As the title says, the new animation is out! Go check it out if you haven’t already. A week or two after a big release I like to reflect upon the previous 9 months production, so that is what this blog post will be about.

Also check out the project page on this website, since it contains a bunch of free downloadable GIF’s and wallpapapers.

I’m very surprised by the response, since, statistically, this animation is performing multitudes better than the previous one. Getting “A Million Views” has always been an alluring thought when putting my stuff online. Since starting, I’ve gotten the million views already, but a video of mine has never done it within a week of release before. There are a bunch of factors at play – and it may still be too early to tell what they are.

Timeline

Jun (2019) – Released Story 5, Begin Story 6 Pre-Production
Jul – Begin Production (Animation)
Sep – Finish Intro, Teaser Released*
Oct – 25% Done
Nov – 40% Done
Dec – 57% Done (Release Date pushed)
Jan (2020) – 65% Done
Mar – 85% Done, Trailer Released
Apr – Story 6 Released

*Teaser

I apostrophize the teaser because I don’t often put out promo material that early in production. Truth be told, I was shooting for a December release, and drumming up chatter about a big release 3 months in advance worked for me in the past.

But I was severely optimistic about the 2019 release date, so the wait got pushed into Spring – that’s an extra 4 months of anticipation!

3D Trailer

Come March time, I spent nearly a week of overtime putting together a trailer that had to be even more hype than the teaser (while still saving the good scenes for the premiere).

Inspiration for the trailer’s “3D Still” scenes came from Goro Fujita’s VR work. I’m no Blender expert, so seeing his minimalist scenes really opened my eyes to the idea of creating an immersive environment without the need for much texture or animation. Low-poly models blended well with my simple-stickman style. Rendering the whole thing in 4K resolution was an absolute pain though! All of this was to help the trailer say “Hey, we’re doing something new here”.

And in terms of promotion and marketing, we did a BUNCH of new things.

Anim8 Sponsor – Exclusive Release

Ok, getting a sponsor is actually not new to me. Back in the Slush Invaders days, I was sponsored by StickPage all the time. There wasn’t really anyone else offering money and exposure for stick animation at the time. And the deal is pretty simple: Slap an intro of the sponsored website in front of your video, and provide sponsored links in the menu and closing credits (we all remember Flash menus, right?).

Sponsors could also offer an exclusivity deal, which meant more money for the creator. These are not so common anymore now that we have self-publishing platforms like YouTube.

That’s why it felt like “the good old days” when Anim8 and I struck a 1-day exclusivity deal for Gildedguy vs Oxob, complete with all the feature spot bells and whistles. Being sponsored by a young website is so much more relaxing and fun than working with StickPage or YouTube. The footing is far more equal, and I feel like a partner more than a hapless artist. Looking back at it, monetization in those early internet days was rough for creators.

Live Premiere Commercial Spots

Not to say I don’t see the value in sponsoring content. Something I noticed in my previous premiere was that there was some “dead time” in between the rewatch events. While the chat was filling up with excited viewers, there wasn’t much going on screen besides me drawing some portraits.

This time, I wanted to spice it up, and make it feel like an actual theater experience. How about showcasing some community projects and initiatives? So during the premiere, I inserted about four commercials that I gathered from different animators I know.

It was a spontaneous idea that I got from watching E-Sports events online in the past. The idea of varied content coming together through one “televised program” excites me. Even if the content is just a teaser or something, there is a feeling of a “hub”. We are drawn to hubs, because among desolate, abandoned forums and servers, the place where everyone is, is the community. Fertile ground.

Community

I think Hyun and Stone (big community founders) have said that the premiere felt like 4 Day, an event 10 years ago that was basically the simultaneous premiere of 4 new animations, all done by the legendary Terkoiz.

I remember the animations coming out, but I think I caught them a few weeks after the event. The animations were, as I would always expect from Terkoiz, very, very good. Unique too. But I cannot say I was there for 4 Day.

But I hear it mentioned every once in a while, including the recent premiere. During my premiere, there was a ton of excitement and donations being thrown around – but more than all that, I hope people remember how my animation made them feel. I wonder if Terkoiz’s work did that for the old Fluidanims’ers.

Production Differences

From the start of this animation, I had the help of Irascor, Soapy, and BoksKat for inking and cleanup services. I believe a little past the half-way point, SugarRatio joined in for in-betweening. I also had Barthimo render out the kite scene based on my rough animation.

This is the first animation where basically 100% of the inking (filling in the colors) was done by others. A part of me misses that therapeutic coloring-book-time, but I know that it is not my job anymore. This may come to be true for the other parts of the process: animation, backgrounds, in-betweens, and may be even the storyboards. I’ll still cling to key-animation as long as I can though! There is still much I want to master.

Dead Story

What’s the meaning behind Gildedguy vs Oxob?

“Explaining a joke is like dissecting a frog. You understand it better but the frog dies in the process.”

― E.B. White

It’s incredibly fulfilling and humbling to have viewers engage with my story and ask for the deeper meaning. But even if I could summarize its whole purpose via text (and I could probably do a good job of it), I wouldn’t want to spoil “the joke”. I’d be chewing your food for you, and it just wouldn’t digest the same way anymore..

I may have just dissected the frog quote. Oops. Sorry E.B.

Personal Goals with Art and the Future

Another question I find hard to answer is: So what’s next?!

Hopping straight into another project would not be a good idea, since I think I experienced major burn out like twice during Gildedguy vs Oxob, which I feel cost the animation weeks of productivity.

So a break is in order – a REAL break. I was planning on travelling somewhere away from my computer so I don’t end up starting another animation out of boredom – but the pandemic has shut down that idea.

Maybe I can take a road trip and just never leave my car…

I’ve narrowed down my next project to two ideas, and they contrast each other in a stark way:

1. One deals with my past – the very beginning. And what hasn’t changed this whole time. I’m attracted to this one for personal reasons.
2. One deals with the future, and how everything changes. This idea is something I want to express more urgently.

Either way, I have to make it good.

Gildedguy vs Oxob seems to be a hit, and I’m confident that it’ll stand on its own for a long while. The only problem is that expectations just got raised another level.

Problem? No problem at all! It just means that you guys and I are in agreement: this next one has got to be good. That is something I am always aware of.

(◙◙)