006 : ABOVE
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
Welcome, new and old!
Here's what happened since the last update:
created background tracks for videos
made two out of three videos I planned
simplified game design document
What have we learned?
How will we move forward?
Let's see!
Show and Tell
Maybe this section will be reoccurring after all.
I think it's obvious what I have to show off this time.
Two videos.
One is two and half minutes.
The other is a minute and a half.
I do intend for all of these to be short.
I will say this: I was tempted to not even release the first one, skipping it entirely. It displeases me greatly because of how congested it ended up being. But the second one improves on this, offers a simple demonstration of what it was getting at, and story-wise, works better when the first is there. So, I released both at the same time to get over my apprehensions of only releasing the first one and waiting to drop the second.
This is an approach that is entirely new to me. I usually plan out everything, blitz through the creative process, push the complete package and move onto the next thing (after the results prove to be underwhelming).
Very curious to see what this will all turn into with each new release, even if the process so far has been swinging between unnerving and exciting. Could this be progress?
Maybe so, maybe so.
Reflections
Feeling uncomfortable? Grow into it.
A lot of your ideas seem to all have a number of things in common. And a common reason you drop them is because getting them out is in some way uncomfortable. That's because you have something to learn. Learning is not fun 80% of the time. It's mostly drudgery. Until it isn't. Then you get to enjoy the new skill you've acquired. And you don't have to learn for long before you can start enjoying it a little bit!
There is such a thing as saying too much.
Turns out the scripts I wrote were six times more than I actually needed for the videos. But since my plan was to have excess, this is a good thing. The not-so-good consequence, at least initially, was thinking I needed to squeeze one script into a short duration. Naturally, it came out with severe pacing issues and it felt congested. But it was just another opportunity to weave a story, and of course, do it better. In short? Even busy pieces have to breathe. a little.
Sometimes you can also run out of things to say in a piece.
This plays into the previous reflection. You can move forward in two ways. Both are valid. The first is: don't force and it improve what you have. The second? Just keep going. When you go for the second option, a brand new message is going to fall out of it. You'll break into a new chain of associations and it'll be up to you to keep it in the same piece, or break it off into its own thing (though, I recommend the latter).
Conclusions demand fresh eyes to be continued further.
When you reach a satisfying conclusion on one thing, find something else to do. At least for a little while. Projects are made up of a series of natural stopping points. You can choose to ignore them. This is how you get tired of them. This tends to be why I sprint straight to the end of things. I just want them to be done.
Be more overt in your inspirations.
No one is going to know where it came from unless you make it blatantly obvious. It's a choice to make it not obvious. But it also risks alienation. People like familiar things. Use that to get them invested. Tweak what you're putting out over time and people will grow into your unique spin alongside you.
Parting questions for your own reflection:
What is making you uncomfortable right now? What things are you required to learn? Can these things be broken into smaller chunks? What is the easiest thing to start with?
What inspires what you make? Do you try to hide it? If so, are you afraid of what others will say? If you're not hiding it, is there something about your inspiration that you wish could be a little bit different?
This is the obligatory advertisement section (brought to you by Nexumorphic). I've spent the past 23 minutes trying to develop a joke about being out of jokes.
I am now HUMORLESS.
Members under the 'Nine' tier will receive a 33% discount for all Shop items and an ever-evolving document containing 3 unfiltered video scripts (500-900 words each) and all drawings created for the videos thus far. And this is only the beginning.
Over time, more will be added to it.
Infographics, worksheets, more illustrations, more scripts, and a bunch of other resources for your motivation, organization, and inspiration.
You get help developing your own vision.
And I get put my newly-enhanced seriousness and austerity to good use.
Do NOT waste it.
That's all I have for you today.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Next update on the 7th, barring emergencies.
Until then,
👋