Everything so far... Part 2

Hey guys,

Today I've been working on my YouTube Return schedule, which involves uploading, scheduling, and editing videos.
 
My biggest concern is being able to manage my time effectively. I have a major assignment due the week that I come back, and some videos cannot be prepared in advance. The videos that I refer to are my "I'm Back" video, which will be the first video that I make public, and the Ihasnotomato history video. For those who have been reading, the Ihasnotomato history video is the Ihasnochille history video. It's just that the channel name has changed.

The reason that I can't record the "I'm Back" video in advance is because I plan to discuss my YouTube career history. Because I am still uploading videos onto AIM Industries, I don't want to miss mentioning any changes in my "I'm Back" video. I don't know what to call the video, which is why I'm calling it "I'm Back" using quotation marks.

The reason that I can't have the Ihasnotomato history video ready in advance is pretty obvious. The channel is currently growing very quickly, and Ihasnotomato has told me that he will make a video celebrating 10,000 subscribers. I anticipate that he will reach this milestone before I return to my personal channels, so I will simply have to be as ready as possible. I don't want to make a second part if I can help it. If I did make a second part, it would not include any of the videos used in the first part.

Another video that I will be making on the day is the first Friday Night Fun (FNF) since February 2014. The reason that I won't make this video in advance is because I try to make every FNF video on the day that it is uploaded. This should be relatively easy, as I do very little editing in Friday Night Fun. I simply add the intro, slap all of the footage and voice recordings together, and make any small edits that I wish to before putting it up on the internet. Render time is usually quite short, despite how long the video is time-wise, because I render it in low quality (360p). I have had requests in the past for a HD render of the recording, so if such a thing is requested again I will be able to do it.

Good Game (YouTube Red)

I will continue my criticism of this, quite frankly, over-hyped YouTube Red show. Since my previous post, the show has finished. There were only six episodes, which is why the writers felt that they had to cram character establishment into the first two episodes. While this may have been the case, I still think that it could have been done less forcefully. The basic idea of each character was explained to us through dialogue, which is a lazy way of explaining what a person is like. I tweeted the blog post of my concerns using the appropriate hashtag, and was generally disappointed with the reception of the show. By this, I mean that I was disappointed that nobody noticed the problems that it had. The comments that people were making about the show were in praise of its Easter eggs, and bravery when it comes to the basic idea. When it comes to Easter eggs, you should only include them if you think that you have just shat out pure gold, and not because you think that it's a fun idea. My thoughts on the basic idea are not particularly critical. It's a generic idea for a gamer to create a show about gaming being mainstream and important in the greater world. Obviously, despite considering myself a gamer, I'm not a fan of the praise and support received by mainstream gaming. Despite my lack of interest in the idea, I don't hold it against the writers for going with the idea. I believe that any idea can be good if it is delivered well. For the most part, Good Game delivered well on its basic idea. However, the narrative that drove the basic idea was flawed. It felt like it had several little ideas that the writers had stringed together, but didn't explain well enough to draw me into the world of the show. It often felt self-contained and unrealistic. In some instances it did suggest that there was a bigger world outside of the team, characters, and environment that they tended to be in. Perhaps it was because most of the scenes were filmed inside rather than outside buildings. If it showed more shots of characters moving between outside and inside, with a view of the outside being shown, then the idea of the outside world would be better delivered.

By the time that the finale came around, the writers had managed to surprise me with interesting ideas and funny jokes. I would definitely consider giving the team behind Good Game a chance at making a second season. My belief is that they were bogged down in establishing characters and writing the first two episodes of this season, and they decided to refrain from fixing it.

That's all that I have to say.

See Ya!

Reviews on two YouTube Red productions

The Thinning (Film)

by Logan Paul

I like the basic concept of this movie. The idea of having to cull a percentage of your population every year because of there being too many people and not enough resources. To be honest, I would have been more interested in the film if they explored exactly why America decided to make it based on a test that school kids have to take. The characters were alright. The two blonde girls I confused for one another, as they had been established but not distinguished from one another. One of them, Logan Paul's in-film girlfriend, dies due to the test and so that makes Logan angry. I can't remember what Logan's character's name is. Or any of them for that matter. Also I didn't understand why a woman, who is supposed to be a close friend of smart blonde girl's family, is so important to the whole thing. It's just jammed down your throat and you're expected to understand and care about it.
I liked the idea of Logan's character being the son of the Governor and being followed everywhere, and also the difficulties faced by his father. The backstory is more interesting than the story told by the film.

I gotta be honest about YouTube Red. It hasn't turned out much content that I would actually tell my friends about. Oh, except for Sing It. That's well written and a funny parody of typical singing competition shows.

Good Game (Show)

by Arin Hanson, Dan Avidan, and Starburns Industries (Dan Harmon's company)

As much as I love Game Grumps and everything that they've built, I don't like Good Game. Maybe I'm harsh, but everything in the trailer is literally the best parts of the whole first episode. It reminded me of Deadpool, and that was well-received. Maybe "best parts" is giving it too much positivity. I didn't like any of the parts of the trailer, as they were loaded with extra stuff. Each line is a line and there are no simple conversations. Every line is loaded with heaps of information, and I feel like I needed time to connect with the characters. Maybe that should have been the first episode. I got the gist of what each character is supposed to be like, but it's so underdeveloped for each of them that they feel like pieces of paper with words on them. Arin's character Ryland is the bored one who is supposed to be awesome at esports and is very supportive of his friend Alex (played by Dan Avidan), who spends all of his time in pubs to pursue his dream of being a rock star and make some easy money. They are supposed to be stereotypes of the way Dan and Arin are in Game Grumps, but they are so paper-thin that they don't present enough for me to connect with. Again, I felt that the wrong story was being told. Too much information being provided in dialogue rather than actions.

I watched the second episode, as I'm a YouTube Red subscriber (why else would I be reviewing YT Red things?), and didn't like it much more than the first episode. I like how they're supposed to be exploring one another's traits more, but it's just hammered in too much. I could blame the amount of time given to each episode, but if the writing was done more carefully, it could have been better. I know a lot of criticism is dumped on writers for not writing the best stuff ever, but with two writers from Dan Harmon's own company, with experience in writing Rick and Morty episodes (which were all well-received), it's pretty disappointing. My hopes weren't very high. I love the idea of Game Grumps doing their own YouTube Red show because of their iBurgieBurgie  commercials, but I don't think Arin got much of a say in how the whole thing panned out. Also, there is a big list of executive producers, and apparently Dan Harmon is supposed to be the main one. Another reason that my hopes weren't high for this show is because I haven't seen anything that Dan Harmon has done. I know that loads of people love Rick and Morty and that Community was very successful, but I haven't seen either of them.The only stuff of Harmon's that I've looked at is the Guest Grumps episode where they play Cat in the Hat, and a bunch of YouTube clips of him talking about various topics. I haven't seen anything made by Harmon himself.

Overall, I'm not expecting it to get much better, and I'm sure that there'll be a few good moments in episodes, but the writing is of pieces of paper talking to one another and what they say gets put into the trailers.  I hope Game Grumps get another shot at a YouTube Red show, because I know that they can make quality content, however iBurgieBurgie is the only good example that I can think of.

So those are my reviews of The Thinning and Good Game. I didn't talk very much about The Thinning because I had a few main points. Good Game, I just love Game Grumps and it's fresh in my mind. I watched The Thinning a couple of nights ago.

Bye!

My Goodness I am tired

Hey guys,

I just finished dinner, but I might have some more if I finish digesting it before bed.

Anyway, yesterday I had a recording session for Pickle-Shaped Peanuts with Mickell Pickell and Angrove. We will continue for the next 6 months and Angrove has decided that he will edit some episodes now that he doesn't have Uni for the next few weeks.
We played Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 4 and it was hysterical. I had to disappear at the end though, because I had to clean up a mess. We chose to play Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 4 because we couldn't get the PlayStation to preview on the computer, so we reverted to my Steam games list. We didn't want to play more Crash Bandicoot because Crash N. Sanity Trilogy has come out and Mickell Pickell is doing videos on it. Also it's just a nice change for the channel.

I am tired because I didn't get much sleep last night, but also on a psychological level I am tired because I spent a short amount of time working hard to finish and release Hale Kane #16. So I'm exhausted like that.

So that's the update.
See Ya!

Hale Kane #16 out now!

Hale Kane Comics #16 Battle of Quadrant C (PDF) by Mabeanie on DeviantArt

Everything in General

I'm not having a great time.
This semester at Uni has sucked tremendously for me.
I will cut down the number of courses that I will do next semester so that I can do better work.

I just wrote a DeviantART journal talking about all of the things that I want to publish there. I've also got to finish my novel. I want to get a film project rolling. I want to spend time with friends, maybe design some games. Maybe write a story.

Now that I am out of the clutches of University study (for now), I hope to get cracking on my creative efforts. I need some time to relax a bit, because diving into so much work will probably burn me out quickly.

I also have to do more recording sessions for Pickle-Shaped Peanuts and IM Industries (one is planned for tomorrow). Pickle-Shaped Peanuts is in a strange position right now. We haven't officially decided to continue for a further six months yet. Angrove doesn't want to do any editing, so it will limit the amount of content that we can make. We'll go from three editors and styles of editing to two, as both myself and Mickell Pickell are perfectly happy to continue contributing to the channel. When we organise a recording session we'll probably come to some conclusion.

See Ya!

About Settlers song by Axis of Awesome

I haven't seen much information out there about this song, so I did my own research.

The song "Settlers of Catan" by The Axis of Awesome is a parody of "Children of the damned" by Iron Maiden, which can be found on the "Number of the Beast" album.
Axis of Awesome's song is about the board game of the same name and features the same sounds found in Iron Maiden's song.

I hope this helps you.

Pickle-Shaped Peanuts to continue

Hey guys,

Maybe you didn't know this, but PSP (Pickle-Shaped Peanuts) is a demo which will face decisions for the first ten months of its operation.

Today, I casually spoke with Angrove about continuing the channel. He's up for it. I'm up for it. I asked Mickell Pickell and he said he's up for it. In fact, he has put in place plans to upload episode 6 of Crash Bandiboop on Friday and publish it on Saturday. The good thing is that he's in charge of the thumbnails and artwork, so it will be easier for him to throw it all together.

On May 8th, 2017, we will make another decision. We will decide whether to continue the channel for another six months. This one will bigger than our first decision. It will not be the last one, however. After that six months is over, we will decide whether to continue the channel indefinitely.

Typically, YouTube channels are made indefinitely, but to make a formal decision about it makes things a little tense. It's a formal commitment to work on the channel.

So far, PSP has seen growth. We have 9 subscribers, but four of those are our own channels and include two of my own. So technically we have 5 subscribers. We have seen lots of views on each video in comparison to the number of subscribers. This is not unusual for a new channel. As far as I'm concerned, new channels and new series do well at the start. It's if we continue this success that will be a determining factor. I'm starting to worry that I might not be able to commit to running so many channels at the end of the year. We'll see. For now, I'm in it for the ride.

See Ya!