An explanation, of sorts (Patreon)

A lot of the joy I get out of working on a project, is in the revelation of it to a receptive audience. My moment in the spotlight, when I take a bow after a job well done. However, I also have a bad track record of finishing things. It goes with having ADHD, and being a bit autistic, both of which I am or have.  I have in the past revealed that I was working on somethng, and then... it never got finished. And I always feel bad about that. 

Take the not-so-recent Foozle comic that is still only mostly posted to the Patreon here. I do intend to finish it, but it's....falen by the wayside. Some of you may also recall sometime ago, back when I was doing COBALT the comic book, that there was an advertisement on the back of one issue, promoting a thing called SCIENCE PROJECT which never actually materialized.

In Hollywood terms, the stage where one is engrossed in the mechanics of manufacturing media is known by the name Preproduction Hell. A lot of big, billion-dollar movie projects never get out of this stage. A lot of my projects also never get out of this stage. 

I am, at present, working on just such a project: I have given myself a year to do preproduction on what will eventually be a comic. But, rather than doing it a page at a time, where it comes out in dribs and drabs and eventually may dry up or never get finished, I have made the deliberate decision to make this an all-or-nothing affair. It gets done, or it doesn't. 

This is the reason why I'm hesitant to write this, because rather than pulling back the curtain to reveal a brand new shiny thing in all its glory, and here it is... I'm talking about it now, when it isn't finished, and explaining that there's a chance it might not be.

Because I have a bad track record of getting projects out of Preproduction Hell. 

So why am I writing this? Some time ago, I accepted that a large project is just a lot of little projects stuck together. And that maybe rather than keeping this huge monlithic thing a secret until it was all done, it might be good to treat it it as that - a lot of little projects which I can reveal one by one. 

In fact, I have already started doing this. You have already seen bits of the big project, without really knowing it. 

Here's a hint: It's going to be done in 3D, and it's going to star Cobalt. 

Taking a Hollywood approach to it, I have divided the work up by department. Story, script, design, construction, filming, post production...

I have written a story outline, and have a folder full of dialogue and script sections that fit into it. And using that I came up with a list of sets, props, vehicles and actors that will need to be designed and built. 

I have another folder into which I have been putting design sketches. And I have commenced the construction of some of the sets and props that will be needed. 

The working title: Starship Awesome

The concept: A tribute to late 70's and early 80's sci-fi, done in the style of, and with an attempt to mimic the look & feel of an 80's tv show. 

I'm taking it in stages. First the writing, then the design phase, then the construction, and finally at the very end, the filming will begin. Actors in sets, under lights, performing dialogue. 

In keeping with the "80's tv show" format, it will be PG. 

And in future, I will begin to share some of the preproduction work here. FX tests, lighting tests, concept images... all that stuff. 

I do not intend to post any of the pages unless and until all of them are done. Like I said, this is all or nothing. It gets done or it doesn't.

But I also feel I owe it to you folks to let you know that I'm doing this. That time has actually been going into it for months, now. 

...and who knows, I may yet pull this off. 

Thanks again to every one of you who is still out there Patroning away. Hope you enjoy the coming look behind the scenes, and thanks again for putting up with me.