DISASTER STRIKES!!

There was a fire in my computer room the other night, unfortunatly this means my computer was destroyed in the fire. The good news is the files are not damaged in anyway as the harddrive surived the nitial cook, the bad news is until I have fixed the damage the project is on hold until Early January. Sometimes life can be harsh, if I can find a way to speed up the process I will. Backup disks were caught in the blaze. I'm dissapointed but not diswayed. The cost was miniumn at best and only shows the value one has in the fact that Blender was in fact free.

Have a merry cristmas everyone

Josh

The Observer

"The Observer" is to be the first teaser trailer for the War of the Worlds series. It's kinda fun, creating this alien big brother environment. As you may remember I had some issue creating a convincing alien screen for the footage I got earlier, so I finally gave in and went the simple way (due to time constraints) and used ParticleIllusions and got the effect I needed. Yes I know it's not open source, so sue me, but as Tom pointed out in his interview on the "Making of Elephant Dreams", not every element of the production could depend on Open source software that wasn't available to them at the time. But anyway, just so you can see how it panned out, here is the observer's screen, a small prop of an even greater more complex device.

The War of the Words

No that's not a misspelling, it's an exaggeration. The copyright and trademark issues over the name "The War of the worlds" is a tricky one, but not difficult. Yes there are issues but the story itself is not the issues, artwork, only an issue if I steal it (which thankfully it's all my own work). Characters? define characters in the novel, you can't really, it's all nondescript. Just a name just a name. Oh I could reword it "H.G. WELLS: THE WAR OF THE WORLDS", "WAR OF THE WORLDS" or simply "The War" (which is a title of a novel I am writing already), but hey iif I can use the title without a fight or treading on toes I will, I will. For now I'll use the working title "The War of the Worlds" and hope that a reasonable solution can be made.

Special thanks to Damian Collier who handles the trademark issue for the War Of the Worlds for Jeff Wayne and other matters. Without him I'd be flying blind.

Copyright and H.G. Wells

Europe

Within the United Kingdom and all other countries of the European Union, and also within Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Norway and Romania, the works of H.G. Wells remain in copyright until 31 December 2016. Within Brazil, the copyright lasts until 31 December 2006.

United States

Within the United States, any book first published before 31 December 1922 is in the public domain. Works published after that remain in copyright for 95 years from first publication. Full U.S. copyright laws can be found online at: http://www.loc.gov/copyright/title17/.

Elsewhere

The works of H.G. Wells which were published during his lifetime are now in the public domain in other parts of the world, such as Canada, Australasia, and Africa.

The above remarks refer to works which were published during Wells's lifetime; any works which were published posthumously, such as letters and H.G. Wells in Love, remain in copyright throughout the world for 50 years from first publication.

No copyright material may be produced in any form without permission from the Wells copyright owners, whose primary agents are A.P. Watt Ltd, 20 John Street, London WC1N 2DR. Dramatic rights are handled by the Casarotto Company Limited, National House, 60-66 Wardour Street, London W1V 3HP.

H.G. Wells' Literary Agents A.P. Watt

We have been granted permission by A.P. Watt to reproduce the following copyright information from their website. Other copyright provisions are available through their "Permissions" link. Please visit their website for more information.

How to tell if the work you wish to reproduce is likely to be in copyright.

a) UK (and most of Europe)

Copyright in works published during the author's lifetime lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years (the end of the year)

Unpublished works remain in copyright after the author's death

Any work published posthumously is likely to be in copyright

Copyright in photographs taken before 1 June 1957 expires 50 years from the end of the year in which it was taken, whether or not it was published.

b) USA

Copyright for any work published 1.1.78 or later lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years (the end of the year).

Unpublished works remain in copyright after the author's death

Any work first published before 1.1.23 will be out of copyright

Any work published between 1.1.23 and 31.12.77 is likely to be in copyright

Any work published posthumously is likely to be in copyright

Copyright in photographs is perpetual until published, and then lasts for 50 years from first publication

c) Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa

Copyright in works published during the author's lifetime lasts for the life of the author plus 50 years (the end of the year)

Unpublished works remain in copyright after the author's death

Any work published posthumously is likely to be in copyright

Letters

Copyright in the text of a letter belongs to the person who wrote it (or his/her heirs), regardless of the physical ownership of the letter.

Please note: these notes are guidelines only and cannot cover all scenarios, especially about the period for unpublished and posthumous works. If you have any doubts, please check with A P Watt to see if permission is required.

Photographs

The author images posted on this site are subject to copyright laws and permission must therefore be sought for any reproduction. Under no circumstances should photographic material be used without prior consent from the copyright owner (usually the photographer). In accordance with copyright law there may be penalties for unauthorised use of photographs. The following list gives details of photographers – please contact them directly (unless otherwise specified). A fee may be payable to the photographer.

Source: http://www.hgwellsusa.50megs.com/UK/hgwcopy.html

Of course the War of the Worlds has a few more legal concerns which must first be ironed out before any initial release. Ahh the long boring legal process

And now for something completly different BlenderAnime.com:

Well it's been in the pipeline for sometime now, but I think its safe to announce that starting in the New Year will be a new Blender website dedicated to Blender animators and artists who are looking for tutorials and resources pertaining to anime and manga. I know one of the most asked for tutorials are oft times anime related but are so hard to find. So Blender Anime will dedicate itself all news and education to this one topic, keeping you up to date with the latest news, education, files as well as some freebies and exclusives. The website is currently under construction but will be up February of 2010 at http://www.blenderanime.com

The Game: "Legacy"

Yep, read that right. This project is also becoming commercial point and click game for download very soon. It's a tale set after the invasion involving a deeper conspiracy behind the invasion and why "The Seed" was polluted with bacteria to begin with. Fans of Well's books may be excited to learn that other elements from his Science fiction universe, such as the Crystal Egg and The Island of Doctor Moreau will play a role in this game, but also if you're a fan of H.P. Lovecraft you may enjoy the eternal horror elements as well. We will be employing a fair bit of atmosphere and sound to the game to heighten the experience as well as hopefully add an element of fear and dread to the game, so if you like a Silent Hill edge, this game will certainly be for you

Book: "The Art of the War"

To create a world as big as these requires a lot of visual imagery. Worlds don't create themselves, well not fitious worlds anyway. One can't simply pull an image out of his head and say "that's it, we're going to stick with that". So we're adding to the story behind this process by adding to the merchandise behind this project.

"The Art of the War"

Containing imagery, feedback, tutorials and commentary on the production of "The Harvest" and the pre-production of of the War of the Worlds, this book will be a comprehensive guide to for the open source software user that will guide you through the process of making this film step by step as well as providing you with lots of nice pictures to look at.

What more can I say? I'll add more to the content as it develops.

Edwadian film footage

As the Martians observe our society, it occurred to me that I would need film footage from the era to help me. It's not too hard to find, but the problem is now creating a glowing holgraphic effect for the footage to be used in The Harvest.

Any ideas or tips?

New "pre" disk and funding

Ahhh the touchy subject of money. I have been asked about the subject of funding a bit now, and yes I will confess it is an issue. Having only 2 computers to work with at the moment and my main older than time itself, the reality of rendering and editing becomes an issue. Putting food on the table becomes an issue, keeping the family happy is always going to be an issue. Such is the struggle of a starving artist, so funding becomes a real issue, and ad sense can only go so far.

The options people have offered are good but come with some challenges

1: Pre-order DVD's: Well this is a great idea except for one thing. This is my first major project, it often pays to have somethign concrete to offer more than a simple blog and website, so whilst pre-order is in the works, I feel that concentrating on offering you the files free to look at and work on yourselves is a better option before pre-order so you can see that indeed something concrete is in the works

2: Paypal donations: Considering this seriously, but at the moment still holding back until I know that I have at least some greater support on this project

3: Release something: Ah hah, now there we go. On to the subject of the "Pre-Disk"

As you know I am producing the Prelude movie for release in the winter of next year. A 10 minute prologue to the main feature release. It occured to me this would be a perfect opportunity to make some money for the project, so I have decided to release a Pre-Disk. Consider this the first official open movie release from Manga Gothic Media. As with the main release, this disk will contain the full prologue movie (which has now been officially titled; "The War of the Worlds: The Harvest") and the all the files used to create the movie you wont find on the main feature release DVD. This release will be a unique release and not included in the War of the Worlds 4/5 disk set. If interest in this project is high enough I will make a pre release, but pricing has yet to be decided. But anyone who contribute financially to the project will get a title listing in the credits.

So there you have, a new announcement. I hope it's wet your appetite, and if you feel obliged to assist in anyway, feel free to contact me at mangagothicmedia@gmail.com

You get what you pay for and more

Back in the day of XSI I used to fork out much much more than I could afford just to learn the software. Beginners guide, Organic Modeling, Z-Brush Integration, etc. The DVD collection was emmense, and as expensive as the software itself. Don't get me wrong, I got what I paid for. The tutorials were concise, clear to the point and above all useful (if not overly long for my liking). I don't look back on it with much regret save for what I could have saved in the long run had there been at least some useful free tutorial with the same level of quality and commitment.

Then I turned to Blender. The Tutorials I started with were blocky to say the least, useful to get me started but still slowed me down none the less, having to wade the internet and find myself havingto pay much more for a piece of software that was for all intense and purposes, free. Did this pose a moral problem with me? Well no, people have to make their bread and butter for the time they put into work (believe me I wish I was doing that right now). No it was more a fiscal one, money and funds are and have been tight for a long time. So time and money was not on this project's side. War of the Worlds seemed like a pipers dream, nothing more. As inspirational as the work coming out from the Blender community was, my efforts were just a spec in the ocean with little hope of improving anytime fast.

Then, amazingly, a website comes out of the blue, almost iin answers to my prayers. CG Cookie. With free quality tutorials of a level par with the XSI training kits I was using only two years earlier. Not only that, but they listened to what their audience wanted and they delivered. And ironically as much as they covered other packages as Maya, 3D Studio Max and Z-Brush, their Software of choice seemed to focus largely on Blender. The little fish in an already dominated market, the the point that it eventually got a cookie site all it;s own in the guise of Blender Cookie.

suddenly my knowledge of Blender leaped to levels I didnt imagine. Thanks to their head tutorial I was modeling my first Martian in less than a week. As Blender Cookie progressed so to did War of the Worlds, so in many ways I owe the people at Blender Cookie a hell of a lot. Now they include private classes for individuals, and a cizitens program for exclusive content and Tutorials, and at $10 a month, compared to other classes out there, the Citizen program is well worth paying for, especially as a portion of that goes to Blender Foundation. So there you have it, Blender Cookie gets another mention. Even if you don't pay for the citizen's program the quaility of the tutorials are no less useful.

In many ways Blender Cookie is the Grandaddy of this project, and so it is with pride and much thanks I dedicate this post entirely to them. Keep up the great work, and continue to inspire

Prologue

Currently in production is a short 10 minute prologue to The War of the Worlds, detailing the fall of the Martian nation and their plans to move against earth. This short film will focus primarily on the Triumvid Council and their discussions on the threat facing their civilization. It's a pretty fun origin story, which explains a lot about the kind of species the Martians actually are. A parasite race that seed's other worlds centuries before their arrival, only to leave their previous worlds empty husks. Like locusts they ravage the resources of each world and move on to the next when they have depleted them. In essence what we call the Martians have no real world of origin to speak of. And our world is the next harvest, referring to humanity as "The Seed". In many disturbing ways, we have always belonged to them.

Creating the Martian world allows me a great deal of imagination and creativity, however even alien worlds need function and order and this is presenting both challenges and wondrous ideas on the Universe Well's created. First of is the Triumvid Council. I noticed in the novel the Martians always worked in threes. Their tripods, their formations, their social structure. I presume this was more to allow for a more unified dissent. All minds must be in unison for a plan to take place. This provides much strength ans well as opportunities for weakness, as this short film will reveal.

Free Martian

I have posted the current Blender 2.49 Martian Blend file for you to download on the Manga Gothic Media website. You can get it here Martian Blend file. Enjoy

March of the tripods part one

There is no natural reference from which to create a walking tripod, at least not on this world, so reference is a difficult thing. It's all in the mind and every adaption of this story has it's own way of walking. I personally am looking at a fluid, natural motion, almost graceful and animal like in it's movements, and the only way to achieve this is by trial and error. Rigging was the easy part, as really the tripod is the simplest of all the models for this production, animation however, well the next post will show the trial and error and you can judge for yourself

Blender 2.5 alpha is out, and cripes does it deliver!!

I'm not kidding. It's full of more pleasant surprises than I even thought possible. IK bones for splines (see right) improved bump mapping, smoke, fire, improved particles, modeling tool, faster and improved rendering, lighting, shadows... the list goes on and on.

It's an exciting time for this project, and my first order of business is the IK bones for Splines. Finally an improvement on the Tentacles for the martians. No more of this elaborate guess work or over stretching of the joints. Some might consider it an overhalu of work, for me I see it is a step forward to bringning you the best experience possible and I promise to do my best to be as every bit as good as the tools I am using.

Three Disks? Maybe even Four

Let me make no beef about it, The War of the Worlds is BIG project. I mean really big! You may think it's a long walk down to the corner shop, but that's just PEANUTS to this project, listen...

Okay Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy references aside, let me remind you that The War of the Worlds is a big project. But that in no way means your going to miss out on any of it. I have slated 3 disks for this project orginally, but the project has taken on such a life of it's own it's likely to take up 4 disks, and maybe even an extra CD for the soundtrack. So what will you get in these disks? Well bear in mind this is just the early planning stages, but here is a rough guide to what you will be paying for.

• Disk 1: "The War of the Worlds" The main movie, logging in a perhaps 2 hours long in two parts and with as many extras and Easter eggs as I can cram into one disk.
• Disk 2: "The Crystal Egg" The short 30 minute prequel to the the "War of the Worlds" including story boards and extras
• Disk 3: "The Making of The War of the Worlds and Behind the Scenes" This disk will cover the entire process behind the project as well as tutorials as to how the project was achieved, with special effects, texturing, modeling and animation techniques. It will also include an interview with the creator and hopefully the Blend Institute and the Soundtrack composer
• Disk 4: "Extras and files" From here you can access all the files used to create The War of the Worlds, including models, textures, animation files, as well as the Open Source Software used to create the film, including Blender 2.5 and GimpShop
• CD Soundtrack: The Official Soundtrack to the War of The Worlds
  

As you can see a lot of treats in store and we've only just begun, so watch this space for more information on the upcoming release.

Developer Meeting Notes: First official Blender 2.5 test build today?

Everyone is getting ready for the first official Blender 2.5 release. All indications are that this will be later today, or maybe tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Ton Roosendaal writes:

Hi all,

Most of meeting was about getting ready for the first official 2.5 test build, which should be released monday or tuesday.

Test build todos

• Special request from user: put back "emulate numpad" option. (Suprise at end of meeting, Brecht committed it!)
• Blender game player: is being patched with a 'stubs' C file, to solve all unresolved symbols because RNA API is using Editor and Windowmanager code. Needs solid solution. For after release.
• Meeting discussed open bugs. No showstoppers, but still enough work!
• Note: Campbell proposes to improve Python UI API names, they currently use too much of legacy C code conventions.
• First test build name: 2.5 alpha 0. After long debate! But there's a wide consensis to call it alpha, which is important too. :) Technically the release code is 2.50, next will be 2.51, hence the '0' or '1' behind the names.
• Builds are made by:
  Windows 32 and 64 bits: Nathan Letwory
  Linux 32 and 64 bits: Ken Hughes
  OS X 10.5 PPC 32 bits: Jan Devera (devroo):
  OS X 10.5 Intel 32 and 64 bits: Jens Verwiebe

Pending todos:

• Splash code (Campbell tries, Matt monday if needed)
• Splash design: A durian gfx is underway, will be last commit as usual
• Matt finished release notes

Other projects

• Brecht will commit tomorrow a new multires system, dumping levels as external files to the disk, freeing up a lot of memory. (And yes, bmesh future proof!

-Ton

The importance of Blender 2.5 to War of the Worlds

I cannot put enough emphases on how big a deal Blender 2.5.0 beta is to this project. In many ways the project was designed around the release of 2.5. It has more to do with it's feature list than it's new UI (which I'll admit I am both dreading and looking forward too). I am one of those artists which looks for features more than anything in a product and Blender 2.5 is set to break the roof. The War of the Worlds will eventually become a child dependent purely on the 2.5 release because of these features. Real time editing, new animation features, rumored automatic rigging, volumetric textures (can't underestimate this one) but more importantly an addition that means so much to the character of the story.

The Black Smoke. Yes I am going to admit to being very shallow here. The new smoke feature in Blender 2.5 is going to be one of the key tools required for the War of the Worlds project. In fact the Black Smoke is, perhaps, the weapon more feared than the Heat Ray. Before now, creating realistic smoke was the auspice of fine tuning particle emitters, but Ihave nevr been satisfied with the results of artificially "guessing" the frame work behind real smoke, and this is the core reason for Blender 2.5's imminent release. if anything I hope The War of the Worlds will showcase this feature to it's fullest. With fire, biological wepaons, cannon fire, hydrogen accelerator cannons, martian technology, etc, etc, you're going to see Blender's physics engine pushed well and truly to it limits.

Wallpaper for my followers

I thought is would be nice to give you all a gift from my work, to thank you for all your support. here is some wallpaper for your windows background. I hope you enjoy it

The Heat Ray

The terrible ghostly Heat Ray, definitely needs refining. I was going to go for an invisible heat wave, but that proved more difficult to pull off with any real effect, and yes I will confess I am pandering to a more mainstream audience when I actually make it a Heat Ray. It needs a of of refining, but the good news is I have used the Halo textures as opposed to particles to create the effect and animated the wave modiffer to give a real molting burning effect. Also I opted for a green ghostly color to the ray, more because I thin it's more creepy than a red laser beam.

The Scale of Invasion

The one exciting moment everyone looks forward to in a period production of War of the Worlds is the Invasion of London. And why not, it was the major capital of the world, the economic heart and grand in scale. Even way back then the sheer size of the city was overwhelming, and envision it in flames, the massive population in panic brings epic nightmares to people even now. The Invasion of London is especially poinient when you look at the images of London during the blitz. London in flames is an image that last with every English Student from their early childhoods, with that famous song on the great fire of 1666 to the blitz. The Martian invasion of the City is no small endeavor and certainly not one to play lightly with.

In order to pull it off I am making a scale model of the city as it was during 1901, of course the detail is dependent on the shots used and that in itself takes planning. There is no point in paint every brick in a building if the shot is darkly lit by flames and heave shadow, but detail is extremely important when you consider you are dealing with destruction on a such a massive scale as this. Anyway, it's a new challenge, and once again a learning experience, which in the long haul will prove only to be more beneficial as the project develops.

Dark or bloody?

There is always a controversy when approaching War of the Worlds, how do you handle it? It's a dark, terrifying book, that doesn't hold back on the gore element. Okay maybe the gore element is an over exaggeration, but the visual element is there. The end of the matter is, War of the Worlds is an extremely violent and mentally graphic book. The horrors of war and invasion are not held back in anyway. The problem lies in how to convey this in both story and visual form. I'm not out to make an R rated movie, or a family friendly movie, but also I want don't avoid the obvious graphic tones as portrayed in the book. This is the problem I found with Hine's version. He made a poor movie unnecessarily bloody, not to convey the horror but to save an otherwise failing project, and this is made obvious in the poor effects put into the graphic violence. So this is the impasse I am currently at, where does art end and exploitation begin? Where do I draw the fine line?

Getting started in Blender on an empty budget?

Make no bones about it (Pun intended), learning 3D animation can be as an expensive hobby as it can be an intimidating one, and even if Blender is free, it can still cost to learn even the basic levels of the program. Teachers need their income too you know, and it's always a good idea as well as the height of good appreciation to compensate them for their time and effort. There are plenty of Books on Amazon about Blender for the beginner intermediate and expert users, as well as many DVD and Video tutorials on the market, but these can cost anywhere between $10 and $50. Very affordable to some, but to many of us with next to nothing, a costly venture when every penny counts and all you have to break the monotony is a computer and your internet connection. So where can you go if for now you need a free option?

Well the good news is there are plenty of websites and video tutorials out there to help you get started, or to focus on that one piece you're struggling with and here I will show you the resources I use to get me started or to help me in a bind.

Ira Krakow's channel
Smile Wide's absolute beginner video

If your a beginner, then I recommend these YouTube Channels to familiarize yourself with the aspects of Blender. Yes I know you'll probably want to throw yourself right in there and animate something, but believe me one look at the Blender Interface will give you that "WTF" moment. Trust me, it''s well worth it, and even though it looks complicated, one run through one these videos and you'll relise just how easy it is to get to grips with.

Blender Cookie is my main source of Blender experience, I have always been intermediate in 3D work, but Blender was a whole new experience for me, and here their videos tutorials work well for the beginner familiar with the interface to the intermediate looking to improve their skills. In fact I can recommend no better site for free Video Tutorials on Blender than Blender Cookie, thus it ranks as my number one site. When they throw in the odd freebie here and there, it makes it so much more useful a site to be.

David Allen Ward has created a fantastic YouTube series covering the entire aspects behind character creation, rigging and animation. he's also released the entire series on DVD, which in all honesty is worth paying for in appreciation for his efforts behind the series. This is by no means an easy feat to achieve but in the end many people want to do Character animation, and if your willing to put in the hard work, David Ward has given you all the tools and know how to achieve just that.

Nion's YouTube Channel is a fantastic place to get you started in more complex effects, but made so easy even a child could do it, (trust me, mine does thanks to this channel). Most everything I needed has been covered here, and it's a channel I seriously urge you not to overlook

CGTuts has a fantastic Blender tutorial section, not least of which I think most of you will enjoy particalry, on how to model, UV and Texture a complete manga character.

These are the major sites I have focused on for my work, but none of these could have been possible to know about without two more sources, the wonderful BlenderNation, which will keep as up to date with the latest happenings in the Blender Community as well as it;s own links to extremely useful and quality tutorials and the Blender Artists forum, a fantastic community of Blender artists from the hobbyist to the profesional who are always willing to support and help you with any questions you may have.

What with thhe release of Blender 2.5, the interface change will have you running around in circles for a short time, but with a community as widespread and supportive as the Blender community, I can more or less guarantee that if you keep your eyes open this wont be the case for long. So what are you waiting for? I've given you no excuses now not to throw yourself into the Blender experience. The only thing holding you back now is yourself.

Martian rough test animation

A little test with shape keys and curves, nothing more. Note that I placed the "lung" as it were at the forehead. I emphise this with the rhythmic Breathing. I like how this, though rough, rush and unrefined still gives of a part way beggining to a decent organic feel.

Tripods and animation

I know many of you asked for it, but I still haven't done a final-final Tripod yet. Everytime I come up with an appropriate one, a better idea comes to mind. When doing a film that's a work of passion you really want to do the best you can, and believe me when I say, Blender's opening more and more Easter eggs as the learning process and the development of the software continues. With 2.5 on the horizon, the Fighting Machine wil lno doubt go under more and more evolution. The smoke emitter will definitely be a deciding factor in the final design for the distribution of the black smoke for example. Anyway for the curious amongst you, here you go. No way is the final, and yes I am far from satisfied so far.

As for animation, rigging humans is a pain, but Martians, OMG how easy has it been to animate what I thought would be the most complicated character in the film? The Martian has proved to be less of a challenge and more of an educational experience. As I said before, Blender has so much to offer, and organic fluid animation is one of them. The martian breathes, pulsates, writes... well everything except drool, but hey, it's early days yet. Expect a full teaser of the Martian very very soon

Tooned vs More realism

Whilst Muranu the Vampire inspired, The War of the Worlds is taking me in a hew direction. The more I work on the project, the more I am pushed to create a more realistic vision, though to be honest my approach to animation has been that only the real world should be realistic. Realistic animated productions seem to be pointless. It's the exaggeration of reality and fantasy I admire in animation and comics, so I am near meeting a comfortable middle ground. Subsurface Scattering is a wonderful, if albeit slow, improvement to the look and feel of the living. And in many ways I'm thankful for one thing, now I have no excuse but to learn the one thing I have been trying to avoid all this time, UV Mapping

I have also improved on the Martian considerably and decided that shape Keys and curves are the best way to approach the creature. This allows me to create a more mollusk look to it's movement and gestures. Also making the creature Breath and pulsate to give it that more alien appeal.

Evolution of the Martian

The look of the monster contributes to the fear element in any horror movie, and that's what War of the worlds is, a horror movie with a very real monster. Well's postulated that the Martians represented everything we could eventually evolve into if we continued to rely on our intellect over all our other elements. Literally nothing more than a head, with few, if they could be called such, limbs to rely on. The anatomy of a martian is remarkable in it's simplicity really, which makes it doubly horrifying. Imagine a body that made the the wasteful fucnction of disgestion pointless by the simple process of injecting fresh blood into the viens. It is after all the reason why we eat, to provide a constant flow of blood to our system. Digestion in itself is process that requires the expenditure of energy. The Martians take away waste by using this very process of feeding in order to maintain their abundant energy reserves. It's fast, eeficiant ans simple, leaving more energy to perform the needed tasks ahead. That the only organs of any real use, that being the brain and the heart, are all that's left, surround by a sinew of bone and exo-muscle, the Martian become little more than a brain that constructs bodies, like the fighting machine, according to their requirements. The Martian, in effect, becomes the perfect organism ever to evolve from a sentient being.

Taking this into consideration, and recognizing both the monstrous nature of these creatures, designing the Martians for this film became a major challenge. I didnt want in anyway to shy away from the Well's description, but at the same time required an imagry that would ingrain itself in the psyche of the audience. Orginally the Martian was desigend as a cute but menacing creature, I have since moved on from that concept and moved to a more monstrous, alien design that in every way should show exactly how terrifying these creatures are. I hope I'm getting the results I'm looking for

Slowy but surely, the plans begin to draw

Blender is a fantastic tool. It's not only free but powefrul too. Easy to use and so full of profesional potential I am amazed it's not used as much as it could be. But I digress, why War of the Worlds? Well simply put it's my favourite novel of all time. It was years ahead of it's time, written in a time when man was assured in his mastery of the natural world, nothing could shake it's empire. The British Empire was at it's peek, and whilst the Victorian Brit took solace in his decadent empire, they so easily turned a blind eye to the price that boughtabout their Imperium age. With equal malevolance, H.G. Wells wrote a novel about an invasion, not from across the seas but across the stars to the very heart of the British Empire. The cold supieror minds of an alien race looking down upon us as little as ants in a hill standing in their way of rightful possesion of our planet. It was this wake up call to humanity that opened up his eyes to the sheer potential horror of an uncaring universe, and the very real reality that in the grand scheme of creation, we were but little specs in a seemingly ageless universe. Later H.P. Lovecraft would take that concept further with his famous novels that only tapped on the surface of beings older than time itself and who's sentience and wisdom was enough to drive the average man insane with malign chaotic madness.

There have been many interpretations of the novel since it's publication way back in 1897. It's true no one can even hope to perfect on the orginal, and the creator of this work will not pretend that he can or will do otherwise. I have decided to go against convention, however, and approach my film from a more Gothic Noir perspective, taking vocal narrative well out of the equation and focusing purely on visual storytelling, as well as the use of sound. The colour scheme itsef will be lmitied to black, white, red and green, the primary colours behind the book, and a more cartoon look but with heavy emphasis on horror. It is my hope the dread colour scheme combinded with a equally dread score will convey the horror well enough. It's ging to be trial and error but I hope you will see what it is I am trying to achieve as the blog continues.

I want to impress however this is my personal project and nothing to do with my professional work