James Lee Animation
patreon
PLANET NOX #03: Keepin' it Real
🕑 Added 2022-11-29 03:36:47 +0000 UTC
This has been a big year for Nox. Out of 7 releases so far, I’m super proud of 5 of them, and I’m excited about the new one which will drop in a few weeks. The overall process has been optimized by orders of magnitude. It's pretty crazy actually just how fast the technical side has gotten compared to this time last year.
The biggest consideration going forward is almost entirely managing my own personal energy, and bottling that into inspired projects. Ya know, over time you really pick up on the little rules for existing online; Advertising the successes, hiding the struggles, or presenting them in a dramatized, clear-cut narrative fashion. You see what hits, and what doesn’t, and you adapt. There's a trend I think, where aspirational content slowly becomes a perverse form of escapist aspirational-themed entertainment. The creator becomes a little promise of who you can be just by tuning in. The nice feelings without the substance.
So maybe the purpose of these monthly updates is a little antidote to the poison. Just a small window to my reality and an attempt to keep it real. The struggles, some advice, the nuts and bolts, without the bombast, so that if Nox does one day take over the internet, you saw exactly how all the shit went down.
Who knows, maybe in 6 months I’ll think what the hell was I doing, making these lengthy brain dumps. So yeah, gimme ya feedback.
Above: Actual photo of me contemplating if these posts are too fuckin long.
Can you describe a bit more of the early process?
Audio is the backbone of each video. I don’t start a video until I know how it’s going to sound, its general rhythm and mood. For me, vibe isn’t the most important aspect, but it’s the most difficult. So I figure its best to start there, and then work backwards.
I keep a couple hundred tracks on my phone which are sourced from various production libraries that I listen to regularly on walks and runs. If I have a track with a vibe I want, and I haven’t fleshed out the idea in my head already, I’ll go through all my digital notes and try to find a script or thread of an idea that will match. Then I make long running lists of ideas, references, wordplays, key visuals, and see which of them can combine in interesting ways. If it’s a particularly polarising topic I try to gather as many sentiments and arguments for and against, then try to think of an interesting way to express it. This part can be a minefield, because there’s always the temptation to over simplify an issue for the sake of good story. And conversely, no video can be made without condensing some aspects and leaving others off the table. Having good feedback from trusted peers is really crucial here.
During all of this, I have the music tracks in my DAW, and I just half-ass a recording of each line to the timeline. The focus is only on script and timing. Like an animatic, everything should be disposable. I think its also important to treat sound FX not as window dressing, but as critical story beats in themselves.
When I feel like I have a fully fleshed radio play, I start on the animatic, which will tell me if I need more air in parts to let the visuals linger. After some back and forth, and with the animatic completed, I then do all the final vocal takes.
What mistakes have you made in your online career?
Committing to ambitious projects that I wouldn’t finish. Unattainable dream projects can lull you in to a cycle of fantasy and disappointment. It’s super important to finish projects, but also, sometimes you gotta know when to cut a project loose and focus on something more attainable.
Thinking that a single perfect project is gonna make it all happen. This was my Overwatch Noir video, which just wasn’t worth the time investment. It was what re-oriented me to thinking about my career as a flow of content, rather than investing so much into large, high stakes projects.
Smashing Coffee and pulling all nighters. To this day, I still think there’s something compelling about working through the night. But it’s terrible for having an actual life.
How do you get that vocal effect?
I use Polyverse Manipulator for the main effect, and split it into 2 channels: One very deep granulised vocal, and another that’s closer to my regular voice but pitched down slightly. I use a condenser mic and get super close to make the effect like he’s right in your ear.
You ever thought about starting a Discord
Yes, but I want to do it properly. A lot of creator discord’s I see around don’t have a lot of activity, so I wanna make sure it has a really solid purpose. It’s in the plan, but it’ll take some time.
Gotta question you’d like to ask? Hit me up, maybe I can answer.
Above: Uncle Terry's birthday long weekend (July, 1994)
Above: Fleshing some style ideas for animated Nox content.
Above: Concept art for abandoned Dragon Ball Z Seinfeld parody
Above: Abandoned design for the anime sequence in my latest vid
Doing:
- Mostly just been working and gym
- Cooked this awesome Tomato Soup recipe. (Check it out, it's one of my favourites)
- Went to the zoo
- Gearing up to move in a few weeks (For real this time)
- Made Rum Balls
Listening to:
Reading:
- Nothin this month
Playing:
- Metroid Dread
- Donkey Kong Country series
Watching:
- All Quiet on the Western Front (Best film I’ve seen in a long time)
Remembered That:
- Leg Days suck but make you feel great
- Meditation is dope
#02: A Little More Behind the Scenes
#01: The Patreon Launch
Comments
James Lee Animation
Ah hell yeah. Those are a staple Christmas desert where round here. You can also dip the top half in melted white chocolate. So good!
The Nout
Hey man, I made those rum balls you suggested for christmas. They were freaking kick-ass man, totally saved my butt
James Lee Animation
ah yeah, skeezy sax is my jam lately. cool vibes
James Lee Animation
all the time
James Lee Animation
heh yeah I get the nostalgic comment quiet a bit. Invader Zim was a big influence on me
James Lee Animation
No I haven't seen it, but I've add it to my watch list. I've gotten kind of obsessed with the book and wanna watch the original now
James Lee Animation
I really wanna work it in somewhere, somehow
Boone_girl
Ok, by FAR the best Patreon entry from a creator that I've seen yet! LOVING these updates and your "This Month" list!! P.S. Koolsax really gives me the Cowboy Bebop's SEATBELT vibe and I'm loving it!
blargcoster
Have you ever just?
Charlie Ryan
Looking forward to trying out that soup recipe! (Also woo, Metroid) Thanks for keeping it real :D
BelovedXanax
nah i get them 90s vibes and it hits that era of unfiltered, anything-goes no agenda freedom era of animation. planet nox is home.
Ksenia Olk
Maybe it's the 90s kid talking, but your work gives to that warm feeling of nostalgia of Courage the cowardly dog, Billy and Mandy, and Invader Zim.
Mark
Just curious because it's exactly what made me watch it as well! Did you happen to see wendigoons video on all quiet on the western front?
Definitely Ambiguous
Since you brought up starting with the audio, the two videos I return to time and time again are Lola Bunny and One Nipple at a time. When there's good audio, I can keep coming back to it. I can play them on a side monitor and get distracted by the visuals. Then again... maybe I'm just a perv that likes bunnies and nipples. "My only.... Lola Bunny"
Joel Fulker
What exactly do we have to do to get you to un-abandon your Seinenfeld Z video?
ThatDovahkiin
The brain dumps keep it real, bridge the gap between creator and audience in a way. I really enjoy em and keeping them going would be great. Though I don't doubt you'll have days/weeks/months were you'll just vegetate and not have much to put into the brain dump, and that's fine too. Just as long as you're doing what you wanna do and enjoying it :) As for the discord server idea, maybe give that some time and careful planning before opening the doors. I've seen many a discord server die of death a week after starting, or getting raided and ruined because of a lack of control with moderation.
Geo Miller
Fantastic update. I agree a yet another discord is not a great idea until you have confidence there will be sufficient content & continual conversation in the community.
tablesalt
Loving the mind dump. Loving the content. You are hitting the right notes, from this user's perspective.
Jack_Wolfe
I feel like you'd like some of these music clips. I love animated stuff. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTidn2dBYbY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzqumbhfxRo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZbkF-15ObM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_9g8l_vlqQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBeSi-ODfJk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIYhbRiuVK0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7ONXwxhg30 This is probally obnoxious actually. feel free to ignore these links lol
Jack_Wolfe
Well IAMX has a new fan! :D Somewhat reminds me of a mixture of these artists: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NdneoJyQms https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvfAaOUV6yg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izb7R04_Heg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABS-mlep5rY
James Lee Animation
IAMX is so good, he doesn't get the credit he deserves
Jack_Wolfe
I need MORE of this : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1XlxRgvHkM&list=PL3xpiaXhmixGFeW3ibr63KqqTVE47BaNu&index=1 Give me Crow movie era feelings. When everyone wanted to be grunge NiN musicians
SkeleTrain
Tons of people have said it already but I like the mind-dump stuff, it’s nice to see a creator be honest about how they are doing. Also, I’m definitely gonna try out that tomato soup recipe!
Cardiotherapy
These are fascinating posts! Thank you for sharing! I don't think they're overly long at all. Learning about your process and what you've learned is both interesting and helpful. :)
Neff
Nah James you’re good, love getting to peak into the demented minds of my favorite content creators
Jack_Wolfe
I reckon you could do a YOU version. 👓 N0X's Karaoke bar. Sessions every now and then.
Shayeeda Mccollum
I like these...I like reading them...makes me feel nice.
Ghawblin
Oh my, I came here for the inside scoop on neato art style I like and instead got the scoop on some soup. Abandon normal videos. Become cooking channel.
Brandon West
I like hearing what you've been up to, thanks for sharing
James Lee Animation
If you go to Filter Gallery in photoshop, its called 'Halftone Pattern'
Bowe
Personally, I enjoy the long posts, they give good insight and make it really feel as if I'm getting my money's worth. I have a question about the picture you captioned "Actual photo of me contemplating if these posts are too fuckin long." I've seen you do that effect on a few posts here and love how it looks but I can't replicate it for the life of me, it seems like you used a halftone colour filter and a posterizing effect but when I try it the image is less-than-stellar.
Kooky Spooks
I actually like these long posts, it's like a little glimpse into the thought process behind these bizarre videos. (also you have a killer taster in music!)
Shio Yumiko
I am enjoying the posts a lot. It's really nice to hear about your projects and what's happening in your life in general. Thank you for all the time and effort you put into your videos, they are always fun to watch 💙
James Lee Animation
ohh, one of my favourites of his
Jack_Wolfe
YOU NEED to do a parody of "Tom Waits - Going Out West"
Jack_Wolfe
Hmm you could always do a weird deep fake rendering/masking for the drawings and the TV show. Then just work on the mouths, to lipsync it to a new script. Who did you want to be Majin Buu? Soup guy? NEWMAN?! (newmans laugh :tick:) Kramer could be Goku Elaine could be either "ChiChi" or "Bulmas mum" Frank Costanza could be Mr. Satan Mmm tempting idea
Jack_Wolfe
Oh crap i thought you had moved already. Well good luck moving in the heat!
James Lee Animation
It was excellent, highly recommend.
MindChamber
Stoppit, you gonna make me cry :*)
James Lee Animation
About a day. It's been great practice writing more longform too
James Lee Animation
Thank you Jose. That means a lot. I would decompile your SWF of Pico Unleashed back in highschool trying to figure out how you did it. Mad respect for you my dude <3
bodingly
I like these check ins! I think they’re a good length and it’s fun to hear about projects. Hope you enjoy doing them 😊
Nictria
No need to contemplate, kiddo. Those little segments gotta be as long as you need them. Those who care enough will read them, and those who don't, won't. Ironic, too, with you watching All Quiet on the Western Front, I was thinking of watching that just today.
Wrinklycat
How long does it take to put these little posts together?? I love how much detail you write in every response ! <3
MindChamber
Can't say how much I'm super proud and super excited for you . I was always amazed by your work on NG .. Only wished you had gotten a Patreon sooner as I would've thrown some real money at you while I was at the Post office. <3
Gregory Ford
It’s not too long. I like the stream of consciousness approach that you’re using. It provides a glimpse into your creative process and ultimately how your work comes to life.
Æsir
I mean part of the behind the scenes involves you too. Even if you think you might be making your posts too long, you've got a bunch of folks (myself included) backing you up through Patreon for a reason. I don't think anyone willing to toss money to a content creator is going to get annoyed that said creator is willing to talk about more than just what's coming up.
James Lee Animation
I think it woulda been
James Lee Animation
Thank you Brad!
James Lee Animation
The script didn't quite come together, but it's something I always wanted to revisit if i could find a way to fit it in. I really wanted to have Majin Buuman
Emilyyy
Man that Seinfeld crossover looked dope
Brad Phillips
Always a good and happy day to see an update from you and how you are doing in life. Love seeing the projects you do and being able to see behind the curtain. Hope your projects you are working on slap hard, that and you had a good Thanksgiving. Cause I'm definitely thankful for the entertainment you put your blood, sweat, and tears into. As always, much love 💕.
Shawn Holmes
Oh god, I’d love to see the rough outline of that DBZ Seinfeld sketch. But hey, if it’s abandoned, I’m sure there was a good reason. And brain dumps are good. Even if you don’t directly feel it doing something, it really is. It’s just subtle. Better to be open about it. If anything, it will help your audience understand the process better and not be demanding, not that I think most of them are.
