savage said.

They aim to raise $10,000, a conservative amount by filmmaking standards. Savage says that will only just cover their production costs. As Kickstarter is restricted to US citizens only, the team chose IndieGoGo as their crowd sourcing platform, a platform that doesn't take royalties.

"We are moving okay for our funding drive, but we really need lots of support to make our film happen. We've got an amazing team involved, so we really need as much support as we can," said Savage. At the time of writing the project had raised $4,314 with 67 days left in the campaign.

As a final product, Fallout Lanius will run just over 10 minutes with an early 2013 launch window. Funders of the film will be provided with access to download the piece before it is released on YouTube. Before the planned online distribution, the team hope to find the perfect venue to debut their work of art.

You can find out more about the project here.