For our first Kickstarter campaign back in December, we promised a “Pre-Production Artbook and Writer’s Guide”, which I have just now uploaded to the printer after a long, long time drawing, writing, and editing for it. This is a 170-page “story bible” with all of the essentials in the pilot episode and some additional material for the second episode as well. This includes set plans, character model sheets, sketches, character background information, future historical notes, two full scripts, a bonus short story “The Landing” which was Rosalyn’s first fictionalization of the “Lunatics” story (it’s interesting to see how much the concept has changed), and even the small character-focused reading scripts we used for auditioning actors.
Well, I didn’t get them finished on Friday or Saturday, but the artbook is basically done now. Just need to proofread and fix typos and stuff before sending it to the printer. I’m printing a copy now so I can go over it with the red pen (no matter how many times I proofread a work digitally, I always find I need to proofread a hardcopy version or I’ll miss stuff). While the artbooks are off getting printed, of course, I’ll be finishing up the storyboards and getting the data disks finished. With any luck I’ll have it all neatly wrapped up in just over a week and be able to start shipping out rewards.
We have just switched over to a smalle Kickstarter campaign to fund just the production of the voice cast (with sound effects, foley sound, and music) and a 2D animatic created by Timothée Giet based on storyboards by Terry Hancock. Find it here: http://kck.st/RTCwZs
As I posted earlier, it’s clear that we are not going to be able to raise sufficient funds to take us all the way through production of the pilot episode on this Kickstarter. I will be canceling this Kickstart in just a few minutes. I’d like to thank those of you who supported this project with your pledges! If you would like to continue supporting our production, please consider backing our much more modest campaign to fund the next phase: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2144275086/lunatics-pilot-episode-voice-drama-and-animatic
Later today, we’ll be announcing a new (replacement) Kickstarter campaign, which will fund just the next step production, which is making an animatic and a full-cast voice productio (i.e. we’re going to focus on the sound production first). Check here at lunatics.tv for the link!
Thank you very much to all of you who were willing to support this very ambitious project at this early stage! It has, however, been apparent for awhile now that we’re not going to succeed in funding the entire production process for the pilot episode in one go. So much for the “frontal assault”! However, this doesn’t necessarily mean a failure for the project — we’re now switching to a more incremental process. We’re getting ready to announce a replacement Kickstarter campaign which at minimum will fund us just through: This campaign is currently going through the Kickstarter review process and will hopefully be launched in just a few days.
I’ve just made some updates to the front page for our Kickstarter ( http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2144275086/lunatics-animated-series-pilot-no-children-in-spac ), including this fun video of a Baikonur gopher that the animation team came up with. We decided there needs to be a cameo in the pilot episode for these tiny furry folks near the space complex in Baikonur where Georgiana Lerner launches into space. So Cosmin Planchon modeled this gopher, who became “Lubo” (from the beginning of the Russian word for “curiosity”, любопытство). And I’ve worked it into the storyboards. 🙂 There might possibly be some other Internet video memes we’re riffing on here.
Here is a suite of three tracks by Butterfly Tea (“Rise of the Titans”, “Back to Adventure”, and “Andorria Main Title”) which will accompany the Soyuz launch sequence in the pilot episode: A few questions have been raised about this music and its licensing, which I feel I should probably answer here: It is my belief that focusing on the positive value of free-licensed work and providing artists with a revenue stream from that work will help to increase the perceived value of releasing under free licenses, and ultimately provide a wider pool of material for us to draw on in the future. As with many other aspects of the “Lunatics” business plan, this is all about sustainability .
Lunatics creators Rosalyn Hunter and Terry Hancock were interviewed by David Jordan of FundIndieFilms.com ! In fact, we were the first interview subject for this very promising upcoming web review site for fan-funded productions.
Three more renderings of components for the “Soyuz-SF” interior set. We are creating this set for our “Teaser Trailer”, which is also an animation test and an opportunity for our modeling team to practice working together on the project. This is the periscope (Soyuz uses a periscope for piloting because the Orbital Module is in front of the Descent Module — from which the pilot flies the spacecraft). ( Flickr Image) Completed main controls for the orbiter (These models are by Cosmin Planchon with display graphics by Timothee Giet). ( Filckr Image )
I get these questions a lot, so I’m answering it here and including it in the FAQ: (TL;DR version: “NO” and “PROBABLY, but with some qualifications”) IMAGE: Georgiana Lerner in the “Kazbek-Compatible Child Seat” for “No Children in Space”. The original Kazbek design won’t accommodate someone as small as a 7-year-old child, so the International Space Foundation had to commission a specially-engineered solution. Her spacesuit is also custom (derived from a US design) and requires an adapter (integrated into the seat) to interface with the Soyuz-SF life-support system. (Couch model by Sathish Kumar, character model by Andrew Pray).
