Tag: art

Let’s Make a Music Video ~ Step 5

Publish the work to an elite audience for feedback.

I am about ten hours in on this project, not counting a year’s worth of collaboration with ChatGPT — a deep well without which I could not have made this.

Chatty knows the book. All I had to do was select illustrations. The storyboard is AI, all the way. I did not follow it to the letter, but it was good enough that I could have.

Storyboard v1 — 3:07, vertical 9:16

The timestamps are editorial targets, not frame-accurate musical cuts yet. In Resolve, I would slide the cuts a few frames either way to land on drums, keyboard accents, and phrase changes.

TimeSource fileTreatment in 9:16Purpose
0:00–0:04Seedance 2.mp4Full motion; center waterfall and underside of islandImmediate WTF hook. Don’t begin like an advertisement.
0:04–0:087a.pngSlow push toward Anye + Maroli + young manEstablish what kind of universe this is
0:08–0:122a(3).pngPush from joined hands toward Carmen/Brandon facesFirst romantic statement
0:12–0:16Floating_island_mansion_drifts_o…_202608301805.mp4Motion; crop around estateWonder / scale
0:16–0:2017(2).pngPan left-to-right: RZ craft → Carmen/BrandonRomance embedded in SF
0:20–0:249(6).pngPush toward young couple; let “Gravity is ON” remain visible initiallyPlayfulness
0:24–0:28kling_20260301_Image_to_Video_The_furry__5394_0.mp4Use strongest 4 secAlien/human affection; charmingly strange
0:28–0:31106.pngFast push toward girl’s expression/dogComic beat
0:31–0:3520(2).pngPan aircraft ramp → arrivals → alien greeterFamily/worldbuilding
0:35–0:39f8614edd40c5.mp4 around 33.7–37.7Use walking exterior materialFirst substantial live-motion lift
0:39–0:4446(3).pngPan young couple → Carmen/BrandonGenerational match: two romances, one world
0:44–0:49120.pngSlow push toward ring and facesRomantic escalation
0:49–0:53140(20260830-020614).pngStart slightly wider; push into kissFirst payoff
0:53–0:5760(2).pngGentle upward push from hand/tie to facesDomestic intimacy
0:57–1:0157(3).pngVery slow vertical drift; estate centeredReset to spectacle
1:01–1:05Minimax 1.mp4Motion aerial; crop waterfall/estateWorld opens again
1:05–1:09Minimax 3.mp4Cave-water motionCool visual change of register
1:09–1:1365(1).pngPan men → Maroli across poolWhimsy / friendship
1:13–1:1748(2).pngPan human conversation → MaroliStrange domestic normality
1:17–1:21f8614edd40c5.mp4 around 15.0–17.7Maroli close materialGive the title creature some screen time
1:21–1:25190c.pngStart on enormous island; drift toward people/dogsScale becomes ordinary life
1:25–1:29kling_20260627_Image_to_Video_Female_act_2702_0.mp4Best 4 sec of beach actionReplace stillness with real subject motion
1:29–1:3249.jpgQuick push; retain fishermen atop craftAbsurd/fun SF punctuation
1:32–1:36180.pngCenter dog, pan between alien coupleRoad-movie energy
1:36–1:40185(20260830-020617).pngSlow push toward couple + dogWarm landing before tonal shift
1:40–1:4463(1).pngPush Carmen → reframe toward micro-nova displayThe stakes arrive.
1:44–1:4836.pngPush through pilot toward tactical screensCompetence / action
1:48–1:5210(2).pngPan couple → black vehicleTechnology enters the foreground
1:52–1:56f8614edd40c5.mp4 around 0–4.7Flying vehicle materialActual propulsion
1:56–2:0013.pngSlow push toward night ship beneath Milky WayBrief majestic pause
2:00–2:05Ruksa Zila Flythrough.mp4 around 0–5Island approachBegin the big-world run
2:05–2:10Ruksa Zila Flythrough.mp4 around 8–13Waterfall / geological detailContinue movement, change scale
2:10–2:15Ruksa Zila Flythrough.mp4 around 27–32Pool/grotto areaPeople inside the impossible environment
2:15–2:20Ruksa Zila Flythrough.mp4 around 33–38Night promenadeMove toward romance again
2:20–2:2461a(20260830-022311).jpgPush on older woman adjusting young man’s tie; keep military woman in frameFamily / blessing / continuity
2:24–2:28172.pngVery restrained pushOlder-generation affection
2:28–2:3228(3).pngGentle push on couple at dinnerOrdinary happiness
2:32–2:363(3).pngVertical crop containing all three if possible; slight pushSocial charm / alien normalization
2:36–2:402a(3).pngReturn to Christmas dance, tighter crop than first useVisual refrain
2:40–2:4466.pngSlow push; almost no movement neededCarmen/Brandon payoff
2:44–2:4846(3).pngReverse-direction pan from Carmen/Brandon → young coupleComplete the generational match
2:48–2:5220(2).pngDifferent crop: dog/child/family rather than arrivalLife beyond the romances
2:52–2:56Floating_island_mansion_drifts_o…_202608301805.mp4Different section/crop from first useFinal spectacle build
2:56–3:008(4).png or Minimax 1.mp4Grand centered island, slow pull backThe whole impossible world
3:00–3:07Hailuo_Video_443955602984333320.mp4 or 384212807443660804.mp4Portrait source fits 9:16 naturally; freeze last clean frame if necessaryBook/brand end card

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Blurb 2.3

The Kata AjJivadi, codified 48 BCE, commands that the planet Jivada’s influence on Earth shall be hidden from view — impractical unless someone destroys evidence at, for instance, the Shrine of the Muses in Egypt, next door to the Alexandrian Library.

It was arson. Nobody denies it. Consequently, in a single stroke, barring the occasional Sasquatch sighting, the Anye Migration and its many aspects were relegated to mythology.

Continue reading “Blurb 2.3” →
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Covering the story

Mom was the artist of the family. Philippines, 1967. Norma Jean Roberts Dyer Razovsky posing at her easel, mid-blink, in the company of Alan Maury Razovsky (Dad) and little Johnny Dyer (me).

We can’t tell what she was working on due to harsh lighting, but it had to be amazing because Mom was good at it. However, in the acorn-tree department, yours truly once drew a circuit diagram on posterboard for a science fair project (1963), and to this day, that is the extent of what I can do with a drawing instrument.

I am, however, an advanced novice on Adobe Photoshop — and what a great tool that is, especially when reinforced with a dollop of AI software IP theft facilitator, or whatever the kids are calling it these days.

Turn away in disgust if you must, but that’s how I did this.

Now that you’ve noticed creepy fingers on the right hand, you can’t look at anything else, can you? AI is notorious for glitches — Mason’s neck is too long, the lighting is off, color balance is iffy, and it looks like a paste-up job, which it is.

Never mind. This is just a placeholder for the actual cover, which will be developed by an artist, unless I attend a seance during which Mom teaches me how to paint.

In the meantime, this illustration will get me through the pre-release phase, during which authors traditionally leak WIP chapter excerpts into the ether, a tried-and-true means of inciting readers into an anticipatory frenzy — such as you might be experiencing right now.

May I suggest you visit my catalog to satisfy your cravings until publishing date. July perhaps, unless I perform another massive rewrite, which is not out of the question.

So, answer me this: Does my first mockup cover elicit comparison to Japanese tentacle erotica?

I completely forgot such things existed; and by the way, I have discovered services that animate illustrations for free, and worth every penny of it.

Maroli Tango cast members posing for a promo. You can’t get a maroli to stay still.

Mason Fowlkes out of costume. Mind you, I have no idea how this happened. Might have been something I said.

Did I mention you should buy my books? Also, are you an artist? Are you aghast at my brazen use of AI? Do you know how to paint hands? Tell us in the comments.

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Folksy!

Back in 1928, off-planet operators were still booking lemur folk into the historic Wild West for steak dinners and trail rides, but the proposition was on shaky ground.

America’s first interstate highway had been routed straight through the Dakotas. The Lazy L Ranch, 20 miles north of Black Rock, was not as discreet a place to land spacecraft as it used to be.

Continue reading “Folksy!” →
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