With the theatrical release of Christopher Nolan's “The Dark Knight” breaking records at the box-office, an intrepid group of Chicago filmmakers took to the streets in June to shoot a Batman “fanfilm” that bridges events between 2005's “Batman Begins” and the newly released Warner Brothers blockbuster.

“The Dark Knight Project” chronicles the adventures of Gotham Midtown students Heather Nolan and Mikey Bale, played by Allyssa O'Donnell and David Sanchez. Intent on being the first people in Gotham City to capture actual video of the Dark Knight in action for a school project, they set out with their video camera to interview people on the streets, witness the evacuation of a city block by police in the middle of a bomb scare, and ultimately encounter Batman in the middle of a back alley break-in where he saves both high schoolers from a menacing group of thugs working for the Joker.

“I always wanted to shoot a Batman story since he is one of my favorite characters, and since I doubt Warner Brothers will ever ask me to direct one for them, I decided to use the resources I have available and do one myself” muses Chicago filmmaker Jerry Vasilatos, who wrote the story and also produced and directed it.

“Everytime I am downtown, I am reminded of the fact that we live in virtual Gotham City” Vasilatos continues. “Shooting an HD movie and emulating the same universe that Christopher Nolan created for “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight” allowed us to brand our short film with a certain authenticity and production value that we hope will have people thinking our story really could have taken place between the feature films.”

Assembling a talented group of filmmakers and cast from Chicago's creative community, Vasilatos teamed up with co-producer Zoe Triantafillou and director of photography J. Trevi Albin to produce the fan film on a shoestring budget, relying on the downtown locations and authentic costuming to bring the short story to life.

“This is a complete labor of love” Vasilatos says. “We're not selling it, we're not making any money off it… I just wanted the opportunity to shoot a short Batman story with high production values and share it with other fans in tribute to the character as well as director Christopher Nolan, who I think has finally nailed the type of “Batman” movie fans have always wanted to see on the big screen.”

Vasilatos' crew shot 5 days in using several downtown locations, leading to a climactic alley fight between Batman (being played by Chicago actor Chris Nendick), and the Joker's thugs filmed behind the Fine Arts building off Van Buren.

Vasilatos also created a Myspace page for his two fictional characters Heather and Mikey, where they have been blogging about their efforts to capture video of Batman to visitors. Their Myspace page is at: http://www.myspace.com/darkknightproject. The actual short film was released online July 14th, 2008 at: http://www.darkknightproject.com – 4 days before “The Dark Knight” hit theaters. The website has already had over 2500 viewer in its first week.

Vasilatos, who returned to the Chicago production scene last spring, spent 10 years in Los Angeles working as a producer, director and editor with clients including Universal Home Video, The Reelz Channel and Fox Atomic. His previous producing and directing efforts include the nationally syndicated entertainment news show “Made in Hollywood”, and the Chicago Christmas movie “Solstice” which was originally broadcast on Lifetime Television and is now enjoying a second life on Amazon.com under it's new title “The Night Before Christmas”. He also recently served as an editor on four episodes of the popular History Channel series “Gangland” during it's first and second season.

To view “The Dark Knight Project” or to contact the filmmakers, please visit: The Dark Knight Project.

Randy Pausch, the computer science professor who rose to fame after giving a quirky last lecture about celebrating life in the face of his terminal cancer, died Friday.

The 47-year-old died at his home in Chesapeake, Va., according to Wall Street Journal columnist Jeffrey Zaslow, who helped launch Pausch to fame after writing about the speech — which also garnered widespread attention when it was posted on video sharing site YouTube.

When Pausch was offered a deal to write a book expanding on his lecture, Zaslow co-authored the non-fiction title. The Last Lecture became a bestseller.

“It was the most fun 53 days of my life because it was like a performance,” Zaslow said. “It was like getting 53 extra lectures.”

A pioneer in the field of virtual reality who became a professor at his alma mater, Carnegie Mellon University, Pausch also co-founded the school's Entertainment Technology Center and developed programs to make teaching computer science and animation more fun for high school and post-secondary students.

He also helped develop the Alice 3D-animation software and had stints at Walt Disney and Electronic Arts.

He was diagnosed with incurable pancreatic cancer in September 2006.

A year later, Pausch took part in a lecture series at the university that saw professors give hypothetical final talks and speak about what mattered most to them.

The popular and flamboyant Pausch drew a packed crowd for his light-hearted session, dedicated to his children.

He joked about his realized and unrealized childhood dreams and urged people to have more fun and live life to the fullest.

Aside from the book deal and internet interest, he was invited to visit The Oprah Winfrey Show and make other TV appearances. He also maintained a blog that delivered updates on his life.

Pausch is survived by his wife, three children, his mother and his sister.

You can watch The Last Lecture here:

PartyDigest.com announces its list of Top Ten World Safari Experiences as determined by our team of world travel experts.

1. Kruger National Park, South Africa
This is the place to see the Big Five – elephant, white rhino, buffalo, lion and leopard. It is one of the most spectacular and diverse conservation areas on the planet with over 147 different species of mammals, 500 species of birds, 100 species of reptiles, 49 species of African indigenous fish, 34 types of amphibians and 300 different species of trees. Now that's wildlife.

2. Mountain gorillas, Uganda
There are only about 650 wild mountain gorillas left in the world and the place to see and do your Dian Fossey best is in Uganda. You can actually go gorilla tracking in two national parks on the border of Rwanda at Virunga Range or in Bwindi, a thick rainforest.

3. Wildebeest migration, Serengeti
You simply can't miss this if you're coming to Africa. This annual wildlife migration of over 1.4 million wildebeest and 200,000 zebra and gazelle, relentlessly tracked by Africa's great predators, is a photographers and naturalists dream.

4. Emperor Penguins, Snow Hill Island
Rug up to make 4000 bow tied friends on this remote island. Emperor Penguins are some of the hardest birds in the world to see. They breed in winter and the single egg is incubated by the male when night lasts for months and temperatures reach minus 60 degrees Celsius.

5. Giant Grizzlies, Knight Fjord, British Colombia
The giant grizzly is king here and can be seen all year round. In spring they hang out by the water's edge, in summer they mate and spar on the beach and in autumn they feed on salmon in the Glendale River.

6. Sailing safari, Greenland
Sail into the superb fjords of East Greenland to see the aurora borealis and the wildlife. Polar bears, eight species of whales, two million seals, reindeer, musk oxen, Arctic hares and Arctic wolves are just some of the species living here.

7. Musk-Ox Safari, Greenland
Take a husky team or snowmobile from the town of Kangerlussuaq, located at the head of the country's third longest fjord. Cut through this beautiful region to look for the noble musk ox and with a bit of luck some reindeer and Arctic foxes too. It's extremely cold here but a good place to see the northern lights.

8. Kakadu National Park
Don't take any inspiration from Steve Irwin; never smile at a crocodile, particularly these saltwater menaces in the superb wilderness of Kakadu. Take a boat safari and marvel at the bird life and wetlands from the safety outside the water.

9. Panda safaris, China
This protected species live in Sichuan Province and just over the boundary line in Gansu and Shaanxi Provinces. In the reserves of Foping and Changqing you can track and view wild pandas in their natural habitat and enjoy the high altitude primary forest.

10. Royal Chitwan National Park, Nepal
The steamy Inner Terai of central Nepal was once one of the most famous big game hunting areas in Asia. Fortunately the lead shooting has finished and it now provides protection to the one-horned rhinoceros, tiger, leopard, sloth bear and the gaur (wild bison) and over 400 species of birds.