DIGIPENDENCE - declare yours!

Scott Westerfeld is a popular ‘young adult’ novelist in the science-fiction genre. His book, Leviathan, published in October of 2009, is the first of a trilogy set in an alternate history World War I universe.

Illustrator Keith Thompson has created a “sort of “Victorian manga” style, part steampunk and part old-fashioned biotech”. Apparently, the plan is to include 50 pieces of art in each book, and most of them will be full page! Beautiful high-quality prints are available for purchase for U$30 and U$50 from the Leviathan section of his site.

Plot summary:

It is the cusp of World War I, and all the European powers are arming up. The Austro-Hungarians and Germans have their Clankers, steam-driven iron machines loaded with guns and ammunition. The British Darwinists employ fabricated animals as their weaponry. The Leviathan is a living airship, the most formidable airbeast in the skies of Europe.

Aleksandar Ferdinand, prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battle-torn Stormwalker and a loyal crew of men. Deryn Sharp is a commoner, a girl disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She’s a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered.

With the Great War brewing, Alek’s and Deryn’s paths cross in the most unexpected wayÉtaking them both aboard the Leviathan on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure. One that will change both their lives forever

Read the first chapter (PDF). The second book, Behemoth, is set to be released in October 2010.

Freeman’s Mind, episode xx of a Half-Life Machinima Series by Ross Scott

Half-Life is a popular video game series from Valve. A science fiction first-person shooter, it consists of two full games, two episodic games, and three third-party made expansions, as well as a number of demos featuring exclusive content. Dr. Gordon Freeman, a theoretical physicist and employee of the Black Mesa Research Facility, is the main protagonist.

According to Wikipedia:

The series has been ongoing since 1998. Most games and expansions in the series were developed by Valve Corporation and published by Sierra Studios, although some expansions were produced by Gearbox Software. Electronic Arts also took over distribution of the games in the series from Sierra from 2005 onwards. The series was initially released for the PC, but console ports of most installments have also been released. All expansion packs for the original game feature playable characters other than Freeman.

Ross Scott of Accused Films has created an on-going machinima series in Half-Life called Freeman’s Mind:

Freeman’s Mind is a science-fiction comedy series that follows the thoughts of Dr. Gordon Freeman, a 27 year old physicist and protagonist of the game Half-Life. The setting starts off in Black Mesa, a government research facility in New Mexico. In the game Half-Life, Freeman is entirely silent and has no actual personality. In Freeman’s Mind, he is a highly vocal and neurotic individual with paranoid and delusional tendencies. All episodes are filmed in a first-person perspective as he gives a monologue of his thoughts. Episodes are sequential and should be watched in order to make the most sense of the series.

Episode 24: Freeman continues trying to get the power on to the railway so he can escape and encounters even bigger problems.

Release Date: 2010-02-03
Runtime: 6m43s

Wacom has long set the standard for graphics tablets. Artists of all abilities love their offerings. And they’ve just unveiled their new Intuos4 Wireless pen tablet with Bluetooth wireless technology which lets the user relax in their favorite working position or move about freely up to 33 feet (10 meters) from their computer.

Cost: U$399. System Requirements: Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP (SP2+), Mac OS X 10.4.8+. Note: Also requires color display, powered USB port, CD/DVD drive, and broadband Internet connection to download bundled software. You can watch some product videos on how to set up, map and customize the tablet.

“History of the Internet” is an animated documentary explaining the inventions from time-sharing to filesharing, from Arpanet to Internet. The history is told using the PICOL icons on picol.org.

Shot over six days using a Canon 35mm 7D + these lenses specifically: Canon 24mm/70mm a 2.8, Canon 50mm a 1.2, Canon 85mm a 1.2 and Canon 300mm a 2.8. Post-production took a month and 3D software utilized was Maya and Maxwell.