YEAR II DIPLOMA / END OF YEAR SHORT FILM: 2110 A.E.

CHRONOGRAM / FOR THE SHORT UPCOMING FILM TITLED AFTER EARTH........

FILM SEQUENCES / IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER

MARS 2023 / INHABITANTS WANTED

Mars One is a not-for-profit organization whose goal is to establish a human settlement on Mars through the integration of existing, readily available technologies from industry leaders world-wide (Mars One has developed a realistic plan to establish a settlement on Mars by 2023, based on existing technologies available from proven suppliers). Mars One is not an aerospace company and will not manufacture mission hardware. All equipment will be developed by third party suppliers and integrated in established facilities.Mars One intends to fund this decade-long endeavor by involving the whole world as the audience of an interactive, televised broadcast of every aspect of this mission, from the astronaut selections and their preparations to the arrival on Mars and their lives on the Red Planet.

Mars One invites would-be Mars settlers from anywhere in the world to submit an online application via apply.mars-one.com.  This online application will be the first of the four rounds that together make the Mars One selection procedure. Round One will run for over five months and end on 31st August 2013. Applicants selected at the end of this round will include the first crew that will land on Mars in 2023. Mars One selection committees will hone the search for the first crew in three subsequent rounds and further training.

http://applicants.mars-one.com

THE RINGS OF PERSEPHONE / TEST SEQUENCES FOR UPCOMING FILM

Down below are two short sequences I intend to use for the final film of a conceptual orbital space settlement called Persephone.  These external shots may be used at the beginning of the film along  with several internal views I am currently working on, to depict an unconventional space that does not conform to the laws of gravity here on Earth.  The reveal of the space settlement will be shown toward the end of the film using camera shots from a distant. 

ELYSIUM (2159) / A SCI-FI FILM ABOUT SPACE,CLASS POVERTY & POLLUTION.

Set in the year 2159, two classes of people exist: the very wealthy, who live on Elysium – a Stanford torus space habitat in Earth orbit – and the rest, who live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth. The people of Earth are desperate to escape the planet’s crime and poverty, and they critically need the state-of-the-art medical care available on Elysium – but some in Elysium will stop at nothing to enforce anti-immigration laws and preserve their citizens’ luxurious lifestyle. The only man with the chance to bring equality to these worlds is Max Da Costa, an ordinary guy in desperate need to get to Elysium. With his life hanging in the balance, he reluctantly takes on a dangerous mission – one that pits him against Elysium’s mayor, Secretary Jessica Delacourt and her hard-line forces – but if he succeeds, he could save not only his own life, but millions of people on Earth as well.

In theaters: August 9, 2013

Director: Neill Blomkamp

Writer: Neill Blomkamp (screenplay)

Stars: Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley 

Copyright @ Sony Pictures

THE PERSEPHONE CHRONOGRAM / A NARRATIVE MAP OF THE PROJECT .......

A chronogram is an illustrative narrative map that stands in for a film when the film itself cannot be shown.  The chronogram is not shot based it is a spatial drawing, its role is to determine the spaces of the project. In film-making there are clear divisions of labour - the roles of writer, director, cinematographer, editor and animator are all normally separate, however in the development of the chronogram it is assumed that all these roles are performed by a single person or a small team of people.

Chronogram definition courtesy of Nic Clear

THE PERSEPHONE WORLDSHIP / JUNKSPACE, ARTPLACE, LIVINGSPACE ......

50 years after launching our dreams into space, we’re left with a troubling legacy: a growing ring of orbiting debris that threatens the safety of earth’s orbits. There are over 300,000 pieces of space debris (from inactive satellites) in low orbit, with more than 12,000 larger pieces that can be dangerous to active satellites, space stations, and when some of it plummets back to Earth, to human life on the ground.  We have reached the tipping point in Earth’s Low Earth Orbit – potentially jeopardizing space exploration for future generations.  

Persephone is a colonised worldship concept  designed to try and provide a solution to our space debris problem. Constructed in orbit in a hundred years time, Persephone, will have 10 magnetic pads attached to it's structure that'll rotate about their centre collecting space debris as they do.  The salvaged space debris will be compressed and melted into trash discs, which'll in turn be used by the worldship's inhabitants (Persephonians) to create junk sculptures and art throughout the worldship.  Persephonians will live in a multiracial recreational society no longer shackled to the flawed monetised system we currently live in.  They will be a society of Homo-ludens "Playing man" that'll find our higher purpose of humanity through art and play.

SPACE JUNK /   IT'S OUR MESS-IT'S OUR  RESPONSIBLITY TO CLEAN IT UP 

A short film by Melrae Pictures that tells the story of how our space junk problem might jeopardize space exploration for future generations. www.spacejunk3d.com

Swiss Space Center at EPFL just launched the "CleanSpace One" project. The aim is to design and build a satellite that will chase, grab and destroy a space debris - namely one of the first Swiss satellites, Swisscube-1 or TIsat-1.

THE RINGS OF PERSEPHONE / "A PERMANENT PLACE IN SPACE"

CAMERA TEST SEQUENCE

This short animatic attempts to capture the mood of what I want Persephone to depict.  The animatic has been captured in black and white to allow me to easily render and manipulate the camera around the model.  I will create a coloured version of the scheme and place a more convincing/relevant background in the scenes once I am satisfied with how the camera maneuvers throughout the space.

2013 INTERIM PORTFOLIO  / DIPLOMA YEAR II

ASTEROID 2012 DA14 / ASTEROID TO PASS CLOSE BY EARTH TODAY

On Friday evening asteroid 2012 DA14 skims closer to our planet than any other known asteroid. Although invisible to the naked eye, binoculars can bring the space rock into focus.  Space rock 2012 DA14 is only 50 metres across. It will pass the Earth on Friday evening (UK time) just 17,100 miles above our heads. Allegedly there is no danger of a collision, even though Russia was hit by a meteor shower earlier today- Meteor strike injures hundreds in central Russia

Asteroid 2012 DA14 will pass closer to the Earth than many artificial satellites. It will pass from the southern to northern hemisphere and set the record for the closest pass of any known asteroid since systematic surveys of the sky began in the mid-1990s.

A METEORITE SHOWER HITS RUSSIA   /  INJURING  HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE..

More than 900 people have been injured after a meteor strike in central Russia, the country’s interior ministry said. Fragments of at least one meteorite - the weight of a double-decker bus  -were seen falling from the sky in the Chelyabinsk region at around 9am local time, around 1,500km east of Moscow.

A regional governor said 950 people have been injured. Russia’s Ministry of Emergencies said at least 82 children were hurt and 34 adults and 12 children were being treated in hospital. Two people are in intensive care.

THE TRASH DISC BY NASA   /  RECYCLING FOR CHEAPER SPACE TRAVEL.....

It seems now that space debris considerations have entered the daily agenda of most space agencies worldwide, other environmental issues are slowly following. As noticed appreciatively by many “green” writers in the past weeks, NASA has embarked on a project that should develop a way to utilize garbage produced by astronauts in space.

Researchers at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center are currently testing special tiles made from garbage such as plastic bottles, old clothes, duct tape, and foil drink pouches that might be used in the future to add, for example, radiation shielding.  Nowadays, most of the trash produced at the International Space Station is simply loaded into automated transfer vehicles and left to burn during re-entry. Such a strategy would be impossible once a long-haul mission, such as to Mars or an asteroid, is considered.

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/exploration/researchtech/trashdiscs.html

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION RECYCLING / TURNING URINE INTO WATER 

Astronauts on the International Space Station have to recapture every possible drop. That includes water evaporated from showers, shaving, tooth brushing and hand washing, plus perspiration and water vapour that collects within the astronauts' space suits. They even transfer water from the fuel cells that provide electric power to the space shuttle. NASA, until recently had not attempted to tap one major potential source of water: urine. The deployment of the new Water Recovery System on Friday, Nov. 14 2008, made it possible to double to six the number of crew members who can live aboard the International Space Station. Michigan Tech researchers helped optimise the design, increasing its efficiency by 30 percent.

DEEP SPACE INDUSTRIES / MINING THE UNIVERSE FOR THE FUTURE

Deep Space Industries believes the human race is ready to begin harvesting the resources of space both for their use in space and to increase the wealth and prosperity of the people of planet Earth.  DSI will build on the incredible heritage of the first age of space exploration and harness the power of a new age of information to locate, explore, harvest and utilize the vast numbers of asteroids in Earth’s community. We will do so by being creative and practical – taking small steps to begin with, and giant leaps when we can – to supply our customers and provide a new and hopeful future for humanity.  http://deepspaceindustries.com/ 

PLANETARY RESOURCES / HARNESSING OUR RESOURCE-RICH ASTEROIDS

A newly unveiled company with some high-profile backers (including filmmaker James Cameron and Google co-founder Larry Page) is set to announce plans to mine near-Earth asteroids for resources such as precious metals and water.  

Planetary Resources, intends to sell these materials, generating a healthy profit for itself. But it also aims to advance humanity's exploration and exploitation of space, with resource extraction serving as an anchor industry that helps our species spread throughout the solar system.

http://www.planetaryresources.com

EUROPE'S 3D PRINTED MOON BASE VISION / BY FOSTER + PARTNERS

Foster + Partners are exploring the possibilities of 3D printing buildings on the moon using lunar soil.  The London architecture firm is working with the European Space Agency to investigate methods for constructing lunar homes and has designed a four-person residence that would shelter its inhabitants from dramatically changing temperatures, meteorites and gamma radiation.

http://www.dezeen.com/2013/01/31/foster-partners-to-3d-print-buildings-on-the-moon/

THE RINGS OF PERSEPHONE  / A NEW SOCIETY / A NEW WAY TO PLAY.....

Persephone is in fact one big automated machine.  It has sensors in all technical belts to track the progress of agriculture, energy gathering, production, distribution and the like.

So if we could start from scratch, what would such a society look like?  Well I've attempted to envision such a future through the design of Persephone.  Persephone is a worldship that'll be constructed in orbit in a hundred years time.  Designed to accommodate 1000 inhabitants, Persephone is comprised of 7 Belts that interlock together to form the worldship's structure.  Each belt represents essential parts of a thriving society (Food, Production, Residential, Power, Recreation, Social and Education).  No society goes without change, and so Persephone has been designed to be malleable allowing for change in future colonies.  Additional Belts can be added, or existing ones repurposed as the values and ideals of future societies change.

PERSEPHONE  / IF WE COULD BUILD A NEW SOCIETY FROM SCRATCH......

With our vast technological insight and exceptional cognitive abilities, our potential as a species could be extraordinary.  However, many of us are fast becoming lifeless machines, caught up in dead end draining repetitious jobs, where we are deemed as nothing more than a cog in the system.  A system that is flawed by design.  A system that is not driven by the ascension of man, but rather by the lust and hunger for money and profit regardless of the costs to both you, I or our planet.  My design proposes a society no longer shackled by the chains of this system.  A society that is multiracial and monocultural, where it's inhabitants worship the stars, planets, body and mind as opposed to money.  A place where man can rejoice, laugh and have fun.  A society that better allows us to find our higher purpose as man.