Videos&Art to inspire SF / FANTASY ideas? Post YOURS ?!

The true terror
was the message the Thing then began to spell out
one alphabet block at a time
(claws screeching across the floor as blocks moved)
not as her innocence died
because that would have gone stolen as all life itself steals it always
not even sanity
because there was no such thing as sane
in this world we are born into
no
the Message was the terror in that it was true
the truth no one should see revealed
outside the grave
was all the terror in the world
as it wrote
she read
and terror
and the truth
grew inside her like
a cancer of revelation

The eye lies to the mind, the mind lies to the eye ...

The Spinning Dancer appears to move both clockwise and counter-clockwise.
Stare at her long enough and you will be able to see her rotate both ways.

http://www.123opticalillusions.com/pages/Spinning_Dancer.gif

Glass Tesseract Animation
http://www.123opticalillusions.com/pages/Glass_Tesseract_Animation.gif

Luvin' the sci-fi pin up art of Indiana artist Jace Wallace (imagine it as "nose art" on Earth's fleet of interstellar bombers)

But this one hits me too as a scene from some sensually succulent and terrifyingly dark story of Faerie
http://artburn.ru/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/All-The-Things-You-Fear.jpg

What if cats had thumbs?

http://www.milkmatters.co.uk/cats/

... because they're trying real hard!

One of the polydactyl cats at the Ernest Hemingway House in Key West, Florida. This particular cat has 26 toes, two extra on each paw.

I blame Frank Frazetta for the spark that birthed my first novel...

I remember being amazed by the almost psychedelic intensity of book covers by LEO & DIANE DILLON as a kid ... and to see a beautiful spectrum of their artwork ranging from the mind-warping sci-fi to the beautiful serenity of children's books realism ... go HERE for a feast for the eyes and the imagination!

http://leo-and-diane-dillon.blogspot.com/2010_04_01_archive.html

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zSMH6b5dlrg/TJ1MNwb3aLI/AAAAAAAAAao/HpQT60XnI5c/s1600/AshantiToZulu_100.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FCcnl47dI_g/TUrKQkitLeI/AAAAAAAAAXM/23KyUNuPQ8A/s1600/A%2BWrinkle%2Bin%2BTime.jpg

Here's one from the BBC that's just inspiring and staggeringly beautiful, imo ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=2HiUMlOz4UQ&vq=large

A 3 minute montage of the variety of human environments and lifestyles on our little planet Earth.

Every image a story, a human story, a human life ... full of the utterly unique and individual joys and sorrows, comedies and tragedies, victories and defeats we all either share or live.

Seeing this, would an advanced alien invader be moved to spare us as noble (if somewhat pathetic and backwards?) creatures ... or want to remove us from the world for being the ruiners of the otherwise beautiful Nature?

Begging the question: is Nature "beautiful" until it is percieved as beautiful by Man's aesthetics? Because when we chase the Tyger it may be beauty ... when the Tyger chases us it is Terrible; but it has to be like the poem says: you (and tyger) are children of the universe, we have a right to be here.

People are more terrible in being too often tygers I fear than tygers are beautiful at being human. The thought crosses my mind "there then is the glory of being human, that the comparison can be made." except that, given humanity, when we fall short of that ... we are less righteous than the tyger when they are merely being the best tyger they can be.

And who sez tygers cannot feel beauty?

Here is my moral dilemma: I catch myself sometimes having more sympathy for the tyger than the man, especially when I realize: tyger doesn't have anywhere else to be, but we (viral, ignorant, world-ruining Man) could leave the tyger in peace if we just lived up to being better Human.

I see a terrible secret in myself: I would trade more humans for better humans. I would happily have human cities (see Dubai's moonscape skyscraper in the video) set in the midst of undamaged Nature full of happy tygers. I would happily have these cities surrounded by fields of bleached human skeletons where the tygers came and fed and in doing so reminded us: the cities are Man's but the world is not.

"HumanPlanet" ?

Don't let me choose. Don't try to tell us (to protect anyone's greed or ignorance or profit) that we cannot choose.

I would sell us out to the first alien invader that offered. I would sell us out to the first tyger who asked.

See? this video inspires not only a thousand human stories to be written but also bouts of eco-terrorist mania! on the other hand ... how much terror does Man inflict upon the innocent world (and upon Man too) unchecked ... when no one stands up against Man ???

Such are the torments of the video, imo. Is there even a freakin' tyger IN IT? I forget.

Someday though our children's children will forget there were ever tygers alive in the world, and they'll look around them and see nothing but a world full of shabby souless automatron humans, and ... well ... I dunno. Pitiful.

Human cities surrounded by human bones and happy tygers. that would've been my vote. A happy human city full of happy human folks who get along just fine, because we figured out a way to keep the tygers happy outside.

Interesting that this thread should "wake up" today. Last night, I had the pleasure of briefly meeting Laura Ford at the premier of her exhibit at Frederick Meijer Gardens. The exhibit is called "Actual, Factual Fables"; and every sculpture I looked at just seemed like somebody had frozen time in a dark fable like you might get from Neil Gaiman. Every anthropomorphized animal or bizarre not-quite-human shape seemed poised to tell its own story. I asked her if she ever wrote those stories down. She answered that she and her sometime collaborator tried to make a book of them, but couldn't make it work. But after that exhibit, I bought the accompanying book. Some of the images in there still haunt me.

In general, I'm more interested in sculpture than paintings and other 2D works; and thus I'm so grateful to live near Meijer Gardens. It's a world-class sculpture park and botanical gardens, and has been compared favorably to the Kroller-Muller Museum and Sculpture Park in The Netherlands. If you're anywhere close to the area -- or if you love plants and sculpture -- you really should check it out. I can spend hours there, and leave refreshed and inspired. If my laptop worked in outdoor lighting, I might just make it my weekend office. There are lots of pieces there that want their stories told.

How many ways can human artists illustrate the cover of HG Wells' THE WAR OF THE WORLD ???

Enough different ways to blow an artist's mind.

Hundreds of book covers and images?

http://drzeus.best.vwh.net/wotw/wotw.html

Folks luv them some MARTIAN TRIPODS!

What's odd to me is: With ALL the lurid history of 'tentacled monster groping undressed femme" images in the Sci-Fi genre ... that appears very seldomly in actual WAR OF THE WORLDS art.

http://drzeus.best.vwh.net/wotw/other/jjones1.jpg
http://drzeus.best.vwh.net/wotw/other/troc3.jpg

Anyway ... future IOTF contestants, tasked with imagining variations of a scene ... might contemplate these as something like "How to visualize the same story a gazillion ways" or somesuch.

I found this: it's the first book I ever recall begging my Mom and Dad to buy me.

They didn't that day but then brought it home afterwards and I sat down on the floor in awe. IT WAS MINE! I had that book until the binding split and it fell to pieces!

Contrary to rumour, apparently, yes you can get ice water in Hell ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUh9qdHPJGM&feature=related

Perrier.

"SUCKER PUNCH"

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dKF5tE20pc0/TE-dDSL8w6I/AAAAAAAAACM/wSrumeXFRH0/s1600/Sucker+Punch+Poster.jpg
Movie poster.

... A box office flop, almost universially reviewed and reviled ...

This artless and soulless film is one of the most depressing things made in the past decade.

Sadistic and shallow, exploitative and misogynistic, these are the descriptions that 'Sucker Punch' seems not to be so much offended by as revel in.

... but ...

The story's true "sucker punch" is the way it lures its audience in with the promise of simple eye candy but then hits you in the guts with something deeper and more complex.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sucker-punch-2010/#

THE MOVIE TRAILER (because not many people seem to have seen the actal movie, with its puny $36 million box office, which is a lousy weekend for most successful movies ...):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrIiYSdEe4E

... but ...

I wuv you, SUCKER PUNCH.

Okay, yeah, to paraphrase a line from the movie:

"If you don't write a STORY ... they'll film a samurai chick in a Catholic schoolgrrrrl miniskirt! Fighting everything a cgi computer can think of, after the acid hits."

One thing I love is old fashioned SF art - 30s through to 60s. It reminds me of the books I read in my youth, and the ideas we had then of spacetravel.

I found these links on a friend's blogpage, and thought I'd share them here.

http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2007/11 ... stars.html
http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2008/11 ... orlds.html
http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2011/07 ... pdate.html

A lot of Soviet art - and, interestingly, a lot of watercolours. This is a medium I personally haven't seen in SF art much, but I can see where it would lend itself to alien landscapes.

And, Soulmirror, this could almost be your woodcut style....

cheers

Steve

I cannot gush enough about the beauty and whimsy and drama of artist DAVE MCKEAN!

Has his lovely career-spanning collab-vibe thing going with Mr. Neil Gaiman, o' course ... but lovely in all his own too!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rn_YodiJO6k&feature=player_detailpage

OTHERSIDE -- The Red Hot Chili Peppers

Ah ... marry German Expressionist cinema (THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI, Metropolis, etc) to slipsliding decades of mournful Venice Cali heroin nostalgia rock ... and I yearn and I mist up ... Took a bus out to old hometown Venice OFW during the workshop one evening and it sure brought back memories and inspired future story ideas and longings ...

And then the day came when the robots decided to push back ...

http://goofygifs.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/funny-gifs-you-want-a-piece-of-me.gif

... well ... 'putsch' back, actually.

And then the day came when the robots decided to push back ...

http://goofygifs.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/funny-gifs-you-want-a-piece-of-me.gif

... well ... 'putsch' back, actually.

Heh. I must be even more twisted than usual this morning. I thought it was a scene from Dancing with the Stars!

And then the day came when the robots decided to push back ...

http://goofygifs.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/funny-gifs-you-want-a-piece-of-me.gif

... well ... 'putsch' back, actually.

Heh. I must be even more twisted than usual this morning. I thought it was a scene from Dancing with the Stars!

Well, this season we'll have Chaz Bono dancing after his female-to-male transformation ... so speculatively-speaking, on some future season we could well have the first human-into-machine transhumanist Swan Lake.

Keppler telescope discovers new planet orbiting twin stars. Universe become that much cooler!

NASA video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1pALz0sJ1U&feature=player_embedded

I know all the cool Star Trek geeks say we're supposed to hate Enterprise. And they especially tell us we're supposed to hate the theme song and the opening credits.

But I don't care! There are things I really love: sailboats, maps, charts, math, explorers, space travel... and oh yes, Star Trek. And that opening has them all! I could sit and watch just that opening, never mind what's in the episode.

I know all the cool Star Trek geeks say we're supposed to hate Enterprise. And they especially tell us we're supposed to hate the theme song and the opening credits.

But I don't care! There are things I really love: sailboats, maps, charts, math, explorers, space travel... and oh yes, Star Trek. And that opening has them all! I could sit and watch just that opening, never mind what's in the episode.

I agree with you whole-heartedly, Martin! I always found that opening absolutely inspiring, it's a succinct and powerful essay to the spirit of all human exploration throughout all human history.

And then there's audio! During my morning workouts, I've started listening to old episodes of X Minus 1 and Dimension X. Besides giving my brain a distraction while I'm on the treadmill (1.51 miles today, yay!), it's interesting to contemplate how they constructed these little 22 minute plays. It calls for very tight plotting and pacing. For someone prone to long stories like me (my latest work in progress is at 8,000 words, and I still see at least seven scenes to write), it's a nice education in brevity.

Plus they adapted some pretty classic works back in the day, including some great Asimov and Heinlein and Bradbury stories!

Everyone, when faced with a quick-coming deadline and a writer's block, could do worse imo than to watch (or re-watch, or re-re-re-watch) the wonderful SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE.

Oh ... and more hijinx in physics, speed of light and Einstein theory possibly broken, evidence of particles possibly taking other-dimensional short cuts thru spacetime ...

"This is ridiculous what they're putting out," Baden said. "Until this is verified by another group, it's flying carpets. It's cool, but ..."

So if the neutrinos are pulling this fast one on Einstein, how can it happen?

Parke said there could be a cosmic shortcut through another dimension — physics theory is full of unseen dimensions — that allows the neutrinos to beat the speed of light.

Indiana's Kostelecky theorizes that there are situations when the background is different in the universe, not perfectly symmetrical as Einstein says. Those changes in background may alter both the speed of light and the speed of neutrinos.
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireSt ... d-14585328

Einstein drags upon his magic carpet pipe, says "huh?"

For this year's NaNo, I'm writing a novel based on an idea for a sci-fi RPG game I had a few years back. I was going to UC Davis at the time, and this building pretty much made me have to write something that was sci-fi:

It's the social science and humanities building, haha. But it's awesome.

Interestingly enough, my Q4 WotF submission I just finished up with is based in this same world, just a prequel of sorts. Apparently it's an inspiring building to me!

I've been looking forward to the release of HABIBI by graphic novelist Craig Thompson for months! And at 675 pages ... it's a major work in the artform!

“The character depth, plot complexity, and storytelling in this lyrical, sexual, and scholarly epic would make any novelist proud…Thompson strings compositions that are often more tapestry than comics and that balance graphic design, illumination, calligraphy, and cartooning in steady alignment. It is unfair to expect two masterpieces in a row from anyone, but here Thompson sits securely in that rarefied air.” –Booklist, starred review

I'd offer it as being possibly inspirational to ALL of us, not just ILLUSTRATORS but WRITERS too! Thompson fuses word and art in some amazingly subtle and elegant ways in HABIBI imo ... telling a tale of love found, lost, found ... very nice tale!

http://www.habibibook.com/process/

Space Oddity (David Bowie) as a children's book.

http://www.badassdigest.com/2011/08/28/ ... drens-book

Steve

Space Oddity (David Bowie) as a children's book.

http://www.badassdigest.com/2011/08/28/ ... drens-book

Steve

That was amazing!

But I too definitely always interpreted the song to mean that Major Thom had simply become overcome with his wonder at floating above earth, and chosen to float away free out of joy and awe.

OH! BOO! Happy Halloween !!!

I forgot one of my absolute favorite art sources, and one I certainly find inspiring (warning, NSFW if your workplace frowns on artistic nudes): Quent Cordair and the rest of his studio, part of the Romantic Realism movement.

In particular, Bryan Larsen's work speaks to me. It's a celebration of the human elements of architecture and engineering. And if you've read any of my stories, you can guess that this piece is my absolute favorite. If I had a spare $2,000, a print of that would be hanging on my wall.

And if you've read any of my stories, you can guess that this piece is my absolute favorite. If I had a spare $2,000, a print of that would be hanging on my wall.

Sell some stories and use the money to buy yourself something pretty.

I like this one. Her hair is so perfectly feminine and child-like, but without impeding her ability to build the tower. I also like the weightlessness in this one. And also this one.

Thanks for sharing.

I cannot gush enough about the beauty and whimsy and drama of artist DAVE MCKEAN!

Has his lovely career-spanning collab-vibe thing going with Mr. Neil Gaiman, o' course ... but lovely in all his own too!

I thought I'd replied to this, but I guess I didn't. I really like the last frame of the young person training the giant birds. It's odd that it looks perfectly reasonable that there would be giant birds and that you would train them.