B-Mask

Behind the Scenes: Editing the Jak video

 As promised, the first of what I hope to be a series of videos for the Usher and ASM patrons on my immediate process making my latest project, a video on Jak and Daxter. 

 Mostly a casual chat in front of the timeline detailing where I'm at and what I've got next to do. Obviously this is the first time i'm trialling this and it'd be great to get feedback on what you think would be cool to see in future takes like this, would be very appreciated! 

 Hope this gives you guys a good idea of where I'm at and what i've been up to the past couple months. In the meantime, I gotta go back and redo this audio thanks to the rewritten script I've prepared. Fufunfun

 -B

Feb Update (Jak video Progress and Patreon Reward Updates)

Hey guys!

Let’s cut to the chase, the Jak video is almost fully edited, but after putting it on its feet over the last couple weeks I’ve not been happy with how the script worked out again, and ended up doing another rewrite. The overall structure was fine but the order of some points and way I’d stated certain ideas felt kind of sloppy, things you don’t really notice until you’re watching the work back in full and going huh, that doesn’t actually make sense to anyone outside my head.

 The process of re-writing mostly consisted of properly setting points up, moving paragraphs around, better delineating certain statements and doubling up on any research I might have missed, as well as making sure the video’s flow better serves the whole point it wants to make. I’m a lot happier with that, and thanks to my existing edit it’s easier to visualise how that’s going to work, so once the new audio is completed it shouldn’t be too long before the new edit is complete. I’m personally looking within a two week window at the latest. Don't worry about the gap at the end there- had a very specific idea for a long time about how this one ends, but wanted the entire video sorted before I settled down to make that part happen. It'll become clear once it goes live, I promise!

As easy as it would be to just hash out the rest of the edit and go with what I’ve already got, it wouldn’t be right, especially when I can already see what doesn’t work and how it can be improved. Better I feel to take that opportunity now and make that possible so we get a better video rather than one I’ll regret. It’s only really a shame to me because I’ve been promising this one for absolute ages and really wanted a video out every month this year, but 28 days turned out not to be enough to see where this needed to go.

To quote a morbidly obese crime boss- ‘aaaahhhh well.’

But the fact we’re this far in is still good and there’s more positives on the way. This will tick off another video on the roadmap, with Two left to go that I’ll be switching focus to fast. After that, we’ll be gearing up for the Marvel Project, which I’ve made some more strides towards and will hopefully begin production on in a few months. I’m thinking of explaining the logistics of why this one is taking so much longer through a community post and through something else I’ve wanted to kickstart for a while…

Patreon exclusive behind-the-scenes videos.

I keep promising patrons different tier rewards, with all patrons now able to access these update posts, and one of the things I want to do for 3-5 dollar patrons is some videos on behind the scenes content, seems like something I can deliver on that would be appropriate for those tiers and not feel like I’m gating off main videos, more personal stuff that I know I can deliver. Was hoping to have the Jak one done first before making an announcement but I guess now is as good a time as any to get the ball rolling!

Audience tier will unlock all the update blogs and insight posts on Patreon. Quick access to all my thoughts in written form, and I’ll be going in soon to make sure previous posts are now open to those tiers.

Usher tier will unlock extra videos with behind the scenes thoughts and musings on my project progress, the first of which will be me casually talking about where I’m at with this edit.

ASM tier will unlock some other videos, including stuff from my past and commentaries/discussions of older projects that I'll announce here soon. Names will still appear at the end of BP videos.

I’ll be announcing these in an update on the channel hopefully after the Jak video goes public. I told myself this will be the year I release more content, and it’s only because I was so convinced this one would be finished this month I haven’t already gotten to it, but no matter, I can see the end coming up, so we might as well start. There may be changes to these tiers in terms of including some additional content or moving things around based on feedback, but that will become apparent later down the line.

And that’s all I got for ya. I’ll be back soon with that behind the scenes video for the Ushers and ASM’s, and then will return with the Jak video in full. Catch you all then!

- B

Return to Oz is Shockingly Nice

  Look who it is! That guy you were expecting, Jack! Right? Right?!

  The other video I was working on still wasn't going to be ready for January, and I really wanted to break my recent cycle of missing that month, and luckily had been recently inspired to cook this up fairly quickly. It's a film that I've always had on my mind and a recent revisit reawakened a lot of thoughts and feelings I wanted to get out there, especially when seeing what it's reputation had become in the time I'd left it behind. I hope it makes for an old school B style video, one that will hopefully kick off the year with an emotional bang. Let me know what you all think!

 But the work isn't over for me yet! The Jak video is in the timeline and being edited as we speak. There's a lot more in there than I expected and I needed to record some other games I hadn't yet gotten to for footage, along with other details. All my focus will be on getting that done, and then moving onto the rest. There might be some small surprises here and there inbetween all those but I'll be notifying you all of those in the not so distant future. 

 I'll break for a day to reasses what's up and then be diving back into work. Until then, take a trip back with me to the emerald city, and see if it's really all that frightening. Probably a little bit, right? But just a little.

 -B

The Hidden Genius Of Kickassia

 Guess my Christmas video got made after all, huh?

 Had an idea to do this one for about a year and decided to finally pull the trigger. It's been an exhausting experience, with a subject I was really worried about covering, but I managed to hit the deadline- right before I packed up to see my family for Christmas. 

 Will probably go into more detail about this later but for now, I hope you enjoy a very honest dissection of what probably brought me into the video making fold to begin with, as I think about the projects I'm going to be tackling in the new year. Have a Happy Holiday, take care of yourselves, and, of course, Long Live Kickassia. 

 -B

November/December Update (Disney vid details and future plans)

Hey everyone!

Another late update, but I’m treating this as the last major one for the year. There may be a short update before it’s over, but I have a better idea of what I can do before I break for the Holidays and what I can deliver in January, so figured I might as well summarise what’s happening now rather than later, as well as give some thoughts on the latest video. Let’s get to it!

Chapek’s Disney

The Disney video ended up bigger than planned. You guys probably remember me going from ‘oh I don’t know if I’ll have anything to say’ to ‘wait I have A LOT to say’ and I got really into the project despite not going in with any concrete plans to make a video. I knew starting the trip I wanted to document it as I went, getting the camera out just in case assuming that, if nothing else, it’d make for a nice set of memories, and it ended up being a great experiment where the subject kind of formed itself out of the experience.

Given how much I’d spoken about theme parks, specifically Disney, it seemed like a no brainer that a video like this would happen eventually, and it became a chance to put a lot of my opinions on the company and the parks in there as it shaped outwards. It was a nice opportunity to challenge myself with a new way of putting a video together based as much on whatever footage I could provide as my usual collection of clips from across various sources, and I got very invested in seeing the project through- though that also meant I got very precious about what was suddenly no longer just a funny travelogue, and I began treating it like a proper B-Mask video.

I was suddenly nervous about what I was saying near the end of the process because it felt kind of hollow. I’d poured all this energy into a video about Disney parks and criticising the current (and a little bit of the past) regime, lead by the CEO Bob Chapek, and had ended it on this optimistic note that things could easily change and get better. But what if they didn’t? I felt like maybe I needed to reword the script and I did a couple times, trying to feel better about it, but the truth is that it felt weird to even have a video exist like that while Chapek was still in power and while Disney wasn’t showing any signs of acknowledging these worrying mis-steps.

And then he was fired, five minutes before I was about to hit export.

I was just about to send myself some last minute footage through the phone that I’d missed, when I noticed a text from my sister telling me to check the news. I didn’t believe the article she sent at first thinking it was a prank but sure enough, Chapek was out, and Iger was back. It was one of those bizarre coincidences that made the video a whole lot more relevant than it had been before- and honestly, while it threw off my schedule, I’m glad I waited. Not only was the point I was making suddenly validated, the video felt like a time capsule of the period rather than a throwaway update vlog, and made it a lot easier to feel better about making it public.

It’d be nice to do something along these lines again sometime. Learned a lot from the process and got to tick another subject off the list, which is great, but I have nothing concrete to go on yet. I actually wanted to do something like this with the show I was in not that long ago, but didn’t think to make that a video either until it was way overdue. We’ll just have to see what opportunities cross my path next.

But before that, we should look at what’s already in the pipeline.

Future plans

The Jak video, which I’ve been working on for ages now, is fine, but it’s not going to be out until January.

As you can gather from other updates, even though this one has been recorded and ready to edit for a while, I keep chasing the time to actually make it against these other projects, which has kind of been the case with this entire year. I got off to a bad start when the Psychonauts 2 video took months to finalise, lost time when I had to head back to London for the play, headed to California for the trip, and of course when some of the footage for the Jak video got corrupted and I had to go and get that back again. It would be entirely possible to finish that video this month, except for the fact that I’m breaking for Christmas on the 15th, and won’t be close to the edit bay until the 7th. And you know, a Jak Christmas video, doesn’t feel right somehow.

All that said, I’m happier than I was with how last year went. It’s been a while getting back on my feet after the surgery but I fought to get videos done against those delays and ended up producing an okay amount of content within the year. I’m annoyed it wasn’t more because there was SO much more I’m still working through, and I am thinking about how to improve on that, but I’m happy with the stuff I’ve produced and would like to think it’s all evergreen enough to stand on its own.

But the work continues. In my mind I’m still on that core roadmap I laid out in the update video earlier this year, and despite the delays and videos released around it, I’ve been sticking to that. In the end I did go back and make changes to the Jak script seeing as I had the time and noticed they didn’t sound right in the edit, and it’s been for the better, I think I have a much more solid video now. (The original audio never goes to waste in cases like this, I used it to block out the basic timeline and select some key clips, so it was still helpful in the end.) The video after that centred on a sitcom is also shaping up well and is on track to release not long after, and the final video on that roadmap is also in a good enough place that I’m not too worried about its chances either.

The Marvel project, like everything else, is still happening. There’s been some nice breakthroughs in the last couple months involving some of my collaborators, but we essentially sat down and talked about the realities of how ambitious this has gotten, how much they can help and that I can actually do alone, if at all. I know to you guys it probably feels fairly tedious to hear these promises and not see anything over the last couple years, but I know I can’t spoil the surprises in store or promise it’s ready for any date until I’m 100 percent sure of my scripts and production schedule. I do think you’ll be hearing something about it reasonably soon, because as I may have mentioned before, my hand has been somewhat forced by outside factors. It’ll make sense once I finally pull the curtain back, I promise. I just know I only get one shot, and I want to get it right.

However, you’ll have noticed that I’ve tried to put more videos out that don’t fit the roadmap, and it’s got me thinking about how I’m going to approach this next year. I’ve been sticking to my plans, but also haven’t avoided the ideas and opportunities that have come to me, allowing me to make videos I never thought I’d put out at that time which is great, the Medievil video was on the backburner for years and ended up being received really well. There is a part of me that wants to be able to put out those smaller, faster videos, or to at least get faster at writing them, or find a good subject to talk about long term against my bigger projects. However I also don’t want to take too much time away from those bigger projects. This is all getting looked at when I go on break- I think I have a better grasp of how I need to change the way I work without sacrificing quality. A lot of it, I’ve realised, is to do with self confidence. I may explain further one day.

So, just to reiterate, the roadmap is still-

- The Jak Video

- A video about a beloved Sitcom character

- A video about a famous Tv Show

But in terms of videos I know I need to cover as soon as I get a chance, I’m looking at-

- A review of Return to Monkey Island

- A video covering Better Call Saul’s final season

There are drafts shaped out for both of those and I think they need to be scheduled between the other three as soon as possible. I’ve kind of realised the projects are piling up and that it’s probably time to make next year where I release them like dominoes, start getting them out there. If I can have a year as almost consistent as 2020, then that would be an excellent target to hit. With these out of the way, I’ll be putting time into the Marvel project as promised, as I am very, very keen to have it out before 2023 is through. I think we’ve waited long enough.

Oh, and there is something I wanted to try and get out for Christmas. I’ll be honest, I don’t know if I can manage it now, everything’s getting a bit tight, but I won’t leave it entirely off the table. If not this year, then at least I’ll have something saved up for the next.

So many words, I know, but I’ve had a lot on my mind going through this year and want to be as transparent about what’s happening as possible. Your support over the last year and especially during the patreon drive has been immense, and incredibly appreciated, so a major thank you for investing. I’m still hoping to pay that forward in the projects to come, which I’m still very excited about and want to get out there. 2022 has slowly brought me back to where I was, and if I can get myself together, then I think 2023 will be very special.

So, if I don’t see you all before this year’s out, have a Happy Holiday, and maybe check out that All Dogs Christmas Carol. Like the vid promised, it’s worth it - and not a big lipped Alligator in sight. Damn.

-B

We visited Chapek's Disney

 As promised, here's the video detailing my recent trip to Disneyland and D23, which, as of two days ago, suddenly got a lot more topical! This one ran away from me a bit but, given the news, maybe it was destined to be this way. Give it a watch and let us know what you think!

 I'll be back at the end of next month with an update on the other long promised video. In truth I really wanted to begin work on that on the 15th, with hopes to maybe get a Christmas video out before the year's through, but this got kinda crazy and pushed over the scheduled time, and I'm taking a very brief trip off for a day tomorrow, so will have to think about what the best call to make is. Not that those videos won't get made, it's just about prioritising what to produce before I go on a Holiday break, where I won't be able to release anything substantial until I return. Decisions, decisions...

 Either way, hope you enjoy this one, and I'll catch you all the other side of this Chapek shaped hole. 

 -B

Medievil's Many Remakes (and one sequel)

 At last, I present to you the video on a Sony franchise i'd been planning for months, it's Jak and Da....wait hang on somethin's up innit

 While Jak was in the works, I discovered some of my footage had corrupted and that I'd need to go back and re-record those games. This was a bummer and I thought i'd pivot back to the little Disney vlog video I was planning, but we were getting close to Halloween, and even though that video features some Halloween moments it wasn't really in the spirit of the holiday given what it was saying, and would have felt weird to release now.

 Luckily, I had ANOTHER Sony franchise video I'd thought up a few months before but didn't work into because I wanted to get everything else out of the way, and when I realised I had just enough time to actually put it together in time for the holiday everything kind of fell into place. So, while I'm sorry not to have the expected video up first (we'll get there, don't worry) I hope you'll accept this, another proper and slightly old school Beyond Pictures video, in its place. 

 Very glad to finally have this franchise under my belt, and to get back to my love of making videos for Halloween. I'm pleased I was able to get this right under the wire of the holiday too, and hopefully that works for all you folks as well. Thanks once again for the support, and hopefully when I'm back with you all next, it'll be with those other two video projects. 

 Happy Halloween! Get lots of Snickers.

 -B

September Update (Jak, D23 and Monkey Island)

Hey gang!

Apologies for the slightly late update. Having returned from the big trip to the states I was suffering from a little jet lag that I’ve now finally gotten under control. Now that’s been dealt with I can better continue with the work I’ve been getting back into the last two weeks, and while I don’t have huge updates to share, there’s more content to speak on than I thought there’d be. So, let’s check in on that-

Jak

Priority one is the Jak video. Nothing too much to update here- I’m back and I can edit it, so I’m doing just that.

D23

I finally returned from my big Disney trip last week and the good news is that I have way more to say about it than I thought. I’ve started hashing out a script for a video on the subject that kind of goes into the trip, but also goes into what I felt D23 told us about Disney’s position, as well as offer feelings on the subject of the parks in a way I’ve realised I’ve dotted through the videos, but never directly commented on.

It was incredibly interesting to be at the epicentre of a lot of big announcements as they happened, and seeing the difference between how the rest of the world was responding. I’ll be talking about this in the video but it feels like we’re tipped for a change at the company, especially with the reception received by current CEO Bob Chapek and the way the parks, in their current state, actually feel like they’re relatively complete. People here are itching for the next big step, and I think that’s something worth discussing.

I saw a lot of cool things, rekindled some interests, but the biggest thrill was the people I met. Every time I go to the states people want to talk to me and, well, certain events at home definitely meant everyone wanted to talk to any brits they could find, but in this case everyone was just really great to meet and I learnt a bunch from what they had to offer. In particular, and this won’t be outright mentioned elsewhere, I met some youtubers, one of whom I’ve been a fan of for years who offered some great insight in a really good conversation about the parks. Was worth it almost just for that moment.

I’d like to think that a discussion like this and on all the things that happened will break down the barriers even more for what I’ve spoken on in the past. I’m always trying to find ways to diversify my content and this could be a nice way to do it. We’ll see if I get another chance in the future!

Return to Monkey Island

I also wasn’t blind to the fact that a certain long awaited game finally got released. I’ve already completed Return to Monkey Island, making notes as I went and generally taking in the experience as much as I can, knowing the first play through wasn’t going to be possible again. This doesn’t feel like it’s going to be a long video like the one for Psychonauts 2- but getting all of my thoughts straight and simple is going to be a little bit of a challenge. If you liked the other two videos, then I think you’ll find this one real interesting. Excited to share my thoughts and feelings as soon as I can.

That’s about everything for now. Time for me to get back to work and get this all done. See you the other side!

- B

August Update (Go West young B-Mask)

Hey gang! Quite a bit to update on before I set off for the next two weeks on a trip to the states- because your boy is heading to D23. Let’s get to it!

B23

Earlier this year I got a message out of the blue from my sister asking if I’d be up for going out to D23. I was initially going to say no, until I realised two things- that this was going to be the 100th year anniversary of Disney, which as a fan of its history felt like a fairly big deal, and that this would probably be the time they’d finally announce the cast and crew of the upcoming Fantastic Four film. I didn’t feel like this opportunity would come up again- and it felt fairly serendipitous that it should happen now.

Things were still up in the air for a while but everything has been booked and I’ll be at the convention and park over the next two weeks. I’m considering potentially documenting some of the experience and uploading that but, truth be told, I haven’t had a proper vacation in a looooong time, and I’m not sure how much I’ll really be able to speak on. Still, I’m keeping it in mind and will at the very least make an update about it here for all you lovely patrons looking for the inside scoop, so we’ll see what happens on the other side.

But, regardless, the work on all my other projects has continued around this, it just means I won’t be able to really make any edited videos until next month. Including…

Jak

Nothing terribly complicated to report on here- The Jak video is completely written and voiced. There’s always room for error and re-writes but I’m pretty happy with how it’s shaped out and the way it’s sounding, so I don’t anticipate a particularly difficult production. Obviously while I’m away I can’t really put together an edit, but I’ve been able to work on the audio and plan all the various bits and pieces I want to accomplish, so I’ve still been able to steal as much time as possible to keep it rolling. Feels good to finally be getting this one off my long list of plans!

Other stuff

Being away from the studio setup to make preparations before the trip, I’ve also used the time to shift gears back to writing and look at making shorter videos like the Cuphead DLC/Cartoon video. I really enjoyed putting that together, though in some ways I wish I could have had time to wait for season 2. It’s even stronger than the first and has some genuinely dazzling bits of work my friends were finally able to tell me they’d made, which was a great surprise and kind of added to my points. Always possible I’d return to the subject in the future!

With Better Call Saul finally over, I’d like to follow up on the final season with a video once again talking about the use of sound, but in my bones I feel like this won’t be a simple follow up video like the one I created on El Camino and Season 5. I’m almost considering doing a part 2 to the original and adding that to my list- I’m confident enough on what I want to say that I could fit it in without disrupting my plans. I’m also however aware that, if I do this, I will make no money from that video. Making my points is less effective without those songs and absolutely made the previous video work as well as it did. Luckily I have the generous funding you guys provide to tide me over so I’d still get it done, but likely only when the Jak video is complete just to give myself an extra sheet of security beneath future projects.

And of course other projects are still being looked at in order of priority. The next big video after Jak on a beloved sitcom character, some of the smaller ideas, and the ongoing progress on the major Marvel project. Lots of exciting things taking shape!

That’s all I’ve got at this point. Thanks once again for the support this month moving into the next- a pity I wasn’t able to get another proper video out before shipping off to the States, but I’ll be bouncing back before you know it with some long held B content. Was a slow start with some disruptions but I think after everything that happened last year it’s finally been picking up, signalling great strides into 2023. Will keep you all posted!

Right, Wagons roll. See you out west, pilgrims. Cowboy emoji.

-B

I Still Love Cuphead

 Came up with a quick discussion about both the new Cuphead DLC and the Netflix show for your viewing pleasure- Take a watch and let me know what you think!

 As you can see I'm trying to get more confidence in making short projects that I can rattle off between the bigger videos. A video this size back in the day used to feel like a big project but now I feel less precious about the work and want to be more active with getting my thoughts out there to my existing following. I have a platform, so why not just use it?

 This hasn't taken away from the Jak video though! I have recorded a scratch audio track for it and want to use it as a baseline edit before I decide if I want to make any changes. It's way shorter than the Bluth one and I'm pretty happy with how it's coming out, but I have a feeling it might end up coming out later than planned for reasons I'll get into later this month. Don't worry, it's all good news and there'll still be content from me. Enjoying the freedom of putting these quick-and-dirty vids together and getting more stuff out to you guys, so plenty more to keep people occupied is on the way.

 Right, might take a quick break for a day and asess what's next. See you all soon!

 - B

July Update (Behind the Don Bluth Musical video)

 Hey everyone!

 Now that the Don Bluth video has finally gone public and the dust has settled, I feel like I can finally give you guys the details on how this came together and some of the processes I went through to make it. I’ll also be talking a little about what’s next after the breakdown as well as what I’m up to in the coming weeks. So, let’s get to it!

————————

Getting the idea

 I’ve always wanted to do a larger video on musicals, specifically animated ones, but couldn’t think of how to do it. For a while video essays were getting kind of ubiquitous- they’d pick a subject the creator liked and call it a masterpiece while making stroking gestures for however long, and I worried all the things I wanted to make would be the same. I love Sondheim’s work, same for Howard Ashman, same for a lot of creators, but I had nothing specific or interesting to bring to the table even in analysing their work that hadn’t been said better elsewhere, and I didn’t want to leap to those subjects just because I liked them. Felt like I needed a more compelling reason to want to make those videos.

 Cut to a few years later, during my recent surgery. I was sitting in the back of a taxi in immense pain as my family rushed me over to the specialist clinic after finding out my kidney was in trouble. I’m partly drugged up and thinking about everything ever, and for some absolutely baffling reason, the real Ludmilla song from Bartok- which I suppose I had watched again recently with my sister and friend- comes into my mind. And I think about how perfectly it’s put together as a set of lyrics, and how wonderfully the final reveal is handled, how specifically I wanted to talk about that while dunking on the obvious and sadly unavoidable fetish bait jokes and I’m laughing to myself and going ‘hey, that’s a video.’

 But you know me. Never one to do anything by halves, what started as a 20 minute idea to talk about Bartok became me thinking about all the Bluth movies and how many of them were musicals, and deciding to follow that rabbit hole and see what I’d discover, rewatching all the films with friends and realising there was more to say that hadn’t, as far as I knew, been discussed. Other video essays in my experience had always talked about Bluth in the same way, either as a god or a joke, and never about the intricacies of what I felt was clearly happening in these films, things that I felt explained why they connected or didn’t. Seemed like a very good angle to take- and as I discovered, it wasn’t unfounded at all.

The research

 It was a total surprise to me that Bluth actually had any interest in Musical theatre.

 I mean sure, I had some suspicions, but I’d believed for years he’d made those musicals to compete with Disney or that he was just doing what he expected from animated films, that was what I’d always been told- but the first piece of research I uncovered was that Bluth had owned a theatre company with his brother. The man you see them speaking to in the image I flashed up on screen early on is Meredith Wilson, the creator of one of my favourite musicals, the Music Man. This was clearly a much deeper thread than I anticipated and the real key into structuring the point of the video came from a lecture he’d given to a group of university students that I found on Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69YutIrM7Rw

 This made me want to make the video more than ever. I had already written the bulk of my analysis for each of the films and was going back to see what else I could find and if it added to or contradicted my points, and it caught me off guard to hear him saying things not at all unlike what Howard Ashman had been saying in his own lectures at Disney. It’s a fascinating watch if you want to see the whole thing- Bluth was high on his success from American Tail and looking to poach some students for his upcoming projects, but you can tell he’s also pleased that he managed to make Disney react and try to improve their quality, it’s clearly a big time in his life caught on film.

 And of course it only spiralled from there. The huge amount of different studios that Bluth worked at or created, the issues of ownership with the distributors, one piece of information lead to the next and gave me plenty of material to work with next to my own beliefs on how I felt the movies were conveyed. It was difficult to get all the details right, as there were a lot of conflicting anecdotes from some unreliable narrators (including Bluth himself, honestly) which I tried hard to simplify without losing the points they needed to serve as evidence for, but it wasn’t always easy. For example, Fox were asking Bluth to create animated versions of live action musicals, but they didn’t own the rights to My Fair Lady specifically. It was Warner Brothers instead, who also produced the King and I. There was clearly some connection however because Fox distributed the VHS of My Fair Lady and openly discussed both musicals with Don. As you can see there was clearly a tangle of rights to unravel, but I hoped the most important thing came across- that studios were trying everything to get what Disney had.

 When writing the script I had planned to try and keep it under an hour and a half at least, even knowing there would be a lot of cutaway clips to show the songs and the examples I was pulling from, but all these extra details seemed important to mention given how much they explained a lot of the analysis I’d already laid out. I think in retrospect I might have pared it back even further. One of the fears when you make a video are the comments telling you that you missed something or that something you knew but didn’t mention invalidates the entire discussion. I know it sounds like a small thing but it can be pretty daunting to spend so long on a project and realise you’ve missed a mistake, because the person on the other end doesn’t see that work or understand why you would be exhausted enough to miss anything, they only see the end result. I ended up with a very comprehensive video which I’m happy about, but a part of me still wants to see if I can make it even simpler and not worry so much about the idea of being wrong. It’s certainly been another great learning curve, and in more ways than one.

The editing

  I think of all the videos I've made recently this was maybe my favourite to conceptualise in the edit, even if it became totally exhausting in the later stages. I'm always trying to find some hook or angle in what I present so that the way the video is made kind of matches the subject, and in this case I think the way the songs were presented managed to achieve that, even if i'd have liked to go further. 

The subtitles were an idea I had early in the process of actually editing the video. I felt it would be one thing to show all these scenes and songs but that wouldn’t emphasise the points being made enough. What would be cool would be to basically do annotated lyrics- have the viewer see how the songs are constructed by showing the rhythms and rhymes as they happen while also, kind of, invoking a bit of a karaoke/singalong vibe. However, I wanted to take it further- the rhymes and techniques used in the lyrics were going to be colour coded, so that you could see specifically which songs were really going for it and which were kind of dropping the ball. This unfortunately proved a step too far- I was out of my depth and unclear on my own rules on showing something I wasn’t specifically well read up on enough to demonstrate within every song, so I left that for, potentially, another project. I think you all get the idea anyway.

 Of course as I laid these all out under those songs I started to get kind of bored- it was a long laborious process, especially as the video got longer, and I wasn’t enjoying putting them together, so I started, as you do, having fun with them. I moved them around to match how things were being said or where they were being said and threw in a bunch of emojis to try and give them a bit of their own comedic language outside of the rest of the video, a lot of it added on the fly as I stupidly laughed to myself and then felt ashamed for liking my own jokes. I think that told me I was going in a good direction though and I kept up with it through the whole thing, adding to it wherever I could. This got a bit more sophisticated as new ideas came to me and helped me illustrate ideas with the songs I liked I couldn’t have done had I not experimented like that. I’ll forever be proud of what I did for Guys and Dolls’ ‘Fuge for Tinhorns.’

 I was also pushed a lot to solve problems I didn't have solutions to that I think made it better than I imagined. The elephant seal number, I don't know what I was thinking before editing. I had no idea what I was going to do visually but I'd just written it as excerpts into the video anyway. I guess I thought I was just going to show the album cover? But then I thought I could recreate it as drawings. Well, dang, that's a bit of a tall order. Isn't there a more low effort way to do it? Maybe that would be funnier? And then I started searching them up on youtube and the rest just fell into place from there. Way, way funnier- though the other punchline (and payoff to referencing it earlier) was always in the script.

 But I ran into a problem I sort of experienced with the fantastic four video. At 2 hours long premiere began to freeze up and the whole thing became very difficult to edit. The Uk was hit with the hardest hot weather it had seen in years, turning the process into what felt like moving through soup, and even though I’d broken up the video to make it faster to work with, bringing it together again and having to do minor checks proved a nightmare. I want to stick to keeping the videos reasonably under two hours again, and in fairness I’m impressed at the turnaround- a month to do 2 hours, especially after a short gap where I was part of a stage show is really not bad all things considered- but it still became a chore at the very end, and not least of all because of the copyright bots.

Copyright

 Okay so, a part of me knew I was possibly going to be hit with copyright notices. Youtube is generally fine with whatever footage I use, I tend to go for very short clips naturally as well as talk over them a lot, but music always gets me. Any time I use copyrighted music I am constantly double checking myself to see if it’s been flagged on YouTube on other people’s uploads, which, when you’re trying to analyse musical numbers, makes things very difficult. You never know what will and won’t be targeted, but you also know you have to make the audience feel the effect of what you’re talking about by playing the clips. A bit of a catch 22.

 When I did the Hercules video, YouTube flagged them at first until I made one or two minor edits or after I filed disputes, which were very quickly dropped. It didn’t seem to be Disney flagging them- the source was always some random channel or other party holding the claim. However the system has changed each time I’ve done this and made it harder at each step, no matter how much of a song I use. (The Better Call Saul video is also un-monetised because of this.)

 For this one, I did a lot. I used some shorter clips, I cut out bits from the songs and footage, I swapped some scenes around, anything I could think of to get across my point while making those concessions. Still got copyrighted. I then made another edit with harsher cuts, hoping that would pass the system. When that was copyrighted, I had to give up. I’d made several edits at that point of the master file and the process had become so slow and exhausting, especially as I had already combed through the video several times looking for minor fixes and edits I felt needed to be done, that I decided I might as well stick with the original upload and let people see it as intended. This had been blocked worldwide due to the Anastasia footage, and I knew fair use was on my side, so I waited for that to be dropped. It wasn’t, but it was un-blocked a few days later, allowing me to make the video public at last.

 As we speak I have 20 days left for those claims to either be dropped or rejected. It’s entirely possible more copyright bots could hit that video leaving me to wait again, and I can’t pretend that it’s not somewhat disheartening to see. I essentially ended up crunching for a month because I knew I had to get back to work on this after my show ended and I really wanted to be able to move onto other projects after spending so long writing and putting this one together this year, and to not be able to make money off of that effort specifically was somewhat galling. However, this only emphasises the importance of my external support on Patreon, and it made me appreciative of you guys who’ve stuck around to help me see this through. Even if this video never makes money I just wanted to get it out there while not feeling like I have to scramble for another project to keep funded- so, as usual, it’s a big thank you to everyone here, past and present, who’s helped me get to this point.

 This has also got me thinking about my future big projects. Part of the reason of making this and the last two big videos I have coming up before the Marvel project is that I want to see what I can and can’t do before launching into something much more ambitious. It’s made me think about copyright differently and what I can bring to the table to maybe work around that, how I can use this platform and the funding to work beyond those limits and deliver something I have more ownership of. So I’m very glad I went through this now rather than later- it’s given me plenty to think about for the future. Onwards and upwards!

 And one last thing- doing this video, or indeed any video about musicals that got enough attention, was always going to be a backdoor way for me to talk about more of them. The Hercules video started some of that but really I didn't get the opportunity to talk broadly enough about a range of different pieces and to set a strong, noticeable precedent on my channel for casually throwing in more of those kinds of videos, to be able to reference favourites that I would be able to provide more context on later. I like and hope to think that this will help me do that in the future- so if you liked this, stick around. We ain't done yet. 

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 There’s probably more tidbits I have to offer, but those were the major talking points I could think of for now. If you guys have any further questions feel free to let me know here and I’ll try to get back to you as soon as I can.

 Which brings me to what I’m doing next…

What’s Next ?

 As mentioned in the last big update, my next major project is a Jak and Daxter video. This is a series I’ve wanted to talk about for a long time and I pretty much have a nearly complete redraft of the script ready to go. Won’t be anywhere near as long as the Bluth video (phew), but will probably still take a little time to get together. I’ll keep you all updated.

 I have a few ideas for some smaller projects I might put forward too. I recently completed the expansion pack for Cuphead, which brought a couple small thoughts to mind, and Better Call Saul is only a few episodes away from its season finale, with me making a few notes as it’s continued on, already plenty to say. There’s the two major projects after Jak which are also still making their way through the writing stages. I'm also trying to think up ways I could reward the patrons further, and think I might have some cool behind the scenes videos I can share without taking away from the schedule. Has been a generally productive time here at B-Towers!

 And you know, that big Marvel project is starting to get an awful lot closer to production, dangerously so. Marvel Studios just made some huge announcements at SDCC this month with more to come at D23, and I’m starting to think I should make an announcement of my own soon. Now that I know what their plans are, I think I have a good chance to tell my story before they tell theirs- and maybe you guys should have an idea of what story that is so you know what to look forward to, and most importantly, that I had the idea to do this way before whatever their take ends up being. Two years ago, in fact…

 Right, enough nattering on from me. Thanks again for sticking by and for the support as the work’s continued. I’ve had a decent little break but now I have to get back to it and begin the next one. Will let you all know how that’s going real soon!

- B

The Musicals of Don Bluth

 After a week of not being sure if this would even be viewable, the long promised piece about the musical movies of a director- Don Bluth- is finally here! 

 As mentioned elsewhere, the video was hit with a bunch of copyright strikes in spite of my best efforts to work around them in multiple edits, making me uncertain I would ever be able to share this without completely remaking it. However one of the bots blocking the entire video lifted today meaning you can finally see what i'm up to! I think this really highlights the importance of your support and my gratitude for your investment in my output. Thank you for supporting me to get this done, I hope it makes up for the wait!

 Will be back soon with an update to talk about how this video came to pass, while cracking on with the next video in the background. Let us know what you think of the work, and I'll see you all in the next post!

 -B

June update- (new major Video progress)

 Heya folks! 

 As we're approaching the end of the month, I think it's best to let you know how we're getting on with the next big video. Lots of good news to share!

 When I started writing this video a few months back- a look at a famous directors musical movies- it was honestly intended to be a short, maybe 40 minute video in the style of the Scoobyverse projects. But the more research I did and the more I included relevant examples so I could make my points, the more this ballooned into a musical odyssey that now spans a little over 2 hours. It was getting so unwieldy that I had to knuckle down and split it into two parts.

 As you can see quite a lot has been done and initially I thought I could get this out before the end of the month, but as I'm watching there's things about the way the video words certain ideas or the way it's structured that I think definitely need to be changed and will probably take me over to early July.

 This isn't a huge issue though- my new process for a while has been putting the video on its feet like this, getting over the hurdle of actually making a full edit with all the relevant clips and beats, and then criticising myself and revoicing and reworking stuff after the fact. It doesn't take so long to change because everything I know I need is largely there, and I have a much better idea of how to improve it based on the existing edit. Hell, I came back from my stage show on the 13th and have been editing every day since, so for a 2 hour video I planned months beforehand to come together that quickly is pretty good, all things considered. 

 It's a real B Mask extravaganza! There's critique, gags, insight into the history of musicals and the people working through them, we're covering a huge amount of stuff and I want to make sure it's perfect because I'll probably never get to talk about these films this way again. I think you're getting something you genuinely won't have seen from any other channel even if the subject might be something you've seen a couple times out there. I'd reveal what that subject is, but we're so close to it now I think it's better if you all discover the surprise for yourselves once it drops. 

 I will, however, reveal the subject of the next video.

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 We're doin' the Jak series. 

 This isn't too much of a surprise for long time patrons- I wanted to do this last year but surgery and other issues got the better of me, and I put the project on the backburner. It's been in the planning stages even before that, I've always wanted to get my feelings on Jak and his games off my chest since I did a (not very good) Ratchet video long ago, but it's probably for the best I waited. So many other people have had their say, some I've agreed with, some not, and I think i'm ready to have my turn now the buzz around their takes have died down. I've been working diligently to put a better script together and I've managed something I'm much happier with than whatever I had when I started. Once the musical vid is done, I'll be going back to punch that up one more time and then put it into production.

 It'll be a full series discussion, not a terribly long video but fairly comprehensive, and I'll leave the angle I'll be taking on this one up to your imagination until it's complete. 

-------------------------------

 So, that leaves the roadmap with two more videos after these before I commit fully to the next big Marvel project. One of those videos has a near full first drafted script, the other is still in the note taking stages. Both are on major TV shows- I don't think either will be quite as difficult to put together as the project I'm working on now based on what I've written so far, but you never know with these things. Fairly confident, once again, that the angle i'm taking on both is not something anyone else has done or can predict, I hope, boy do I hope.

 It's possible we'll still get some smaller videos done between those too- both the Return to Monkey Island video and the Dr Strange 2 video came together fast and felt good to do. I feel the more I make these huge videos the easier it becomes to make the smaller ones and I'm a lot more comfortable with getting them together than I was before. We'll see if I can come up with anything soon, and as usual all suggestions are welcome!

 It's been a busy old couple of months for B but I'm very settled back into the flow of making stuff and I'm grateful as hell to all of you helping make that possible. I'm still trying to think up ways I can repay you all with the changes I'm making to some of the tiers, but obviously I'm quite tied up in getting the main content completed so that's taking most of my focus. I figure most of you are here to make sure that's done and this is certainly the case, so once again, a massive thanks to everyone supporting what I hope are some of the best videos I've made yet.

 Alright, back to work for me. I have a lot of musical subtitles to cover. A lot.

 - B

May Update (Video progress and changes)

Heya folks! Another month, another update, with lots of good news to share about the video roadmap, extra content, and Patreon tier changes, so let’s get to it!

First off, the Patreon drive has been an enormous help. As many of you here know I’ve always had videos planned, but would often race to try and finish one inside of a month, leading to constant crunch and panicking over whether or not I should switch focus from a large project to something that might be easier to complete in that timeframe, simply to make ends meet and not disappoint my followers. Now I’m just focusing on the video at hand in my own time to try and deliver the best possible result, and this has definitely made my life and process a million times better.

For one, the audio for the next video- the one about all the musical movies of a famous director- has been recorded and edited. This is one of the longest recording sessions I’ve done yet for a very comprehensive video, and while I don’t know if that translates to being one of my longest works, it’s definitely a big, hopefully evergreen video to add to the B catalogue that I hope you’ll enjoy. Had a lot of fun putting this together and I hope that translates to the final edit.

Now, as some of you may remember from last month’s update, I’m actually not at my workstation at the moment- I was invited to complete a play I started work on in 2019 with my semi-professional dramatics group in London, which died when Covid struck and then was brought back a few months ago. I wanted to finish what I started and help these folks out, so after a couple trips back and forth I’m now living down there for the next couple weeks until the run of the show’s complete. Obviously I planned for this and used that time to complete the audio, do some writing and such, but it means that I won’t be able to edit this bad boy until I return.

However, you may have also noticed the video I posted on Sunday- after doing the Monkey Island video I kind of realised I’m more okay than I used to be at the idea of making short form, relevant content that doesn’t require as much time, while not interrupting the work on my big projects, just getting thoughts on my mind into video form. This was edited on my laptop which also allowed me to see how much I’d be able to do with videos while on the go. I’ve been trying to do this for a long time, but always felt I had to box it up in some kind of format or brand to separate it from my ‘main videos’, and all that did was make me freeze up and ask myself what constitutes as a main video. I think my second Saul video worked as a small update, but my Villainous video isn’t that far off of being a beyond pictures piece, and I think I hurt those projects by trying to separate them into categories.

So, for the time being, I’m just making videos without putting too much pressure on how I define them. I think the added job security from your support as well as telling people my plans publicly has made me feel better about just getting my thoughts out there between the bigger projects. Everyone knows that stuff is being worked on so it doesn’t feel like I’m taking away from that while also not censoring my own creative process. It just means more content for you guys rather than less.

This has of course got me thinking about how I can repay my patrons without stretching myself too thin. I’ve had some good suggestions thrown my way by you guys and I’m still working on what I want to offer, with hopes to implement these changes by the next video. One thing I want to do, starting from here, is to let Audience patrons see all the blog posts, and for the upper tiers to get exclusive videos and voting rights on future projects. Of course I’ve promised things before and not delivered the way I wanted to, as a result I’m taking my time to really consider what it is I can make consistently. Was even thinking of throwing a poll your way to get the best idea of what you might want to see. Please bear with me as I figure out what’s best and start to get these things implemented, I’ll hopefully get there eventually.

Either way it’s been an extremely productive month, and I’m very keen to get back to editing the next project as soon as I can. The groundswell of support blew me away last month and put a fire under me to deliver what I hope are some long lasting videos covering all the subjects I love most, I am beyond grateful for you all helping out and for the opportunity to do this. Absolutely cannot wait to show you what I’m doing in this next huge project.

We’ll make music together.

- B

That One Cameo in Dr Strange 2

 A reasonably quick video on a subject a lot of people were asking my opinion on. Ended up becoming a backdoor take on the MCU and superhero movies at large in some ways, so hopefully feels a little more substantial than it might otherwise!

 I'm sorry if it seems like I've been a little quiet before putting this out but I actually have been making great progress on the next major video. All will be explained in a longer update regarding that and more very very soon. Until then, enjoy the spaghet.

 -B

April Update/Channel Update 2022

 Hey everyone!

 Obviously many of you here for a while have been aware of these plans, but I figured it was worth going public on the video roadmap as well as my financial situation. Things are good but I'm ready to step up my game as I move into my next couple of projects, and I figured this would be a good way to get things moving, as well as lift the curtain a bit on my process in providing new content.

 In the end the Monkey Island video took the spot this month as I'm still outside of my editing suite, but now with this out I feel it's easier to focus on the next big video rather than worry about trying to fill the gap with something unplanned. I'm also, as mentioned in the vid, welcoming any advice on short form content I could provide in the future that won't interfere with my larger plans, just whatever I can do to keep going without deviating from my video roadmap.

 Once again, thank you to everyone who's supported the channel and gotten us to this point. I hope I can be less vague on a lot of these plans soon, but I'm very excited to unveil those projects and, with your help, I think we can make some very special videos! Everyone please take care and I'll be back with more details in the near future. 

 Cowabunga.

 - B

This is not Monkey Island 3

 ♫Yo Ho, Yo Ho, I made this in-a week♫

Surprise, a totally unanticipated piece talking about the upcoming Return to Monkey Island. I'm very excited for this game but had a lot of lingering opinions from the last video I made that were brought back to the surface when this was announced. This had me very quickly assembling a video that I hope covers everything, and tides you guys over for when I inevitably do a video on the final product.

 Meanwhile everything I've promised is still being worked on. Will give a proper update at the end of the month for you guys subbed to that stuff, lots of exciting stuff going on. Til then, you devils and black sheep (and really bad eggs.)

-B

March Update

Hi everyone!

Just thought I should check in before the month was done. It’s been good getting back into the swing of making videos and I’ve still got a few promises to fulfil next month, so I’ll be getting into where I’m at with those, though not before talking a little about the most recent video. So, let’s do that!

My Old Embarrassing Videos

I’d been going through an old hard drive looking at some of my old work and discovered, remarkably, almost all of the files from my early forum days were pretty much there. One or two things were missing, but I guess I was just really bad at deleting stuff. At first I did some general housekeeping, the files were saved all over the place and I went about putting them all in the correct folders, and as I did I thought huh, I haven’t told anyone about this for a long time. Maybe that should be a video.

Originally this was going to be a Notes on project. I’m always looking for something short that could go between my big videos and this didn’t take long to write, given I was intimate with the history and had all the files ready to go. When I sat down to voice it though, I suddenly realised this wasn’t working, I couldn’t talk about all the things I did back then in a short, casual way. So right on the spot I rewrote the entire thing and went straight back in to record. For some reason I felt much happier with that, and when it came to editing I felt very liberated, especially after Psychonauts 2, getting to make fun of myself, playing fast and loose with the edits on stuff I got to revisit after so many years (some of those out of context cutaways were pure accidents. I spent most of the editing time deciding what to use and found myself free styling a lot in the process, felt real good.) I guess this was, going by the response, the right decision.

It’s been crazy seeing how people reacted to this one. For me this was my chance to air my dirty laundry, earn some closure, and move on. I wanted everyone to know about a period of my life I’d been quiet about for a long time just because I thought it reflected badly on me. Instead people told me it was one of their favourites, that they found it funny, inspiring, heartwarming, and most importantly, emblematic of everyone’s shared experience on the early internet. This was not intended! I saw some brilliant observations about how the video actually detailed the intentions of everyone on YouTube in a way that reflected on what’s happening now- where people used to make stuff not for the algorithm or to bait audiences with crappy titles and thumbnails or even for the content grind but because they just wanted to. It’s not often that I make a video and the response changes my view of something in such a big way, but to everyone who contributed to that, thank you, it’s made me feel a lot more proud of something I initially treated as a throwaway project. It’s actually made me reflect on the Notes on video title as maybe something that isn’t working, because these short videos keep ballooning into big projects. Going to have to reconsider how that one works.

Now, the million dollar question is, will I release those old videos online?

I can see an enthusiastic response, and I get it, but there’s a few caveats. The video had an intense response but the views have been low. I don’t know if I’m yet willing to release a bunch of videos that I’m frankly still embarrassed by that I haven’t had a chance to edit around when, statistically, only about 100 people are asking for them. That might seem like a big number but I have 60,000 subscribers who didn’t weigh in on that, and some people in the comments even thought I was bragging, which really tells me they haven’t been in the animation industry!

I just don’t know. The other problem is that if I did it, I’d need to decide what channel they would end up on, how much I should edit around, if all the people involved are comfortable with the full breadth of that stuff being available. Most are very okay with this video, but I don’t know if the full releases would get the same response. Plus, I really did show you guys the best stuff. I wanted to make a monument to all that work and I’ve done that, and I’d like the focus to remain on that for at least a little while longer, while I move on to other stuff.

I’m not saying definitely no because I don’t think the book should be closed on the subject, you never know what might happen. But I will say that I’m just not yet comfortable or settled on those plans. I think demand would have to be extremely high for me to relent- but what I will probably do as minor compensation is put out a couple of things on my socials like screenshots and stuff as well as an article or two here detailing more behind the scenes stuff from that time. I feel like you guys have gone the extra mile to support my content, so I feel much more inclined to share stuff with you that way. So, things may change, they probably will change, but for now, well, I’d like to keep thinking it over until I find a really, really good way or reason to do it. I hope that’s not too disappointing to some of you, it’s not an easy decision but I think it’s the best one I can make right now.

That said, I’d again like to thank you all for the opportunity to put this together. The lack of content was weighing heavy on me, even with everything that was happening last year, but your support has helped me pull through and there’s plenty more stuff on the way. I’m definitely considering if there’s anything I can do more like this video too- still plenty of B stories to tell.

Streaming and Future videos

I’ve been testing out Twitch Streams over the last few months and gradually understanding how it works. It’s been hard for me to keep a schedule at the moment because I got deep into my writing phase again, but I enjoyed the streams I had and I’d like to make more concrete plans for the near future to do it regularly. I need to sort out emojis, banners, and let everyone on YouTube know I’m doing something properly. I recently completed a collection of games I’m very keen to play on stream, and if I can sign off on this next video script I’d like to announce those plans very soon. In the meantime I’m just playing Psychonauts now and then to relax and have saved all the VOD’s so far, maybe it’ll be nice to upload highlights from those somewhere to show people what I’m up to. I’m experimenting, we’ll see what works.

My main worry is that I’ll actually be a bit busy the next two months. In 2019 I started rehearsing a play that, three days before rehearsal in 2020, was nixed by COVID. I was convinced it was over, but instead the production has been revived and they’re very interested in having me return, even though I’m a whole city over now. I feel like if I don’t do it it’ll be unfinished business I’ll regret, so I’m travelling down to London a few times to do some rehearsals and for the entire back end of May to the beginning of June I’ll be staying there to get this done.

This means I may need to reconsider my video and streaming plans slightly. When I travel down I won’t have any way to complete my videos or stream, making my main options to release stuff slightly limited. The next big video is essentially written but I’m digging even deeper on research to see if I have any blind spots, and discovering so many hidden things I didn’t realise. It’s already quite a long script and I’m trying to keep it as concise as possible, but on the off chance that it still won’t be ready for next month with all this stuff going on, i’m considering swapping it with a shorter project. You may remember when I promised a couple of short videos before my illnesses around the Mando one - I said in an update that a few of those were fully written but may need changes now. This is still true, and I don’t think it would take long to turn at least one of those into next month’s video. I’ll keep you posted.

So, my video plans right now are-

-A shorter video that may or not happen before the one below

-A discussion of one person’s musical projects

-A surprise video essay

Needless to say other promised projects are still happening, and we’re making our way through the list of previous promises as fast as I can without losing the quality. The list may change slightly but all these things are on track to be completed soon.

Well, that’s everything gang. Once again thanks for all the kind words and patience over the last few months. I was very tempted to announce the next big video but I think you’ll prefer the reveal much closer to the date, it’s a video I’m currently quite excited about and it’s high time for me to get back to it. Until then, my lovelies-

-Fearmasterscarecrow (I mean, err, B)

My Embarrassing Old Videos

 As promised, the video about my sordid past is complete! I hope you guys enjoyed this one, I know it's not a big media analysis, but creatively was very freeing to be able to go and talk about my life and the stuff i'd worked on this way, so really appreciate being supported to do this at all!

 This isn't the end for these projects necessarily- commenters are asking if I'll ever make what's discussed in the video public in full, or even the materials around these shows i've never shown, and I'm debating how best to do it. It would be very cathartic and neat to release everything somewhere for whoever wants it but I feel like this also serves as making a better version of those videos than actually exists, in an idealised video essay form. Eventually I'll figure something out, and any suggestions you may have i'm entirely open to hearing. 

 This also means another promise is ticked off the list- and I have good news! The script for the next video is basically done, one full second draft. I'm going to go back over it and see if there's anything I can improve one last time, and this is another long'un, but I think i'm happy to go ahead and make this my priority for next month. I've got quite a bit going on that i'll explain eventually but this shouldn't impinge too hard on my time to make the video happen. 

 Until then guys - thanks again for the support, and I'll catch you next video!

 -B

March Update- A Psychonauts 2 video post-mortem

Hello hello hello

So, given this video went so over deadline and that I spent SO long promising it, I figured you guys were owed something substantial for the support and patience you offered as I kept going ‘no really guys, I’m making things’ while banging my head against a keyboard. It has been especially rewarding to get this done in a way different to the other videos, and I tried to keep track of how I was approaching this- so, here’s a little rundown of what I went through to get this video to happen. Enjoy!

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The Process

When I made ‘the simple complexity of Psychonauts’ I was *convinced* I’d be playing the game that same year. I think the recently released trailer and other elements made me think we were close to something happening, but of course, that wasn’t the case, and I had the thought of doing it eventually looming over me, knowing I had made another long term promise I needed to keep as soon as the game was done.

Fast forward two and a bit years and boom, release.

Psychonauts 2 came out the day after my sight reached acceptable enough levels post-surgery to see everything I was doing, so I was understandably very excited to get to grips with it. I can’t tell you the feeling of satisfaction I had playing it for the first time, that moment of realising this was it and it was doing everything I hoped it would with a huge smile on my face - but as the game went on, the feeling changed, for better and worse, and when it finished I realised I was nowhere near ready to say exactly how I felt.

This time around, I realised writing the video was going to be an evolving process. I needed to get all my thoughts out and play through the game a few more times, as well as have a lot of internal debates, to truly figure out where it left me, and I have to be honest, that process never really ended until the day before the video went live. There were a lot of long walks with friends, some discussion with family, and seeing what other fans thought, as I tried to reconcile my expectations and my understanding of the game with what it was really saying, and the more I did that, the more I knew the game was having a strong effect on me- I needed to make a video.

I was also getting extremely frustrated with the analyses and reviews coming out on the game. Most of the videos were very positive but seemed to either completely miss what the game was doing specifically or denigrate the original in ways I felt weren’t helpful. A lot of written reviews by fans online were in contrast quite harshly critical and I also wasn’t sure they had figured out all the ways the game tied together, that even if I agreed with their shortcomings, they didn’t accurately assess why that choice would have been made over others. I’m very much someone who doesn’t want things to be misjudged- if something is not achieved but had intentions to achieve that thing, I think it should be talked about, and many times my research and my replays seemed to indicate most of what I felt was lacking was, on some level, considered.

In the end, I think the video benefitted from the time to fully reflect on both my and the world’s response. Had I not, I think I would have said things I didn’t fully mean, and in that effort to not be misunderstood, it drove me to take a few angles I hadn’t tried before.

Puzzles

You’ll have noticed the different names of the sections in the video- because Psychonauts is such a multi-sensory series I knew even before the video that I would have to tackle a lot of its topics in different ways, using all sorts of tactics to bring the most out of its points. This is why all the sections of the video are sorta named after class courses- to better illustrate the skills put to use by the team.

 Early in the process I figured out the key difference between how I wanted to talk about 1 and 2, as a jigsaw and a Rubik’s cube, but originally I was going to get friends to help me make them digitally- kind of a Mark Brown thing. Problem was that they were all extremely busy and I didn’t have a set deadline, and when I asked if they could do it for January and realised I wasn’t going to hit that date, I panicked. But then I realised- these things exist in the real world. Make them.

So, out came the pens and pencils. I was lucky my guess that there would be template jigsaws I could draw on was real, I bought a bunch of those and a plain Rubik’s. I thought it’d be better to draw on them to make it more obvious they were physically hand made things to match the games vibe rather than print outs, and I err, don’t have a printer yet anyway, oops. It all happened late in the game, but I think it worked out in the end.

I was very proud of the idea of the puzzle forming an outline of Raz’s head, but the plan with the Rubik’s was, once all the sides were together, to have every face suddenly be Maligula’s. Sadly that didn’t work out, it would have been a nightmare without a scanner to re-daw 6 matching faces as well as ruin a cube I’ve stupidly become a bit attached to now. I’m also glad nobody pulled me up on Otto’s inclusion- I know we don’t enter his mind, but he’s still as mentioned in the video a part of the puzzle and it was too fun to have the 6 depicted as a connected cube.

I think I’m slowly figuring out my own voice in shaping these videos, right down to making the thumbnail a drawing of my own. This has, like the FF video, proved a great way to experiment and evolve how I do what I do, and hopefully I can keep growing that as we go.

Research

More than many of the other videos Psychonauts had me scrambling to what felt like the four corners of the earth to find out more. I think this speaks for how brilliant the series is, because it’s never just one concept or idea you can go deep on, this is a game talking psychology, history, art, everything, and I wanted to seriously invest in all the influences that made this game as rich as it was. Been waiting YEARS to bust out the Stinky Cheese man in a video. YEARS.

Even going into how the game was made was a hell of an interesting experience to better critique their choices and ensure I was giving them a fair shake. It’s not often devs document their process as they go, over a period of years no less, and luckily there was a tonne of content from DF that gave me much to build a picture on, stuff that makes you realise what was always there and what wasn’t (Gristol’s level, it seems, was developed VERY early on.)I don’t know if anyone understood when I showed Coach ole talking about them cutting his funding and showing that map- an early piece of concept art where there was a secret bunker where he was building a giant mech to fight Maligula. That coupled with the drawing of the gang, including him in a riveters outfit, kinda shows you their original plans to give him a role on the same level as Sacha and Milla, and it was a clever way to get that point into the game as a joke.

Psychology was the one I wanted to pin down the most for obvious reasons, it’s the biggest point. Schafer did an interview where he answered like 50 quick questions and in one he very casually threw out ‘I based the first mostly on Freud and the second mostly on Jung.’ That was all I had to go on- I mean we already had the concept of archetypes spelt out directly in the game but I needed to try and work things backwards and see how it applied to the rest of the game. Luckily as shown in the video, I had a friend on hand into this stuff who provided me with the best (and funniest) possible descriptions, and was able to work my research out from there. These are not easy concepts to read wikipedia on and get, and the more I delved the more I realised it wasn’t just a case of every brain representing a different psychosis. A lot of people had incorrectly attributed Cassie to multiple personality disorder, when she actually has the same sense of inner conflict as everyone else in the game, she just has a better grasp of how to compartmentalise her archetypes as separate personas, as with everything else she knows from her extensive knowledge of the world, and I wouldn’t have fully grasped that had I not read up further.

The one I didn’t need any research for was the subject of addiction. I didn’t elaborate in the video and maybe this is an overshare but I have lived with addiction, specifically drinking, within my family all my life. As Bob’s level started I was very skeptical - I’ve seen people discuss the subject or depict it and miss the point completely, or just not get the feeling right. Of course, it was entirely effective In the end, which is why I chose not to go deeper into the topic. Some things, I feel, speak for themselves.

Rewrites

More than any other video this one was subject to huge rewrites.

When you start these things you tend to have an idea of how the video might feel as a shape, how it might move and flow from point to point, and with this one I actually found that very quickly, but like my feeling with the game, I didn’t think I always hit the mark. I spent so much time trying to get the words perfect, touching on every point I wanted to cover, which I spent a lot of time on hoping I wouldn’t have to voice it a million times- but the minute it was on its feet, I suddenly could see all the ways I was either skimping out on important details or even worse not communicating my points in full. It was like I was watching the video on YouTube for the first time and going ‘man, this guy sucks!’

Take the section on Raz’s fear of water. I’d simply left it originally as ‘Hey, I didn’t really feel this’ with a couple of the points you still see in the video - but when I edited the clips together I was like ‘hey, wait a minute, people are gonna say this looks fine.’ There were a few shots I’d forgotten until I edited them and I’m like, man, am I just completely wrong on this? But talking it over with others and on replays, I still felt the same way. This was how I slowly realised what was missing for me and knew the point needed altering to better get this across. I didn’t want to be so simply dismissive, I needed to accurately get to why, even for the good it was doing, it wasn’t affecting me, and in a conversation with a buddy I landed on the idea of Raz taking out Maligula with his own hand of Gaoloccio. We joked about it being like, a series of hands, him all covered in water having taken on the power completely for this one moment.

As I recall, they said Raz should’ve gone ‘and that is the purpose of the goggles’. King.

Some sections got chopped up and moved into other places, some got turned inside out, but every time you do that you need to make sure those whole sections, and indeed the whole video, still flow naturally. Right up until the last moment I was making sure that was the case, and that can be tough when you’re a one man band working on a long project. I couldn’t show everyone I knew my full video every time I needed feedback on how it was going - I just needed to keep going over it and judge for myself if it was working or not.

History

I’ll come out and say to you guys, this was the part I was worried about the most.

So, for some background, I majored in Russian history for my A Levels, after a year of studying it for my GCSE’s beforehand. It didn’t make me an expert, but I was fascinated by it, covering the end of the Romanovs to the fall of the USSR. I even went to school with the daughter of a major player in Russian politics who equally found the history fascinating, and given what happened to him, I was made aware early on how volatile this history was.

I was amazed, then, when a game I love decided to capture a history I found so exciting in such a wonderful, artful way. In some ways I think Gristol’s mind is the best because he’s the only complete wild card of the brain levels in the game. It’s a huge gimmick in the mind of an incredibly deluded person which lends itself brilliantly to artistic interpretation. As you gathered of course knowing the real history gave me pause for thought when certain things didn’t play out, You all now know how I overall feel about this take and I could go on for ages about it, and almost did here, but I’m not gonna, it’s literally a mountain of a discussion.

This was a unique situation for me to tackle because I wanted to be true to what I felt without making people feel the game’s depiction was bad or unwarranted, because I liked it as much as I felt uneasy about its choices. How do you get across an entire period of history and its full nuance while keeping it entirely relevant to the discussion at hand, and without dismissing the truth the game absolutely nails? I rewrote this section almost 50 times. I sat in front of the screen for days trying to think how best to word my answer, trying to make sure I covered everything and accommodated every argument. I was actually violently ill the day before as I tried to think of a way to word it, though err, I’m convinced that was down to bad food as well as stress. But I realised none of that would help. So, I firmed myself up. I kept going back to find different, credible historians to assure me of any gaps, and made myself sure of my stance.

But what’s interesting is very few people have taken it badly at all. Some have disagreed it was an issue or even said that I didn’t go far enough- both I can live with- but nobody has (yet) said that it was unreasonable to think what I did. In fact, if I’m honest, I think it proved a great opportunity to offer a history lesson that will maybe make people appreciate their risk to use it even more. I think you can view the history and the game as two separate entities and draw different conclusions, but my worry was that people weren’t talking about the history *at all*, from the way people were talking it was something they didn’t even know- and that, more than anything, was what I wanted to bring to the conversation.

Oh, and one more thing.

When war broke out between Russia and the Ukraine, I of course would come back to the video much later realising there was a hell of a coincidental overlap, and a worry that people might misconstrue my points in the heat of the events happening. I had, however, done my research. I’ve always known that the deaths of the family were covered up by what became Stalin’s regime in order to keep its cause alive- and I know Yeltsin re-introduced the truth of their murders in order to put this behind Russia, and establish democracy. Putin came in and attempted to validate ALL leaders- Stalin, Lenin, the Tsars- with an eye to establishing a completely mismatched set of ideologies as if to validate a single dynasty of power, Russia, that would ensure, eventually, his total autocracy.

I had already written this allusion into the video, and I figured this was, if anything, a point Double Fine also wanted to be heard.

Effect

There were two responses I really wanted from this video.

If you liked Psychonauts 2, I wanted you to walk away going ‘wow, this game is even better than I thought.’ If you didn’t, I wanted you to walk away going ‘okay, I’m not entirely alone on how I feel, but I get it now.’ I saw both of those within a few hours of posting the video and I was totally relieved as a result, I’d achieved what I set out to do, and all the responses that followed fell somewhere on this spectrum.

I will understand that some people won’t care for me taking what is a genuinely strong work of art and even inviting the idea of being critical, but I don’t see this as a way to dismiss the game or the people who made it, because, well, if you think I’m not frightened of burning the bridge between myself and others by even slightly suggesting they could have done things differently then you really don’t know me at all. The only thing I know to do is to be true to myself and stand firm on speaking my mind, even when it’s probably wrong, because maybe that will be useful to someone or to myself, as long as I make sure I feel the point is really worth sharing. As mentioned in the video, the only way to reaffirm our reality is to speak our truths and see what bridges it may build, how we can turn something that doesn’t feel right into something ideal as a part of the collective, because to me, there is nothing more beautiful than the reassurance that our reality is shared, and not merely a delusion of our own making.

For me, I now have total peace between myself and the game, and it’s a game I will be playing again in the future, and while I always worry someone might upturn that with ‘B MASK EXPOSED’ in a response video or whatever, I chose to make these thoughts public, and I have to just sit back and live with that consequence.

I guess only one thing’s truly clear.

I bloody love Psychonauts.

—————

So there you have it, a very different set of points for a very different video.

I know I always say this but the support is appreciated, and I really value those who have had to put up with my hiatuses. I really am always working on these and sometimes it just takes way longer than I want, but the good news is that I have a tonne of projects in the pipeline that are much easier to put together. I’ll keep you all posted as to when those are arriving. As mentioned previously the confirmed videos are-

-A video about my past on YouTube

-A discussion of one person’s musical projects

-A surprise video essay

-A video on Jak as written last year

Until next video, gang,

-B

I Can't Hate Psychonauts 2

 And now you know!

 This was an incredibly difficult essay to put together, so once again I have to thank all of you for the support during the waiting period. In retrospect I shouldn't have been so convinced this would be done in january, but I don't think it would be anywhere near where it is had I not put in the extra work, and due to my tendency to be very secretive I didn't want to give too much of the game away before I was sure the video was done. 

 I hope the video was worth the wait - there's a lot discussed here, art, history, psychology, and even a little philosophy describing how much this game made me feel, good and bad. You'll let me know if it was worthwhile. 

 Will be back to unpack some of this in a patron-only update soon. 

 Thank you again. 

-B

Mini Update- Psychonauts 2

 I did try to push for a Monday release but there's just still so much work to do.

 I think in the end it'll be to the video's benefit- there's a few things I think even now need adjusting in the script and luckily they're not major, just small parts that will be relatively simple to get together once the full edit is assembled. Plus, it gives me more time to dedicate to a certain idea I had for the video rather late in the game. 

 What in gods name is he up to? What indeed. There was a certain idea I knew I couldn't get across just by editing together footage from the game. You guys will have an idea soon enough as to why I think it was important to get a little creative with this one.

 Can't give an exact date as to when this will be finished now, but I'm aiming to complete the video in the ballpark of the next two weeks. Hang tight everyone- I'll see you on the other side. 

 -B

Janurary Update- Psychonauts 2 (and other stuff)

Hi gang-

 Thought it'd be an idea to keep you up to date on the plans over the next couple weeks or so. I was hoping to update by now with the new video, but on the offchance that might dip into early Feburary, I thought it would be best to get ahead of the news here.

 All of this month- and I mean all- I've been trying to get the Psychonauts 2 video on its feet, and I have to tell you, it's been a real doozy! I don't think i've ever had such issues trying to articulate my thoughts on something this much, to the point where, when I had a full audio file and started listening back to the video as I edited, I went 'hang on, I'm not sure that's quite right.' After a week or so of even more gruelling rewrites, I think we're finally on the path to the completed video.

 These edits were done on the previous script over a week or so, came together quite quickly and, with the new audio elements included, everything's re-aligned so I can plough on with the rest of the footage placement. Editing's fast, as usual it's just the scripts that take up all the time, and I also have a surprisingly crafty part of this video that made things a little more difficult than usual- don't worry, I'll explain everything here once I'm done!

 I have hope I can get this video fully edited in the next five days, but i'm aware it's still quite a bit of work, and I'm sure you guys don't want me to rush this. If it comes to that I will sadly have to push it to Feb, but I'm hoping it doesn't come to that.

 The good news is, I already have work for future projects lined up and can more confidently say they'll be out over the next two months. The rundown of my main priorities right now include-

-Talking about something I did on youtube before my video essays

-Discussing the work of a certain director's musical films

-The Jak video promised last year

-At least one major video essay on my list I haven't yet announced

 The first three are written, and will not take anywhere near as long to make, reword or wrestle with on the level of the Psychonauts video. I do still have some other real life situations going on but we're in a good place with the work right now, especially now Psychonauts is getting ready to publish. With the above videos out of the way I can turn my attentions to other promises like the long threatened Spiderman video, a few other small surprises i've had tinkering away in the background, and I'll also be pushing much harder on the Marvel retrospective that I promised - I am extremely keen to have that ready for production before September this year. 

 I also just became a twitch affiliate and have plans to get some streams going once the video's live. If you haven't yet seen it, do give me a follow there- I'll be updating my plans for that on the channel soon afterwards too. https://www.twitch.tv/b_mask 

 That just about covers everything! Apologies again for the delays, but I think it's for the best Psy 2 got given as much attention as it did, probably a video almost unintentionally more on the level of what I did with the Sly retrospectives. You'll have to tell me if that's a good thing or not! 

 Til then my lovelies,

 -B

What Happened to B (2021 Update)

 At last, the long fabled update video. Longtime patrons, I can only apologise, I actually got hit with a nasty cold in the last week so it just took as long as everything else!

 This should hopefully give a fuller picture of everything that went down in 2021 as well as give you an idea of what's happening next. Thanks once more for the immense support through this year, it means so much and I'll be paying you back with a bunch of new projects very very soon. For now though, I'm going to enjoy Christmas the way St Nick Intended, with a huge bird doused in gravy.

 Have a wonderful holiday and Merry Christmas to you all!

 -B

November Update (Next videos)

 Heyooooo

 SO, first off, thanks again everyone for the warm reception to the Mandalorian video. With the dust settled and everything taken into account I’m so pleased I was able to make that the comeback, just felt completely right in the end. I’d also like to welcome the new patrons who came in on the back of that and assure you all once more than we’re just getting started when it comes to what’s next for the channel. I’ve spent the entire month ploughing away at some scripts and I have quite a bit of content almost ready to voice, so, let’s get into what you can look forward to in the near future.

Update video

This was going to come out this month but I got so wrapped up in the upcoming next big video, which you’ll read about below, that I kept putting it to the backburner for fear of losing my momentum. I’m actually pleased I did that. Summing up all the things that went wrong for me this year is a better December vid than it is a November one and soon you’ll have all the details you want about how my eye surgery caused my kidneys to rupture, fun fun fun.

Psychonauts 2

Second full draft of this is essentially done. This is the next big vid and *might* end up being a January release. I’d love to have it out in December but it's a big project, and by the 15th I won’t have the ability to edit anymore until Jan 4th (taking a family break for Christmas), so I’ll just do as much work as I possibly can until and after that period. 

It’s taken a fair bit of time to write this, we’re broaching some topics I’m a little nervous about, and for the first time in years I’ve found myself culling entire paragraphs in an effort to make it as concise as possible. That said it’s still pretty long, but I think, after battling with myself on exactly what to say and not say, you’re getting a take on Psychonauts nobody else is offering. I’ve been straight up baffled by the anaemic nature of how the game has been reviewed on every front and I hope that, even with a video with a very slightly skewed opinion from the rest, you’ll get a much more substantial look at the power it has to offer.

Wild card

There’s a video topic that came to me outta nowhere and it made for a really easy script, it’s not about anything you could guess and it’s not an extensively long piece, just something to do with my time on YouTube that I think you’ll all find interesting.

Marvel???

Once again I have to re-iterate, as I will also say in the update video, that my Marvel retrospective plans are now 100 percent a next year thing. I did try to get it finalised for this year but I lost too many months when I got sick, even with other projects it’ll be my main priority to complete in 2022. All the other things mentioned previously I’m still tinkering with, But BOY I am still thinking about this every day and snakes alive I will do everything in my power to get it out there next year. I kind of have to, I don’t want the MCU to catch up with me!!

Thanks for sticking around and the support as always! Very excited to show you all the stuff I have on the go and hoping to hit my stride as we enter the new year. Plans run deep and all the things I promised are still on the cards.

Yes, even Alf.

-B

Manda-lore(ian)

 At long last. We have a video.

 I had planned to get this one out in January, but right off the bat, my health and personal life got in the way. Perhaps it's for the best. I had issues with this video going in, with my vision for what I wanted to say as well as a nervousness around the subject matter and not wanting to sound too austere. 10 months later, I think it probably benefitted from the extra time. I'll never be 100 percent happy with how it came out, but I think it's, overall, pretty B-Mask through and through. As you can see, we're also going for a fresh look with Beyond Pictures and a new confidence in letting the subject take focus. Let's see how that works.

 Let us know how you find it and once again, a huge thanks for sticking by while my life went pear shaped. I cannot exaggerate how much it means to have the support to keep doing this and I hope going into the next year I can pull off all of the promises I made. Still so much to share. 

 May the force be with you

 -B

October mini update 2- Almost done

 It's taken a little longer than I wanted but, as of 5pm earlier today, we have a fully drafted edit of the new video file.

 I'll be cleaning up the edit all of tomorrow, with an eye to add in some small details, edits and new pieces that I think will better flesh out what I think is shaping up to be a nice comeback. This does mean, however, that I'm cutting it very close to the end of the month- and I'll be honest, I'm worried about launching this on Halloween, because it's very much not a Halloween related video.

 My current plan is to look into getting the update video together to see if I can release that before Sunday but if I can't, I'll have to release the Mando vid at the start of November and the update video very soon afterwards. I really, really wanted to get it out in the middle of this month, but it's been a very protracted process and I just haven't been fast enough.

 Thanks for sticking with me through this so far, and I hope you guys can hang on for just a few more days. Once this vid's out, we're back on schedule with a whole bunch of upcoming content. When we next speak, it'll be with an upload attached. 

 -B

October mini Update- some progress

 Given my recent setbacks, I thought it'd be a good idea to show you guys some actual progress on the latest project. 

 Feels kinda weird to be back doing this again!

 Was a very productive week- I made an effort to soundproof my new apartment booth and was very pleased to find I could get audio on the level of my usual quality, with a full audio file finished that same day. Still want to invest some more into making that booth even better but would rather wait until the video is done, I think it's paramount I get some content out before I spend any more money on improvements at this stage. 

 After that time was spent firming up my research and making sure all the files I needed were made available for the project at the best possible quality. 

 There's definitely still changes I want to make and we're in the malleable stage of editing where i'm experimenting a lot with how I want to break up the pacing and showcase certain ideas, but it's coming along way better than I expected. It's Star Wars so, maybe obviously for some of you, I'm very nervous about even touching this territory, but it's a pretty varied video that I hope will offer something you haven't seen from people talking about this subject. It's very possible I'll hate this when it's done but as its coming together i'm warming up to it, we'll have to see how I feel when it's complete. Has naturally run a little longer than I anticipated, I thought this would be a 20 minute video!

 So yeah, feels like we've gotten back into this way faster than I expected, and I'm hopefully on track for a release just before the month ends. Not much of a Halloween piece- it's no Scoobyverse- but I think it'll do. Again, will alert you guys of any changes to the plan should they arise. 

 Will hopefully speak to you guys again soon with an update on an actual release. Take care until then!

 -B

October Update- A video this month

Just a quick one before the month gets underway.

As of today, the move into my new apartment is complete. It was a bit of a struggle, having to rely on terrible phone tethered internet and no proper work surfaces, but for the best as I used the opportunity to get my head down and get some writing done. With everything sorted now, it's time to announce the big news.

There will be a video this month.

I promised you guys the Mandalorian video would be the first on my channel for the year since Janurary, and I've been working to keep that promise. I may have to break that rule slightly- I need to update everyone on where i've been and a video explaining this will possibly come first- but I'm finally ready with a final draft of this project that needs a few tweaks and then can go straight to voice and editing. I've been excited about the core thesis of where this one goes for a while but I'm now REALLY pumped at what it's become since i've returned to writing. It's not terribly long. I don't even think it's solid. I just think it's very B-Mask. It's all I can ask for.

This isn't to say the Mando vid is the only thing I've been doing- I've still got other projects lined up, plans old and new, and even some that have sprung from my fingers almost as a full video only this week, so lots should start passing down the pipeline once this has been completed, and, hopefully, none of it too predictable. Sadly I still think the Marvel video is going to definitely be a next year thing now, but I am thinking of a way to make it up to you guys before the year comes to a close anyway. It's been a rush getting back to work and i'm now hoping my new setup means that the process will be a lot faster than it ever was before, especially where the uploads are concerned.

You see, the terrible internet I used to have is now a 1GB fibre connection that is effectively 1000x faster to use online, and that's not an exaggeration, that's an actual quote based on my existing numbers. As a result I've been considering the possibility of streams and other ways to possibly better compensate my patrons for their investment. We'll have to watch this space and see what happens. As always, suggestions are more than welcome.

Naturally if anything does happen to the video I'll let you know here- hopefully the update video will be of some compensation if I get dragged behind on editing- but I really didn't want to do any more updates until I could say these words- it's written, I like it, and I'm ready to go. Hopefully next time we speak, it'll be with a video to get us back to where we were.

Guess this topic choice might turn a few heads for me eh? Platformer comic boy suddenly starts talking star wars, the most rocky of all video essay picks. But it's okay.

You guys know what's up.

-B

September update (at last)

Hi everyone!

As you all know the last couple months have been way more tumultuous than I anticipated. However, after an extended period of recuperation, I’m happy to report that my vision is back to near pre-op levels, and it feels really, really great. Which means I’m ready to get back to making videos.

Now, hopefully I’ll be able to do a video where I talk more about exactly what’s been happening this past year- I think you guys deserve a better understanding of how much has been going on and the effect it’s had - but the truth is there’s a lot of leftover stuff I’ve been working on that I need to re-adress. So much has changed between my last updates and now, many of my plans now need to be re-organised and ultimate I have to decide on a different strategy with some of my videos moving forward, and while a bunch of stuff I had planned is still ongoing, a couple things I can now go back to with ‘fresh eyes’. No pun intended. Maybe.

- The previous update where I mentioned planned videos are still ones I want to make, but some of them need to be radically re-thought. The Mandolorian one I think needs the least amount of changes, though I was struggling to pull it together at the last hurdle, but the Spyro one now makes very little sense in light of the changes that have been happening at Activision, and the Wandavision one found a different place in my mind as the MCU unfolded again on the big and small screens. This is why I don’t normally make these kinds of promises and, even though I’ll be trying to salvage that video to make something else, I wouldn’t expect them in any particular order. Very much going by a ‘it’s done when it’s done’ basis on those projects now. I even came up with a new one in the hospital as my kidney was jumpin so that's a thing.

- My major Marvel project is still being worked on and is still in the writing phase. I don’t think I realised quite how ambitious I’d made this and I’m still very excited to reveal it, but it’s absolutely not going to be ready until 2022. That said, I still plan to have the writing done by the end of the year and I also, as was always planned, want to get a second teaser trailer out before it debuts, so we’ll see if I can push that into the end of this year. Don’t think I’m pulling a spoony on you with this one, I am desperate to tell this story.

- I’m so incredibly grateful that I was able to heal up in time for Psychonauts 2. I played the game through once in full, then ran through a second time to catch anything I missed, and am currently matching it up with parts of the original to make some final assessments and test some connections. By the time my first play though was finished I had pages of notes, and now I’m entering a full script. It’ll take some time to untangle but I have a lot to say, none of which I want to give away, but enough is there that I can say yes, I’m making a video. Yes, I want it out as soon as I’m able.

- Here’s the latest big announcement- I’m moving. London is wonderful but way too expensive and I need to go where I can focus on my videos full time again. The papers are being finalised as we speak, and the plan is to get out there, make lots of videos, and try to get far enough with it to come back to London at a later date. This could very well blow up in my face, but it’s been that kind of year for me, so why not one last radical change to my life. I can also tell you about the job that I quit which is, well, a story for another time.

That’s all for now. I know it’s not easy following a creator who makes promises that aren’t fulfilled and I understand all the folks who had to drop out after following me as long as they did, no offence is ever taken as I know you’ve all got to make those payments elsewhere so whatever is paid is appreciated regardless. It kills me that I dropped the ball this year and couldn’t commit on my promises, and I’m dreading the thought of that continuing in the coming months. I am so keen to make more content and I won’t be stopping work, so thank you all for supporting me as long as you have, and please hang on if you can for a little longer.

Because I HAVE to make that Alf video.

-B