The Weekender, June 26, 2026: Workin' On It
Workin' On It
That's the honest answer to anyone who's been wondering where Season 3 is. I'm workin' on it. And it's not due out until August 4. Hey, what do you want from me? :]
This week, I'm pulling back the curtain a little to show you what "workin' on it" actually looks like — because the production process behind this show is genuinely unlike anything else out there, and I think you'll find it interesting.
Here's how this thing gets made.
Every character you'll see in Season 3 needs what we call a character package — a set of photos shot specifically for that character, in that character's wardrobe, that the AI tools can then use to place her into any scene we need. These I'm calling external shots, because they cover everything that happens outside Oscar's house.
Yes, I'm coming up with all sorts of terms of art for this project. Some of them have acronyms. Like VBMs. Maybe in a future Weekender we'll talk about those.
Most of the photos are raw. Unglamorous. Shot against a door or a neutral wall, good lighting, multiple angles and poses. For example, here's one of Cara...
But then they'll run through FaceApp and get a little treatment. Facial expressions and makeup, for example. You've already seen how we create Erica's character from these raw photos.
Think of this process less like a photo shoot and more like building a reference library. Once the character package exists, I can put her anywhere — a grocery store, a restaurant, a hotel lobby, wherever the story calls for — without ever leaving the house.
After the externals are done, which will be pretty soon, I'll move to the house scenes — those get posed and shot live, multiple characters in frame together, no compositing needed. And then there are the fully AI characters, the ones who exist entirely in the digital world and never need a camera at all. Those are almost all dudes, for pretty obvious reasons, though there are a few female AI characters in the story.
I've got a lot of packages in the can at this point. As of this writing, all of the external character packages from my "live" (OK, they aren't live, they're silicone) photo models are complete except for the ones of Amber and Erica. This weekend I'm pushing hard to finish the rest. We're closer to the finish line than it might look from the outside.
More soon. In the meantime — if you want to be first to know when Season 3 drops, the best way is to join Amber's Army. It's free, it's fun, and it means you won't miss a thing.
Talk soon,
O.D. Barr - author, blogger, doll photographer, wardrobe consultant, AI filmmaker, web designer, sleep-deficient.
