Eddie Bowley
patreon
If The Video Is 30 Minutes Late, It's Free
🕑 Added 2023-10-18 18:46:45 +0000 UTC(the title is a joke, thank you for your ongoing patronage haha!)
So HELLO I'm late again. Yep. It's taken me a long time to get the script to a complete and ready state and... I'll be honest, I'm still not 100% about it.
A lot of it hinges on a general awareness of Pixar and it's easter eggs which may not be such a universal things as I thought. For example, when Disney made that 100 Year short film "Once Upon A Studio" (which I really enjoyed!), I saw a LOT of comments that said "Where's Woody & Buzz?" "Where's Lightning McQueen?" "Where's Ratatouille?" And that's not unreasonable, Pixar is part of Disney and when Disney made CG movies, it became much harder to tell them apart. It's shaken my confidence a little.
Plus there's no real revelation in this video. Maybe this is just my perception because I'm much more familiar with the trivia surrounding these movies, but to me there's no massively interesting hook. I knew it would be a sort of exploration of the evolution of Pixar but even then it's not that deep!
I really wanted to highlight the circumstances that made the truck a sort of accidental mascot, which I think I've accomplished, but it might... it might just not be interesting enough?
As it is, my son is off school for a couple of weeks for half term AND I have two big conventions back to back. Which will take us into November and there's a more Christmassy video I really want to turn my attention too. THIS video was meant to be simple haha! Something I could make quickly WHILE I focus on the Xmas video! I have to remember there's no such thing as easy!
So I'm torn.
- My gut says this video isn't fully cooked yet
- My heart says do the Xmas video
- My guilt says I should make shut up and make this
- My fear says I haven't uploaded in months and everyone is mad at me
I'm exaggerating, but suffice to say, I have mixed feelings.
Here is the script in question attached. Maybe give it a read and see what you think. Is there something in there? I mean, there's not much stopping me making this anyway and maybe not release it until after the xmas video? Then it has more time to gestate into a state I'm happier with?
Or maybe my brain is dumb and it's actually fine!
Comments
Ian H
I havent read the script yet but i think i agree with Beemer. The only thing i can add is i think its perfectly alright to publish something you consider incomplete but call it "part 1" as long as theres a part 2 eventually. In 3 to 4 years time it might be interesting to come back and talk about other films that have continued using the pizza truck
Beemer Tectonic
Also also, I did a little data analysis to check that it's true that your non-revelation "history of" type videos do well, and I'd say it is, but as a bonus it turned out kinda pretty, so I thought I'd share: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kgX74xltXUgNUAXwnSjiFT0y3DvVgBVY/view
Beth C
I had a long post typed out here, but Patreon glitched and deleted it instead of posting, so I'm gonna try again and hope it works this time. As someone who did already know about the truck, I was happy to see there was more to the story than I had assumed before, and it would make a very interesting video as is, but yes, the ending does feel a bit... sudden. Like there's something missing, though I couldn't tell you what. I think Beemer Tectonic above me would be the person to listen to there, as someone unfamiliar with the topic. And going over it is a good refresher even for those of us who do already know, but maybe haven't kept up on the truck's more obscure appearances in recent movies. And I second nobody being mad at you. Go focus on the Xmas video and come back to this with fresh eyes, and that might be just what it needs.
Beemer Tectonic
Also, nobody's mad at you. Don't listen to fear, it never has anything helpful to say.
Beemer Tectonic
I think it's not quite fully baked, but it's close. What I would say is: you don't need a revelation. I think it's enough to just share the story of the truck. I don't know anything about Pixar Easter eggs, so the whole thing is new to me. (And it sounds like that may be true for a lot of your audience, based on those comments.) And what's interesting to me is the story of how the truck evolved from a recycled art asset into a mascot; how it grew from a corner that was cut into something that is loved and kind of has a life of its own. That latter half is what's currently missing - I think you're assuming that the audience already knows all about the truck as a mascot. But if you drop that assumption, and show it, then you have an entire story. I really wanted to hear about all the rest of its appearances! Doesn't have to be in detail, but a quick run through all the rest of them would be neat. You might even bookend it a bit: start off with showing some straightforward examples of the truck as an Easter egg, then talk about where it came from, and then finish with the more interesting cases where they had to work to sneak it in. How it moves from "I'm putting this in because it's convenient" to "I'm putting this in no matter how inconvenient it is, because now it's our Thing," because animators don't do what they do because it's easy, they do it because they love it. That's a charming little feel-good story.
