Dragon*Con 2012: Notebook

This year, I am trying something a little different. Every year when I get home, I page through my notebook looking for ideas that resonated (as well as books I want to buy and websites I want to look up). This year, I thought I would share. They may seem choppy, but they are meant to stimulate conversation rather than just provide information all on their own. If you find something intriguing, give a shout and we can discuss it. It's likely I have more notes.

If nothing else, it will give you an idea why I keep going back to this convention and attending panels, or at least the types of information I enjoy. I smattered some links throughout.

So, here are the highlights of the notes in the order and context that I took them.

Storytelling:

Plays focus on dialogue and location.

TV and film focus on external action.

Novels focus on internal dialogue and thought.

Computer games focus on character and their position in the game.

Creating characters in art:

You always follow the eyes of a character as you scan a picture. Instinctively, you want to know what they are looking at. Western eyes scan from left to right, like we read.

Part of the process of creating a character:

1. Get visual references (research in writing)

2. Understand the character's environment (character sketches in writing)

3. Tight work in the details draw the eye. Shadows let the eye rest. The mind fills in what's missing (descriptions in writing)

Moon base fundamentals:

If viewed by an external culture, the Earth-Moon system would likely be classified as a binary planet because our moon is so large, proportionally larger than any other moon in our solar system.

For an example of extreme solar radiation, look up the Carrington Event of 1859 on Wikipedia (and apply to modern electronic technology).

Space propulsion 101:

For use of ion thrusters, look up the Dawn Mission on Wiki.

For nuclear thermal rockets, look up NERVA on Wiki.

For nuclear pulse engine, look up Project Orion on Wiki (would reach a Centauri in 140 years).

For Low Earth Orbit, look up space tethers on Wiki (electrodynamic).

For higher orbits, look up space tethers on Wiki (momentum exchange).

Philosophy in science fiction:

Most people think of Batman as the archetype of The Law and The Night, and Superman as Morality and Light. But if you examine Batman through the works of Kant and Superman through the works of Hobbes (Leviathan), they exchange those two roles.  

The Buddhist Warrior takes on the Karma of killing in order to create a Utopian society, knowing full well when it is brought about, s/he won't be able to live in it and will live as an outsider (I bounced this off a panelist in a later panel on Dynamic Character Identity to apply to Scott Westerfled's Uglies trilogy).

Storytelling in Film:

The story in any film gets told three times. First in the script, then as in the shoot and finally in the editing. 

Film is a director's media.

TV is a writer's media.

The story arc in a short film includes an abbreviated three act structure.

Act 1, inciting incident.

Act 2, problem solving.

Act 3, outcome, success or failure.

Running a business with your SO:

Each relationship has three parts: who you each are; who you are together; who you are apart.

Dynamic character identities:

We recognize people through two sets of features:

1. accidental features (physical, like hair color). If they change, we don't see the person as different.

2. essential features (psychological). If they change, we see a different person (like a soldier coming home from war).

In literature, we identify characters even though their accidental features change (the actors who play Hamlet). In comic books, we identify characters even though their essential features change (Batman always looks the same but acts completely differently through the decades of the series).

Book cover design:

Lines, eyes and hands move the viewers eyes around the drawing.

Every project has three phases:

1. Excitement (this will be the best).

2. Problems (this will be the worst).

3. Acceptance (this came out ok, time for the next).

Believable lighting make any painting look real (same works for small details in writing).

Space books:

Solar Sails, G. Vulpetti, G. L. Matloff & Les Johnson

Living Off the Land in Space, G. L. Matloff, Les Johnson & C. Bangs (own)

Back to the Moon, Travis Taylor & Les Johnson

Art/Comics theory books:

Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud (ordered)

Creative Illustration, Andrew Loomis (OOP)

Color and Light, James Gurney (ordered)

Imaginative Realism, James Gurney (ordered)

Frazetta artwork

Fiction:

Going Interstellar (short stories and essays), Les Johnson & Jack McDevitt (eds). (ordered)

Rat King, China Mieville (will Kindle)

The City in the City, China Mieville

Embassytown, China Mieville

Uglies trilogy (Uglies, Pretties, Specials), Scott Westerfeld (read some of his before)

Games:

Eclipse (sci-fi, 2-6 players) (ordered)

Tabletop (board game recommendations by Wil Wheaton, YouTube channel)

CDs:

As the Dark Against My Halo, Cruxshadows (bought)

East, Ego Likeness (bought, signed)

Treacherous Thing, Ego Likeness (bought, signed)

Havestar, I:Scintilla (bought)

Marrow 1, I:Scintilla (bought)

Light Speed, Fader Vixen (bought)

Applied Structure in a Void, Die Sektor (bought)

The Final Electro Solution, Die Sektor (bought)

Jewelry/Chainmail:

Dave Cain Jewelry (necklace and earrings on commission) 

© 2012 Edward P. Morgan III