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

[soulmirror]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1YpE7U33yo&NR=1&feature=fvwp

eerie ... and thought-provoking ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAJWQhMbHL4&feature=related

and ... just there waiting

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3BxBeLzbg8&feature=player_embedded

[soulmirror]

On the other hand, there's the Eminem/Rihanna music vid LOVE THE WAY YOU LIE ... which is a disturbing mix of all the wrong kinds of fantasy, self-destructive and wrong-glorifying romanticism, and ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uelHwf8o7_U&feature=av2e

Aha -- my actressbaby Megan Fox flashing the dramatic as she and her Hobbit-on-the-skids- go all RingWraith and slipslide-into-100% proof Orc swill. Cruel scenes inside Mordor Motel.

The dark side of being a pyrotechic superhero, I suppose. Touched on a little in X-MEN (I dare not love you, says the little flame girl ... who quickly found true love with Bill the Vampire in TRUE BLOOD)

Ain't nobody just in sweet cupie-doll Love anymore? Why's there always gotta be Tragedy or UnNatural Weirdness involved?

Obviously someone's doing a great publicity job getting folks and the media to TALK about what the video "means" and whether it's pop-culture POISON or catharsis-for-Rihanna or ... well ... whether it's sick fantasy or dark medicine.

Any thoughts/reaction/discussion here?

When was the last time a Sci-Fi or Fantasy story or Novel really stirred up a hornet's nest of controversy, do you think?

[greggarious]

I think the current Nebular award-winning novel, The Windup Girl by Bacigalupi should stir up a storm. Much as I've loved the author's short stories, and agreed with the accolages they received, his first novel is no masterpiece. Many untied threads, wandering focus, breaks in believability, slightly disappointing ending. Could it have won the Nebula based mainly on theme, which has been one of Paulo's strengths? I wonder what some of the other authors of great '09 novels might say if bold enough to speak freely. A storm of protest and controversy!
But in keeping with the topic, Bacigalupi's writing has indeed inspired my last few contest entries, including my current one, about genetic apartheid between normal humans and genetically enhanced humans--Numans!
g

[Alex Kane]

I think the current Nebular award-winning novel, The Windup Girl by Bacigalupi should stir up a storm. Much as I've loved the author's short stories, and agreed with the accolages they received, his first novel is no masterpiece. Many untied threads, wandering focus, breaks in believability, slightly disappointing ending. Could it have won the Nebula based mainly on theme, which has been one of Paulo's strengths? I wonder what some of the other authors of great '09 novels might say if bold enough to speak freely. A storm of protest and controversy!
But in keeping with the topic, Bacigalupi's writing has indeed inspired my last few contest entries ...

That's a pretty big detail. I wouldn't disclose plot things that specific on the WotF site if I were you. Disqualification for something like that would be terrible, especially if the story might have won otherwise. I'd edit your post.

[Sam Hidaka]

I think the current Nebular award-winning novel, The Windup Girl by Bacigalupi should stir up a storm. Much as I've loved the author's short stories, and agreed with the accolages they received, his first novel is no masterpiece. Many untied threads, wandering focus, breaks in believability, slightly disappointing ending. Could it have won the Nebula based mainly on theme, which has been one of Paulo's strengths? I wonder what some of the other authors of great '09 novels might say if bold enough to speak freely. A storm of protest and controversy!
But in keeping with the topic, Bacigalupi's writing has indeed inspired my last few contest entries ...

That's a pretty big detail. I wouldn't disclose plot things that specific on the WotF site if I were you. Disqualification for something like that would be terrible, especially if the story might have won otherwise. I'd edit your post.

K.D. will have to give you a definitive opinion here. But in my opinion, saying that a story is inspired by Paulo Bacigalupi is not nearly enough to identify the specific story.


When I first started reading slush, Bacigalupi's story, "The People of Sand and Slag" was getting a lot of buzz. So the slush pile was filled with stories with a similar feel -- ugly worlds populated by grim people.

Now that Paulo Bacigalupi won the Nebula, and tied for the Hugo, there will be an onslaught of Bacigalupi-type stories -- in every slush pile, including WotF.

Sam

[Alex Kane]

I think the current Nebular award-winning novel, The Windup Girl by Bacigalupi should stir up a storm. Much as I've loved the author's short stories, and agreed with the accolages they received, his first novel is no masterpiece. Many untied threads, wandering focus, breaks in believability, slightly disappointing ending. Could it have won the Nebula based mainly on theme, which has been one of Paulo's strengths? I wonder what some of the other authors of great '09 novels might say if bold enough to speak freely. A storm of protest and controversy!
But in keeping with the topic, Bacigalupi's writing has indeed inspired my last few contest entries ...

That's a pretty big detail. I wouldn't disclose plot things that specific on the WotF site if I were you. Disqualification for something like that would be terrible, especially if the story might have won otherwise. I'd edit your post.

K.D. will have to give you a definitive opinion here. But in my opinion, saying that a story is inspired by Paulo Bacigalupi is not nearly enough to identify the specific story.


When I first started reading slush, Bacigalupi's story, "The People of Sand and Slag" was getting a lot of buzz. So the slush pile was filled with stories with a similar feel -- ugly worlds populated by grim people.

Now that Paulo Bacigalupi won the Nebula, and tied for the Hugo, there will be an onslaught of Bacigalupi-type stories -- in every slush pile, including WotF.

Sam

I cut out the plot summary in my quote box. He actually said what his story was specifically about in his post above, which I see is still there, and I think that's a lot of info to be making public, and on the contest's own forum, no less.

It's supposed to be judged blindly; they can't do that if they suspect they know who penned a given story.

[MJNL]

I'm with Alex on this. Even if it's not enough for a judge to pick out the particular story, I'd say it's always better safe than sorry, right?

Personally I just try and avoid mentioning anything about stories that haven't been judged yet, right down to the genre (Because, you know, what if it’s a heroic fantasy piece and--on the off chance-- it gets picked to be a finalist and it isn’t up against any other heroic fantasy stories? If a judge happened across a post that mentioned it, it would be obvious which was mine). But then again, I'm paranoid, lol.

But it is a personal call. If greggarious has looked the post over and doesn't think it's a problem, he's taking a calculated risk. Without a judge to weigh in it's all speculation as to how much can be gleaned from a one-sentence summary and an author nod.

[Sam Hidaka]

I cut out the plot summary in my quote box. He actually said what his story was specifically about in his post above, which I see is still there, and I think that's a lot of info to be making public, and on the contest's own forum, no less.

It's supposed to be judged blindly; they can't do that if they suspect they know who penned a given story.

Point taken; I stand corrected.

If K.D. gets 2,000 - 3,000 submissions, then there will likely be several hundred Bacigalupi-type stories.

But if you specify stories with plotlines about xxx xxx between xxx xxx and xxx xxx xxx, then you reduce it to maybe a half-dozen stories. This could, as Marina points out, be problematic if it becomes a finalist -- since it would probably be the only one that fits the description.


General note: If you write stories inspired by something you've read recently (or movie you've seen) that a lot of other aspiring writers are also reading (or seeing), then there will be a whole lot of other stories similar to yours.

For the most part, this really isn't a problem. Such is the way of slush piles.

Out of a thousand random submissions to a pro-level publication, there are usually about 100 - 150 that are well written enough to merit being read all the way to the end. Out of those, there are typically 3 - 6 stories that tower above the rest -- for the most part, it doesn't really matter what the story is about; it's all about how the writer executes the story.

On the other hand, if you come up with a truly original idea, then your story will likely be one of those that towers -- even if your line-level writing isn't quite as sparkling as some others, or your story execution isn't as stellar as some others.

Sam

[soulmirror]

This image has always weirded me out on some level ... whether it's the echoes of Poe's The Cask of Amontillado or Masque of the Red Death or simply the absurdity of a duel and a death while dressed in clown suits ... it's tragic and sinister ... and inspires so many dark story ideas imo!

[soulmirror]

Something very sinister about this one imo, instantly cool chill up the spine of Forbidden Knowledge ... Sci-Fi and Fantasy Horror.


"WebMaster" by Vladimir Kush


"Breach" ... but is it the breach of life or of disaster?

[soulmirror]

Jean Leon Gerome. To me, the guy paints scenes that either are saccharine silliness (see Cupid rub the tiger's tummy, because Love Conquers All) or dark and moody wonders that just jumpstart the fantasies.


What dark mission? What exotic land?


"The headsman's art ..." the guard smiled knowingly "Is not only in the execution, but in the presentation of the piece!"



And then there's this chick.

I've seen enough low budget schlock horror movies to know: when the naive tourist makes fun of the ancient relics for a "funny snapshot" ... Ancient curses are predictably released! When the nubile young couple make out amidst the ancient ruins ... Bad Monsters are inevitably brought back to life!

Seriously: You should not slip the Sphinx any tongue. No good can come of it !!!

[soulmirror]

Utopian or dystopian I guess is a choice we all make in our writing
And if neither of those are "real life" ...
why write?

THE OFFSPRING sing of 'fragile lives, broken dreams' (and the Fading and Lessening, as the fantasyfolk call it)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrZ4sMRYimw&ob=av2e

"Today is the first day
of the rest of your life," she said ...
but the darkness in her eyes
Said all Hope was dead ...

*********************************************
Or maybe all hope is not dead, and it can be found in Country Music:
Brad Paisley / Welcome To The Future

http://www.movie-erudition.com/video/Y0Yg9wjctRw/Brad-Paisley-Welcome-To-The-Future.html

*********************************************

Or to more dying dreams, I dunno.

more OFFSPRING:

http://www.youtube.com/watch_videos?more_url=&video_ids=VrZ4sMRYimw%2C5_LxyhCJpsM%2CnumCZoBFcv4%2C_g19fCJotPc%2CkenF3_77774%2Cus8OhI-OTHg%2CEkzVHer6B8A%2CAULaJdMPmIw%2Cg5f-2u1gX6Y%2CavCteSZK-Ec%2CrsBT3jYo14M&type=13&feature=artistob&index=1

[Snow]

My biggest inspiration comes from, as I call it, "Epic" music, most specifically Escala and E.S. Posthumus.

Escala's "Finding Beauty" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJZduu-dKYk Makes me think about grand space battles all the way from great lumbering behemoth capital ships down to the smallest of frigates.

E.S. Posthumus' "Ebla" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iu-WAHBbW8 They help somewhat in my sci-fi imagination, but mostly inspire my Fantasy side.

Also of note, not as much inspiration as it is "acting out" is a favorite game of mine, Sins of a Solar Empire: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sins_of_a_Solar_Empire
Really helps me out when trying to come up with space battle scenes, specifically directing them.

[Michael B]

I was just writing a dramatic scene in my current story and this song popped into my head out of nowhere. Fifth Element Diva Dance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJB5Rqc1m0Y&feature=related

I love it, I love it. (Okay, the fight scene is pretty atrocious, but the song is amazing.)

P.S. Snow, I liked Escala's "Finding Beauty". I'll have to remember that one!

[Michael B]

Oh, and while we're sharing inspirational music, these two as well:

Sibelius Violin Concerto, played by Hilary Hahn:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OlI0RLQJoU

The Lark Ascending (Vaughan Williams), played by Janine Jansin:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbcuteYm-EA

I've listened to both of these so many times, yet I never tire of them. And although no story ideas have directly stemmed from them, I do find that they help me to get into the right mind frame to write.

[Snow]

I was just writing a dramatic scene in my current story and this song popped into my head out of nowhere. Fifth Element Diva Dance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJB5Rqc1m0Y&feature=related

I love it, I love it. (Okay, the fight scene is pretty atrocious, but the song is amazing.)

P.S. Snow, I liked Escala's "Finding Beauty". I'll have to remember that one!

The rest of Escala is good too, especially for finding different inspirations.

[soulmirror]

Cool music picks from you guys! Thanks for joining in!

Is it a weird aspect of human psychology how if you put monumental, soaring music behind scenes of human destruction ... it takes on a sense of ... righteous Destiny?

I was checking out how other folk use the E.S. Posthumus music behind those videogames (ASSASSIN'S CREED etc) and the fight scene in THE FIFTH ELEMENT too ... and it made me think again of the (imo) cool theme music to BATTLESTAR GALACTICA ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrddRK7_Yec&feature=related

A Hindu religious song soaring into ecstacy ... singing out the destruction of all Mankind by enlightened jihadist machines? And the Cylon sleeper agents look upon our obliteration with smiles of ... what?

In the uncomfortable choice between Justice and Mercy ... we may profit little from Justice ... and so best to throw ourselves on Mercy by showing it first ourselves.

[Michael B]

Is it a weird aspect of human psychology how if you put monumental, soaring music behind scenes of human destruction ... it takes on a sense of ... righteous Destiny?

Indeed, it's amazing how much music can influence your emotions, and thus impact your perspective on a scene. Alas, this is a device we can't use in writing.

Unless...!

Do you think if I include youtube urls in my story, K.D. will search them up and listen to them at the appropriate points? I'll just slip them into conversation. Could just make the difference.

Thanks, Soulmirror! I'll mention you as one of my inspirations when I'm giving my acceptance speech for this story.

*shudder* I just realized, with the increasing popularity of e-books this sort of thing could actually start to happen.

[Snow]

No silly, we include the music on CDs (with hard copy), or custom playlist with e-sub, and label the tracks appropriately, eg "Paragraph 8 - 12".

Oh no, I just gave away the secret to my first victory..

[soulmirror]

*shudder* I just realized, with the increasing popularity of e-books this sort of thing could actually start to happen.

It's a philosophical (or at least aesthetical) issue of great depth and complexity, f'shure!

There are often comments made across the internet how there must be a "balance" between over-description and "leaving it to the readers' imaginations" -- many writer/reader folks frown upon cinema and tv (it seems, sometimes) based on the feeling that "nothing is left to the imagination" --

We might find a chasm of different viewpoints right here, between the Writers who would see the value in nailing a description (in prose) so effectively that it puts a complex visual image in the Reader's mind -- versus those writers who might insist that one shouldn't describe a visual so much as communicate a concept to the Reader (for example, every Reader might have a "favourite childhood toy" -- but should the writer merely seek to suggest that, or offer up a specific TOY -- a plush unicorn -- knowing that some readers will love that specific toy while others will utterly loathe it?

Or is the WRITER'S POWER in making the Reader understand how the character in the story FEELS about her beloved unicorn?

It's odd, it's a dilemma. No "visual description" spun in prose approaches the visual weight of an ILLUSTRATION well-done; yet the illustration then becomes SPECIFIC.

"Leaving things to the Imagination" has its advantages and its shortfalls.

Yet as ARTISTS (writers) isn't it our RESPONSIBILITY to create, and to guide the reader to our desired destination? That is where I personally have a problem with many kinds of "interactive" entertainment ... a "decide your own ending, design your own character" approach that is better left to GAMES than to ART.

ART makes a statement, the ARTIST must shoulder the responsibility for creating the thing from a blank page or a blank canvas ... if their creation is to be of value (after all, we can ALL daydream by ourselves, we don't need to PAY to read another's dreams or see them in a movie theater)

So, losing my own point in my prattle I'll return to yours! indeed, I can see e-books laced with urls to reveal images, maps, background info, while music plays to set (or according to the audience tastes, derail and destroy) the mood as one reads. I can see that being both the WRITER taking on the BEST of her own creativity ("Orcs look like THIS, Elves are THESE glorious sinister angelic creatures and NOT your frakkin' Disneyfied-infantilized cartoons") ... or being stripped of their own vision by others who clutter and re-package everything.

How specific should the Writer be, then? Writing amazing and moving visual description ... or merely suggesting and leaving it to the Readers' 'imagination"?

I love reading LORD OF THE RINGS the books.
I ADORE the heightened majesty of the stunning visuals and drama MOVIE VERSIONS however.
I lose myself in the encyclopedia of THE SILMARILLION etc.

Which shall we aspire to do?

It is the creator's dilemma.

[soulmirror]

DOLLFACE. by Andrew Huang



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zl6hNj1uOkY

This one is just so beautiful and heartbreaking imo ...

[Alex Kane]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mqr-N1MmRwo

The music of JOY DIVISION is a huge inspiration for my SF writing.

Enjoy.

[soulmirror]

The stunning art of ERIC DROOKER sets an eerie "I awoke and Found Me On This Cold Hillside" mood for me too very often indeed. I suppose it can be as simple as a play on the phrase "New Yawk as Big City Jungle" or as story-inspiring as his wide vistas of Images of technological self-annhilation, urban decay, dystopian delight, and strange mythologies.

[Brad R. Torgersen]

In case this didn't make the rounds yet?

Just how BIG are the objects in our universe?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEheh1BH34Q

Extra cool, because it uses the opening credits theme from Disney's THE BLACK HOLE.

[soulmirror]

Just how BIG are the objects in our universe?

Big Universe ... in which we awake to find ourselves the littlest of creatures.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NJqUN9TClM&NR=1

"IF I DIE YOUNG"
by The Band Perry

Mournful and beautiful ... slightly overbright (for some) Southern Gothic, perhaps, where Pre-Raphaelite gloom might be expected ... but still ... haunting imo.


Tennyson's The Lady of Shalott, drowning and baptism, the River Styx, watery wombs and watery graves ...

'...the sharp knife of a short life ...' as they sing.

[soulmirror]

"High maintainence"

... but still ... probably a treasure trove of story ideas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PAABJ0hH84
Scary girl #1

On the other hand ...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_xUpQBPvkU&feature=related
Scary girl #2

Warning: neither may not take contest story rejection well.

[soulmirror]

Entering another being's mind and dreams, living their experiences ... obviously it's a recurring trope in SF and Fantasy. Always good for a second-hand adventure, like any good story. From the Author's mind to ours!

Sometimes it's a (seemingly, now, at first) cheezy 1980's voyeuristic thrill fantasy ... or a (?) 2000's mind***k ...

But in future Oscar-winners' James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow's STRANGE DAYS you get the feeling (well, imo) that there was something a little deeper going on, given the proximity to the Rodney King chaos / Year 2000 paranoia / Waiting For Hell To Break Loose ... maybe a Message, or maybe just a Postcard from a past decade.

INCEPTION's forebears
(of which there are obviously many more, and anyone who can suggest more films that deal heavily with the subject of entering dreams/minds, please do!) ...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yaXPx6xWEQ&feature=related
STRANGE DAYS (1995)
"Hey, relax," sez Tom Sizemore. "The world's gonna end in ten minutes anyway!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yaXPx6xWEQ&feature=related
DREAMSCAPE (1984)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtwCHfmDQ60
BRAINSTORM (1983)
Christopher Walken is the alien among us!

And then there's the doomed Romeo lovesick angst of Ralph Fiennes eyes ... watching Juliette Lewis sing in STRANGE DAYS ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKnlo7sLfa0

And if thou wilt, remember,
And if thou wilt, forget.

as the girl recited Christina Georgina Rossetti's poem
in the previous

But let your thoughts be your own, not merely hers or another's on infinite onanistic playback loop ... might she today have added?

[soulmirror]

Is the Imagination in or outside?

[Brad R. Torgersen]

For my money, Kate Bigelow's STRANGE DAYS was one of the great, unsung films of 1995. Really terrific, with super performances from Sizemore, Ralph Fiennes, and the marvelous Angela Bassett.

[soulmirror]

1992 IotF winner Shaun Tan's art blows my mind with its beauty and imagination and ... it's got such soul.



Some Fantasy and Sci Fi art, y'know, how it's got visual coolness but leaves you emotionally cool too?
Mr. Tan's hugely popular and award-winning visions just always seem to touch that vital human emotional chord too, imo!

His graphic novel THE ARRIVAL is awesome, surreal, and lovely ... and has (I'm thinking) not a single word in a human language! Pure visual story-telling!