Hello, everyone! Welcome all to the Patreon, and thank you so much for supporting what I do here. I am currently visiting my parents and will return home on Friday, and over the weekend and next week will be throwing some Patron-exclusive content up as I "deconstruct" the project and prepare for the beginning of a brand new one. This includes such things as music-free launch sequences (just the raw audio), scene analysis/breakdown, and other fun stuff that's certainly a lot easier to do on the "down-slope" once the film is actually made.
To all of you who are new here: do NOT be afraid to DM me with any questions/concerns/feedback. As financial supporters of the channel, I am accountable to you, and will do what I can to make this Patreon the best experience I possibly can. I am not one of those creators that issues a skeleton update every ~3 months or so. I stay visible, communicative, and transparent so that everyone can see exactly where we're at regarding the next project.Which brings me to the main point I wanted to make on today's post: The 65mm panavision release at NARA a couple of months ago has really driven me to reconsider the video schedule. Not only is it a whole bunch of free film just waiting to be used (and thus, there are strategic reasons to use it sooner rather than later)...but it also drastically renegotiates the cost modeling for my Apollo 9:R, 10:R, 11:R and 12:R projects.
Technically, the next project was going to be Venera. I have been in contact with "Andy R Animations" (Have you seen his Apollo 13 video?) to commission some bespoke C.G.I. from him showcasing Venera probe landing sequences, in particular, highlighting the amazingly complicated multi-stage parachute deployments.
I believe that, with Apollo 9 now cheaper, and Venera more expensive, it makes more sense to swap the two on the timeline. That means jumping right into Apollo 9:R with a shorter budget, and having a somewhat longer pull in the fundraising period for Venera.
So, Venera is absolutely still happening...but for reasons of market strategy (by which I mean the YouTube content ecosystem) and shifting project cost, I am going to be doing Apollo 9 first, as somewhat of a "cost relief" project coming down from ASTP which, as existing members know, was unusually expensive.
So! Apollo 9 in September-October, and Venera in the new year.After that, hard to say. Skylab is happening in 2027 for sure, and I'd also like to get back to the Shuttle Program.Expensive projects: Skylab, Early Apollo, Early Shuttle (inception through STS-4), Venera($4,000-$6,000 range)
"Cheap" Projects: Apollo 9:R, Apollo 10:R, Apollo 11:R, Apollo 12:R, Cassini, Mars Landers ($1,500-2,000 range).
^^ The strategy here is to try and alternate, to use less-costly videos as "fundraising bridges" to more costly videos.
Just an insight into my way of thinking. Hope it all makes sense.
-Jackson