Design Inspiration For Alphanaut From Vintage Science Fiction

I wanted to further expand on the topic of the Sci-Fi imagery that inspired the current look of the Alphanaut universe.

Set piece from Fritz Lang's "Metropolis"

I've always been a big fan of vintage Film Noir and Expressionist Cinema with their low key black and white visual styles. Two silent films by Fritz Lang, "Metropolis" and "M", made a huge impact on me when I first saw them. These movies are always in the back of my mind when thinking about Alphanaut's art direction, especially "Metropolis" with it's message about social class divisions. Also really love Robert Wiene's "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" for it's truly bizzarre sets, even though this movie doesn't directly apply to the inspiration for Alphanaut.

A scene from the game "Gadget"

In the mid 90's I played a computer game called "Gadget", and even though it wasn't much of a game per se, I was captivated by the surreal landscape created by Japanese computer artist Haruhiko Shono. Aside from the game, there was a visual novel "Inside Out with Gadget" and DVD called "Gadget Trips: Mindscapes" which when combined, revealed the entire story of the universe created by Haruhiko. I pursued and purchased all three, absorbing the material, but still felt ultimately 'left out' of the big picture. But it didn't really matter. I mostly was just inspiration by the unique world which combined art deco elements in it's futurist vision.

Digital sets by Haruhiko Shono for the movie "Casshern"

Years later I rented a movie called "Casshern" and a quarter of the way through I was like "This reminds me of Gadget". I got up and and quickly dug through IMDB and discovered there was a reason. Haruhiko oversaw the concept design and computer graphic of the film giving it his unique style. Ultimately the film doesn't quite reach the goal of it's ambitions, but it's incredible to watch and worth a rent if you love the genre.

Fuller's Montreal Biosphère from the 1967 World's Fair

Lastly, I certainly would have to credit Buckminster Fuller for his unique futurist architecture which was truly revolutionary and ahead of it's time.

Fuller's Dymaxion Gouse from the 1967 World's Fair