New Rule: NO MORE FAKE ALIENS

This alien is not AI, and in fact moving forward, I will no longer be using AI generative imaging on this channel. Goodbye Slap. Hello props. So while I tell you what's changing in the videos, which analog tools we'll be using to help tell these stories, and most importantly, why? Which isn't what you think. I'll be taking you through my studio and showing you things only podcast guests have ever seen. And stay tuned to the end of the video where I will share my most prized and valuable piece of UFO Femura. So before I talk to you about why, let me tell you about what's changing on the channel and it's very simple. No more generative AI imaging, meaning we're not going to be using any photos or videos made by AI. That being said, I don't necessarily have a problem with AI. I use it for research. The software that I'm using to edit this video probably uses AI as well. So to be clear, no more AI generated imaging. And to tell you why, it would take you back to where it all started. The old stomping grounds follow me. So to be completely transparent, this is not a moral stance, it's not a political stance, and it's also not an environmental stance. This has everything to do with my own creativity. I've noticed that since I've began using AI imagery, I've shot a lot less. I've done a lot less videos like I used to do. Back when we started this channel, we had these full-blown investigations that were kind of this mix of this sleuthing story happening mixed with all sorts of fun archival b-roll that we would get. And we would have a lot of fun being creative. And I found since using AI imagery, it's kind of stifled or held back a lot of the creativity. And I'm not growing as fast as I'd like to as a cinematographer, as an editor, as a producer, as a writer. And it's just been really easy to use for me. And so it's been kind of a crutch, and I just want to get away from that. Number two would be world building. As you can see, every set that we have takes place in sort of this weird mid-century 50s, 60s, 70s era. And everything back then was analog. You would use typewriters or, you know, these old tape recorders or microphones or what have you. And I feel like using AI kind of takes you out of that. So it removes you from this little fictional bubble that I'm trying to create and immerse you in when I make these videos. So really the world building aspect of it, I think, will benefit from stepping away from generative imaging. Number three is the challenge. This, you know, I, it's so easy to use AI nowadays to just prompt something. And again, I don't have an issue with that if that's what you're doing. Smaller creators, if it helps them reach that next level because of the overhead or because of time constraints, do your thing. I really don't care. This really has to do with myself and my team and what we're capable of. And one thing that I wanted to do is challenge myself a little bit more on this channel. And whether that's tackling subject matter, that might be a little trickier. Whether that's going out boots on the ground and filming stuff or whether that's creating that immersive sort of feeling you get when you watch these videos by using, you know, various props and whatnot. Number four, really this one kind of goes without saying, but because we're dealing with, you know, UFOs and aliens and there is already sort of this muddied up imagery that's out there that we don't know if it's real or not. AI really isn't helping that cause for a lot of people. Now, I know some of the younger generation might think, well, they can detect slop a mile away, but I think a lot of people are also understanding that we're getting to that point where we're not going to be able to tell the difference. And I think it's important, especially with the subject matter that we're dealing with, which is UFOs, to be as honest and transparent as we can and without muddying up the waters even further. What's funny is I was looking through these old magazines and from the 60s and 70s, UFO magazines and they used to actively, once a year, have these photo contests and then they would showcase the best UFO photos. But there was like an actual prize to win for submitting the best photo. Now, if that isn't an incentive to create a hoax, I don't know what is. And I fear that that itself probably muddied up the field with a lot of fakes already. And so I think incorporating AI in that way isn't really helping the cause. And lastly, this is probably my favorite reason, not my number one reason, but probably my favorite. And to tell you about it, I'm going to take you to a brand new set that we have just built. And I will also show you the prop that I was talking about. And so if you will, folks, please join me in the archives. Now to tell you about how we're going to go about replacing AI generative imaging in these videos. And to do that, we're going to need a lot of help. Some of your help, actually. So I reached out to the community and I'm currently working with about close to a dozen artists right now that are hand drawing, painting and sketching. A lot of the scenes that are going to depict some of the upcoming episodes. And we will use those sketches to cut away to. So instead of generating images through AI, we're generating images by human illustrators. We're also going to be using a lot of costumes, a lot of props. We're going to hire actors. And we will also use a lot of the archival stuff that you see around me. This isn't just filler props, although it looks great. These are actual videos and reels that we've had digitized that we'll be able to cut to. And we're also going to use some of it, whether it's the microfiche back here or the 16 millimeter reel. We've also been going through the entire archives of magazines that I have, page by page, painstakingly, b-rolling every illustration and title that we can find that will help tell the stories. Point is, I kind of want to do away with using the generated imagery. I think that where this channel is going. And I think that the skill set that the people who work with me have far exceeds whatever prompt we could come up with. And I think all of that is really stifling our creativity. And by making this switch, not only can we challenge ourselves to create better content, but we can also enlist the help of a lot of amazing artists that will end up showcasing here, who by the way will be paid for their work. And you will find all of their information in the descriptions and on screen when I feature some of their art. But no hard feelings, honestly, for people who do use AI, whether it's generated imagery or whether it's vibe coding and app, you do you. I have no problem with it. The reason we're doing it is purely out of selfish creative expression. And hopefully that translates through these videos. And hopefully that inspires creators out there to perhaps do the same. And if it doesn't, that's cool too, but we'll be over here filming silly stuff and silly costumes using a bunch of silly props and enlisting the help of our community. So if you do enjoy this and you want to encourage us, simply like this video, subscribe, comment below, and head over to our Discord channel. In our Discord channel, we have a subsection that is devoted entirely to art from our community. And it is there that a lot of the artists have submitted their work in order to be chosen to help with this channel. So if you want to submit your art, whether it's props, whether it's paintings, drawings, even digital art, which we will not be using for this, but we might be using, you know, for products who knows. Go ahead and share your art over there in our Discord. It's open to everybody. And yeah, that's it for this week. So next week, stay tuned for another video and we'll see you that. I almost forgot. My coveted and most prized possession in terms of UFO ephemera. This folks comes straight from the archive of Wendell Stevens himself, a famed researcher who's written a lot of books on the UFO topics and studied a lot of contact cases. Well, a lot of his original photos of UFOs came up in an auction. And I got a whole bunch of them. And so I'll show you a few of them, but a lot of these will be used in upcoming investigations. So this one from 1942 actually purchased from a Japanese general in China. You can see a UFO. There's even a guy pointing to the UFO. You can see some of the writing here, possibly from Wendell Stevens himself. This one was a Mori Rivera, the original Amori Rivera photos of an F-14 seemingly chasing a flying disc. And we go to Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1965. a disk standing up on its side, and then over. here. Just kind of turning around. Now we go to Honolulu Hawaii, a very famous photo of a UFO here caught in the sky. Just wild. Colfax, Wisconsin, Mark, Coltrane. Look at this one. Now again, a lot of these could be hoaxed. They could be fake. Some of these have incredible stories that go along with them, which is what I'm very interested in, such as William J. Herman, otherwise known as Bill Herman's UFO photos. Some of the most stunning UFO photos I've ever come across. These are absolutely beautiful and really hope they're real, but who knows? Santa Fe, Argentina, another UFO tilted to the side here. And the list goes on and on. This book is filled with original UFO photos that we'll be using as well in a lot of the videos that we cover.