February Update: 10,000

Hey team!

Words, Words, Words

The draft of the current script is currently a bit over 10,000 words and spans 20 pages, and it's not done. There was a time I swore I'd never make a video over 20 minutes, and, when that barrier fell, I at least felt I'd never be one of those YouTubers who releases something as long as a feature film. But, today, I am That Guy. Because, y'all, this is the longest thing I've ever written and it's still not done.

This past month I sent you three scripts, and I'll send you this when it's done. At that point I think it'll be time to sit and animate again. It may take a little while to get going, but, so long as I let myself start slow, I think I can get back to that soon. Starting the animation phase with four full scripts in the can is gonna be a new experience.

Meantime, I'll be sending you the first 13 pages of the script today.

Drawrings

The bummer news is that Mike and I have had to part ways. He did a lot of wonderful work, but, for reasons beyond our control, he had to work slower than planned and my finances dried up faster than expected, so we had to scrap the collaboration. I'll be taking over the animation of The Cost of Doing Business.

Which sucks.

At the very least I have all the art he made, so I can skip the illustrating phase and go straight to animating. And I'll at least be able to give him an art credit - I'd hate it if none of that work he did saw the light of day. I won't be able to do all the fancy After Effects transitions he was doing, which means this video won't be as cool looking, but will look more of a piece with the rest of the series. I hope having most of the art assets finished will make it easier for me to start animating again. Illustration is the part where I usually get hung up.

But this means nothing is coming out til I get back in the animation chair. I'll be sitting back down in it once this behemoth of a script is done.

Hobbies

One thing I've discovered in being to some degree back "at work" is I can apparently only have so many hobbies. Since resuming the writing process, my reading and gaming habits have disappeared. Which also sucks. Mental energy has to come from somewhere, I guess, and that's where I've freed up cycles.

This means my chill time has been given over to music and movies. Unsurprising, as they are comparatively passive media. But I've been sharing here and there: I'm keeping a log on Twitter of each movie I watch this year, and recently put together a public synth metal playlist based on recommendations from folks on Twitter (definitely check out Contortionist by Their Dogs Were Astronauts if you're into that).

I will say: if the pandemic has meant being stuck at home with your housemates and you are struggling from the lack of privacy, get yourself some noise-cancelling headphones. They've been a game-changer for me.

Talk soon,

-I