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Tuesday, July 29, 2014

The Temple of the Crawling Chaos

In the story The Dreams in the Witch House, Walter Gilman meets the Black Man Nyarlathotep and signs the Book of Azathoth in the sealed loft above the attic. Well, we've decided to jazz things up a bit and set it at a great temple in deep space...the Temple of the Crawling Chaos.

And, without further adieu, I present Michal 'Majqello' Knapik's designs for it.

THE BLOOD GARGOYLE AND THE BLOOD SPHINXES

Above a great altar in the Temple where Nyarlathotep reigns, there is a gargoyle depicting the Haunter of the Dark. It is littered with the skulls of sacrificial offerings and vomits blood into a pool of sacrifice.
Lining the pathway up to the altar are sphinx-like gargoyles that depict Hunting Horrors (see "CREATURES"). Their three-lobed eyes, like the gargoyle above, are aflame and serve as torches. These daemons also puke blood into a stream that flows into pools of sacrifice and occasionally move. These represent how blood flows from every corner of space and time to appease the gnawing hunger of Nyarlathotep.
"Hunting Horror Blood Gargoyle Sphinx (could be title of a death metal song)"

CREATURES

The Hunting Horror off which the sphinx-gargoyles are based. It is supposedly related to the Haunter of the Dark.

Amorphous flute players accompany the Crawling Chaos at his altar: the Moon Beasts.
White, slippery and hideous are these creatures. Instead of faces they have short pink tentacles like those of a sea anemone, which writhe constantly while maddening notes erupt from their flutes.

More of an ornamental symbol throughout the temple, this is inspired by the traditional Wadjet Cobra: thusly, the Nyarlathotep Wadjet Cobra.

FORMS OF NYARLATHOTEP

The hooved Black Man, an incarnation of Satan (from The Dreams in the Witch House).

The Black Pharaoh Nephren-Ka, with tentacled imagery in his dress (from Nyarlathotep - a prose poem and a poem; The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath; and The Haunter of the Dark).

The Mad Faceless God (from The Rats in the Walls): an Azathoth-like shape that howls at Earth's center. Note the rats and the Moon Beast flute players.

The Haunter of the Dark (from The Haunter of the Dark). It is vaguely shaped as it cannot exist in light. The Three-Lobed Burning Eye can be seen on its "head".

Note: there will be another form of Nyarlathotep animated: the Howler in the Dark/Red Tentacle/God of the Bloody Tongue. KingOvRats has not drawn this.

THE ANKHS

Nyarlathotep is the Taker of Life and the Master of Death. The two Ankhs represent these. On the left is the inverted Ankh of Death, made of bones and corpses. On the right is the upright Ankh of Life, made of writhing tentacles.

THE EYES

The Eye of Nyarlathotep is a decoration around the Temple. It is designed like the Eye of Horus.
The Three-Lobed Burning Eye is that of the Haunter of the Dark. It burns on the altar, flaming, and evil. It is inspired by the "All-Seeing Eye" - a definitive symbol of the Illuminati.

THE POOLS OF SACRIFICE AND THE IDOLS OF BONE

 The rivers of blood that the Hunting Horror gargoyles/sphinxes puke flow into pools of sacrifice. In the pools are isles - platforms - made of bones and corpses. On the isles there is a bone idol of Nyarlathotep.
"Bone statue of Nyarlathotep in pool of BLOOD"

Well! That's the Temple of the Crawling Chaos for you! While Lovecraft didn't create this (and I'm not quite sure if he had this in mind when creating Nyarlathotep), I like it and I hope he would've liked it too.

I'll close off with a quote from the script: wherein Gilman reads a passage about Nyarlathotep in the Necronomicon. While it is of my own writing and is inspired by a certain passage from The Dunwich Horror which the true Lovecraft fan will know, the lore of the blood flowing towards Nyarlathotep from all corners of the universe and the Ankhs were completely based on Michal's ideas. Goodnight, everybody.
Nyarlathotep reigns beside Azathoth at the Throne of Chaos, and at the great Temple of the Crawling Chaos deep in space. His Sigils be the greatest of all, for he alone knoweth the secrets and powers of Life and Death. There are two Ankhs, one upright, the other, inverted, that represent the powers of the Crawling Chaos. The upright Ankh represents Life: constructed of tentacles, writhing and alive: the endless vital energies of Nyarlathotep symbolized, the heads of the Hydra ever growing. The inverted Ankh is one of Death, built of the bones of thousands and the screams of millions. The entire universe is in his grip. Blood from every corner of space and time floweth to him for his sake…the deaths of every single creature poured into a pool of sacrifice. He is the apocalypse, and when the time has come for the universe, he shall stand in that revolting graveyard and he shall laugh. He is Hell embodied into one being. IƤ! Shub-Niggurath! The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young! Thou shalt fear the Crawling Chaos, for he watches through the angles of reality. He is the Taker of Life and the Master of Death.

Monday, July 28, 2014

Gregg Stockdale Takes a Swing at Mark Foster, Part Two (and an edited Sigil)

Gregg Stockdale, the devoted Witch House artist, has done a version of the Mark Foster poster art with a starfield. He's not fond of it, and I can't say I am either, but here it is.

The background is just too busy.

Also, he sent me a new version of the Sigil based on a suggestion by our very own KingOvRats: the outer ring is now empty, the word Nyarlathotep being white/black. This kind of makes more sense as a) these symbols are meant to be drawn and b) it kind of cleans things up in a graphic design sense.

It looks similar to some other occult symbols, such as the Seal of Astaroth in Satanism.

There will be updates tomorrow with new KingOvRats designs...for an added scene...what shall be what the film is remembered for...THE TEMPLE OF THE CRAWLING CHAOS!

Saturday, July 26, 2014

Some Updates

Hey guys! Back from Ireland! I'm putting the polish on some filmed sequences and they're looking good.

Some updates: Gregg and Michal have done some new pieces.

While working on the Elder City and the Temple of the Crawling Chaos (more about this soon), Michal decided to update the Living Hindu Idol. I've put together the Hindu Idol Evolution process.

LIVING HINDU IDOL EVOLUTION

Stage One
Rough Design
The first rough design.

Stage Two
Original Design
The original, finished design: the first Michal sent to me.

Original Design Movements
The tentacles move in and out like tongues in a rolling movement. In a embryo-like position, it sits until disturbs when all limbs fan out and ROAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stage Three
Update
The latest incarnation. KingOvRats thinks its MUCH better in terms of form (i.e., the melting shape and the tentacles) and detail (the eyes, the head, etc.). I would personally prefer a combination of both from a directing standpoint...

Update Movement
Instead of fluently rolling the tentacles, Michal now would like a more convulsive movement, similar to this.

While my feelings about this update are mainly positive, they are mixed, and I will be using both.

Gregg Stockdale has finished the grimoire page.

Note some extra symbols (including the Sigil of Nyarlathotep at the bottom) and pseudo-Arabic reading "Nyarlathotep watches through the angles of reality".

Exciting times for The Dreams in the Witch House. Stay tuned!

 - BRIAN

Monday, July 14, 2014

Gregg Stockdale Takes a Swing at Mark Foster, Part One

Gregg Stockdale really is one of my favorite people here - he's very...devoted to The Dreams in the Witch House, and is willing to do a lot just for the sake of helping us out.

Well, we've been having some discussions on the Mark Foster composition, and Gregg did some requested redesigning. Let me show you the process.

The original Mark Foster art, without any text (sent to me by the artist).

The poster with the original font. This typography received VERY negative reception in the Mark Foster Mission.

The newer artwork: darkened by the artist and sent to me.

The darkened artwork with the new font, added by Gregg Stockdale.

Now, I, personally, think that this looks a HECK of a lot better.


There is something appealing to me about the brighter background, but overall, I think the darker tone works better for our purposes and represents the story better.

Next up I asked Gregg to experiment a little and try to put the Sigil of Nyarlathotep into the poster.

The Sigil of Nyarlathotep against a solid green background (it will be used in the film).


Gregg and I agreed that these versions don't really work. Version One (on the left) blocks out the house, Version Two (on the right) makes it so transparent that you can't see it at all.

These were just a few fun experiments. The final design is coming soon.

Monday, July 7, 2014

The Photography in the Witch House - Effects, Part Four: The Beginning of the Tendrils

Our main concept artist has revealed a rough draft of what he's been working on since we started. Yes, Witch House's own Gregg Stockdale has revealed the first draft of...THE TENDRILS!

For those of you who don't know, the idea of this is to make foggy tendrils emerge from the Window, which represents the higher dimensions. Its a fabulous idea and Gregg has been working on it for quite some time. This is only a rough draft, but I think it looks amazing and eerie.


Now I don't know where he got those shadow tentacles from (other than Gerald Scarfe or a drawing by an inmate of Summer Breeze Mental Hospital) but good God that's cool. I mean, its enough that he takes fabulous violet photos, creates the hideous faces of Keziah and Brown Jenkin, makes a Grimoire page, and designs the Sigil of Nyarlathotep to represent the film, but this? WOW!

And this is only a rough draft! Tell me, is there one of you who wouldn't like to see this in its finished format? I DON'T THINK SO!

Thanks, Gregg for being a devoted member of the Witch House team.

Sunday, July 6, 2014

The Sigil of Nyarlathotep

Gregg Stockdale has designed a new symbol that will represent Witch House. I call it the Sigil of Nyarlathotep. You can see it here imposed over the Violet Window and the Logo.


Thursday, July 3, 2014

The Photography in the Witch House - The Grimoire Page, Part One

Gregg has a new concept in the making...one featuring a page from a grimoire, kept in Keziah Mason's loft.

It contains "Instructiones for Conjuring a Rat Thynge".

Gregg is getting knee surgery tomorrow. BEST OF LUCK, GREGG!

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

The Photography in the Witch House - The Brown Jenkin Gap

Gregg, who will be going through knee surgery on Friday, slapped this eerie image together.

Note his Brown Jenkin image peeking through in the top right corner.

Its very creepy! Best of luck with the surgery, Gregg.

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Welcome Zachary Bos, Graphic Designer, to the Concept Art Team!

The Mark Foster initiative on Facebook was really quite successful. Without it, how would we have got Gregg Stockdale, or our latest addition, Zachary Bos?

Zachary is a graphic designer, who will be doing re-designs of the Mark Foster art. DO NO WORRY, we will definitely be using Mark Foster's originals as well. But Zachary will be making some re-designs for a promotional series. Its just a fun experiment to see how the poster could have been done if it was taken in different directions.

First up, he photoshopped his way into this, a re-design I'm calling "The House."

I think its awesome. REMEMBER, WE'RE STILL USING MARK FOSTER'S ORIGINAL - but this too.

Mr. Bos believes that the geometrical pattern in the background is strong, but needs a little cleaning up. So he darkened them. Then, turning the house black-and-white, he went for a more esoteric mood then a 1930s Universal horror picture poster. The triangle is meant to unify the image.

He'll be doing a couple, each with a central figure from the Mark Foster art. Yay!

P.S. For those of you who are kind enough to visit this blog, know this - I am in contact with Michael Zigerlig, a Swiss artist, friend of director/producer/screenwriter Brian Yunza (H.P. Lovecraft's Necronomicon, Bride of Reanimator) and the late artist H.R. Giger (Necronomicon). He is the artist and adapter of H.P. Lovecraft's Call of Cthulhu - a graphic novel adaptation of the story. We're discussing him doing some concept art.