Try to get More Attention Island

Mexico Alien Podcast

just finished a relentless few days of work to upload this piece this morning. I recorded the audio Tuesday evening and rushed to release it by the start of my work week. There is a livestream on my channel if you would like to view some of the editing behind the scenes.

the animation is a podcast discussion about the Mexico aliens that were presented to congress, and the real reason they have 3 fingers.

Left Foot Right Foot

Time waits for no one.

Last week I was able to release 2 short animated videos, accumulating a total of 3,000 youtube views and another 500-1000 on other platforms. This is an improvement from most weeks despite being a mere drop in the bucket we call the internet.

I am so far from generating any sort of revenue with the series and yet the labor never ceases. The 18 second video I released yesterday required multiple days of work – I needed to create a new character, a bench press animation, and coordinate the transfer of that character from a bench to a gurney. The last task was more difficult than you might assume.

There are a variety of methods to break into the film industry. Filming and directing music videos and television commercials are a couple of them. Networking, volunteering for independent projects, and attending seminars are some more. Whenever I sit down to watch modern western cinema, however, I am reminded why my goal is not to break into the industry, but to craft a motion picture that conveys a message that resonates with me and my target audience.

Despite all of this, my true passion is live action filmmaking. Before I began this venture I came to the conclusion that filming a live action feature would require funding. I decided it would be easier to acquire film investors if I had a product that was well received by an audience. I also felt it would be more beneficial to pour my work and energy into a creative output rather than door-to-door salesmanship.

The issue with American cinema is propaganda. There is a reason that few modern films criticize the current push for a submissive and nihilistic population. Story after story emphasizes the character arc of a pragmatic, disciplined individual discovering fulfillment in a stress-free, pleasure filled existence. A person who strives for scientific discovery is a sure-fire candidate for an antagonist. A person who fights for their relationship rather than accepting its demise must transform from possessive lover to a dumb smiling good-morning-neighbor on an anti-depressant advertisement.

There is nothing inherently wrong with the summarized themes above. My issue is that there is a longing for stories that portray the wonder of the American spirit. The rags to riches, David vs. Goliath, and triumph of relentless will are in short supply. I believe the film industry and certain government branches suppress or undermines stories of this nature for a purpose – a neutered, subservient population is easier to govern. If you are the head of a corporation your profits depend on individuals who perform thoughtless duties in exchange for a barely survivable paycheck.

I think it’s extraordinarily naive to believe that the film or music industry promotes artists based on their talent, skills or abilities. They promote artists based on marketability and rate of return on investments. But I also believe it goes a step further – these industries want to push ideals that will sow chaos and resentment within the lower and middle classes. When shaking ass, throwing money, and criticizing morality are the prevailing mentalities of celebrities the regular population will embrace these ideals and keep buying lottery tickets to a fixed game. In other words, these are not the behaviors of a success oriented mindset.

For the aforementioned reasons I continue to grind away making these short stupid videos in faith that it is my best path toward producing films with meaning. I’m not sure if it is the correct direction but it is my current path and I intend to continue trudging along.

I hope you’ve had an excellent week and continue to find joy the pursuit of your future accomplishments.

You think you’re done but you still have to share it : |

Well I was hoping to work out today, yet here I am on my fourth straight day grinding away on a youtube video that I don’t even find too funny. I published the short version yesterday and it amassed 500 views. Fortunately through tik tok and facebook it’s gather around 2000 total.

I am happy that I receive more views than when I began but the amount of work necessary to complete these videos seems to exponentially increase. I’m beyond determined to shorten the process but that risks losing out on views, especially as I am growing.

My latest venture includes incorporating more impact sounds, zooms, and music. It isn’t difficult consider I download sound fx from splice. Every single aspect of creating these videos is relatively simple, and to be honest relatively quick. I only began creating the backgrounds for the scenes 2 days ago.

Every little detail matters. For this short I regret not having a “Oil is bad” note taped to Cowboy Bob’s sombrero. It would be easy to do and take a matter of minutes, however, late in the process that becomes an enormous time waste. I would have to create the sticker in photoshop, program it into character animator, export the puppet with the sticker, and copy and paste the transform effects from each composition in after effects. This is why I always speak of the process as one that compounds – each mistake made during step one of the process becomes ten times worse by step 5.

I have decided that I would like to divide the process into separate days. If I remain organized and disciplined, I can stay true to that format. It would look like this –

Day 1 – record audio

Day 2 – edit audio

Day 3 – Design puppet

Day 4 – Program Puppet, Record puppet

Day 5 – Create backgrounds in After Effects and export

Day 6 – Edit audio & yt short

Day 7 – Upload full length widescreen short

Each and every one of those goals is achievable with the exception of one. Time and time again I lose days designing the initial character. For this particular short I designed 4 new characters. I felt this was unavoidable as protestors come in groups of 4 (at a minimum). Regardless, it wound up being entirely uneccessary to draw side perspectives of each… because after drawing them I had to program them, and after programming them I had to record them, and after rendering them out I realized there was no way in hell I was about to draw a 3rd background in after effects from a side perspective. It is easy to create a single background – replicating that background and its elements from a different vantage point is tiresome, exhausting, and all around infuriating. If you watch the short closely you may notice I was too lazy to draw the kitchen chair from Cowboy Bob’s office from a side perspective – I could have done it, but God as my witness I WAS NOT about to do that. Every man has his limits.

Regardless, I’m relieved to be finished. This is probably my most controversial short politically but oh well it was bound to come out sometime. I hope you’re having a great week and continue trudging along – especially when you feel your work is worthless. It’s supposed to feel worthless – that’s why your competitors will stop trying while you run even faster.

To Create or To Research

Instead of focusing on trending online discussion such as my last few videos (npc tiktok, aliens on an airplane, aliens in las vegas) I decided to instead focus my most recent animated short on a more relatable topic – being asked not to get someone sick after you cough.

I’m happy with how the video came out and actually received a few laughing emojis. The short itself did not perform well on youtube – initially it had around 200 views, but I deleted it, trimmed it down, and reposted it to only receive a hundred (usually the views increase).

One awesome tool that youtube studio provides it the ability to view the timestamp of when viewers stop watching. I was able to identify the line where viewers moved on and eliminate it.

I think in the long term this may be the type of material I focus on for the animated shorts, but as the small channel that I currently am I think I may have trouble catching viewers without commonly searched terms. Unfortunately when you are a nobody you have to leech a little bit – write something about Beyonce and you’ll get clicks no matter how ghostly your online presence may be.

I am happy that I was able to record and post an animated sketch in less than a week. My last widescreen short finally surpassed the hundred view mark and receive more likes than any before it. When youtube considers your channel for earnings, they evaluate the total watch hours you have received. They do not count youtube shorts for your overall watch hours.

I watched a video last night where a popular youtuber named Mr. Beast discusses how judgmental people will be when you are an unknown brand. He reminisced about how people called him crazy and told him he was working too hard on making videos. Now that he has become a household name, those same people are saying he’s a genius and approve of his work ethic. I can totally relate to that.

However some of my optimism was depleted when I stumbled on another Mr. Beast clip this morning – where he speaks with certainty about his ability to gain a hundred thousand subscribers on a new youtube channel in six months due to the knowledge that he has acquired.

I am constantly caught between devoting more time to understanding the youtube algorithm and moving forward to focus on a new video. I initially believed that creating engaging videos alone would boost my online recognition. I still believe that, but am aware that other factors are at play. Create an intriguing title, a captivating thumbnail, and content that viewers won’t be able to click away from and you will achieve that. Of course, context always matters – the title must have good rank in search engines, the content must match the title, and the thumbnail must be relevant to the video.

Thank you taking the time to read and I hope you have an awesome day.

Crazy Airplane Lady Attacks Alien

Another Day Another Dollar (not)

Just finished another video. I’m kind of over it. I once saw that 99% of people who begin a podcast don’t make it to episode 20. As a result I’m determined to complete at least 20 of these short sketch comedy animations.

I spent some time learning about different ways to make money with animations. I’m considering doing livestreams as I draw the characters and backgrounds, though it’s not an ideal thing for me. I’m greatly disappointed in the overall viewership I’ve received so far.

The animation needs to find an audience. Right now my audience is a new group of 800 people scrolling through youtube shorts and spending about 30 seconds on mine. That ok when its temporary, but its a problem if it continues much longer. I haven’t really been posting the videos anywhere beyond youtube and tiktok lately. Most websites that allow for personal video sharing are spammed by creators.

I heard Mr. Beast discussing his overall philosophy and how he developed the audience he has today. At the end of the day it all boils down to click through rate – What is it about your title that is going to generate interest? Why does your thumbnail stick out? And why should viewers stay for the entire video?

Right now I can complete a 3 minute animated video in about one week without driving myself insane. Believe it or not that’s pretty good. If I could build somewhat of a following I could bring other animators along and potentially release longer or more frequent content.

The video length bothers me because even when my channel does get monetized I will receive payment on the number of featured ads. With a 3 minute video I’d be lucky to get one, it’s the 30 minute mark you want to shoot for. 30 minutes is a lot of writing, editing, and researching – and that’s if all you’re doing is speaking to a camera. For 30 minutes of animation I would need an entire team. That’s why I’m considering livestreaming my editing process – I could post those videos as well. For some reason a lot of people are interested in learning how to edit, and even more specifically how to animate. I don’t even know how to animate though, I just took everything I learned from editing Mountain Cult and applied it to jpgs and pngs instead.

Anyways, hope all is well. Life is good even when it feels like its not.

Paramedic Robot – Full Episode

Alright I’m tired of sitting on this. This is episode 1 of Paramedic Robot. Cost about a year of my life so enjoy.

another day another release

I’ve had some limited success with my youtube shorts so far, but the results have been encouraging. Most videos published receive about 25 – 50 views, but the last 3 shorts I’ve published have each amassed over 1.5 thousand on on day one.

This my marketing strategy to build an audience prior to the release of 30 minute episode one. I’m enthused that it appears to be working. Of course the only comments I’ve received are negative, but I am indifferent about it. Any person who takes time out of their day to criticize an unknown artist is not someone worth trying to impress.

I’ve decided while creating the shorts to design 2 videos simultaneously- one wide-screen version that’s runs 2-3 minutes and a short vertical video lasting 59 seconds or less.

I feel publishing both videos allows me to see when youtube will start recommending the longer videos, for that is the time episode 1 will be ripe to publish.

It has been fun creating the shorts because I finally have a way to attract an audience through the medium of story. That can be difficult whether you are writing books, screenplays, or directing a film. The cool part about animation is you are not limited by actors or locations. To put it another way, if I try to build an audience for a live action film, I have to put out the same amount of content but am limited with the material I have to work with. I don’t have any desire to build a “how to film” channel, because then my audience will be peers and film enthusiasts. I want to attract consumers of entertainment, so I must put out entertainment in order to reach them.

I am getting more efficient at the entire process and establishing a routine to put together new videos. By limiting myself to creating only assets that will be used in the short I am able to move faster.

Im excited to educate myself further on all things SEO. Though the youtube shorts are growing, my presence is non-existent on platforms such as tik tok, rumble,and instagram. I am certain each platform has a different code for the type of videos they recommend.

I look forward to future developments am grateful to whomever enjoys the journey with me.

CIA Agent Reveals Classified Secrets

Below is the widescreen version.