Team Breakdown and THE GOAL (Patreon)

Alright everyone, it's time to provide some initial expectations and ensure you all know what to expect now that you are funding the project! Below I will be breaking down the financial costs that the team is experiencing and what we need to fully commit ourselves to finishing the project.

Team Breakdown follows:

Project Leader/Director: 

K-Lionheart is currently the Project Leader and Art Director of the project while simultaneously filling the role of Head Storyboard Artist/Revisionist.

the responsibilities she has overseen and handled are as follows: 

• Determine the direction and flow of the story while simultaneously leading discussion with the writing team to establish plot direction.
• Establish the creative vision of the project, from the script to the storyboards and establish clear instructions of creative applications, technical training, and artistic resources
• Develop, establish, and approve the overall style of the art and referential visuals
• Provide individual/team trainings concerning techniques and applications of CLIP STUDIO PAINT features that include paneling language, typesetting, 3D modeling for reference, visual flow of action and dialogue sequences
• Choose and oversee team members with given responsibilities and ensure the tasks completed which include, Social Media management, Character Art team, Background Art team, Revisionist team, Translation team, and more.
• Create and follow up timelines of responsibilities through the means of monitored channels and sheets of the production timeline
• Manage and supervise the writing team and art teams
• Manage and assign team leaders
• Coordinate training and instructions of page tasks
• Organize and delegate organization of the drive in which the pages and all resource materials are to be tracked and updated
• Receive and handle internal and external feedback through delegated team leaders
• Reviews and approves designs, drafts, concept sheets, WIPs, and Finalized pages
• Draft, approve, and finalize storyboards of all pages by self and storyboard team
• Ensure a safe work environment for all creative team members, address, and oversee intrapersonal team relationships
• Develops budgets and timelines for project completion

As you can imagine, it can be a pretty taxing job! Much of what K has to do is put on a good number of hats to ensure responsibilities are met. As such, handling all of this on her own is a heavy  burden which is why, throughout the past two years, the duties would get delegated between chosen team leaders. (Pair that with juggling a full-time job, health needs, and family time can and has led to personal burnout)

The Leadership:

Head Writer - must have strong experience with storytelling. Works with other writers closely to establish and determine the flow of the story, determine an agreed vision, and coordinate with the writers alongside the Project Leader the vision of the story and if certain events demand additional development. proficiencies must include: creative writing experience, understanding of story beats, plot development, character development, etc. much of the dialogue is also determined by the writing team and so various drafts of the story must be proposed, reviewed, scrapped, approved, and adjusted organically to the artistic visual of the project.

Head Storyboard Artist - must have visual storytelling skills. Works with storyboard team in translating the script to visual cues, blocking, character position, dynamic choreography, camera direction, spatial awareness, and scene readability. provide different drafts with the team to determine improved art direction according to the art direction.

Head Character Artist - must have strong character art skill. Works with specific artists who have been assigned to design and draw in the characters within the establish panels. This also means receive and provide training on the following: line quality, character reference sheets, beta work, shading, and artistic integrity for each page.

Head Background Artist - must have strong understanding of background techniques. Works with specific artists who have been assigned to designs and draw the backgrounds of each panel as well as handle specific resources for repeated panels, establish references, angles, and provide necessary training on: line quality, perspective, vanishing points, scene blocking, and more.

Head Revisionist - must have a strong understanding of visual details and an eye for perspective. works with other revisionists to clean up and make adjustments per the Art Director's creative expectations.

Head Social Media Manager - must have a strong understanding of marketing techniques, consistent posting practices, SEO, audience language, understand creative quality, have strong recruiting skills, and creative understanding of marketing visuals. oversees the social media team to consider ideas for promotional art and understand the imperative of audience engagement.

In our hey day, the team was well stocked with individuals who were able to not only take on these responsibilities but ascertain the synergy of the team. These positions have been passed around between team members for many reasons - some started strong in their positions but due to personal life needs requested to work on other tasks, or had to adjust to different needs. This is why Part 1 of AOTNR was done within a two months of the completed ending. The creative vision was heavily discussed consistently for the first initial weeks (day in and out). 

Team members must be open minded, coachable, and willing to provide ideas that may be scrapped in favor of approved creative decisions. Being able to provide productive conversation and willingness to be mediated is crucial for the synergy of the team. Additionally, artists and writers alike at times end up sharing roles and responsibilities.

TL;DR -- Running a huge team with different expectations, demands, needs, training, and work expectations on a budget of $0 is freaking hard. lol 

SO, As a supporter of the Project, let's consider the financial breakdown and what we are looking for in order to fully fund the project.

AVERAGE INCOME INFO

The average Art Director Role in the professional industry can range anywhere between $27USD - $93USD per hour. Let's set the Median at $45USD/hr. -- this is based on the statistical analysis for the U.S (resource here)

Head Storyboard Artist median: $37.5 USD/hr (source)
Head Character Artist median: $38 USD/hr (source)
Head Background Artist median: $24 USD/hr (source)
Head Social Media Manager median: $31 USD/hr (source)

--- KEEP IN MIND, this is for a set salary at a minimum of 40 hour per work week salary in the U.S)

Average artist wage for comic artist median is roughly around $12USD - $22 USD/hr. 

IMPORTANT TIDBIT: I set these medians to be clear on setting an average expectation of funding. However, The Total amount raised for the project should not be calculated on consistent salary but on a contractual base. Payment should only be derived on work completed, not on time "clocked in" - results based.

as of Nov. 12 2023 - a total of 4 artists are currently active on the team. 7 total active members in the team. Recruitment of new artists is more than likely and necessary.

Besides handling interpersonal relationships on and off the team, the main reason for inactivity thus far has been the conflict of IRL matters and handling personal creative burnout. Some of us on the team find it difficult to produce when having to delegate adult lives and needs and find free time to put the work into this project. Mental Health is important and so we want to ensure this is a safe space for the team.
While having a perfect team synergy is ideal and desirable, personalities can also clash or not mix well and conflicts can arise in other ways as a result.

ADDITIONAL COSTS

Website and web management: $369 USD / year
tech managers - roughly earn $28 USD/hr

LICENSING AND TECHNOLOGY
The team primarily uses the program Clip Studio PAINT EX 2.0. This version is necessary as specific manga creation tools are offered to EX instead of Pro. If an artist is unable to purchase the license and is willing to put in the work, funds are used to purchase the license via subscription/one-time purchase fee, depending on the circumstance.

Currently, a one-time fee paid for CSP EX is $219 USD per license
(however the subscription model offers the program at a very low cost. Subscription amounts vary on the country of purchase. Many of the Project Artists are overseas and this is worth considering).

Team management applications are currently being researched to ensure productivity is trackable and pages get completed within the production timeline.

EMERGENCY EXPENSES
Typically good to set aside in the event a team member suffers damages in equipment, personal hardship, etc. (These funds would only be made available if the team has any excess in funding)

BOOK PRODUCTION COSTS - any and all extra funds will go to the production and distribution of a physical copy of the book. If any additional funds are gained in excess, they will either be donated or pooled for additional production costs post project.

FOREIGN EXCHANGE AND TAX - We are still researching foreign exchange fees, banking, federal and state taxes, other necessary fees we may be liable for. If anyone is able to provide any insight concerning this beyond what google can provide, please let us know!

Finally, we want to set a portion of funds to be paid for artists who have given their efforts during previous parts as an appreciation for their efforts. We want to ensure everyone who worked on the project is compensated fairly for their hard work and efforts. 

FINAL NOTES

*whew*

So this has been quite a week. A lot of research went into this to ensure the completion of The Requiem Project. We truly want to fulfill the end of this vision. While we recognize the project itself has many flaws, we want to ensure we provide the best that we can for the team. We hope this breakdown makes sense to anyone and everyone who wants to critically understands all of the expenditures needed for this project which leads us to our final declaration!

THE GOAL: 

Our first milestone for the project is to raise $5k USD (hopefully within the end of the month)

Second milestone: $15k USD

Third Milestone: $25k USD

these are preliminary figures as well as goals we want to shoot for the stars for and here's why.

THE TIMELINE ESTIMATE*

complete part 4 by early January 2024
complete part 5 by early April 2024
complete part 6 by early June 2024

Final Clean up and Rerelease by August 2024
Physical Copy of the Project by September 2024

*these are subject to change depending on circumstance, acts of god, etc. Team mates get sick, people get injured, family, work, school life balances may throw expectations quite around. Before, we had timelines that were very wide and difficult to follow because finding opportunity to dedicate to work on the project on an individual's creative capacity and free time was really tough to predict. This is why it's taken us so long to release part 4. Personal life issues made it difficult to prioritize when IRL issues kept taking the focus of individual needs. However, funding allows many of us to prioritize this project because we'll be able to do this part-time, even full time. Just this will expedite our process and allow us to establish a firm production timeline we full intend to communicate to all of our patrons.

THE VISION

The Requiem Project isn't the endgame for our journey.

We are at a crossroads now where indie creators are beginning to rise and pool their creative energy regardless of major corporate interjection. We are learning to play in a sandbox that was previously exclusive to those who were able to gain venture capitalists. We are seeing a change in the industry now more than ever and this could be the start of something potentially great. something potentially revolutionary. I want to create a reality where those of us who wish to create can do so in an atmosphere not hidden behind paywalls and expensive learning structures.

I believe in the creative spirit and want to see it grow. It's why I've found so much joy in this project because not only was it fun, it was lifechanging to create with people who otherwise wouldn't have been able to through traditional means.

So help us get there. We just keep moving forward.

Thanks everyone.

TL;DR - let's freaking go.

love, the Requiem Project Team