Hbomb
patreon
NEW VIDEO & CHANGEOVER ANNOUNCEMENT
🕑 Added 2020-02-23 19:12:00 +0000 UTCWoooosh!
Pretend I just swung in on a rope from offscreen. Wow! How’d he do that?
First off, I’m uploading the War on Christmas Measured Response right now. It’ll be in the next post! I realised I wasn’t going to finish it for last Christmas, so I took a proper break to spend more time with my family and then went all out on making it the best video I could possibly make, and I’m really pleased with how it worked out. While I was making it I learned a lot of lessons about how I want to cover highly-politicised topics going forward. What started out as a more simple piece intended to be done by Christmas turned into a long journey of discovery, learning how to present data meaningfully, give more well-rooted critique of the economics behind right-wing ideology, and make a cartoon of Dennis Prager’s head that spins around. I feel more powerful for having taken this time.
I'm releasing it for Patrons, and the rest of the world will see it at the end of this year. For some reason I take a sick pleasure in releasing a Christmas video an entire Christmas late, lol - it’s also very funny to me that the video that got me to learn so many new tricks will come out months after the videos that benefit from it.
Secondly, in December I wrote here about considering switching to monthly on Patreon, instead of using the current per-video system, since I think I would benefit creatively from the push of committing to getting things done on a more consistent schedule. The comments on that post and the messages I've received over it were really positive and encouraging, so I've decided to make the switch this February.
But to make that change, I wanted to make sure I could actually go faster. As things were, I had to create almost every aspect of every video, which hasn’t been sustainable for me and often made it very hard to predict how long anything would take. As of last week, I’ve hired a project manager/producer to ensure the process is running smoothly and help me keep track of everything. I’m also going to bring on more people for art and research, which normally takes the most time for me. This frees me up to dive more deeply into the writing and editing, which are my favourite parts. With the benefit of this, I can make more videos, and do it more quickly. My goal is to make at least twice as many videos as I did last year. That’s about four more videos. Wow, I know!
This also frees me up to focus more on the patron-only content that people have been asking for, SUCH AS:
- Shorter Original Videos: I’ve wanted to make shorter videos, on more esoteric topics or things that couldn’t sustain a full video, but when I was working per-video on my own I was always struggling to get the main videos out, and I didn't feel I could justify charging anyone for the time, so these got pushed to the wayside, and furthermore the youtube algorithm seemed to punish making those kinds of shorter things when other people tried them - so making these types of videos now, just for patrons, would be really fun.
- Video Commentaries: I wanted to go through and review my older videos, where I talk about the choices I made, my mistakes, and my “””process.””” -- like commentary tracks, but with more effort and additional visuals. I have a lot of thoughts about what I could have done differently and what the changing intended impact of my work has been, and I think it’d be useful to share that.
- Behind-the-scenes Material: I’ll show the filming process of more complex videos, outtakes, and why I made some of the effects and editing choices-- like with the making of Serious Lore Analysis: Control Alt Delete. Making more videos faster also means there’s more material like this to show off, and the extra help gives me time to polish these up!
- Weird Shit: Hey, remember when I tried the Sonic face mask, or ate Sonic curry? I like making weird nonsense for fun, because honestly that’s what I do with my free time. I might even try things that aren’t Sonic related.
I’m aiming for at least one of these per month. My producer is telling me not to set expectations too high and say I’ll do more than that, but I really wanna do them so I’m going to try. With my improved process and time management skills I have time to really explore these without losing focus on my channel’s main videos.
Speaking of which, the RWBY video is well under way! While I’m aiming for late March, I’m tracking down some ex-employees to interview and animators to help me showcase animation techniques better than I could alone. This might make it take longer, but I think it’ll really help the project.
Oh and I really love the feedback you fine folks have given me through comments on the Master List of video ideas. People have been chiming in with their own thoughts about what videos I should be doing next, and even filled in the blank spaces at the bottom with entirely new suggestions. It really fills me with energy knowing what people want to see and having it all collected in one organised space. I really can’t wait to make all of these!
In conclusion, I hope you enjoyed reading this post as much as I enjoyed writing it. I’m going to hang up now. I love you - as a friend though. Goodbye~~
Comments
Dave
Not saying you shouldn't critique it just... I dunno I feel its such a different kettle of fish to the previous targets of this series that it should maybe be approached differently, sorry :(
Dave
Interesting stuff and the Christmas video was great! To be honest I am still rather uncomfortable with the RWBY video, especially seeing as they (I feel) just had such a good volume. The animation technique s idea is interesting but given the vast improvement each volume after Monty's tragic passing I can't help but feel it could prove to be poorly representative at best. I still think that contacting the writers for interviews could be a good way to handle this at least in theory, though as noted I find the premise "RWBY is garbage" to be rather unfair and unnecessarily mean spirits for a middle sized company not trying to be harmful or shitty and that lacks the absurd power and wealth (Comparatively) to the other targets you've chosen in the past. Plus any form of critique of the series tends to be rounded on by homophobes who want to pitch a fit and used as a cudgel which always proves awful and unpleasant and tends to lead in an up-tick of harassment towards fans of the show. Seriously the FNDM was a nightmare post JelloApoclypses painfully inaccurate video and hate watchers were reveling in using it as a justification to harass people and took art from it to spread bigoted messages to LGBT+ fans, it fucking sucked.
Montanna Tilton
All of this is so exciting!! I'm thrilled to start supporting your videos on a more regular basis. I don't even care if you make a video every month. Just take my money. (That probably isn't very helpful, sorry.)
typo Adventure
Yay shorter original vids!
Gumby with a sombrero
I love your videos and I'll be glad to get in on the switch for monthly. If there's one thing Id like to ask for, is that i appreciate the thoughtful approach you have for these, and would prefer that to a "scheduled" release just to meet a timeline. Looking forward to more stuff!
Hieronymous Squash
Seems like I joined your Patreon at a very exciting time!
Sébastien Demmel
I think that was the most voted up option for next video in that poll he put up some months ago!
John David Tibbetts
Is there any reason in particular you're doing the rwby video NOW? I got nothing against it except that the show isnt really over yet, so one would think it wiser to wait until a show is complete before giving a final verdict on its quality. But maybe that's just the Arkada in me talking XD. Anyway just curious
Quiz Kid Donnie Sith
Sounds fine to me. Is there something I need to do, like re-patron (totally an actual word) or will it just happen by internet magic?
cal tal
I'm so excited for the new stuff! also I can't wait to see this video! thanks for the big update, I'm glad you hired some stuff out if it means youre able to put out more work
Michael Muto
Yes! All sounds good
My partner is an animator, hit me up if you would like her to teach you stuff and I'll ask if she has time.
datpiranha
I don't mind waiting for videos once in a while but I agree that monthly charging makes it easier to plan financially. Also happy to hear you're getting yourself support!!
Samael
Glad you took some time out over the holidays! Looking forward to seeing what you make in the new year, can't wait to see what the esoteric shit includes haha
Damiano Carretta
hey. i am so glad you're uploading something. i just wanna ask. it says i need to raise my pledge to access one more patron only posts? i am a patron. i pledged already, i need to raise my pledge to access your latest post?
Hbomb
I'd love to do more! Currently I've got plans for two big charity streams this year, I'm just figuring out the logistics of getting the potential guests in order, figuring out if I want to host it somewhere special, and travel arrangements for people who want to be involved. You'll be the first to know when I get more figured out! This changeover is a really big part of the change in how I manage my time so I should know sooner rather than later, for once! Hopefully this time I'll announce the stream more than a few days in advance
Lemming
Hbomb, it took you so long to post this that I got another year closer to death.
Thank you for the update! Monthly is quite good for me, because it makes payments more consistent and I know exactly how much I will be paying every month.
Sounds awesome. +1 weird shit, I love those
Hopefully I am not "that" person but do you still want to do another charity stream? Obviously the logistics behind that is a bit difficult and it would probably cut into your ability to make more regular content but I do remember mention of it and so wished to ask.
