The strange tale of Black Angel, Star Wars and lightsabers

"It's created such a huge excitement, such happenstance. JJ Abrams is clearly going back to the old films and doing the same kind of things. Although we were building props with old Morris Minor hubcaps and doing it randomly as we went along, whereas now they are designed by computer!"

He's committed to making the full feature of Black Angel, but Indiegogo is giving him the chance to extend his vision and pick up a new audience of fans.

"It's a very necessary part of the funding it. Half of the money is in place now - so the film is being made, but Indiegogo helps raises the fan base before you start," he says

"I'm determined to stay down and dirty, to keep independent with a tight budget and making sure that every contribution goes right towards an army of the undead and creates that interest for people who get involved.

Black Angel

"I'm going back to the way we made Star Wars and Alien - with very little money. I went to Skywalker Ranch when they released the six films on digital and George was there so I spent a good hour with him.

"He told me to keep the focus on that single man's journey. He said 'I think I went too wide with the CGI armies.'

"So I'm being very careful and using things that I feel have been lost to keep it low budget. I am using CGI because I've got a flying demon, but I've told ILM [Industrial Light & Magic] to make this absolutely real.

"I'm using my past instead of going where everyone was, I want a down-and-dirty world where you can almost smell the blood, sweat and tears."

Star Wars

When you've put together one of the most iconic film props of all time with a bit of an old camera, you're almost uniquely placed to give your opinion on a successor to your original.

Christian is thrilled with the new style broadsword lightsaber in JJ Abrams' Star Wars: The Force Awakens and over the moon that his own design is making a reappearance.

"It looks pretty cool!" said Christian, who famously used an old Graflex camera grip as the base for Luke's laser sword.

New Lightsaber

"What I loved is that it's clearly an old sword coming back. The look of the sword is ragged and rough, and it's clear that the old Jedis are coming back."

And the controversial cross guards? "Nothing should look out of place and JJ Abrams will have know that this was going to be the most analysed trailer ever so every image is there for a purpose.

"[The film] is in pretty good hands, the hard thing is for whoever follows! I've stayed friends with George Lucas - and I agree with Joseph Campbell that he's the only true living mythmaker."

Christian's original design pops up in the new trailer

Patrick Goss

Patrick Goss is the ex-Editor in Chief of TechRadar. Patrick was a passionate and experienced journalist, and he has been lucky enough to work on some of the finest online properties on the planet, building audiences everywhere and establishing himself at the forefront of digital content.  After a long stint as the boss at TechRadar, Patrick has now moved on to a role with Apple, where he is the Managing Editor for the App Store in the UK.