A movie introducing arts that have decorated the cover of the 20th century science fiction novel

I will upload many movie essays, movies introducing unique illustrations decorating the cover of the 20th century American novel and fantasy novelNerdwriter 1It is open to the public. Also, in the movie, the history of the science fiction novel and fantasy novel cover has been described together with a variety of illustrations.

The Art Of Sci-Fi Book Covers - YouTube


Speaking of the leading artist in SF Art,Frank · R · Paulis.


Paul is a name editor called 'Father of the American Science Fiction'Hugo · GernsbackIt was found in the world's first SF magazine "Amazing Stories'S cover illustration will be drawn.



Paul drew out spacecraft, alien, gigantic insects, laser guns, etc. that appeared in SF novels that had been expressed only by letters with a unique sense, giving people a strong impact and image.


The most famous work by the cover illustration of Paul's "Amazing Stories" is H. G. Wells'Space WarThis is the cover page of the issue that I recalled


Three-legged ride on which this alien ridesTripodIs a film directed by Steven Spielberg, published in 2005Space WarBut it is a design that has been followed.


The reason why SF novels needed such an illustration was that in the 1920s science fiction novels and fantasy novels were discounted as "less than literature and redundant". For that reason, in order to get it taken by people's hands, we conveyed the content of the work with a picture with impact, and had to be interested in what kind of story it was.


Nerdwriter 1 argues that there are distinctive impacts on the cover of SF novels, and that many fantastic and strange patterns can be considered as byproducts of strategies to attract consumers. The following imagePhilip K. DickCover of "Coincidental world".


In 1939, in the United Statespaper bagA specialized publisher, Pocketbooks, was founded and people in general casually read a novel by purchasing it.


In particular, Pocket Books was published as one of the first distributionJames Hiltonof"Lost Horizon"Is a huge hit of over 2.5 million copies. This work triggers the paperback culture to blossom in the United States as well.


Vertical standards such as 7 inch (about 18 cm) in length × 4.3 inch in width (about 11 cm) were born around this time, and many cover sheets making full use of this canvas size appear after that. this isJack WilliamsonCover of "Space Corps".


Isaac Asimov"Second Foundation"


Averyam Davidson"Phoenix and mirror"


It was a penguin books published by British paperback special publisher, looking at the American paperback industry which is really exciting. Penguin Books was a great success in the UK with a design that simply writes titles and authors without using pictures. However, in the United States, the design that is too simple was not received by consumers, and it was a result now.


So, American Penguin Books also posted illustrations on the front cover to sell SF genres, and the art director was thinking about designs for each series.


In the 60 's and 70' s, a variety of cover art was born by the personality of the art director.


Alan AldridgeJ · G · Ballad"Madness world" andAlfred Vestar"Tiger, tiger!",Harry · HarrisonI covered the cover with "many people". It is characterized by psychedelic and awesome color illustrations drawn on a black background.



Franco Greg Nani who was active in the 1970s is a pioneer of experimental photography, and its work seems to be an abstract picture.



The masterpiece of David Pellum is a novel by Anthony Burgess, laterStanley KubrickIt was made into a movie by "Clockwork 's Orange'S cover art.


In addition, Pellum was good at a colorful cover art composed of photos taken.


Many of the science fiction novel's cover is strange and impressive are not only because it reflects the content of SF novels, it is to get it taken into the eyes of many people. Various things are mixed and it is rarely appreciated, but as a small genre of art history, the cover art of SF novel establishes a unique world.




In this way, the cover art of science fiction novel was established as a single culture in the United States. It can be said that this cover art culture is definitely breathing at the root of contemporary films, animation and games. In the movie, as there are many cover art besides those introduced here, those who are interested should check out the movie.