March Updates

Hello everyone!

I hope you're all well! It feels like spring has finally sprung in the UK and I'm really appreciating the sun, warmth, flowers budding everywhere and longer days. I also finally feel like the finish line for the video is coming into view! Since my last post I've been through a few rounds of script editing, recorded 70% of the voiceover and have been editing it too! I can now say that I’m expecting the runtime to be… *drumroll* between five and six hours (💀). I'm actually really happy with this as I was worried it was going to be even longer lol -- ever since I became aware the video was going to be upwards of three hours, I thought somewhere in the five- to six-hour range would be the sweet spot. The boat for attracting viewers who are only interested in short videos sailed a long time ago, so thinking about those who would click on a video of this length, I have this arbitrary sense that something under six hours is more approachable than something over that (maybe just because the longest video essay I've watched has been in this range). With all of that being said, I have no real viewership expectations for this video and am just hoping it doesn't get demonitised so I can make something back from the time I’ve spent on it, but that's not ultimately why I do this.

That's a good segue into my usual assurance that I'm going as fast as I feasibly can with this video, as much as I know everybody here (and everywhere really) already knows and understands that. I basically put aside job apps when I realised this was going to be a properly long project as I knew it would never get finished if I got hired while I was working on it, but now that I’m reaching the end, I’ve gotten back to the job search. I'd been expecting this to go a bit slower than it has, but I actually have my first interview next week which I also have to travel across the country for and there's some prep involved, so things are a bit hectic right now! Recording the voiceover has already had to be spaced over a few weeks as well due to the limited time I have to record without loads of background noise and also just the toll recording a 100-page script (💀💀) takes. Once I get about ten pages in my voice starts to get scratchy and unusable. Anyway, apologies for the late-in-the-month update, I was really hoping to be 100% done with the VO before I posted it but it obviously wasn't in the cards. Nonetheless, my next update post will finally be a preview of the actual video! I'll probably post the first half-hour when it’s done, then the next, then maybe the next, depending on what you guys want and how much you want to leave to look forward to for the final upload.

We’re getting there!!! I did not mean for this video to become my life’s work but it feels like it has 😅 But after literally hundreds of hours toiling over it, living and breathing these shows and turning them over and over in my mind, I finally feel confident that I have 5+ hours of really solid and hopefully enjoyable analysis for you all, and now it’s mostly just going to be buckling down and getting it edited. This essay feels like a fitting end-point to the journey I've been on over the last eighteen-odd months as a Higurashi fan, and I think it reflects that journey, with all its rollercoaster highs and lows, tears and laughter and head-scratching. I’m really happy that even if Gou/Sotsu weren’t always positive experiences, I don’t feel like this video is one that will drag people down, but rather explore the entire spectrum of things I’ve been feeling as a Higu fan. I’m really excited to share what I’ve made with you all!

Speak soon!! 🤗