Paul of Dune new animated picture of the cover art

[Dunenewt]

What is one this picture?  Gurney, Paul, and Jessica?

What is the flag on the left?

[Vanguard3000]

There's a few of them; they look like regimentary flags.

I think they're just a few Fremen, myself.

[SandChigger]

Ah, yes, the exciting work of Superman/TAZ (The Almighty Zeus), I presume.

The guy still seems to think that animated gifs are the latest word in cool. (Gods forbid he ever discover flash, what? The official page on MySpace is a real eyesore because of all the animated crap they've put on it.)

No doubt this cover portrays the stirring scene where Muad'Dib sends off his legions on their Jihad. (Nevermind the fact that the Jihad was not something he wanted.)

One thing that we have learned beyond any doubt, unfortunately, is that Kevin and Brian provide Stephen Youll with input in the creation of these covers. (Byron tried to deny this with the Sandworms cover, but the KJA suck-up who does Youll's website openly contradicted him. And as we learned once Sandworms was out, the cover did depict a scene from the book. (Waff and the Guildsmen harvesting a worm for ultraspice...snicker.))

It really does look like something from Star Wars, no? Kevin seems to have trouble keeping his universes straight.

May the farce be with you!

[D2k Sardaukar]

So you are saying that he got some pictures from others, put them into an animation and made it a big .gif file?

[Dunenewt]

For those of you interested, here is the page with that picture on, on Stephen Youll's website.

[SandChigger]

So you are saying that he got some pictures from others, put them into an animation and made it a big .gif file?

That's my assumption. Superman/TAZ has always had a thing for animated gifs, and he is like majorly up KJA's lower alimentary canal, if you'll pardon the indelicacy, and he's right up there at the top of the "Friends" on the Official Dune MySpace page as well. I'd be really surprised if it's not him doing most of that crap on that page.

Something I forgot to mention: I really do like Stephen Youll's work. I like the Sandworms cover and I like this Paul of Dune one. As science fiction art. I occasionally drop by his site just to check out his latest stuff. I don't blame him for the details they feed him. ;)

[Dunenewt]

The Dune MySpace is awful, way too many images.

[gunner154]

I think the picture is nice, but the gif effects are awful. What's the point of blowing all the sand in my face when I'm looking at an image?

[Dunenewt]

On the flag on the right, could that be a hawk?  Although the colours suggest it is a Harkonnen flag, I'm sure that's not a Griffin on the flag.

[gunner154]

It could well be anything. The little detail we get makes every guess a longshot.

[Dunenewt]

I might ask Kevin what it is, or perhaps email the artist.

[SandChigger]

I think the picture is nice, but the gif effects are awful. What's the point of blowing all the sand in my face when I'm looking at an image?

I'd really like to know if whoever is making them gets permission to do so first.

When you think about it, it's quite rude actually. It's saying the art needs something else, no?

Try contacting the artist first, Dunenewt. Kevin's probably full out hacking...er, I mean <b>hiking</b> away on <i>Paul of Dune</i>. ;D

(Of course, if you can't find a direct email address for Youll and try to go through his website you'll probably get that insufferable "Webdruid" from the DN BBS. Gah.)

[Dunenewt]

Yeah, I've found a direct email address, so I'll email him later, and hopefully he'll be able to tell us what the scene represents and who the characters are.

[SandChigger]

Well...I think it's pretty obvious that it represents Paul (in the green cape with one hand on a bumcheek) exhorting his Fremen mujahidiin before they embark on their mission of goodwill across the Imperium. (Not content to say it with flowers, they've decided to reach out and touch someone.)

Presumably Stilgar will be Paul's righthand man at the time, so that would be him (uncharacteristically) on Paul's left. The other long-haired figures holding the flags are obvious mistakes, because what Fremen would have long hair? :D

No doubt the flags are depicted as (excruciating) described in the upcoming book. Kevin has a good imagination.

Oh, I mean, they've got FH's comprehensive notes. ::)

[Dunenewt]

Yes, I thought it was Paul addressing the Fremen, but I just wondered what the flag was and who the other people were.  Thinking back, Gurney would be on Caladan, no?

[SandChigger]

If the flags are not completely the invention of Youll, I'm sure we'll see them figure somewhere in the new movie, if Kevin gets to have any creative input as "co-producer".

Hey, you think the one with the circles and the symbols on top of the poles in the background are supposed to represent wheels within wheels? ;)

[Dunenewt]

Haha that could be the flag's hidden meaning I guess.

[Dunenewt]

Hey Chris,

The Characters are Paul Atreides and Gurney. The Flags represent Paul

[SandChigger]

Ah yes, those two enormous moons of Arrakis...which if they were actually the size and proximity indicated in Youll's illustrations would cause massive tidal currents EVEN in the sands.

Ah, artistic license!  ;D

[Dunenewt]

Who's to say they don't cause massive tidal currents in the sand?

[SandChigger]

Who's to say they don't cause massive tidal currents in the sand?

I mentioned it because FH did. The issue is degree.

"And a tidal dust basin?" the Duke asked.

"Certain depressions in the desert have filled with dust over the centuries. Some are so vast they have currents and tides. All will swallow the unwary who step into them."

SANDTIDE: idiomatic for a dust tide: the variation in level within certain dust-filled basins on Arrakis due to gravitational effects of sun and satellites. (See Tidal Dust Basin.)

TIDAL DUST BASIN: any of the extensive depressions in the surface of Arrakis which have been filled with dust over the centuries and in which actual dust tides (see Sandtides) have been measured.

AH! Maybe that sudden coverning of the screen at the end is a SAND TSUNAMI caused by those massive moons! ;D

[Dunenewt]

Ah, so you are saying those moons are the right size and distance...?

[SandChigger]

Nope, not at all. I think Youll's moons are always several orders too big. (Look at the ones in the Sandworms cover illustration, for example.)

The two moons of Arrakis are obviously large enough to have sufficient surface area to support features discernable from the main planet, but I've never found any definite statement of their size by FH. They're big enough to cause tides, but that doesn't mean they have to be/look as large as Earth's moon.

(It's generally believed, IIRC, that moons as large as ours are fairly rare out there.)