Well, when three different people chime in with a similar concern in less than a week, that certainly gets my attention! (Corey Olsen brought this up in the most recent session too, actually, that he's 'missing' a way to present the creative output of this project to others.)
I agree,
eclectic and
Kathrin, that it would be helpful to collate images/decisions/descriptions that have been put forward in this project, so that those wishing to 'see' what it is meant to look like can get an idea, and those wishing to contribute images can do so with more confidence that what they are contributing will 'fit' in with the whole.
I think that casting and music and scripts are somewhat organized, so merely having a central place to point people in the right direction may be enough to make them accessible, but when it comes to sets and character designs and locations and props and costumes and all of that....I agree that there is no clear way to find what has been suggested or chosen in those areas. It would be a matter of going back and relistening to the relevant post-Season sessions from prior years to determine what was decided on each point...and then figuring out how to collate that information. Quite obviously, I have not done that (yet). I will let this serve as a reminder that someone should do that before we get into Season 5.
As for 'what would the Hosts like to see?,' they are certainly open to any contributions someone wishes to make, even if they didn't explicitly request it. As a 'for instance,' Haerangil began contributing maps in Season 2, and that has greatly helped with picturing the layout of various cities and locations! Corey Olsen was thrilled to see the addition of a cartographer to the project. In Season 4, they did discuss some creative content in parallel to the plot discussions, in part in the hopes that that would give artists some food for thought and enough time to work out their ideas rather than being hurriedly put on the spot. So, for instance, they discussed what Glaurung would look like, and the layout of Turgon's throne room in Vinyamar, and the activities and music at the Mereth Aderthad.
Here are the links to the youtube videos of the Season 4 sessions on creative content:
Session 4-13: Frame Characters
Session 4-15: Music, Maps, Sun/Moon
Session 4-17: Magic Swords, Maedhros' stump, Eagles
Session 4-19: Casting
Session 4-22: Dragons!
(As a note, the content of these creative sessions was dictated by messageboard suggestions - so this was very much a matter of input from listeners directing the choice of topics to discuss. If something was missing here...we can suggest it be discussed next season, certainly!)
So, for anyone wishing to make some contributions at this time (honestly, it can be for content in Seasons 1-4 of the project), I would encourage you to post them somewhere on the forums before the end of January. I think that the January 30th Session will be devoted to reviewing artwork and costumes, etc.
Also, if someone is frustrated there there is not a particular forum/subforum devoted to a topic, it's possible to request a new one be created. I know our conversations tend to be plot heavy, but I want to make sure that all the creative folks feel they have space to carve out for themselves here, too. Change won't happen overnight, but we can put a request in if there's a desire for a new space - just let us know.