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. View the book trailer.

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.

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. View the book trailer.

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.

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. View the book trailer.

Central Powers (Clankers):

Germany is a massive military machine with weapons aimed outwards to all surrounding countries. It points threateningly at Britain, not so much as a sign of direct aggression, but more as an indicator that it was now Germany’s turn to start a grand global Empire to challenge the world’s current one.

Austria Hungary is an aggressive armoured giant, teetering on shoddy foundations. It is also the primary aggressor in a land grab against Serbia, with two bayonets piercing the border.

The Ottoman empire is a teetering automaton, collapsing under the weight of a paranoid and ungainly spying network that gazes at Europe through many lenses and spy glasses. Istanbul is labeled Constantinople following the period’s English naming conventions.

The Swiss watch ticks away the time, comfortable to wait it all out.

Entente Powers (Darwinists):

Britain is an militaristic lion with a Roman Imperial italic-type helmet. It sits upon a mound of riches gathered from its Empire.

France’s elephant beast (wearing the French kepi they started the war with before adapting their firefighter helmets) is influenced by the Elephantine Collossus built for the Universal Exhibition of 1889 in Paris (later it ended up going to the Moulin Rouge.)

Russia is a huge imperialist bear, rotting and filled with maggots.

Serbia’s imagery is an indicator of the huge amounts of civilian deaths and suffering they’ll find themselves subject to.

Norway and Sweden are both Scandinavian trolls in the style of John Bauer, an inspirational illustrator from the era who produced a lot of phenomenal work during the war.

Portugal is a parrot for the Entente trying to goad a slumbering Spain into the war.

Ireland looks askance to Britain and brandishes a shillelagh. An indicator of their very rough relationship at the time, and of their upcoming involvement with the Central powers.

Italy is a clutch of snakes with intents on the Central powers despite existing agreements. A foreshadowing of their arrangements at the secret 1915 Treaty of London where they were promised land in exchange for involvement. It was heavily influenced by Italian Prime Minister, Antonio Salandra’s open policy of serving Italy’s “divine self-interest.”

Andrews McMeel Universal and Amazon.com are searching for the next great comic strip artist so they are sponsoring an international contest: Comic Strip Superstar.

Andrews McMeel will award a publishing contract with a $5,000 advance from Universal Uclick, and a monthly stipend for the development of 20 comic strips that will be considered for syndication. The ‘Grand Prize’ also includes “A full publishing contract with Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC to market and distribute a collection of the Grand Prize Winner’s comic strips or comic panels as a published book”. The deadline is September 12, 2009, and no late entries will be considered.

Each entry should be original, unpublished work in a .jpg file consisting of:

1. 10 daily comic strips
2. 2 Sunday comics
3. A title
4. A brief synopsis

Links of interest: Contest FAQ, Official Rules, Key Dates and Prizes.

From the submissions, Universal Press Syndicate will narrow the entries down to 250 quarterfinalists. The quarterfinalists will then be narrowed down to 50 semifinalists by John Glynn and Lee Salem, seasoned Universal Press Syndicate editors. In the semifinal round, popular comic strip creators G.B. Trudeau (Doonesbury), Lynn Johnston (For Better or For Worse), Scott Hilburn (The Argyle Sweater), and Mark Tatulli (Lió and Heart of the City) will choose 10 finalists and post feedback for each on Amazon.com. Amazon.com customers will then have the opportunity to view the finalists’ submissions and vote for the grand prize winner.

Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC (AMP):

is an industry-leading publisher of humor, gift, general trade, cookbooks, and calendars with more than 300 new titles annually. Universal Uclick includes the nation’s largest independent newspaper and licensed property syndicate and the leading digital entertainment provider of humor, comics, editorial cartoons, daily games and text features for the desktop, Web, and mobile phones. Both AMP and Universal Uclick are divisions of Andrews McMeel Universal, which was founded in 1970 by Jim Andrews and John McMeel.

Using Photoshop, After Effects and Final Cut Pro, Jaron Pitts has created an awesome trailer for a Green Lantern movie starring Canadian cult-fave actor Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Serenity, Castle) as Hal Jordon.

Jaron very cleverly mined the following properties for clips to include: Planet of the Apes, Serenity Trailer, Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Stardust Trailer, The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring, Firefly, Dragonball Evolution Trailer, Galaxy Quest, The Fountain Trailer, Superman Returns Trailer, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Smallville, Justice League TAS, GI Joe Trailer, Contact, Star Trek Enterprise, Star Wars Episode III, The Mutant Chronicles Trailer, Iron Man, Star Trek Trailer, Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe Cutscene, The Chronicles of Riddick, Kamen Rider, Bedtime Stories, MIB 2, Escape from Witch Mountain Trailer, The Matrix Revolutions, The Chronicles of Narnia - Prince Caspian and White Noise 2.

The music is “Forces of Destiny” and “Freedom Fighters” by Two Steps from Hell.

At the time of this writing has almost 850 000 views. He also took a few seconds plus the final logo from Mike Afford’s amazing Green Lantern trailer (embedded right below) which was was created using Cinema 4D. There some artworking in Photoshop, with post production work done in After Effects CS3, grading with Magic Bullet ‘Looks’. And yes, Mike uses the very popular Lux Aeterna as his theme music. As of this writing, it has garnered more than three quarters of a million views.