Behind-The-Scenes: Anime Games That Need To Be Made

Here's my thoughts on my Anime Games video!

So I wanted to do something that I've honestly thought about for a while, which is talk about hypothetical games I would make. Part of the reason I got so much into gaming, and the sole reason I pursued a game dev degree, was that I enjoy coming up with ideas. I like talking about mechanics and design and how things work together, so much so that I'll write down ideas in my spare time even if I have no intention of following up on them. So when someone in my comments pitched the idea that I should talk about a game I'd make, I thought up this video.

Actually writing the script was a bit challenging though, because I haven't seen any format like this before. So I had no idea what would keep people interested. Because I can talk about this stuff all day, but the audience of people that know all eight anime and also want games from them is pretty small. So I hope that I did a good job explaining everything and trying to make it accessible and fun to listen to even if you're not as invested in the ideas or anime as I am.

I decided to follow the sort of format I've been using for my regular videos, with title cards and transitions and everthing, so that hopefully it blends in with my other content. What I decided on pretty early though, was that I would definitely need to cut down some of the hyper-specific things I talk about for YouTube. So, thankfully, having a Patreon provided a great option. Since normally I'd just cut the discussions short for YouTube, but now I can leave them in and just edit two different versions of the video.

Writing for two different versions was actually surprisingly easy. I wrote the entire script as one long piece, and then went back and highlighted anything that I knew I'd cut for YouTube. Then just wrote transitions between all the cut content to make sure the video flowed nicely for both versions. And I think it worked really well in the end.

Recording

I don't know why, but I've had a bit of trouble recording lately. I bought equipment a little while ago like a camera and teleprompter, so I can just sit down and record the video in one long session if I want to, and I don't have to memorize lines or anything. And while that does help, I've also just been incredibly tired. Probably owing to seasonal depression or something. So I held off on recording the video for a bit while I tried to fix my sleep schedule.

I eventually sort of gave up on trying to feel good enough to record, and just pushed through it anyway. I basically just chugged an energy drink and got to work. And I think that the recording still turned out well. So in the future I might just stop trying to put pressure on having to feel perfect before recording.

Editing

Actually cutting together the video was pretty straightforward. I only have a couple things to talk about in regards to how it was different to previous videos.

One, is that I normally cut out all my breaths and pauses in recording. Because leaving them in just feels like dead air to me, and it's so easy to just cut everything out. However, I also don't know how I feel about the jump-cut style my videos have. I haven't seen anyone complain about it, so it's probably fine. But a more naturalistic video might be something I do soon, just to test the waters. If anyone has noticed the cuts or anything like that, let me know.

Second, is that I had to figure out how to edit two different versions of the video. I marked down in the script what to cut for YouTube, so in editing I just cut everything like normal and marked the Patreon-exclusive segments by raising them in the timeline (You can see in the timeline screenshot they're all the raised video tracks on V6). Then I finished editing the Patreon version as normal, adding backgrounds and footage and music. And then I just duplicated the timeline, cut out the highlighted tracks, and adjusted the music to flow together. And I think it worked pretty well. There's some jumps in the background footage, but nothing I'd change if I did something like this again.

Third, in terms of improving my editing, I actually held back a lot with the footage  and transitions, since the video was taking a bit long to get out. Getting relevant footage for everything I talk about is by far the biggest pain, and something I need to figure out how to streamline if possible. But to compensate, I did find new chapter transitions I like (being the anime names on screen with the blurred background).

I also put a ton of time into the opening of the video, with the anime openings timed to music (which I had to make two versions of, since the Patreon cut uses music from a Chainsaw Man ED). And then I went really hard on zooms for the video, since YouTubers I watch constantly have the camera slowly zooming in and out to create motion. I might pull back on the zooms for my next video, but I do like how they make things a bit more dynamic.

Thoughts

Overall, I like the format of the video quite a bit. I'm hoping that it does well so I can do something similar in the future. Having videos talking about games I'd make would be really fun. I just need to really hone in on how to make it work for YouTube.

My next video is going to be a more classic video essay. I think it's probably going to end up being a sort of pseudo-sequel to the fanservice video. So I'm going to work on getting that out soon. And then I still have to do my end of year review video, and that might be it for 2022 content.

Anyways, hope everyone enjoyed the video!