The Expanse update (Patreon)

It’s a fun challenge to go from zero to expert on a new series. We’ve been doing Game of Thrones videos for four years, so the GOT stuff is now super refined, systematised – comfortable. A new series like the Expanse has none of those advantages – but it’s an opportunity to make stuff better. Like Prax says in the Expanse Book 2:

“There was something exciting about the prospect of rebuilding that was, in its fashion, even more interesting than the initial growth. To do something the first time was an exploration. To do it again was to take all the things they had learned, and refine, improve, perfect. It left Prax a little bit giddy.”

We got a bit of this with Westworld. But Westworld didn’t have a book series – with the Expanse there’s more to work with. We're learning from mistakes made with GOT and WW. More organised notes systems, more efficiently encoded video, better AE templates. It’s not going to look radically different to existing videos, but the backend is running smoother and sleeker – which means we’ll have more info, more insight, more quality imagery to work with.

After a close reading of the first couple books, the script is coming together. Trying to include both the basic info for Expanse newcomers, and interesting details and analysis for Expanse veterans. The overall structure is looking like 1) an intro to the world(s) and politics, 2) characters and plot of Book 1 and Season 1, 3) analysis of the themes of idealism, power of information, etc. I’d guess an ~18 minute video, but we’ll see how it goes.

This could be the first of several Expanse videos – depends how this one turns out. But whatever happens, it’s great practice at tackling a new series. Ideally Alt Shift X will become not just an expert at GOT videos, but an expert at learning new series. That way we can get into whatever cool new stuff comes along, and make the best damn nerd analysis videos on the internet.
That’s the dream.

Thanks for your support! I think we’re on track to finish this video for Patrons within the next few weeks – probably with a short ASOIAF video as well. As the script and video design take shape, there’ll be more regular update posts here – we’ll also do the monthly livestream as usual.

Cheers!

ASX