Hello wayward friends,

Our thoughts and well-wishes go out to those on the front lines during this COVID-19 pandemic, anyone who is ill or has loved ones who are ill, and to those having a hard time dealing with the mental stress of quarantine. We’ve been at home in LA, self isolating and sheltering in place for over 2 weeks now. While life inside is a big adjustment, we’ve been doing our best to stay optimistic and productive. And that means we’ve been charging ahead with finishing Wayward Guide for an early Fall release. Luckily, a lot of the work that is currently happening can be done remotely. Distance complicates things a little and adds a couple extra steps in the review process, but it is definitely doable. And it's important that we all do our part by staying home!

First up, is color. Our friend Justin, who we first met as a camera operator on Spies Are Forever and who has since worked on several TCB and StarKid videos, has recently completed coloring the show. We’ve touched on the importance of color grading in previous updates, so here are a couple of before and after shots from this process to give you an idea of how the finished product compares to the rough temporary color we applied (with the LUT). Notice how the newly color graded shots look dynamic, moodier, and more filmic than the rough LUT color (which already looked better than the raw pre-LUT color we showed you in a previous update). We'll be watching through all the episodes again to see if we have any additional color notes for Justin to help shots match and convey the right mood.

Additionally, we’re remotely moving full steam ahead with the podcast, which has been a very enjoyable and interesting puzzle to put together. The challenge in the podcast is to tell an in-world “definitive” version of the Wayward Guide story that stands on its own, but also weaves through the web series in a meaningful and symbiotic way (which is why the podcast was up in the air until we solidified release plans). This means getting inside the heads of Artemis & Paul to determine how they would write and craft the narrative of the podcast based on how the events of the series change them as characters. Like most podcast hosts, they would be writing it after the actual events of the web series with some perspective on the situation.

We've taken several work sessions to clarify and revise the overall form and structure of the podcast now that the web series episodes are locked and we know how they'll be released. And from there, we've drilled down deeper to finalize what happens in each episode, how much of each episode will be narration vs scenic, and which characters we want to feature. Now all that’s left is to flesh out the dialogue and fun details of the dang thing! So, that’s what we’ll be working on for the next few weeks. Since the actual podcast recording will not require large groups of people to congregate, we’re hopeful that by the late spring we’ll be able to go into production on it.

Thank you for sticking with us on this wild journey. Ironically, many of the ideas in the show are more topical in the current climate than ever before. This project has been so pivotal to our lives and professional growth over the past couple years and it would not have been possible without your generous support. We’re as more excited than ever to release it and look forward to better times ahead. Look out for more news soon!

With love and hand sanitizer,

TCB

Social Distancing: No Problem in Post-Production

Backing Into the Podcast!

ADR or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Dub the Line