In 2273, after having been thought lost in a black hole, Voyager 6 returned to Federation space as
V'Ger, the massive and menacing spaceship at the heart of
Star Trek: The Motion Picture...
Designing the Living Machine - concept art for V'Ger,
Redesigning the Walk to V’Ger,
The Lighting and Photography of Star Trek's "V'ger",
working on the interior of V'ger,
V'ger External View,
V'Ger - Spock Mindmeld Model Piece (scroll way down) (may contain
Darth Vader and Miss Piggy),
animating the "V'ger Probe",
V'ger rear view.
posted by Artw
on May 3, 2012 -
41 comments
Over the summer, NPR solicited the input of its listeners to rank the top science fiction and fantasy books of all time. Over 60,000 people voted for the top picks which were then compiled into a list by their panel of experts. The result? This list of 100 books with a wide range of styles, little context, and absolutely no pithy commentary to help readers actually choose something to read from it. SF Signal comes to the rescue with this handy flowchart.
posted by Artw
on Sep 27, 2011 -
166 comments
From the start of Bill Lancaster writing the original script to the final edited cut of the film, The Thing underwent some serious changes. A lot of footage ended up littering the cutting room floor. The Collector's Edition DVD gives us a look at some of the Outtakes and Deleted Scenes, but it falls shy of showing us what really was cut. -
Deleted Scenes from
The Thing and other assorted goodies at
Outpost 31.
There is also a prequel of some kind.
posted by Artw
on Sep 20, 2011 -
38 comments
Blogging the Hugos: Decline (
part 1,
part 2,
part 3), is a series of blog posts covering some dystopian trends in recent Hugo nominees and itself
winner of the of the BSFA award for non fiction. Meanwhile the 2011 Hugo finalists
have been announced, with Mefi favorites featuring strongly: In Best Novella
The Lifecycle of Software Objects by Ted Chiang (
previously), In Best Short Story
The Things by Peter Watts (
previously). Doctor who features heavily under Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form (
too many posts to mention), but has strong competition from
Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury.
posted by Artw
on Apr 24, 2011 -
27 comments
Alan Moore and
Ian Gibson's epic story
The Ballad of Halo Jones concluded 25 years ago today (bar the odd strange
one page appearance hinting at why it did not return). Despite being unpopular with readers at first due to it's female protagonist and relative lack of action it is now rightly regarded as one of 2000ads classic stories. However despite Quality Comics reprinting a color monthly version (which was anything but quality) it has remained a rarity in the US,
until now. But how would the other 6 chapters of the planned 9 part chapter have gone? Moore
revealed how it would have ended in a
recent interview.
posted by Artw
on Apr 19, 2011 -
20 comments
Following the success of
The Haunter of The Dark, the HP Lovecraft Literary Podcasts presents two new readings,
From Beyond and
The Picture in The House, by Andrew Leman and Bruce Green. Both recordings are available "In 3D". Alternatively if you like your Lovecraft with both pictures AND sound, the HP Lovecraft Historical Society version of
The Whisperer in Darkness is complete and being shown at worldwide film festivals - it's a talkie! (The HPLHS are now also offering a rather handsome
"official membership" pack.) Want something more interactive?
Cthulhu Dark offers a complete Lovecraftian tabletop RPG system that fits on two sides of a sheet of paper. Please note:
"If you fight any creature you meet, you will die. Thus, in these core rules, there are no combat rules or health levels. Instead, roll to hide or escape."
posted by Artw
on Mar 29, 2011 -
21 comments
Murderbullets, 102 pages of power armour, guns, mega-scale rapidly mutating biological horror, cancer sticks, tanks and general comics mahem by James Stokoe.
posted by Artw
on Dec 2, 2010 -
17 comments
"We appreciate all the support that fans have shown for 'Caprica' and are very proud of the producers, cast, writers and the rest of the amazing team that has been committed to this fine series. Unfortunately, despite its obvious quality, 'Caprica' has not been able to build the audience necessary to justify a second season." - The Battlestar Galactica prequel series
Caprica has been
cancelled, and it's final episodes consigned to 2011. As ever there is debate as to
what went wrong, though it looks like one complaint, the shows relative lack of action, will be addressed by the next spin-off:
Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome, set during the war years of a young William Adama.
posted by Artw
on Oct 28, 2010 -
125 comments
The biggest literary influence on my approach to game design, however, was one of the writers I worshipped as a teenager: Alice Sheldon, aka James Tiptree, Jr. Tiptree had one particular recommendation for starting a story: “Start from the end and preferably 5,000 feet underground on a dark day and then don’t tell them.” This is precisely how we begin Half-Life. It was a deliberate antidote to the many game openings that involved pages and pages of backstory presented in scrolling text. - An
interview with Marc Laidlaw, writer for the Half Life series.
posted by Artw
on Oct 13, 2010 -
65 comments
