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The Vikings' Map Official Music Video

Synopsis of: The Vikings’ Map by Derek Lauer
The Vikings’ Map is a pioneering work in a new style of cinematic expression to tell an ancient compelling story that celebrates cultures from around the world and importance of diversity and importance of strong women. The knowledge passed down from the past ties us all to one another and to our mutual future. As a new format for the written word, this video novel is in a way a new type of “Omni-Art”, a modern symphonic piece of music put to artistically stylized architectural animation uncovering ancient achievements from a wide range of people from around the globe.
A poetic prose narrative tells the story of a Vikings' Map found in a cave in the middle of America containing many discoveries and secret key pieces of knowledge to our common survival that reach far into the past and deep into the future.
The Vikings' Map was created long ago to record a voyage that visited seven cultures as they ventured to the far reaches of the world to seek the Origin of Odin and search for the and Source of Knowledge and Technology.
The map is found a thousand years later by a boy, who as a man discovers the map to contain hidden navigational, mathematical, musical and scientific knowledge that could change the future of the world. The simple symbol of their ancestors is found to contain complex geometric secrets to unravel the riddle of electro-magnetic propulsion by attraction to move mankind across space and above time...
The story tells of a group of Vikings who set out across the oceans to preserve their heritage but inevitably intertwine with the cultures they encounter on their journey around the world. They adopt a diverse range of people to become part of their own who work together on a mutually beneficial quest to seek the source of knowledge for all to share.
When viewed as a historical document from a thousand years from now, the decoding of the secrets of the Vikings' Map was a key turning point in helping to move forward the evolution and progression of all of mankind.
Through the Vikings’ Map we learn lessons about the human experience and the importance of family and friends working together as a unified group and as a community; and also about how different cultures can interact and either benefit or harm one another; and about how people who appear different from each other are really the same inside who seek and need the same things in this life; and that we are stronger together as a diverse people with lessons from every culture integrated into our own.
The Vikings' Map leads the way forward from the past.
~ Remember, not all Vikings like to pillage, some just like to sail...

  • Derek Lauer
    Author
  • Terry Nova & The Gateway Gurus
    Name of Band or Artist
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Experimental, Music Video, Short, Web / New Media
  • Runtime:
    9 minutes 59 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    January 15, 2020
  • Production Budget:
    500 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography

Terry Nova is a visionary architect and virtuoso musician with a diverse yet highly developed set of skills including architectural design & illustration, 3D modeling & animation, music composition & performance, audio & video editing, artwork & sculpture, photography & journalism, as well as project management & team leadership.

Terry Nova has been a pioneer in the artistic use of digital media and has emphasized the importance of mastering the tools of the profession of architecture to many students.

An experienced educator currently adjunct faculty at Maryville University doing research and instruction for the use of 3D printing and virtual reality animation techniques in architecture along with instruction of construction document production and detailing. Terry previously taught at the Washington University School of Architecture and St. Louis Community College with lessons in Graphics, AutoCAD and Computing in Architecture and at Art Institute with instruction in Interior Design and architectural presentation techniques.

Upon completion of a Master of Architecture degree, professional affiliations have included some of the leading architecture firms in St. Louis. Since then, LA Progressive Design was successfully established in 2004. Hundreds of projects have been designed, produced and constructed, which include a wide variety of building types such as healthcare, educational, commercial, judicial and residential projects along with site development plans, campus master plans and urban revitalization strategies.

Terry Nova has dedicated a large portion of his career towards working with several non-profit organizations such as Better Family Life, The MLK Streets Initiative, The Urban League, YouthBuild, Beloved Streets of America, various churches, synagogues and urban daycare centers.

Additional lifelong interests include music, art, sculpture, photography and writing. Recognized as an accomplished virtuoso guitarist, bass player & keyboardist, Terry honed skills at the acclaimed Berklee College of Music in Boston as a Film Scoring major with extensive studies in jazz, classical and contemporary composition styles.

Terry Nova is also an avid producer of art and music credited with over 120 compositions, including abstract photographs, public sculptures, graphic artwork and animated videos. After experienced many years of performing live music shows, including several TV and broadcast appearances, has also taken first place status in several guitar competitions.

Terry Nova has Journalistic experience with a range of over 100 articles published as staff writer for PlaybackSTL. Articles include interviews with legendary musicians and creatively covered live show reviews.

Artistic talents include having created several series of high-tech abstract geometric art pieces and photographs on metal medium focusing on the phenomenonology of naturally occurring shadows and textures. Terry Nova's artwork can be seen on display at several galleries around St. Louis.

Award recognitions include an honorable mention for an art piece from the American Institute of Architects for digital drawings. Terry Nova's involvement was key to several large scale public art sculptures, most notably the A+R+T sign in Grand Center as a partnership with the Creative Exchange Lab, which is a 30 foot tall interactive illuminated sculpture made out of undulating parallel sections of galvanized electrical conduit and then lit with colored LED strip light fixtures.

Interests include travel throughout the States and some abroad including advanced architectural studies in Barcelona, Spain under the instruction of Adrian Luchini. Additional hobbies are cooking, gardening, canoeing, archery, hiking and other outdoor sports.

Affiliations:
American Institute of Architects
American Association of University Professors

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Director’s Statement:
The story goes through seven different cultures and is represented musically with seven different key changes.
The harmonic structure of the music score can actually teach a student about all of the possible minor resolutions of diminished chords in the circle of fifths.
Student work was submitted for the project as a global collaborative effort that began as an exercise as part of a history of architecture course I was teaching, which is turn led to graphics and 3D models being contributed to this work of art from all over the world, including students from Mexico, Russia, China, Japan, Czech., England and Amsterdam, Germany, Norway and Denmark & more!
Graphic mathematical transforms were actually created that equate the Viking symbol of Odin to principles of geometry using Cartesian and Polar coordinate mapping systems.
There is quite a bit of calculation that went into the creation of the video sequences for the magnetic propulsion engine based on applied scientific concepts that demonstrate the key role that the geometry plays in future energy production and propulsion technology.
The 15 minute project took over 3,000 man hours to create over the 3-1/2 years of time that passed from concept to completion.
The 3D models and animation were produced on an old Frankenstein computer with a hand me down video card. In fact, the entire music and animation project was done on a zero budget with nothing but time, sweat and elbow grease, …. and proper software licensing.
Though, admittedly some of the content was created with free educational trial versions of outdated software as part of my research into the use of BIM in architectural education.
The music was performed and recorded using mostly old school audio technology and gear from the mid 80's...
Though the entire film was created and produced from a single point of view from a sole artist – it made me aware of the wide array of technical skills needed in order to fully tell a story these days. It has motivated me to coin the term "Omni Art" Which is to mean a type of art that utilizes all of the arts combined, through the use of music, images, cinema, and storytelling through the written word, all to express a vision.