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Handmade Steampunk Rayguns From the F/X Guys at Weta
An anonymous reader writes "Wired is presenting a gallery of artwork that inspired Weta's collectible rayguns, plus exclusive photos of the retrofurist sidearms. The article offers more than just images; each weapon has a description of where they were inspired from, as well as possible uses. 'In this illustration by Greg Broadmore, a hunter poses with his latest kill and his elegant retrofurist rifle ... "I started drawing these things just for fun," says Broadmore. "I did dozens of designs, all really stylized and Flash Gordon looking. I remember those black and white serials playing on TV as a kid and the imagery always stuck with me. Really hokey, but really scary and weird at the same time. And, of course, if you're a fan of classic rayguns you'll see the influence of the old toy rayguns. The Buck Rogers disintegrator pistol -- of course directly referenced in Han Solo's blaster in Star Wars -- is iconic, and that original raygun, along with many others, inspired me massively.'"
These aren't toy guns, they're art pieces. No self respecting artist is going to make them "safety compliant".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazy_Gun
Along with a few work colleagues I met Richard Taylor here in New Zealand a year or so back after he'd just returned from the Academy Awards in LA. He showed us a metal carry case which contained a couple of these guns and mentioned in passing that he'd carried them with him on the flight home. I had mental pictures of the ATS guy sitting behind the LAX baggage scanner going through a "it's a gun, no wait, it's not a gun..." endless loop.
Other people just have fonds memories of old, trashy sci-fi movies or the Fallout games...these cater to that crowd. Me, for example.
The world always seems brighter when you've just made something that wasn't there before. - Neil Gaiman
Well, at least we don't say "tard-speak."
What the fsck is "retrofurist"? It's even in TFA. I'm guessing they meant to say "retrofuturist", but being lysdectics they had an excuse to use this abbrevion...
I wish more artists would embrace realistic fantasy.
It sounds like an oxymoron, but it's the difference between a movie only kids could enjoy, and something adults would want to go see too.
The first thing that struck me about those pictures is that nobody would ever, ever, ever use one of those contrived contraptions in a battle. A weapon in a science fiction flick can shoot lasers, warp space, or spray hot grits, but no weapon, fictional or real, can have that many protrusions. You'd never get it into, our out of, a holster. Every branch and bush would tear it out of your hand. And a gun with a glass bulb as a functional unit? Are you kidding me? The reason the guns looked so awesome in Star Wars was because they were made from real guns. Many of them were made from, or based on, real, practical designs. The science fiction element was that they shot laser beams.
There's suspension of disbelief, then there's suspension of common sense. Not the same thing!
Rant over. Please return to your scheduled fawning. 8)
But weapons exist for one reason, to make it easier to project force.
And were science-fiction movies documentaries, you'd have a point. But they're not. They're entertainment, and I'm entertained by fancy weapons, loud explosions in space, and planetary princesses whose costumes are held up solely by centrifugal force.
It was a tool used by bad writers and bad producers who didn't have content that was distinctive enough, so had to be distinctive with bling.
"Content?" "Content" is for websites. Movies are a visual medium, and the art direction and photography can be at least as important to the movie as the script, if the director says so. If you don't want the creator mucking up the plot with sounds and visuals, read a novel. Just stay away from E.R. Burroughs, and other classic authors of the genre.
I see a bunch of catering to the lowest-common-denominator intelligence
For the record, I'm smarter than you. And I say, "Bring on the Laser Beams!"
"planetary princesses whose costumes are held up solely by centrifugal force."
I think you meant: "held up [...] by the gravitational pull of their tits."
sig? Oh, that sig...
Sorry, but I find those toys far less impressive than these: http://www.glbarnes.com/
These are some of the most steampunk-ish actual working devices I've seen. Some are fancier than others, with the more ornate models looking like they came right out of Myst. They aren't movie or vidgame props, they are some of the most powerful and accurate (and expensive) air rifles in the world -- and all hand-made by Gary Barnes himself. Although not technically (or legally, in the USA) considered to be firearms, these air rifles have been used successfully for hunting deer, wild hogs, and in at least one case a buffalo.
Me, too. These are art objects paying homage to designs from the beginnings of sci-fi and science itself. If you dont get the humor in the vials "phlogiston and aether" this is not for you.
I can understand someone disliking bad and/or inappropriate set design, but some folks will have a bad attitude toward everything - honestly it's their loss.
I have mod points. The reign of terror begins now.