Spider Render

Created as a complement to a rather cartoony short story I wrote on a napkin for an open mic. night at a coffeehouse I used to run, this was created with the intention of capturing the almost surreal flavor of the story. It was rendered with RayDream Studio 5 with primary colors for many of the elements to carry the cartoon effect into the visual realm. Since I had problems achieving a shallow depth of field in the render, I brought it into Photoshop and created one before adding the story over the image.

Immediately After Render The original render with the full scene in focus. In the full size render, you can even see the doorknob in the reflections. The larger view is 29.2k.

With Depth of Field After blurring the scene. Only part of the front left leg and part of the body is in focus, the rest is blurred based on distance from the camera. The larger view is 28.1k.

With Story The final image with the short story super- imposed over the image. The larger view is 33.5k.


Arachnosis

I found it lying on my doorstep as I was leaving for work. I was still fixing my tie, and wasn't looking down, so it kind of surprised me. But I wasn't really shocked, as few things haven't appeared on my doorstep over the years.

I brought it in and was going to toss it in the closet with the others when I saw the AC/DC jack on it. I pulled out my jambox and took its cord, much to its apparent dismay.

I'm not good with machines so it took a few tries. I plugged it into the wall socket, and as the electricity coursed through it, a blue screen-thing started to glow. Eight antennae things sprouted from its black, round body, and bent into the floor.

I was knocked to the floor by what I think was the 1812 Overture, and got up only after the black thing ran into the closet, taking the music with it. The door slammed shut, the music was muffled, and the cord lay alone on the floor.

I waited, but nothing happened, except for the music and all. So I made a mug of coffee and called in late to work. I think they fired me.

The music eventually stopped, and when I opened the closet, it was empty, save a few black marbles, a stale hash brownie, and a small hole in the floor.

Even my leather jacket was gone.