Stranger Things teaser on the Apple II

November 6th, 2017 4:26 PM
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The next Star Wars movie is a bit more than a month out, but fans aren’t waiting for its release to create art inspired by the film. In July, Wahyu "Pinot" Ichwandardi remade the trailer for The Last Jedi on an Apple II. The monochromatic, cinematic result was a sight to see.

Not content to develop this workflow and then apply it only once, Pinot has returned to his 8-bit medium to create yet another trailer. This time, it’s for the small screen as he re-imagines the teaser for the second season of the Netflix series Stranger Things.

For reference, here is the original teaser:

Stranger Things is a horror series set in the 1980s, with generous allusions and actors from that era. Reviews have often described it as a lost show that looks like it was created in the 1980s and is being discovered just now. As such, it’s fitting that the Apple II would be the medium of choice to create its teaser.

To do so, Pinot once again returned to his Apple IIc and Dazzle Draw, as detailed on Twitter.

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The Last Jedi trailer

July 10th, 2017 11:49 AM
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Like most people reading this blog, I’m a Star Wars fan. Not obsessively so — I reserve that level of dedication for Star Trek. But I’m definitely one of the first people to see any new Star Wars movie, which includes Episode VIII, releasing this December 15, 2017. My enthusiasm’s been especially high after the first official trailer released this past February.

Another fan who resides at the intersection of Apple II and Star Wars fandoms is Wahyu "Pinot" Ichwandardi, and his dedication to that combination outshines us all. Using an Apple IIc, KoalaPad graphics tablet, the Dazzle Draw paint program, 44 floppy disks, and Steve Chamberlin’s Floppy Emu, Ichwandardi recreated the above trailer as 288 monochromatic 8-bit frames.

By pressing "Play" on the above two videos simultaneously, you can see how closely Ichwandardi’s work follows the original. A follow-up tweet detailed the process and equipment Ichwandardi used in this three-week endeavor.

This masterpiece isn’t simply the result of a modern artist deciding to be bohemian by incorporating retro technology into his craft. Rather, it’s a return to form for Ichwandardi: 33 years ago, as an elementary school student, he worked the same magic on Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. While that original work no longer exists, the skills he honed on his Apple II have aged well, it seems.

My hope is that Ichwandardi will find other impressive ways to use his Apple IIc, and that we’ll see even more art coming from him soon — lest The Last Jedi be the last!

(Hat tip to Yvette Tan via Charles Pulliam-Moore and Brendan Robert)