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For The Press - A Project Summary

Jan
03

 

 

Ring out the old, ring in the new,

Ring, happy bells, across the snow:

The year is going, let him go;

Ring out the false, ring in the true.

~Alfred, Lord Tennyson

The start of a new year is a time for reflection, as trite as that may seem. And like most years, I’m forced to wonder how in the hell I got to where I am now.

Before this year, I had never before considered a career in film. I mean, looking back on it, I have no idea how I had ignored the signs that I should get into filmmaking. I love to tell stories. I love how each new unfolding of plot is a personal thought experiment, a way for imagination to overpower the unreliable senses and make each of us wonder, “What would I do if I were put on the spot?” Movies at their finest are living dreamscapes in which to play and question, to learn about ourselves through the fiction of heroes and villains and everyone else in between. To experience emotional danger without its dreaded consequences.

Of course I want to be a part of all that.

Aristotle once wrote that the pinnacle reason we all enjoy watching a story unfold is because “to be learning something is the greatest of pleasures not only to the philosopher but also to the rest of mankind, however small their capacity for it…for if one has not seen the thing before, one’s pleasure will not be in the picture as an imitation of [the event], but will be due to the execution of coloring or some similar cause.” In other words, we all have excellent reason to love Rocky, and yet rightfully disregard Rocky II-V.  (Rocky Balboa would be rated somewhere in between, I suppose.)

There is no greater joy than in watching a well-crafted story unfold. Period. Which is why I’m so freaking proud to be a part of this team.

When I first was introduced to this project, all I did was offer (often inane) suggestions and edits to Adrian’s script. But when he and I got to talking about the deeper stuff, the implications of character and the crafting of plot, I was blown away. Adrian had thought more about BoT than I had on practically anything. There was a terrific devotion in him to get everything right. Man, was it nice to meet someone as serious about fiction as I was. Or rather, as serious as I hoped to be.

And as I slowly came about to meet each other member of our team, I was met with more of that same insane dedication. How freaking lucky is that? How often to you get to meet one person of the same mindset as you, let alone an entire group?

And for most of us to be living in the same city at the same time? And for that city to be…South Bend? I still can’t wrap my head around the unlikelihood of that one.

Within the group, it is common for us to mention just how lucky we have been, but we simply can’t do it often enough. Whether it is whimsy or providence…if we carried this kind of luck into a casino, we’d all walk out with big cartoon bags of money with dollar bill symbols on the sides. (In fact, the only reason we haven’t gone to the casino every week is because I assume we’re spending all of our lives’ luck on this film. No joke.)

Point is, this is the first new year in which I can feel truly excited for the prospects of the next. No retail management training nonsense to vainly try to fight my way into. No 160,000-word book manuscript weighing down my everyday life. (Well, that’s still in a drawer somewhere, but hey, what twenty-something writer doesn’t have a God-awful novel hidden away?) I have a group of coworkers I can call friends, and a group of friends I can call co-workers.

We’re going to get this movie made. And I’ll be damned if it isn’t something we can all be proud of.

11:10 pm

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Whoo! Thank you for such a wonderfully upbeat post! I’m sure it’ll be amazing and many more fans will be made and hopefully Cyan won’t have to struggle either. Yeah.

And yes… banish the Christmas music. I fear Nov/Dec time period ever year. The greed is ugly. The commercials are annoying. Why do holidays bring out the worst sides of people? Anyway… nighty night! Thank you, Yale!



*Cheer*



P.S. It looks like the coding for this post is a bit fudged up on the main page. No biggie, though.



Lostthyme
Jan 04 2010

Well said, Yale. I know we fans will definitely be proud of this movie. :D



Of course you’ll be proud of it! Like Angela said, thanks for the upbeat post! Now if you’ll excuse me I need to be getting to bed. Got college starting again nice and early tommorow. wooo. :)
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I actually didn’t listen to that many Christmas carols. On Christmas day it was hard rock and I loved it! :D



*turns up Andrea Bocelli’s “My Christmas”*

Oh! You said STOP playing Christmas music. I thought you said “Please, Tanya, crank that @#$% up as loud as you can!”. :-D

Seriously, was there anyone who DIDN’T put out a Christmas CD this year? Because that seemed to be the big thing this year. Haven’t made a CD yet this year? Well, then. let’s just slap a bunch of carols on some vinyl and call it a year!

Yes, yes, I know … very pessimistic of me. I’ll just go sit in the corner over here … :)

-Tanya



Great way to start the year- hope you still have some luck left after the movies finished, cause I want to see BoA as well… :)

Hope the year goes well, you’ve all definitely deserved it



It’s good to be able to start out the new year (sorry, the new decade doesn’t start until next year :P ) on such an upbeat note. (On the other hand, you may have to go to the casino to get this thing paid for, but still.)



Salmagundi
Jan 04 2010

Hmmmm, why is “puzzle” one of the tags of this post?



You posted this one minute before 11:11 XD!!! You really should have waited, then it would have been a truly lucky post! I think it’s just destiny that you’re all there in South Bend. :) And I’m sure your novel is great! So how were you introduced to the team, Yale? I would like to know.



Quote: “sorry, the new decade doesn’t start until next year ” 2000-2009 = 10 years; 2010 = start of new decade, I promise (2010-2019, 2020-2029 and so on!) :P



ETA: I’ve got a book… The Oxford Companion to the Year… and while it does state that 2001 does in fact begin the 21st century (indeed based on the Roman’s idea), I have not found any clarification on how decades should be counted. Mind you it is nearly a one thousand page book. In my opinion they should be counted the way I posted because it makes more sense because there is in fact a “0″ year (regardless of the fact that there was no year “0″ when the Romans pulled their calendar measures out of their butts, the idea of time continuing for thousands of years probably never occurred to them). What is strange in searching all over the place (reference encyclopedias and so on) that I have not been able to find a definitive answer. It seems like it comes down to personal belief.



myst fanatic
Jan 04 2010

“And there was much rejoicing.” :patrickjudgingface: :lol: :ridiculous: ;)



I think when they first made the modern calender, people didn’t know how much of a fuss we would make about decades, centuries, and millennia. But hey! It’s worked so far, mostly. Maybe we should just adopt the D’ni calender…
I just thought of something! Maybe the creation of this movie could make Uru live come back. It’s a hope. :)
Hmmmm, “puzzle” as a tag for this post….



Codefreak
Jan 04 2010

Always checking for a new update with every passing day. Nice to see things are going well.



Flowerpower
Jan 04 2010

Man, Your optimism is contagious :-)
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When the movie is finished and out in theaters, how long do you think it will be until people start looking for D’ni, living like the D’ni, speaking D’ni, etc. Anyone want to place bets? The starting bet is 1 reekoo ;-)



“Why do holidays bring out the worst sides of people?”
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Holidays are like war, they focus people’s attention on higher things (good and bad) while giving them tons of immediate problems/distractions they need to work on. That combination always seems to bring out the worst and best sides of people. The internet as a whole seems to do this as well (but mostly just when taken as a whole).
-
“And yes… banish the Christmas music.”
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Aw, I like (some) Christmas music - as actual music (mostly the classical and pre-classical influences in some older carols [maybe just because most of the dull tunes they presumably came up with then got weeded out by time], and the general way that artists actually stick to the music when singing/playing it). It does get annoying when every single commercial/store/universe is playing it, but I like it at this time of the year (also, I always get the Olympic theme stuck in my head around this time, even for Summer Olympics or non Olympic years). But I digress.
-
“I think when they first made the modern calender, people didn’t know how much of a fuss we would make about decades, centuries, and millennia.”
-
I’ve also heard the credible sounding explanation that the concept of zero wasn’t the same then as how it is now (thus, the lack of year 0 originally, and thus the staggered-or-not decade system according to who you ask). So they didn’t have any better plan to mollify us future people with*.
Or the problem is with how we have problems distinguishing when abstract concepts (like time) change. When does tomorrow start - which day “owns” 12:00 midnight? Why do we round 0.5 how we do (this would have the same problem as the others, but the most major mathematical convention I know of decided to arbitrarily round it up - others decide arbitrarily to round it down or to switch between both - because they needed a standard)? We sort of see the year (or midnight, or 0.5, etc.) as in both categories (both the old and new decades, both the old and new days, both closer to 0 and closer to 1) and we sort of see it as in neither. We can’t describe either of these in the same way we describe every other value (which are obviously in one category or the other), so we get confused.
-
*While we’re considering random topics, consider Dionysius Exiguus, the monk who invented the year numbering system we use today. He lived around year 500 A.D. Thus, we’re all (about) 1,500 years in the future from him. He would have had no idea of what we would be doing now, and probably didn’t even think whether we’d be using his system today. Think about if you formulated a way of counting something, and it was still used in the year 3500.
-
Anyway, enough rambling, Gloa. You need to go back to actually productive stuff. :P
-
:adrianface:



URU REMIX
Jan 04 2010

MYST was the first game I ever played. Me and a best friend bought a copy the day before the release. Needless to say, I didn’t make it to work the next day :)

Thanks so much and please, please, please, please, somehow bring back Myst Online !!! URU is so great, I’m lost without it. Even ages as they were would be super, and I and others would PAY money for it!

Thanks again!



Magic88889
Jan 05 2010

I’m not sure how much, if any, money would go to Cyan, even if the movie is a huge success, that all depends on what kind of agreement that the Mysteriacs have with Cyan.
I think that the most we can hope for is that the movie brings in a lot more fans and helps to grow the community, and possibly, sell some games.



@AndyBlooShoes: I first met Adrian as his supervisor. I yelled at him a lot, as I did at everyone who I supervised (I have been told by many people that I manage my employees like Dr. Cox manages his attending doctors on “Scrubs”), and he would generally ignore me and my rants and go off and do whatever the heck he wanted.
-
I think he’d agree that little has changed in that regard.





Flowerpower
Jan 07 2010

Now, I’ve been thinking, if you really think about it long enough, Riven (or more specifically, Gehn) is like a forerunner of steam punk. So, here’s the thing, if Gehn sort of has steam punk tastes, is that an indicator that the D’ni were into steam punk?



Magic88889
Jan 08 2010

Sorry, but unless I’m very mistaken about what steam punk is, I just don’t associate it with the D’ni. But then again, mabye that’s just me.



Herohtar
Jan 08 2010

Magic88889: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_punk Seems to fit with the D’ni to me.



Little king
Jan 08 2010

Yeah, I can see that. When I read the books (specifically BoT), one definitely gets that steam power, Victorian era vibe.



Flowerpower: Good instinct! Steampunk elements have played strongly into our concepts of D’ni.



Steampunk elements seem to easily follow when you consider that Myst was inspired by the same source material as the Steampunk movement. The futuristic and dystopian elements of the movement have very little place in Myst, but it’s hard to deny the Mecha-Victorian aesthetic present in the franchise. .



magic88889
Jan 08 2010

Gee you’re right. I just had no idea what steampunk was. Good catch FlowerP



Flowerpower
Jan 09 2010

Thank you. I try :-)
Obviously, it’s hard to imagine the D’ni as hardcore steampunks, though I think they secretly wish they could be. Why? Look at the steampunkers (is that even a word) pictured on Wiki- they have goggles! The D’ni also have goggles; see the connection (sunlight + weak eyes is just a handy excuse they use to satisfy their steampunk dreams) :-)
However, they’ll never indulge in complete steampunk-dom because pure steampunk fashion sense does seem to mesh well with the D’ni image. Can anyone here image Ti’ana wearing what the wiki- chick was wearing. Somehow, the D’ni seem a tad to conservative for miniskirts. The wiki-dude could pass, though.
Which reminds me… why does women’s fashion seem to run the greater risk of offending people (i.e. too sexy, looks like you rolled out of bed, survived a highlighter explosion on your face, etc)? But for guys it’s a different story.



Steampunk is definitely very similar to the D’ni design style (especially in the more industrialized areas). There’s a couple major differences, though. The distinctly Victorian elements are less major in D’ni design (as the design is not somewhat based off Earth history, as much of steampunk is) - replaced with a more Classical touch, and some elements that seem more Chinese or Arabic (but all mashed together in ways that make it look like it came up independently from Earth history - steampunk uses lots of elements as “what if” certain things or objects made in history were used in different ways). Another difference is the focus. Steampunk focuses on the design of individual objects (for the most part - this is partly due to the fact that many designs are limited by budget for some major uses of the style, and partly due to the culture of steampunk: each individual object is its own major piece). D’ni design focuses on the connections between everything (the more industrial they get, I might note, the more they focus on objects like steampunk, though). Machines in D’ni are designed like architecture (architecture, in steampunk design, are designed like machines), and the whole design tries to form a unified expression (opposed to the diversity of steampunk objects all stuck together to form a more chaotic expression).
-
“Which reminds me… why does women’s fashion seem to run the greater risk of offending people (i.e. too sexy, looks like you rolled out of bed, survived a highlighter explosion on your face, etc)? But for guys it’s a different story.”
-
Guys fashion moves slower (well, some fashions are just as quick, but those - sagging pants, for example - generally have more of the risks like you mention than other men’s fashion).



Well said, Gloa :)



ThedStranger
Jan 10 2010

Gloa is right: the franchise doesn’t have one definite style. The ruling one is the victorian steampunk- the clothing in Riven and Myst IV, the wide use of oil lamps (although many, but I suppose not all of them, are disguised as fire marble lamps). But there also, like Gloa said, some Arabic (decorated walls and doors), a little bit futuristic (many stuff in Myst and in Uru- Bevin doors and some others) and many other things we could think of.

The ages, on the other hand, tend to take one style and show it all over the age (there may be a mix of some other styles, but not too much). And that’s why the ages are different than D’ni. Myst as a Greek style, Riven has a native style, Amateria has a Japanese style, Serenia has a more spiritual and odd style- as askeyou might think Catherine’s age may look. Ahnonay has a natural style on one side, and steampunk on the other.



I think the frequent use of brass and wood in the series does point towards steampunk, but I wouldn’t say that D’ni stuff was overly steampunk… sort of just diluted steampunk infused through other styles.
For me I’d say the ruling style is just ‘ancient cultures’, sorta Greek-ish but more, well mystical.
-I’d love to know what views Rand has on the topic…



Static Jones
Jan 10 2010

Perhaps we should name this Mystie - Steampunk-esque style….

How about:

Mystpunk, Dn’ipunk, Dn’isteam, Dn’io’goobo, Mypunk, Rand’ipunk, or something like that…

There really should be a book on Dn’i art history… :)



laughingpineapple
Jan 10 2010

I vote for D’nio’goobo. ‘_’ …Whatever Myst may be, though, it isn’t ‘punk’ XD
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Aaaaaaaaaand great post! This blog helps renewing my faith in modern storytellers… thank you, guys, and a happy, successful new year!



My secret wish is that the D’ni wears something completely different. Something that’s almost futuristic that but isn’t just a mish-mash of five different Earth-styles like futuristic clothes usually are depicted or simple geometrical shapes, at the same time though the clothes will show that it’s a people that have evolved over thousands of years with fashion that’s inspired by the people in the hundreds of Ages they’ve visited. A varied style with lots of room for the rich people to boast with more than just expensive fabric, and at the same time be comfortable and suitable clothes to work in for lower classes. And outfits for both men and women. And and and… (list goes on forever here)
Of course it’s only Atrus and his family that are wearing historical pieces that sortof matches with their time, which is about 100 years before the Victorian period I might add, simply because they lived on Earth and ran into other people from time to time. Obviously the picture of Aitrus in Riven is from the time when he was on the surface. :p
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In short, when the movie comes I don’t want people to say “Ooh wow how cool steampunky clothes they were wearing”. I want it to become a whole new style! :mrgreen:



Flowerpower
Jan 10 2010

Gloa: Love the logic or your argument. Three cheers and a cookie for you :-)
Junee: what about steampunk loin cloths? ;-)



Huh. I don’t really know what to add to this discussion. My only experience with Steampunk is the movie Steamboy and a certain anime series named Last Exile (oh my gosh I love that series) :) . From what I have seen I love the mix of Victorian architecture and clothes with the futuristic machines and vehicles. Never really pictured the D’ni as Steampunk but I guess it does fit.



myst fanatic
Jan 11 2010

AAAARRRRRGH! Anime! it hurts us!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGH!!!! *makes like saavedro* NO! NO NO! NO NOnononononononononononooooo….. :lol:
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Any-who, I don’t really know what to add to the whole conversation about this steampunk stuff. Although if the argument is whether or not the D’ni use a lot of steam for energy, just look at the Amateria age in Exile. the entire age uses steam to power their generators…. and how I remember that, I have no idea.
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and for those that argue that Exile isn’t cannon, i’m not going to argue with you. I’m just saying, for a people that lives underground, steam power makes a lot of sense. That along with geo-thermal energy…. :patrickjudgingface: :ridiculous: :lol: :adrian2face:



“Perhaps we should name this Mystie - Steampunk-esque style….
How about:
Mystpunk, Dn’ipunk, Dn’isteam, Dn’io’goobo, Mypunk, Rand’ipunk, or something like that…”
-
I generally separate the styles into three categories:
Atrus punk - Atrus is a prolific inventor and builder, and he has his own specific style. This is perhaps the most steampunk of all the styles (due to similar roots - Atrus is an independent eccentric well educated inventor, like many people in steampunk society), emphasizing unique strategies for utilizing power and operating machines in ways that fit with the general Age design. Electricity is quite blatantly used all over the place, as well as light and magnetism.
Gehn’s Steampunk - Gehn has a different style. He tends to use steam or other really blatant and powerful sources of energy. He is similarly creative in finding and utilizing natural happenstance to his advantage, but tends to use a very blunt and over-the-top design. There is less care to finishing off every part of the product for aesthetic appeal (although individual details are often cared for well - he tends to ignore the whole appearance for the details), and anything that is pragmatic seems to work for him (even if there are simpler ways of doing things). This style is also seen in some of the more industrial areas of D’ni control. Kadish has a similar style, but likes to be more mysterious (so most of the machinery or power is hidden from sight).
Classical D’ni - Even more than Atrus punk, this style focuses on the whole design and the appearance of how everything looks together (especially architecture - Atrus generally didn’t have as much power [or didn’t like to use the same amount of power] to control the buildings and the Ages around them to specific purposes). It also ignores many of the main scientific curiosities of Atrus’ work - while Atrus is fascinated by magnetism, light, and electricity and often uses them in ways similar to early human scientists, D’ni designers use them only when obviously necessary (and in many ways that seem unsimilar to the ways humans use them). D’ni utilizes physics mostly like Gothic or Renaissance architects - balance, weight distribution, heat, and pressure are the most important elements, and the knowledge is carefully passed down by the masters. Atrus utilizes physics like early scientists - light, magnetism, and electricity are the most important elements, and the knowledge is experimented with all the time.
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“My secret wish is that the D’ni wears something completely different… In short, when the movie comes I don’t want people to say “Ooh wow how cool steampunky clothes they were wearing”. I want it to become a whole new style!”
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I suspect that they will note the steampunkiness of the clothes nonetheless (well, maybe - clothing in D’ni is not especially steampunk - but for other things that border closer to steampunkiness, definitely). It’s used as a category to explain things, even if the things within are distinct styles (because few lone movies/styles/books/whatever are special enough to gain their own exclusive category at that level). Now, I definitely don’t want people just thinking “that was a nice lesson on steampunk” or “that was a stereotypical steampunk style” - I want people to classify it as steampunk, but then have to have long discussions about whether or not it fits in that category or not (like we’re having here), and in what ways it fits, and what the other elements are, etc. I want them to say (paraphrased mightily, of course) “It is similar in many ways to the general definition of steampunk, perhaps more than any other category, but it is not something we thought could be explored before.”
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“Although if the argument is whether or not the D’ni use a lot of steam for energy, just look at the Amateria age in Exile. the entire age uses steam to power their generators…. and how I remember that, I have no idea.”
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Um, Amateria? I really don’t remember any conspicuous use of steam in that Age. I do remember lots of magnetism and electricity used in cool ways, but not steam. Do you mean Voltaic?



what about steampunk loin cloths?
I seem to remember loin cloths working fairly well in the first Stargate movie. :p
(Man, Ra was hot in that film. You know in the evil villain kind of way…)



What about making the film in 3D ?

Avatar was astonishing in 3D and who wouldn’t want to see the Great City in 3D !



myst fanatic
Jan 12 2010

Gloa: Oh, yea, you’re right. Sorry everyone! it was Voltaic, not Amateria. Amateria was with the awesome marble puzzle….
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Even so, I think you get the point….



“I’m just saying, for a people that lives underground, steam power makes a lot of sense. That along with geo-thermal energy…. ”
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I was reading through BoT today and noticed these lines, “the rock to the east was home to a stable reservoir of magma, slowly cooling over the millennia, from which they had long tapped energy”. So, their power source is clearly heat based. Human civilization would use some form of steam power to harness that into mechanical or electrical energy (like nuclear power plants, fossil fuel burning, and geothermal energy). The D’ni might use some other technique, but its quite probable that they would also use steam.



myst fanatic
Jan 12 2010

Gloa: I tend to think it would be a mixture of both. I remembered that section of the book as well, and that is why I brought it up. With that renuable power source, D’ni could stay running for millions upon millions of years. And they did! But I don’t think it fair to say that they only used Geo-thermal energy. I think they used both.



myst fanatic
Jan 12 2010

heck, if only we had a renuable energy source like that up here on the surface! No more having to worry about electirical bills or heating and the such. We’d always have energy constantly shifting and recreating itself under our feet…. Sorry for the double post, I just had to throw that out there….



Man, I’m totally geeking out right now! Been watching a bunch of Myst videos on Youtube. One guy made a video of what Myst would look like on the NES and another guy took in-game pictures from Riven and pasted them all together with a program and made it all 3D! It looked just like Exile! Sorry, just really love Myst…..(if that wasn’t obvious). Man, I really want to play Riven again.



I hate to be anal retentive here, but… this particular post talks about “ring out the old”, but the front page of this site still reads “2009″….



Hi.. This may have been discussed already but how are you guys going to relate the title MYST to the audience since MYST Island is not created until the events in BoA and not mentioned at all in BoT. The title may be a bit confusing for someone unfamiliar with the franchise if MYST is not mentioned in the movie. Just curious.



change of email address



“Gloa: I tend to think it would be a mixture of both. I remembered that section of the book as well, and that is why I brought it up. With that renuable power source, D’ni could stay running for millions upon millions of years. And they did! But I don’t think it fair to say that they only used Geo-thermal energy. I think they used both.”
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It would be strange for them to use two techniques for getting power out of one source, though (as almost always one technique would be advanced over the other, and would cause the other to be a less efficient choice). For the D’ni city itself, other sources of power wouldn’t seem to be that necessary (as I’m sure their use of this power source was chosen after extensive testing and studies of the reservoir - they shouldn’t be too afraid of it dying out suddenly). Chemical processes with low waste products might be used (as we use batteries - they can’t always hook up their machines to whatever grid they use), although they’d have to be really careful (it’s a lot easier to pollute a closed cavern - fossil fuels are probably out of the picture). Outside the city, they seem to use any power source that fits the Age. They had a windmill in Laki, for example. This might include nuclear power (could explain how things like the pods are still functioning).
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“We’d always have energy constantly shifting and recreating itself under our feet…. Sorry for the double post, I just had to throw that out there….”
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Well, we do already have that. There’s lots of energy in the world (sunlight, animal movement, magma, chemical sources, etc.) - the problem is harnessing it cheaply and safely. The D’ni also would have this problem, but they’ve spent a lot of time and powerful machine work on it (and are somewhat more conveniently placed to one major power source).
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“I hate to be anal retentive here, but… this particular post talks about “ring out the old”, but the front page of this site still reads “2009″…”
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I think their 2010 sticker thing is broken. :(
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“Hi.. This may have been discussed already but how are you guys going to relate the title MYST to the audience since MYST Island is not created until the events in BoA and not mentioned at all in BoT. The title may be a bit confusing for someone unfamiliar with the franchise if MYST is not mentioned in the movie. Just curious.”
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It has been discussed before. We don’t know exactly how they are going to overcome this obstacle (also, the similar problem of “Aitrus”), but they seem to have thought about it a lot. Gehn’s presense, some foreshadowing (of Gehn’s influence, of the Fissure [in scenes of the Cleft], of a later descendant Atrus, an extended epilogue, a frame story with Atrus telling/being told what happened, scenes of the room in K’veer, and the use of linking books might be used to help connect the two in people’s minds.



Amaterial
Jan 13 2010

D’ni politics factors greatly into this story as well, probably more so than many aspects of their culture. What ideas are in the making as regards politics?
Whenever I read BoT, I always get the impression of an Athenian style democracy or Roman senate. Ok, maybe they are not wearing togas, but the atmosphere projected from the book seems similar. The D’ni also seem much more selective of their political leaders than old Greek democracy.



Flowerpower
Jan 13 2010

Wow! Gloa’s a lean, mean question answering machine! :-)
Amaterial: I agree with your insight about D’ni politics. The D’ni seem to like solemn pomp and circumstance- as if, to them, life were one big ritual.



Ohhh let’s not even get into that



“This may have been discussed already but how are you guys going to relate the title MYST to the audience since MYST Island is not created until the events in BoA and not mentioned at all in BoT. The title may be a bit confusing for someone unfamiliar with the franchise if MYST is not mentioned in the movie. Just curious.”
_
We’ve been talking with our partners about this very issue over the past few weeks, actually. We have a lot of ideas for ways to bring the familiarity of Myst Island into the film in various ways. Some are more effective than others. Some are more respectful of the established canon than others. We’re working through all of the possibilities and being careful not to make any ridiculous or silly choices. Fear not, we’ve got some really good options on this front. :)



But who will knit baby Gehn’s socks? I really think you’re avoiding the important questions here.



myst fanatic
Jan 14 2010

ah! but remember Junee, the more indepth the story is, the better the movie! I mean, who knit baby Ghen’s socks might tell us a lot about Ti’ana or Aitrus, or some other character that we wouldn’t have known otherwise. And as far as Myst Island and the Myst games, I think it is very important to link the two. I mean, we know about it because we are Myst fanatics who live and breathe myst. But for those who are just coming in who dont’ know what Myst island is, they’ll be like, “What the heck is this Myst? Why not just call it ‘The book of Ti’ana’?”
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I’m sure they won’t tell us right now, but I’m very interested on how they will tie that in so early into the D’ni’s history. I mean, Myst Island hasn’t even been conceived yet, as far as we know. It should be interesting to see how it turns out….
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:ridiculous: Good luck guys, we’re all pulling for you!



magic88889
Jan 14 2010

…And the guy that wrote is isn’t even born either!!



laughingpineapple
Jan 15 2010

Not quite, the lady that wrote it is the very protagonist of the movie! (the co-authress isn’t even born, though)



There’s a lot of debate over who the true author of Myst is. I think it’s Catherine with Ti’ana’s help. I mean, Myst is pretty fabulous/awesome. I think the Writer of Dreams wrote it.



Robert The Rebuilder
Jan 15 2010

“We’re working through all of the possibilities and being careful not to make any ridiculous or silly choices”

So, I take it that you’re not going to have the audience click on the book to start the movie? :-)



Wasn’t it canon (book canon, at least) that Catherine went “Ta-daaaaaaah!” showing the Age to Atrus and he was surprised since it looked too normal to be one of hers and it turned out later that he was right since Ti’ana was the main Writer and Catherine had only helped?
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So, I take it that you’re not going to have the audience click on the book to start the movie? :-)
…or bring a page?



Magic88889
Jan 15 2010

“So, I take it that you’re not going to have the audience click on the book to start the movie? :-)
…or bring a page?”

Mabye just at the premire.



ThedStranger
Jan 16 2010

Well Atrus says in BoA something along the lines of “I should have known at once that Myst was not Catherine’s”. So yeah, it was Ti’ana. Well Catherine still got some awesome ages :D



ThedStranger
Jan 16 2010

EDIT: it’s not “something along the lines”, it’s exactly what he said. :P



“…or bring a page?”
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Seriously, guys - MYST: The Musical (and yes, I mean Myst the game)… that would be awesome*. The first half is from Atrus’ plunge from Riven to when the brothers betrayed him (Achenar and Sirrus both get solos that merge into a duet somewhere along there). There’s the themes of Atrus’ neglect and all the wonders he makes, the brother’s slowly turning less trustworthy, and then the final plan goes into action. The last song in the half is Atrus singing as he goes to K’veer - knowing somehow that things have gone wrong, but not their scope, and wondering about that Myst book. Second half has the Stranger’s entrance. The Stranger is always concealed and ambiguous by usage of theatrical tricks. This half focuses mostly on the Stranger’s decisions with Sirrus and Achenar, and the eventual freeing of Atrus.
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*Now the books would make even better ones, especially the Book of Atrus. Ti’ana and Gehn’s arguing (”My Son”) - Gehn’s visions of conquest and glory, and his desire to see his son become a “great man” like him (”D’ni/Away from Home”) - Atrus’ dreams of D’ni and his father (”Father”) slowly being compared to reality (”So Small a Man”) - The conflict between their two philosophies (”All I Needed to Know/Ungrateful Boy”) - Katran Atrus romantic songs (”Dreams”) - Ti’ana watching over Atrus…
:adrianface:



Flowerpower
Jan 17 2010

Gloa: Hahaha! Excellent! It could be called Myst: The Phantom of the Island ;-)



chris battenbough
Feb 12 2010

haven’t linked back to this site for some time. I’m excited to see that this is ever more looking to be a great accomplishment for you guys. when i e mailed the miller brothers years ago, asking if they would ever consider making a film, my thoughts on the actor to play gehn was at that time was Robert de’niro! but there are so many other good actors known and unknown who would do a great job no dougbt. since my last visit here, i have an addition to my own family, and her name Ti’ana Rose..i wonder what inspired me to call her that? good luck people


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