Michael Verdi

Category: Inspiration

  • Spatial Photo to Black & White Anaglyph

    The camera app in iOS 18 has a “Spatial” mode for iPhone 16 and 16 Pro. There you can switch between photos and video.

    I’ve always wanted to make a B&W anaglyph photo zine and while running this morning I realized that I knew how to make this work for images taken with my new iPhone.

    • Select your images in the Photos desktop app and use command+option+e to export them all at once.
    • Open the terminal and use Mike Swanson’s Spatial tool to split all the images into left and right views.
    for f in *.HEIC; do spatial export -i "$f" -o Left_$f.png -o Right_$f.png;done
    • Use Stereo Photo Maker to open sets of left and right images, and then use option+a to auto align the images.
    • Then export your image from Stereo Photo Maker

    Here’s one shot at my desk. I cropped this in Photoshop to see what it might look like in a 5.5″ X 8.5″ zine.

  • I love this idea

    It’s not a new idea but it’s new to me. I’d love to steal this and do something with film and/or performance.

  • Photo Novels

    I got an email from someone who saw my La Jetée zine in Quimby’s in Chicago asking if I knew more about genre. I don’t but a little bit of searching led me to this presentation by SAW (Sequential Artists Workshop) which makes me really want to revisit this format.

  • A Mind Forever Voyaging

    A Mind Forever Voyaging by Steve Meretzky – Released: September 1985 (Infocom)

    The other day I was talking with a friend about selling things on eBay. I mentioned selling some interactive fiction title that I’d found in Goodwill about 12 years ago. For some reason I thought it was A Mind Forever Voyaging but it turns out it was something else. I don’t know why this is what came to mind but when I searched for information about it, I discovered that it’s covered in 50 Years of Text Games (which I own). So today I read about it while eating lunch. One of the things I found interesting was that unlike most of what had come before, this game was not about solving puzzles. Instead you explored, observed, and reported. This is the kind of mechanic I want in the game portion of The Phantom Moon.

    Read the original version of the article, 1985: A Mind Forever Voyaging by Aaron A. Reed.

  • Zine Pals

    Fish I Have Loved #6 Awestruck by Vermicious Knid

    One of the cool things about sending zines out into the world is that sometimes people send zines to you. I got this one yesterday and it made my heart full.

  • Bill Viola

    Bill Viola died today.
    The moment Steve Bailey saw the first video I made (35 years ago) he said, “you need to see Bill Viola’s work.” He’s been an inspiration for me ever since. My most recent encounter with his work was last year in Denver.

    Bill Viola, Eternal Return, 2000

  • The Phantom Moon

    I’ve always been fascinated by the view of the moon in the daytime sky. Years ago I began calling this “The Phantom Moon.” It’s one of the inspirations for the film I’m working on.

    The Phantom Moon – view from my bedroom/backyard – June 24, 2024

  • Corona Borealis before

    Checking a long overdue item off of my list. I got a photo of the Corona Borealis constellation before T Coronae Borealis goes nova.

    Corona Borealis on June 23, 2024 – click to expand

    T Coronae Borealis should be just below the second star on the left (at about 8 o’clock). It’s circled in red in the diagram below.

    Location of T Coronae Borealis (circled in red)

    Hopefully, once this star goes nova I’ll be able to get a photo before it fades.

  • Playlist for Issue 4

    I’m working on finishing up issue 4 of and, of course, I’m listening to the playlist I created while I’ve been working on it. The thing is though — I’ve been working on it for months so I wanted to post this before I started listening new things. I’ve written about a bunch these songs but I’ll save that for when the zine is out.

    Yes, Issue 4 is titled “Vision” and that’s a preview of the cover.

  • Walk around the neighborhood