spacetime coordinates: planet Somaris / Earth during the Cretaceous period / Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event
Tag Archives: forest
2224 – 12 Monkeys (TV Series 2015–2018)
spacetime coordinates: Original Timeline: 1955 US > 1987 Tokyo > 2013 Baltimore, Maryland > 2015 Chechnya, NY > 2016 Manhattan on the day of the Chinese New Year > 2017 (the M5-10 virus kills 7 billion people) > 2030’s Western VII Quarantine Zone / Spearhead > 2041 – 2043 Project Splinter // Alternate 2015 / 2043 // Third Timeline: 2016 <> 2044 // Fourth Timeline: 1925 – 1944 US – 1950’s NY / 1961 East Berlin / 2044 <> 1971 – 1975 US / 2044 <> 2016 / 2020 Spearhead / 2044 // Fifth Timeline: 1852 American frontier / 1891 London / 1917 – 1922 (fr) <> 2045 <> 1940 France / 1953 Hope Valley / 1989 US / 2046, 2047 / 2163 / 1491 /// Titan (a massive time-traveling industrial facility) __detailed timeline here__
12 Monkeys is an American television series on Syfy created by Terry Matalas and Travis Fickett. It is a science fiction mystery drama with a time traveling plot loosely adapting the 1995 film of the same name, which was written by David and Janet Peoples and directed by Terry Gilliam, itself being inspired by Chris Marker’s 1962 featurette La Jetée; the series credits Marker and both Peoples for their original works.
In the series, Aaron Stanford and Amanda Schull star as James Cole and Dr. Cassandra “Cassie” Railly, two strangers destiny brought together on a mission to use time travel to stop the destructive plans of the enigmatic organization “Army of the 12 Monkeys”. Kirk Acevedo, Noah Bean, Todd Stashwick, Emily Hampshire, Tom Noonan, Scottie Thompson, Alisen Down, Brooke Williams and Barbara Sukowa also star. (wiki)
2205 – The Pale Blue Eye (2022)
spacetime coordinates: 1830 West Point, New York
The Pale Blue Eye is a 2022 American mystery thriller film written and directed by Scott Cooper, adapted from the 2003 novel of the same name by Louis Bayard. The film features an ensemble cast that includes Christian Bale, Harry Melling, Gillian Anderson, Lucy Boynton, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Toby Jones, Harry Lawtey, Simon McBurney, Timothy Spall, and Robert Duvall. Its plot follows veteran detective Augustus Landor as he investigates a series of murders at the United States Military Academy with the aid of Edgar Allan Poe, a young military cadet. (wiki)
2199 – The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (TV Series 2022–)
spacetime coordinates: the Second Age of Middle-earth, thousands of years before Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is an American fantasy television series developed by J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay for Amazon Prime Video. Based on the novel The Lord of the Rings and its appendices by J. R. R. Tolkien.
Design
It was Jackson’s understanding in December 2018 that the series would be set in the same continuity as the films and Amazon wanted to be consistent with the designs that were created for them, which illustrator and concept artist John Howe reiterated in August 2019, saying the showrunners were determined to remain faithful to the designs of the film trilogies. Payne and McKay later clarified that the series is not a direct continuation of the films, per Amazon’s deal for the series, but they did not want it to “clash” with the films and tried to have similar designs. They took advantage of Howe’s experience working on Jackson’s adaptations, as well as that of costume designer Kate Hawley who worked on the Hobbit films. Other influences included the 1977 animated television adaptation of The Hobbit by Rankin/Bass.
Howe had filled 40 sketchbooks with drawings for the project by May 2022, and said the biggest difference between the films and series was the latter visited new locations, such as the oceans of Middle-earth. Avery’s biggest challenge was making Middle-earth feel both familiar and new. He chose to build as many practical sets as possible, wanting the series to “feel real and honest… to make sure that the actors had a world that felt inhabitable”. Payne said being on set “was like going to Middle-earth every day for work”. Avery used different styles for each location, such as Lindon’s “tree-like columns” which were inspired by Gothic architecture. He added “arboreal details” to reflect the Elves’ love of nature. Khazad-dûm was designed to be “less severe” than the film version, using a “sensitivity toward the stone” rather than “harsh lines and gargantuan statues” to show the kingdom before the Dwarves “got greedy”. Avery compared the large wheels on the Harfoot wagons to the round Hobbit doors seen in the films.
Payne, McKay, and Avery put a lot of focus on Númenor, which Payne explained was because “it’s never been seen before. People have some ideas of what Elves look like or what Dwarves look like and what those kingdoms might look like. But Númenor was, in some ways, a blank canvas.” They planned out the entire city, and made sure that this reflected Tolkien’s description of it originally having Elvish influences but becoming more “Mannish” as it was developed. Tolkien also compared the city to Venice, so Avery took inspiration from that city and its connection to water. He used the color blue in a lot of the city’s locations to emphasize the culture’s relationship with water and sailing. Númenor’s “looming marble structures” and “bold shapes, rich colors, and geometrical ornament[s]” were inspired by Ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt, and the rest of North Africa and the Middle East. The distinct shape of the sails on Númenórean ships were based on the ceremonial headwear worn by Gondorian kings, the descendants of Númenóreans, in the Third Age. Avery worked with experts to ensure the ships were still functional with the unique sails. The main Númenor set was almost 300,000 square feet (28,000 m2) and was described as “an entire seaside city” with buildings, alleyways, shrines, graffiti, and a ship docked at the harbor inside a large water tank. There were additional sets for specific locations within the city. The sets were built with a lot of real materials that were cheaper to source in New Zealand than the “movie fakery typically used to save time and money on sets in Los Angeles”. Avery’s team also created a form of Roman concrete using seashells that they used in the alleyways to show some of the history of the city. To further help immerse the actors, Avery used real plants, fruits, and incense on set so the “smells were right”. Yip described the Númenor sets as “breathtaking… we were there for weeks, but every day I’d notice a new detail”.
Jamie Wilson was the head of prosthetics for the series after previously working on the film trilogies. He noted that there had been advancements in the technology available since the films were produced, including encapsulated silicone that looks much more like real skin than previous techniques. The prosthetics team also worked closely with the series’s visual effects department for digital “tweaks” to the prosthetics. The showrunners were particularly interested in the series’s depiction of Orcs and ensuring that practical effects were used where possible. Wilson explained that the Orcs in the series were intended to be “younger”-looking than those in the films, since these groups are just emerging from hiding. Because of this, the series’s Orcs feature less battle-scars than those in the films and are also lighter-skinned with some skin conditions caused by new exposure to the sun. (wiki)
2198 – Dorfromantik (2021 video game)
Dorfromantik is a city-building puzzle video game developed and published by Toukana Interactive. In the game, players need to place hexagonal tiles of various biomes to create an idyllic landscape. The game was released in March 2021 for Windows via early access and had its full release on April 28, 2022. A version for Nintendo Switch was released on September 29, 2022. (wiki)
“Life is hard. Sometimes games are hard, and that just reminds me that life is hard, and then everything feels too damn hard. Not early access city-builder Dorfromantik, though. That game is just the right amount of chill.”
Kotaku
“Dorfromantik is like Zen-Gaming for Landscape-artists.”
4PLAYERS
“Dorfromantik activates what I think of as my meditative lizard brain, thanks to the tiny thrill of getting those hexes to fit together. It’s well-suited to casual engagement, and challenging enough for the score obsessed (myself included) to play it over and over.”
Vice
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS MINIMUM: OS: Windows 7 / Processor: 2 GHz Dual Core (Intel / AMD) / Memory: 3 GB RAM / Graphics: Nvidia GT550M | AMD Radeon R7/HD 5650 | Intel HD 520 / Storage: 650 MB available space / Sound Card: use your imagination to make your own sounds 🙂
2178 – Medieval (2022)
spacetime coordinates: 14th century Kingdom of Bohemia
Jan Žižka leading his troops (illumination from the late 1400s)
Jan Žižka in a detail of Jan Matejko’s Battle of Grunwald
Medieval (Jan Žižka or Warrior of God) is a 2022 English-language Czech historical drama film directed by Petr Jákl. It is about the life of Jan Žižka, a Bohemian military commander who never lost a battle. The film is set prior to the Hussite Wars (1419–1434), when Žižka was young. It tells the story of how Žižka became a famous military commander.
With a budget of KČ500 million ($20.3 million), it is the most expensive Czech film ever made. (wiki)
2171 – Vesper (2022)
After the collapse of Earth’s ecosystem, Vesper, a 13-year-old girl struggling to survive with her Father, must use her wits, strength, and bio-hacking abilities to fight for the future. (rottentomatoes)
Directors: Kristina Buozyte & Bruno Samper Starring: Raffiella Chapman, Rosy McEwen, Eddie Marsan, Richard Brake & Edmund Dehn. feat Melanie Gaydos. (Lithuania / France / Belgium coproduction)
TimeSpace Warps 