The Garage
March 7, 2011 AUTHOR: zachary CATEGORIES: Journal

Stasis Net from Shipbreakers

Okay, this post is for a different project all together. But it’s dope and relevant – when you start reading The Shipbreakers you’ll get it.  But peep this article.

Japanese Space Junk Net

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Nitto Seimo Co aim to tackle the increasingly hazardous problem of debris damaging space shuttles and satellites.

The new system involves launching a satellite attached to a thin metal net spanning several kilometers into space, before the net is detached and begins to capture space waste while orbiting earth.

During its rubbish collecting journey, the net will become charged with electricity and eventually be drawn back towards earth by magnetic fields – before both the net and its contents will burn upon entering the atmosphere.

Inspired by a basic fishing net concept, the super-strong space nets have been the subject of extensive research by Nitto Seimo for the past six years and consist of three layered metal threads, each measuring 1mm diameter and intertwined with fibres as thin as human hair.

The company, which became famous for inventing the world’s first machine to make strong knotless fishing nets in 1925, is aiming for the fuel-free system to be completed within two years.  Keep Reading on their Site.

March 7, 2011 AUTHOR: zachary CATEGORIES: Story

The Rise of PIM

This ain’t no soylent green.

The Rise of PIM
In 1990 as the Population Boom hit Palomar City, supplying food to masses became increasingly difficult, particularly for the street-dwellers. A blackmarket for cheaply-imported and smuggled grain started new violent clashes and power struggles. In response, the City and Federal Government started a plan to create the cheapest possible regulated foodstuf. This was Protein Infused Meal, PIM, a tofu-like substance which could be eaten raw or cooked. This spawned an industry overnight. From street sales to fine dinging PIM is the foundation of everyone’s daily lives. PIM also successfully destroyed the food-smuggling industry, but made the city dependent on Government subisdized food.”

March 2, 2011 AUTHOR: zachary CATEGORIES: Stuff We Love

Hardware Love

Taking a minute to share some Classic SciFi love. Peep Hardware by Richard Stanley. I came back across this while looking for an audio clip of Iggy Pop as the mad radio voice. This is even better, thank Jo Blo. Iggy Pop Video Clip as Angry Bob.

Man it looks like I’m writing this from prison, but my studio is actually pretty dope, don’t let the painted cinderblocks and falling apart windows fool you.

March 1, 2011 AUTHOR: zachary CATEGORIES: Real World, Visual Reference

Skynesting

Rocking a double cardigan look today. Go figure.

I also happened across this awesome clip on NYTIMES.com which is pretty much a description of the evolution of Skynesting. Fast forward 40 years and you’re in Palomar City.

January 30, 2011 AUTHOR: zachary CATEGORIES: Technology

Bionanotechnology in Medicine

Here’s a compelling article about Bionanotech in medicine from Fast Compan.

This is really the basis for muscle and skin grafting of vat-grown, non-humanoid skin. Think of the skin like a lined coat, the outside is the pattern the inside keeps it from snagging on your clothes. For this the outside is a synthetic designer skin, then a thin layer of human cells underneath to reconnect via molecular reconstruction.  The muscle grafts work the same way.

“Materials scientists were early to the evolving universe of nanotechnology, which involves manipulating materials on an atomic scale to produce molecular structures that can’t be achieved with traditional manufacturing techniques. Nanotechnology, in turn, gave rise to molecular self-assembly, where researchers create molecules programmed with instructions that allow them to join together into complex structures.”

What if he could inject the nanomolecules into the bloodstream so they could serve as microscopic vehicles to deliver therapeutic compounds? Even better, what if he could modify the nanomolecules so that they would attract the body’s own healing compounds to an injured area, kick-starting the repair process without introducing any foreign cells at all?

January 24, 2011 AUTHOR: zachary CATEGORIES: Business, Journal

a design question

We’ve been working on a pitch book for Gatecrashers. The bulk of it is in the style of the Palomar Observer, then some of it is presented as if on the monitor of a STRC team dash-mounted display. But from there we have to get into the business of the business a bit and that’s where it gets a bit tricky.  Here’s a background element I created. We’ll see if it makes it to the final. ps. in the studio this morning listening to Ill Street Lounge

January 15, 2011 AUTHOR: zachary CATEGORIES: Journal

K&R

Working on the District outlines and history right now. Which lead to an exploration of how the Culture Clashes started.  I certainly think that some of the Skynests resemble refugee camps, though they’re probably closer to the communities of laborers who flock to places like Mumbai in search of work and to send money home to families. As I was writing today I came across an earlier entry about KR Teams.  Kidnapping and Ransom units.  The most likely scenario for KR:STRC teams would be extraction, with little regard for the kidnappers.

January 10, 2011 AUTHOR: zachary CATEGORIES: Journal Tags:

A New Year

Ok, my producer has been hounding me to get to work on this. We’ve only been talking about it forever. So I’m hitting it with a renewed vigor, in between producing a lot of motion pictures (day job) and raising a family (6 month old baby) and renovating a new apartment (yep, pretty dope, the kitchen is gonna blow your mind). That’s my computer’s view of the back of my studio wall in Soho, NYC.

I’ve finally started working on some visuals, not just text. That’s always fun.  Peep this first pass on a logo for STRC the Palomar City special police force.  Think Hercules Team in NYC.

As I was working on this, I started piecing together the STRC teams, The main positions are Bulldog Unit, which is two cops in a wheeled vehicle. Then you’ve got STRC Street Hornets. These are single man patrols. They don’t venture far from STRC Forts which are located in every District in Palomar City.

(Oh shit, has it really been just about a year since I started this fucking blog?)

October 31, 2010 AUTHOR: zachary CATEGORIES: Journal

On Transmedia

“Happy Halloween Ladies…” (name that quote?)

Ok, the branding has gone too far. We need not try to redefine the contemporary media-scape by defining it as a new way of telling stories. Stories will be told. I found this set of articles interesting at first, then a bit confounding. b/c of items like this:

I used to make myself crazy with one more qualifier — the character would have to know how to put up sites and profiles of that complexity. But I believe it’s an emerging convention not to overthink personal websites with production values exceeding the plausible skill of the character in question. (And if it’s not, then it should be!) Don’t let realism trip you into weakening your story.

I was going to trash it, but on reflection, go give these a read, they are interesting.

Show and Tell – Deus Ex Machinatio

Conveying Action in Transmedia – Deus Ex Machinatio

Characterizations for Transmedia – Deus Ex Machinatio

[and yes, those are monogrammed pajamas and I’m drinking a delicious cup of coffee brewed in a cheap black and decker with beans from La Colombe]

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Background Image

This background image is concept art for District 99, aka Rivertown. The artwork was done by Sutu, who created the award-winning web series NAWLZ.

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