Okay, so here's where we're at now.
As of typing this, all camera work for this episode is complete. I've just finished off all of Scene F. I probably have more minor nitpicks to make here and there, but all the core movement, the depth of field, everything is good to go for every scene of the entire episode. Cinematically, we are now solid.
Additionally, the freelancing website I'm using to hire out the environmental effects seems to be working out very well. The snow in this episode is actually going to look like snow, which is a huge relief, because I personally do not know how to do 3D Snow. I am now using this site to hire out two freelancers concurrently - one to do all the snow effects in Scenes C and F, and one to do the environmental effects in Scenes A, D, and G. Scenes C and D are currently in progress.
Now onto the hiccup: The freelancer I'd previously hired to animate the special character has now stopped responding to my messages entirely. I have not heard from them since May 1st, and now I am pretty sure they have ghosted me. This is concerning. I'd originally tried to animate this character myself, but it proved too difficult for me, so I hired someone else to do it. That person dropped out. Then, I hired someone to replace them, and after them putting it off for a month and then delaying for an additional month, this person has now ceased communication entirely. This means I have officially been attempting to get this character animated for five months total, but have been unable to find an animator to adequately do the job. I am so late in the process now that searching for someone else and coordinating this is going to delay the project even further than it's already been delayed. I think this makes the fifth or sixth animator in the history of making Squad that just didn't work out.
I am now weary of trying to find someone that can handle this, and this week, I am going to try once again to do the animation by myself. After seeing the scenes over and over again, I think I have a clearer vision of what it's meant to look like and I'm willing to take one more crack at it. Worst case scenario, I'll be hiring someone else to do corrections on my work, rather than doing everything from the ground up. This has proven extremely aggravating for me, but it seems like this is one of those situations where I'm going to have to do it myself or not see it done at all. Regardless, there is a lot more work to be done that hinges on this character being animated, so my focus will have to shift to this and this alone for the next week. I hope to bring better news by next update. Thank you all.