Attempted reproduction of 90 seconds of lunar surface footage — working file and two costings

Origin: Commissioned by They Buried
Dated: April–June 2026
Extent: 28 pages
Status: accepted
Redactions: None.

Chain of custody

We paid a visual effects supervisor to fake it, twice: once with 2026 tools and once with nothing invented after 1969. Her working file, both costings and the point at which she stopped are published. Our standards editor's objection — that she already believed the footage genuine, and that two of the four supervisors we approached declined the job — is recorded in the file and in the story.

Held by: They Buried; published in full

Excerpt

1969 COSTING · line 1
  DUST — particles must not decelerate.
  options: (a) shoot in vacuum — no chamber of that size exists, 1969 or now
           (b) add per-particle in post — CG particle systems: 1982
           (c) undercrank — slows dust MORE. wrong direction.
  → no path. stopping here. remaining lines not costed.

Transcribed by the data desk. Line breaks follow the original. Bracketed matter is ours.

Editor's note

The 1969 costing has one line on it. That is the finding.

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