TECHNICOLOR DREAMS: The 10th Anniversary

Dream on! Dream on! Dream on!

Now here is a relic from that past that really was from a different time . . . and as a matter of fact, may not have even stood the test of time at all.

TECHNICOLOR DREAMS was my experimental film in its truest form from both an artistic and technical aspect, but at its core, TECHNICOLOR DREAMS was a pseudo-autobiographical deep dive into my creative process as a Content Creator.

As a lot of artists will tell you, and I am certainly no exception to this rule, a sizable hunk of our ideas come to us in our dreams, and a vast majority of the better ideas that I've ever had have been sourced from the cavernous mines of my mind: I have had numerous TV show concepts, and even entire movies come to me in my dreams . . . it's not at all unlike what people have said about THE DARK CRYSTAL being the movie that Jim Henson saw in his head (which also may or may not explain why, at the time, that movie made sense to nobody but him).

Script sample

Still, dreams fascinate me, especially mine, because honestly, I rarely have what I would consider to be pleasant, or even "normal" dreams. That is to say, I would estimate about 98% of my dreams are incredibly lucid, vivid, trippy, disturbing, and borderline nightmarish . . . think of them as if Sid & Marty Krofft shows were written by Stephen King and designed by Salvador Dali. Cosmically, my dreams are just straight-up weird, maaaaan! Like I say, though, in as much as dreams like these are a constant source of the hebejebes for me, every once in a while, I will end up striking gold for an idea for a very ambitious project; at times, it's as if my astral projections are more like astral movie projectors showcasing a mental film festival, and it's from that mental film festival that many of my more ambitious project ideas were born. Ironically, I'm not one of those people who actually keeps a dream journal by my bedside, and that is something I've been reproached about . . . I am very lucky if I can remember all or any of the pertinent details of my dreams without writing them down, because more often than not, I will gradually begin to forget such details of these dreams throughout the rest of the day after waking up. Those that I do remember and have provided me with outlines and treatments, however, have at least made it through the development stages, ranging from scripts being written and characters being designed . . . unfortunately, that's about as far those have gotten anywhere. This is why TECHNICOLOR DREAMS has become the closest things of such dreams becoming a reality.

Designing Dream Sprites

Because of the nature of my dreams and how big of a source of inspiration they are, in February 2015, I finally decided to get a little creative with my own creativity, and do something of a personal deep-dive into this creative process of mine by actually making a film about it, which is why TECHNICOLOR DREAMS is a true experimental film - it didn't necessarily follow a story or a plot, but it was a way of showing how dreams can lay down the foundation from which you can build entire universes for the world of fiction. As a matter of fact, the entire concept of my being visited by a pair of dream sprite was one big alegory to this creative process of mine, with the dream sprites themselves symbolically representing a pair of similar characters for one TV show premise that came to me in a dream as far back as 2007 that I have really wanted to actually create and execute, but has still never seen the light of day.

But TECHNICOLOR DREAMS wasn't just an experimental film from an creative and artistic perspective, because there was also a lot of technical experimentation that went on behind the scenes as well. The production itself was fairly simple -helped by there only being one set: my bedroom- but this time I had some new toys to play with. It was my first production to be filmed in full HD, and also one of my first productions that was edited with a professional editing program: Adobe Premiere. I had already played around with Adobe Premiere with a previous production, THE WINDMILL, just to sort of familiarize myself with certain things I was able to do now that were previously unavailable to me in years past, such as lighting effects. This time, I wanted to try even more things that wasn't able to accomplish before, namely being able to overlay and blend film and video footage with psychedelic imaging to create dream-like sequences.

Editing TECHNICOLOR DREAMS in Adobe
Premiere. Oh, hey, that's a nice face, isn't it?

But it was even more than just that. One of the biggest influences on my production work has been the classic single-camera sitcoms of yesteryears that were shot on 35mm motion picture film, which gave them such a rich and distinct look that not only is lacking in many other shows that are shot on multiple cameras that record on videotape, but also severely lacking in this day and age of digital media in general. I have always wanted to emulate the look, feel, and aesthetic of the golden age of television, and now I could finally start doing that. As they say, everything is fixable in post[-production]; figuring out your camera's settings is a good way to achieve a certain look you want to capture on film or video, but it all can still be improved in the editing process. With Adobe Premiere, not only are there presets available that you can use to simulate the appearance of certain types of filmstock, but all sorts of other technical wizardry are at your fingertips to adjust your footage's brightness, contrast, color saturation, and even the framerate, to achieve the desired look you want - even as I previously mentioned regarding blending footage, I could now also employ overlays of grain and film dust to really give my productions that old 35mm motion picture film look I've wanted for so long, and continue to do to this day. Of course, I was still green around the gills in this area, and I still had a lot to learn - I'm even still learning to this day. I have been and probably always will be an artist first and foremost, and a technician second. Whenever I put a new project into action, it always begins from an artistic approach, so my mind doesn't always immediately take the technical aspects into consideration, which is why even as my production work began to improve, it still was far from perfect; I knew about simple adjustments (again, brightness, contrast, saturation, and the like), but I was ignorant and clueless about other technical aspects such as color correction, legal ranges, white and black balances, and so on and so forth . . . heck, even manual exposure and focus were foreign concepta to me at first because I was accustomed to working with cheaper consumer cameras that mostly operated on automatic settings that adjusted to your environment accordingly.

After all was said and done, TECHNICOLOR DREAMS premiered on YouTube on the night of Sunday, February 22, 2015. What was the critical response? It was a mixed bag, to say the least. Truthfully, TECHNICOLOR DREAMS probably became my most polarizing production to date: people either loved it or hated it, with hardly any middle ground. Those who enjoyed the film were able to appreciate it for its originality, and to see the then-visual and technical improvements in my content; those who hated the film found it to be too long, too dragged out, and too redundant. I did attempt to remedy at least one of these critiques: two years later on Sunday, February 26, 2017, I released a redux of the film that shortened its TRT from 18 to 13 minutes, but apparently, that wasn't much of an improvement, and the reception was still mixed. Looking back on it myself, I have come to the conclusion that another major problem with the film was that even though it was, admittedly, pseudo-autobiographical, it may also have been a little too self-indulgent as well . . . even when I couldn't think of a suitable title for the film (I considered such possibilities as THE DREAM CATCHERS and THE DREAM BUSTERS), I eventually went with TECHNICOLOR DREAMS, which was inspired by the Broadway musical JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAM COAT (because my name is Joseph, and because my dreams are so vivid, you could say I dream in Technicolor). I'm not at all saying that this was a vanity project, because I'm not too particularly fond of being in front of the camera as I am behind it, but the way I presented this concept was just from my own personal experience and perspective. While I'm sure there are countless other artists and creative individuals out there who have had similar experiences in finding inspiration for material from their subsconcious, the film may have been a litttle too esoteric that it excluded others and didn't necessarily resonate with a broader or more general audience. Of course, it also could very well have been the simple fact that avant garde isn't for everybody; in fact, most general audiences prefer to be told a narrative story that they can invest in and follow along with, which is usually why such experimental and artsy sort of avant garde filmmaking tends to go unappreciated and/or misunderstood by the average joe. I guess what they say is true, "True art is incomprehensible."

Ten years later, TECHNICOLOR DREAMS really does feel like it was made such a long, long time ago, and admittedly, is not something that I look back on with as much fondness as I do with other productions I've made over the years. Not only does it really not stand the test of time, but even the dream sprite puppets haven't survived: they ended up being damaged and destroyed in storage . . . guess that makes them fodder for the Dead Puppets Society.

Dead as a doornail

In conclusion, as I look back on TECHNICOLOR DREAMS, I wouldn't necessarily say I'm entirely proud of it. I would certainly consider it one of my better technical achievements; artistic, not so much.

Summer of Scarbrough: My Creative Process

 This week on SUMMER OF SCARBROUGH, I discuss the various different ways that my creative process has inspired the projects and productions I have made over the years, ranging from some of my better ideas being mined from my dreams, to occasional whims providing bursts of artistic inspiration.

Summer of Scarbrough: Vampire Girl

 This week's episode of SUMMER OF SCARBROUGH looks back on what was perhaps the strangest Scarbrough creation, the short-lived webcomic miniseries, VAMPIRE GIRL.

Also a special shout-out to my amazingly talented artist pal, Dave Hulteen, Jr. for the beautiful job he did on coloring my pencil sketch of Levana for the YouTube thumbnail!

Summer of Scarbrough: Steve D'Monster Part 2

 This week's episode of SUMMER OF SCARBROUGH continues the discussion of Steve D'Monster, this time as we take a look back at the evolution of his time on YouTube, from the early days of the late 2000s with his simplistic and minuscule little videos, to today with bigger, more carefully-planned productions.

Summer of Scarbrough: Steve D'Monster Part 1

 This week's episode of the SUMMER OF SCARBROUGH discuss the origins of Steve D'Monster, and how a poorly-made and originally nameless monster puppet who was void of personality ended up evolving into an actual character over the course of appearing on local public television for a week in the August of 2004.

Oh, and by the way, today also happens to be Steve D'Monster's birthday - talk about incredible timing, huh?

Summer of Scarbrough: Moron League

 Today kicks off the beginning of the Summer of Scarbrough, where I will discuss what went into the making of some of my significant creations and productions over the past 15 years, and this week's Summer of Scarbrough episode kicks off with the one that started it all back in December of 2007: MORON LEAGUE!

A Complete Creative Breakdown: Why I've Canceled MORON LEAGUE 4

I really do hate this, because this seems to happen far more often than it really should, and I get so frustrated when I have to frequently inform people that a project that I've been working on and they've been looking forward to will not see the light of day after all - but what's especially bothersome is that this wasn't just any project I was working on, this was a huge project that's already been over three years in the making, and one that I was hoping would achieve more beyond its expectations . . . I'm speaking of, of course, MORON LEAGUE 4: the biggest, most elaborate, and most spectacular entry in the series to date.

What was supposed to be so spectacular about MORON LEAGUE 4? Well, if you've seen the previous MORON LEAGUE entries, you'll note how incredibly shoddy and cheesy they were . . . now, don't get me wrong, of course MORON LEAGUE 4 was still going to be incredibly cheesy - after all, this isn't exactly cinematic gold or anything (not to mention the inspirational material that MORON LEAGUE pays homage to), but part of the reason why the previous entries were cheesy and shoddy was because of such limited tools I had to work with at the time. The first two were shot in a linear manner on videotape with hardly much editing involved in post-production at all, since it's not entirely easy to edit videotape footage on a computer with only a less-than-basic program like Windows Movie Maker to work with; MORON LEAGUE 3 was shot digitally, albeit with a basic consumer digital camera that had a function for shooting video in standard definition. Since then, I have been able to obtain much better tools to work with, namely an HD camera for filming, and Adobe Premiere for editing, so technically speaking, MORON LEAGUE 4 was certainly going to be a step up from previous entries; I had every intention of making MORON LEAGUE 4 as visually interesting as possible.

The unfortunate thing is MORON LEAGUE 4 was a troubled production from the start, and for a multitude of different reasons. . . .

Archive photo of partial set for the "new" Moron
Headquarters inside an old, abandoned
convenience store.

For starters, unlike previous entries which only had some incredibly simplistic sets (or, in the case of the original, no sets whatsoever), MORON LEAGUE 4 had some rather elaborate and intricate sets . . . and therein laid one of the problems. The sets had to be constructed in such a way that they could be dismantled into pieces to allow for changes in camera positions and set-ups as dictated by the script - that wasn't the problem so much as it was that these sets were small scale, which made it incredible difficult to adequately and efficiently puppeteer the figures and characters within the confines of these tiny little sets - not to mention the smallness of the sets were also incredibly challenging to frame in ways to make them look good on camera - this is where the cheesy factor was coming into play, regardless of how well the sets looked to the human eye, somehow the HD camera only emphasized how cheesy they looked. This is also another reason why canceling MORON LEAGUE 4 is hurting so much . . . believe it or not, I ended up spending a lot of money out of pocket on constructing these sets: over $200! Yes, between materials needed to actually construct the sets, as well as procuring necessary items and props for set decorating, it all ended up running over $200, making this, without a doubt, my most expensive production to date . . . so, to cancel it feels essentially like I just threw that money out the window. It also didn't help that because of how poorly the economy had been doing for the past several years, I would keep running out of money at various points during pre-production, so that accounts for one of the reasons why the entire process of the production was being prolonged, delayed, and interrupted.

Delays and interruptions also brings us to another reason why this seemed to be a doomed production from the start: because this particular entry had a number of characters appearing within, this one was going to require the addition of other voice actors to play the characters . . . and certain voice actors I'd bring on would eventually drop out of the project altogether, putting me in the difficult position of having to find replacements; at least some would have the courtesy of providing me with notice as to why they would be bowing out the project, but others not so much. This was, perhaps, one of the biggest headaches of this production - it's not that I couldn't do all of the voices myself like I had previously, it's just that after a while, all of my voices start sounding the same, so I really wanted to avoid it again this time around . . . I would still be voicing each of the Nerdlucks, but the other characters would be voiced by other actors.

There were also other complications that arose making this such a troubling production, including what has been, perhaps, the most perplexing problem, and that was location scouting for exterior filming. Again, with this being an HD production, and this being the biggest MORON LEAGUE entry yet, I really wanted this to be such a visual improvement over previous entries, and since the script called for certain scenes to take place outdoors, I would go location scouting to try to find a most adequate spot where such filming could take place . . . unfortunately, this is where Google Maps would fail me. I would use Google Maps to scout out certain locations that looked as though they would provide the perfect backdrop for the exterior shooting, and then I would physically visit these locations to figure out where I could set the stage, so-to-speak, how I could position it within the location to look good on camera, and even figure out what would be the best time to film based on the position of the sun in the sky for adequate lighting. Alas, because Google Maps would not have recent updates for these locations in their Street View, I would be unaware that the locations I would scout would turn out to have been fenced off, have new structures added, or be inundated with Private Property and No Trespassing signs since Google Maps had last photographed these locations until I physically visited the locations myself. You're probably thinking if I had already spent so much time, effort, and money constructing miniature interior sets for the production, why couldn't I just construct such an exterior set that would suit my needs for filming? Well, I could have . . . but again, with this being an HD production and a step above previous MORON LEAGUE entries, I wanted to bring a certain amount of cinematic scope to the production.

Promotional poster noting
MORON LEAGUE 4's release date
as being July 23, 2021 - a week
after the release of SPACE JAM 2:
A NEW LEGACY

MORON LEAGUE 4 was, perhaps, going to be my first production that was almost like an actual movie . . . and in hindsight, I think I may have bitten off more than I could chew with it. I first began the project in 2017 when it was announced that the SPACE JAM sequel, which was previously rumored to only be an elaborate hoax (which MORON LEAGUE 3 was taking a jab at), was indeed real and happening, and when it was announced that it would be released in 2021, that's when I had planned of having MORON LEAGUE 4 completed and ready to release - preferably at least within a week of the release of SPACE JAM 2: A NEW LEGACY, because I just knew that the timing of the release would help generate a much-needed boost in traffic to my YouTube channel (and I can see, based on my current channel analytics that previous MORON LEAGUE entries have seen spikes in clicks and views). That's a period of time spanning over three years, so surely I would have been able to actually complete the project within that amount of time with a lot of breathing room, wouldn't I? Well, you'd think. I first wrote the script sometime in 2017, and the fragmented production first began in the fall of 2018 . . . during that time, MORON LEAGUE 4 gradually dropped down my priority list, mostly due to the above-mentioned complications (running out of money, losing voice actors, location scouting difficulties, the challenges in camera set-ups, etc.), but also partly due to the fact that given the expansive window of time, other projects would crop up that would divert my attention away from the production of MORON LEAGUE 4 . . . and, if I'm being perfectly honestly, whenever these new projects would crop up, my interest in MORON LEAGUE 4 would drop considerably. 

Meme imitating art
imitating life

What can I say? I have commitment issues with my own work: I find I can't work on the same project for too long because I eventually lose interest altogether in the project because of the extended length of time it ends up taking to try to complete the project . . . so much work with very little results over a long period of time - this is exactly why, after I dabbled in animation for a couple of years, I realized it was a medium that was not for me (which is why I also maintain the highest respect for animators who have the willpower and patience to stick with it out their very passion for it). All of this and more is what lead to my final decision to cancel the production altogether: I ended up finally suffering from a complete creative breakdown . . . after working on this one single project for over three years, producing minimal results each time, and just how frustrating, complicated, and difficult the actual filming process was, I just finally broke down - I just couldn't go on with it any longer. I actually trashed the specific set I was still filming in at the time of my breakdown (which, admittedly, wasn't a total loss, because the script called for this particular set to be trashed anyway with Blanko flying the Moron Airship directly into it). As I said, in hindsight, I believe I ended up biting off way more than I could chew . . . this was probably going to be an entire half-hour production produced from a 30-page script with well over 140 different shots and cuts . . . I know that doesn't seem like much from a major production perspective, but for just one person, it was overwhelming, and I just didn't have the drive, stamina, or energy to go on any further - especially after I had already missed my July 23, 2021 deadline anyway.

Now, that's not to say that I'm just throwing out all that I have already accomplished with MORON LEAGUE 4 altogether (especially not the sets that I spent so much time, energy, and money on constructing); everything is being meticulously archived for safekeeping, from the sets that were constructed, to the actual camera footage that's been shot (nearly half of the script had been filmed), and even a blooper reel that was being compiled. Does this mean there may be a glimmer of hope that maybe, one day, I may change my mind and try to resume completing the project one day in the future? Sure, there's hope, but I would not hold my breath . . . still, that doesn't necessarily mean my mind may not be changed. After all, once upon a time, I was enthusiastic about the project, and wanted to see it towards its completion - even in spite of my breakdown, I felt compelled to pick myself up, dust myself off, and get back up on the horse and try to push through and still finish this thing before the year is over . . . unfortunately, that enthusiasm fizzled out over the period of time it was taking to produce this, thanks largely in part to all of the complications and stumbling blocks that arose. What can I say? I certainly suffer for my art.

Spoiler alert: Bupkus got a promotion in
MORON LEAGUE 4

YouTube Puppets Have Cabin Fever

During this corona-virus pandemic, it's important to do your part in stopping the spread of COVID-19 as much as possible, including staying at home and sheltering in place . . . of course, that's not to say that doing such isn't without its cons and downsides as well - namely, when cabin fever starts setting in, as our YouTube puppet pals have become all too familiar with in a brand-new sing-along!


In addition to Steve, you can always check out his other puppet pals on their respective YouTube channels as well!

A Company of Fools (by Tai Jackson):
https://www.youtube.com/UCmO_sNCJ_cXVeBYEoJOeDMg

The Vaudeville Puppets (by Peter A. Cancilla):
https://www.youtube.com/Vaudevillepictures

Muley the Mule (by Kevin L. Williams):
https://www.youtube.com/kevinmule

My Unfinished Thoughts on the Possible Death of YouTube

This is one of those Unfinished Thoughts entries that actually lives up to its name, because these thoughts of mine really are unfinished . . . I am completely unsure of what I should do in regards to the big news concerning YouTube that I'm sure most of you have probably already heard about by now.

The brief rundown of all of this is as follows: YouTube has been found to be in violation of COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act), and as such, the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) has not only fined them $170,000,000 for their infraction, they're ordering sweeping changes made to the entire site, and said changes are going to have a tremendous effect on everybody who uses the site - especially the creators and producers: namely, each and every single video on YouTube must now be labeled as "made for kids" or "not made for kids."

That doesn't sound like it would be too big of a deal, except that it is: for one thing, if you label your videos as "made for kids," then you, as a YouTuber, will lose a number of basic features and functions that help you build your channel and connect with your audience, such as comments, your subscribers receiving notifications about new videos, your videos being shared and showing up in recommended columns, the ability to add your videos to play lists, and for many YouTubers - monetization. It seems like the simple thing to do would be to just label your videos "not made for kids" to avoid losing such features, right? Not exactly: YouTube will also be implementing an internal, computerized system that will detect if your videos is, indeed, "made for kids" (as in utilizing any kind of kid-friendly audio/visual footage, or basically any content the system perceives to be kid-friendly), and if they detect your videos are made for kids, but not labeled as such, you will face a fine of over $42,000 per video for "abusing the system."

Naturally, a lot of the big-time YouTubers are panicking over this, because if their content is deemed kid-friendly, then they are going to lose a lot of revenue, as one of the conditions of these new changes is they can no longer customize the ads on their content. This part, obviously, means nothing to me since I've never monetized my YouTube content (I can't anyway - you have to have a minimum of 1,000 subscribers, and your content having a minimum of 4,000 hours of watch time in the previous twelve months, neither of which I ever have) . . . but, my channel will still be affected by this in less than savory ways, and it has me concerned about what the best route to take possible is.

One of the main reasons why this is so concerning is that I've never made any of my content specifically to appeal to kids, nor specifically to not appeal to kids; my content is made for any and every body who wants to take a look and enjoy . . . under these changes though, I'm going to have to decide whether or not my content is "made for kids" or "not made for kids." Taking everything into consideration, there are a number of options that I could go with, but the problem is every option has its share of drawbacks as well . . . basically, the idea is seeing which option has the least unappealing drawbacks. Here's what I am looking at and considering as far as these options are concerned:

If I Choose To Stay On YouTube

Option 1

• Since I never make content specifically for kids, I can mark my channel, or even my individual videos are "not made for kids," this way, I don't lose any of the above-mentioned basic functions a small channel needs to try to survive.
• Drawback: My content obviously looks as if it would appeal to kids, with most of it being puppetry (and the stigma that puppets are for kids); many videos include kid-friendly songs; and MORON LEAGUE would be directly affected, as they feature toys from kids movies and other properties (which specifically falls under "made for kids" according to the new system) . . . this could result in me being fined, and I certainly don't have that kind of money.

Option 2

• As noted, it's obvious that my content looks like it would appeal to kids, so I could play it safe, go ahead and label my channel and content as "made for kids," so that way, there's far less risk of being fined for possible mislabeling.
• Drawback: Again, in doing so, I'd basically lose a number of basic YouTube functions that would actually bring in any kind of traffic to my channel and videos.

If I Choose To Go An Alternate Route

Option 1

• There are alternatives to YouTube out there, many of which are reputable and reliable, such as Dailymotion, Veoh, Vimeo, and others; some are even start-up websites that try to emulate classic YouTube, such as ZippCast, UploadSociety, and others. I could very easily migrate my content to any of these outlets, and start building up an audience again from there.
• Drawback 1: The reputable sources like Dailymotion, Veoh, and Vimeo have their share of limitations that YouTube has long done away with, such as time limits, and file size limits - both of which would affect certain videos of mine.
• Drawback 2: I actually have tried other sources like ZippCast and UploadSociety before, but unfortunately, because it's clear they're trying to emulate classic YouTube, they're often shut down repeatedly by Google's spies. Not only that, but because they try to emulate classic YouTube, the video playback on many of them only go up to 480p.

Option 2

• I could go the route James Rolfe did with Cinemassacre, or Doug Walker with ThatGuyWithTheGlasses, and launch my own website to showcase my content, though I still would need a source to host my videos on so they can be embedded on the site.
• Drawback: Having to register a domain, and not only paying for that, but also paying for web space, bandwidth.

It seems to me the easiest and most logical option for me to take is to just label my content as "kid friendly," lose all of those basic features, and just let my channel die . . . YouTube has already been doing all it can to kill my and other small channels across the platform since about 2013, why continue to prolong the slow, agonizing death any further?

Supposedly, a number of YouTubers (many with their own lawyers) have been converging on D.C., and speaking to the FTC about how this will be affecting us, and supposedly, the FTC is listening and considering looking into other ways of handling the situation that would be far less severely harmful to YouTubers . . . maybe we'll see something happen in the final hour before all of this goes into affect, but I'm not going to hold my breath about it.

YouTube Puppets Celebrating Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary

It isn't just simply amazing that 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of the most iconic children's educational series in television history, but the fact that Sesame Street themselves encouraged fans across the world to join in on the celebration made it all the more special.

It's no secret that SESAME STREET has had a huge influence on me, mainly because of Jim Henson's Muppets, but clearly, other puppeteers out there have been inspired and influenced by Sesame and the Muppets for decades, thanks to Henson practically reinventing the art of puppetry as we know it. Ever since I and so many others started using YouTube as a platform to share our own work in puppetry with virtual audiences, some of us have expressed interest in doing collaboration videos that would combine our various different acts and characters into a single, fun project . . . unfortunately that wasn't a logistical possibility for many of us - particularly way back in the earlier years of our YouTube channels, when the tools many of us had were not that great (I certainly wasn't capable of chromakey or any similar visual effects).

But, as the years have passed, and a lot of us have, indeed, gotten better tools, better equipment, and have developed better sensibilities, the possibility of us collaborating on such a project had a higher likelihood - and with this being SESAME STREET's 50th anniversary, what better project to collaborate on than having our various characters get together for a sing-along of one the street's most treasured songs?

What you see here is not just Steve D'Monster, but other notable YouTube puppets such as Peter A. Cancilla's Allegra Longfellow and Professor Monster Johnson, Clyde Monster from Tai Jackson's A COMPANY OF FOOLS, Kevin L. Williams's Muley the Mule, Tim Kelly's Zook & Max, Marcelo R. Bottaro's new character Raspberry, and Matt (a.k.a. SchfiftyThree)'s pal Mike, singing along to the Joe Raposo classic, "Sing."


Don't forget to take the time to check out everybody's YouTube channels for yourselves; we could all use some subscribers!

Marcelo R. Bottaro (Marcelo Bottaro Cartoons):
http://www.youtube.com/MarceloRBottaro

Peter A. Cancilla (Vaudeville Pictures):
http://www.youtube.com/Vaudevillepictures

Tai Jackson (A Company of Fools):
http://www.youtube.com/UCmO_sNCJ_cXVeBYEoJOeDMg

Tim Kelly:
http://www.youtube.com/timkelly

Matt AKA SchfiftyThree:
http://www.youtube.com/MattAKASchfiftyThree

Kevin L. Williams:
http://www.youtube.com/kevinmule

Happy 50th anniversary, SESAME STREET! Thank you for your decades of service and education to generations of children, the young-at-heart, and of course us puppeteers!

My Unfinished Thoughts on No Nourishment in Entertainment

Almost everything in this day and age of being hurry-hurry-hurry, rush-rush-rush, faster-faster-faster, there's something crucial that's getting lost in that hustle and bustle of having everything in an instant. In listening to an interview that he did with SIDE BY SIDE, renowned filmmaker Martin Scorsese brings up a very interesting point that I believe really hits the nail on the head:

"The danger, especially in our culture, is that cheaper, faster is consumed, bang, goes away. There's no nourishment."

I may be a so-called "Millennial," but even I remember a time growing up in which when a new movie would be released, it would stay in the theaters for several weeks - sometimes a couple of months, or even longer - if it was a movie you really enjoyed, you could see it more than once . . . and, of course, there's also the communal aspect of seeing a movie with other people, it brings you together in an experience of enjoyment and entertainment. Afterwards, it could be a year or even longer before that movie would be released on home video, but it would always be worth the wait. Fast-forward to today, where a movie may last only a week or so in a theater (maybe up to a month if it's particularly a box-office smash), then released on DVD a couple of months later, then that's it. That's all, folks!

Aside from the fact that almost everything produced in the world of mainstream entertainment today is rotten content anyway (remember, this is just an opinion piece), after listening to Scorsese's point, I really believe he's got a grasp of why it's so hard to really get into any new movie, or even TV show or episodic series in this day and age: it comes and goes so quickly, it leaves behind something of a void where you find yourself still wanting more . . . and no, I don't mean wanting more in terms of an endless string of sequels and franchising (that's another problem we can discuss another day). I would dare say this is one of the major problems with streaming services like Netflix or Hulu, releasing all of the new episodes of a new series at once: it's like pigging out at an all-you-can-eat buffet, without even really savoring what you're consuming.

Other filmmakers, on the other hand, disagree with Scorsese's sentiment, and even feel that the age of having everything in an instant is actually a great advantage. George Lucas, one of the biggest and most influential filmmakers of all time, responsible for the STAR WARS franchise, among other ground-breaking films since the 1970s, also shared his thoughts with SIDE BY SIDE in regards the age of film-making we live in now:

"We have gone from a presentation in a presentation venue, where it's presented to you, and/or it's hyped in your home at a particular place, at a particular time [ . . . ] It's kind of a presentation way of looking at things. We're not in that world anymore. Now we're in the world of you can have anything you want whenever you want, and it's like a supermarket [ . . . ] How do you get the shelf space? Because there's another thousand movies every week that look exactly like your movie, how do you stand out from all those other things?"

All of this taken into consideration could also be something that's applied to the current state of YouTube. Yes, yes, I know, I know -- I keep ranting about YouTube like a broken record, but hear me out on this one, because this is one aspect of YouTube that I haven't necessarily discussed in greater detail on Scarblog before. . . . Much like what's become of mainstream entertainment, YouTube is no longer the place for the little guys who want to create and produce their own, original, quality content for the world to see as it was when it started out; YouTube is no longer in the world of small-time filmmakers and content creators like James Rolfe or Terence Krey - YouTube is in the world of trends and the zeitgeist. Whenever you look on YouTube, almost all of the videos you see being promoted and postured on the homepage are vlogs or some sort: gaming, make-up tutorials, drive-thru escapades, equipment reviews, and the like. On top of that, the so-called "experts" of YouTube seem to think they have it all figured out: the best way to thrive on YouTube is the make as many videos as you can, and not only in a short amount of time, but the shorter the actual videos are, the better . . . and, to a certain extent, this is sadly true. As Lucas pointed out, it's a lot like supermarket shelf space: YouTube has become a sea vlogs that you can hardly tell apart at a glance, and in order to get noticed, you have to crank out as many short videos as you can to keep up with the Joneses. This is where Scorsese's point also comes into play: because of this, there's really no nourishment . . . and because of this, certain YouTubers like myself have been hurt by this shift in mindset.

Getting back to the point I made about the so-called YouTube "experts," there really is some truth to what they say - to the point that YouTube, in recent years, has further hindered the growth of smaller channels in many internal ways: for instance, if they perceive a channel isn't "active" (as in they don't upload at least one new video a week), they perceive said channel to be "dead," and will do one or both of two things: 1. Automatically disable/de-activate the subscribers' notifications, or 2. Automatically un-subscribe them altogether. This makes it hard for smaller channels that actually take the time to create quality content to maintain an audience, because again, it doesn't fall in line with this world of needing supermarket shelf space, and to churn out as much content as you can to get and keep that shelf space in a sea of other similar content creators. This puts people like me at a disadvantage; being an artist who maintains an artistic channel, people don't take into consideration the old saying: "you can't rush art." And you can't. Although it may not seem like it, even some of my shortest videos (four minutes or less) can take a surprisingly long time to put together: sometimes even weeks . . . and as such, it's nearly impossible to create and upload this kind of content on such a regular basis . . . so what ends up happening? We don't get the shelf space, we fall by the wayside, and we get swept up. Try explaining this to the so-called "experts" who keep telling you, "you need to make more videos more frequently." As Will Smith once put it in regards to parents, back in his Fresh Prince days: they just don't understand.

It fascinates me to see how sometimes the world of mainstream entertainment can also apply to something like YouTube, and how you can see the parallels between the two. That being said, however, while I can see the angle that Lucas is coming from from a business aspect (and even Scorsese agrees with that sentiment), I feel inclined to side more with Scorsese in terms of the art of film-making suffering from a lack of nourishment, which the consumer world doesn't even seem to miss anymore in this day and age of having what you want, when you want it, then it goes away.

Steve Drug PSA

Ah, yes . . . drug P.S.A.s. With their heavy-handed messages, as well as their vivid, memory-etching images, sometimes it makes you wonder if the people behind those P.S.A.s weren't ingesting a little something as well. Well, as Steve is about to demonstrate . . . that could very well be the case:

Steve's Second Live Stream Much Better

Steve's 15th anniversary live stream went really, really well - so well, in fact, that it ended up lasting nearly two hours! I honestly wasn't prepared or expecting it to go on so long - by the time it was over and I removed Steve, my entire arm was red and sore! I'm sure part of the reason for the better turn out this time around was more advance notice than the previous live stream this past December, which only had a week's notice.

That's not to say, however, that things didn't go completely smooth: once again, there were issues with the Facebook feed randomly cutting off halfway through for no reason . . . but this was a benefit of having it simulcast on YouTube at the same time, as people were able to hop over there to continue the stream.

Those who participated in the live stream requested that it remain available for playback and rewatching afterwards, so here is the entire, uninterrupted YouTube feed of Steve's 15th anniversary live stream. And be advised: some of the comments and discussions brought up almost got a tad naughty (a lot of which goes right over Steve's head):

Steve D'Monster's 15th Anniversary

Just take a look at who's 15!

Today's the day. It was on this day, fifteen years ago, when I was but a fifteen-year-old lad myself, that I put my first puppet creation out there for all to see. This poorly put together mess of purple fur with lop-sided yellow horns, out-of-focus eyes, and the badly sewn-together features was Steve D'Monster, making his debut on East Tennessee PBS as part of their Friends of Sesame Street pledge drive, encouraging children watching to have their parents call in their pledges of support to keep the wholesome, entertaining, and educational PBS Kids shows on the station.

And now, here it is, fifteen years later, and that furry purple thing certain looks a lot better than he did then, actually possesses a personality, and has been appearing in all sorts of humorous little videos on YouTube for the better part of nearly thirteen years. Steve D'Monster has been enjoying a week-long celebration of his fifteenth anniversary with some special retrospective episodes detailing the evolution of his appearance, as well as the overall history of his existence:


But curiously of all is what we actually decided to do for his big fifteenth anniversary video . . . parody another popular YouTube channel, Chills!

It's not quite over yet! Steve wants to celebrate his anniversary with you guys! A reminder that his special live stream will be simulcast on YouTube and Facebook at the same time! Tonight, 11pm EDT!

Steve to Have His Second Live Stream Aug 9

In spite of the minor technical difficult that was experienced the last time we attempted a live stream with Steve (the matter of Facebook chat comments not working in real time), we're attempt a second live stream with Steve again this August, since it will be his fifteenth anniversary live stream!

Here's Steve's big announcement:

MORON LEAGUE, SEQUEL!: The 10th Anniversary

When I finished and uploaded my very first YouTube video in December of 2007, I honestly expected it to garner a lot of hate, given how incredibly shoddy it was, not to mention it was basically a parody of (and a tribute to) a rather popular show from my generation's childhood . . . I didn't think that it would not only end up garnering over 20,000 views (which was a big deal, way back when), but that it actually became popular, and that people actually wanted more. It seems only fair to give the people what they want, doesn't it? After a couple of months of putting it together, May 30, 2009 saw the release of the anticipated MORON LEAGUE, SEQUEL!

The sequel was undoubtedly less shoddy than its predecessor, but like its predecessor, it clearly has not aged well. At all. Then again, you have to keep in mind, this was during a time where the tools that I had to work with were even more limited. Although I was just finally beginning to get a grip on Movie Maker by this time (which I have, thankfully, moved on to Adobe Premiere Pro since then), there was still the matter of actually shooting this thing, and happily, this ended up being my very last videotaped production: like the first entry, shooting on videotape meant having to shoot the whole thing in-sequence/in-order, in a linear method, before the entire footage could be digitized for the Internet.

It's not so easy to munk yourself.

Unlike the first entry, however, I did not also perform this live as I was shooting, because I really couldn't. Luckily, by this time, I had downloaded and installed Audacity for sound recording and mixing, so rather than do the voices while shooting, I could record and mix the entire soundtrack for the production separately and sync it up with the video footage in post[-production] (which ended up being something I had to do with almost every production of mine up after this, up until I got Adobe Premiere). The biggest challenge was having to do a squeaky voice for the sequel's guest star, Brittany Miller of The Chipettes. The technique of doing squeaky chipmunk voices pioneered by Bagdasarian Productions, the company that owns the Alvin and The Chipmunks franchise, seems simple enough: record your dialogue at half-speed, then speed it up afterward, creating the familiar squeaky sound that The Chipmunks and Chipettes are known for. Turns out, it's actually not quite that simple, nor as easy as it seems . . . granted, they had decades to perfect this craft to make the characters' voices, inflections, mannerisms, and tones sound natural and believable . . . when I attempted it for this short, it resulted in an unintentionally stilted, disjointed, and robotic sound, much like The Chipmunks infamously had in their earliest years from the late 50s and even into the early 80s.

This was probably my first production where I really had to approach the project from more of an actual film making perspective. Unlike the previous entry, or even most of my Steve D'Monster videos up until this point, more work went into the shooting besides just simply framing shots - this was a(n ever-so-slightly) bigger production featuring a larger cast of characters of varying sizes, which meant more attention was paid to things such as composition: the use of foreground and background space, angles, and focus, among other things. While the composition, as well as the overall cinematography wasn't really that spectacular (the fact that several shots and sequences evidently lacked a tripod to keep the camera steady), it's something that I've put more effort and attention into ever since . . . I like to think that I've improved quite a bit since then; especially since I've gotten an HD camera.

Just some of the "incredible" sets that were put together

The main thing I wanted to avoid this time was having this entry be another straight-forward parody of the source material that inspired it, ACTION LEAGUE, NOW! - instead, this entry featured actual settings and scenery . . . albeit very, very cheaply done. So much so, in fact, that a majority of the Downtown Scarburg street that opens the entry was simply a Fisher-Price SESAME STREET play set, with only one other additional building constructed specifically for the street - out of cardboard, no less. Another major set in this entry was a cave that three Yoshi's were keeping Brittany in: all of this was just crumbled up brown paper set up for cave walls, and rocks scattered around the shooting area. Brilliant, huh? This is another reason why this hasn't aged well at all, but I really wanted to put the characters into an actual world they would fit into (in more ways than one) and not just repeat doing another ACTION LEAGUE, NOW! parody; this is a tradition I'm continuing even into the current production of MORON LEAGUE 4 (which, I promise you, will have much better-looking, detailed, intricate settings than the previous two entries).

Sorry, Yoshis. Our princess is in another cave.

As far as the overall story goes . . . I think this was even more random, non-sensical, and off-the-cuff than the original! Perhaps not entirely off-the-cuff. I don't quite remember after all of these years, but I'm fairly certain when I did the original entry, that I practically just made it up as I went along . . . this time, however, I at least had inspiration, if you can call it that. I had been watching Let's Plays of different Super Mario games on YouTube, which also lead to watching Let's Plays of Yoshi games, such as YOSHI'S ISLAND and YOSHI'S STORY . . . somehow or other, this apparently inspired the plot of having my BD&A Yoshi beanies (just Green, Red, and Yellow, because I never was able to find Blue) "save" who they believe to be a princess for Mario; but, as the Nerdlucks point out, Brittany is no princess (though Brittany says she totally should be).

And, of course, MORON LEAGUE, SEQUEL! carried on the tradition of being shot in the animation/puppetry hybrid style developed for ACTION LEAGUE, NOW!, Chuckimation, so it was really ramped up in this one; so much so, that crashing the Moron Airship became a running gag.

Where did these guys learn to drive, anyway?

Unfortunately, this entry did not get a proper ending scene. In 2009, YouTube still had a rather strict 10-minute time limit on almost all video uploads, and this entry - completed as is - almost clocked in at exactly ten minutes. An ending scene was planned, but ultimately never coordinated and shot, in which the Nerdlucks get into Brittany's concert for free for saving her, but as she's performing, they can't stop talking shop about how successful their mission was, disrupting the concert for others, and getting thrown out of the venue as a result. More than likely, I would have used an actual Chipettes song for the concert (probably "Diamond Dolls" since it's a personal favorite of mine), which would probably result in the entire video receiving a copyright claim from Bagdasarian Productions for the use of the song, thus removing it from YouTube - so, it's probably best that the ending was never included either way.

There you have it; the story behind MORON LEAGUE, SEQUEL!, on this day of its tenth anniversary. Of course, you can see it for yourself anytime on YouTube, but you might want to take a moment to watch it today:

CelebrityTube

Kickstarter seemed like a really good idea from its inception: a way of allowing ordinary people and average joes out there to raise funding for whatever projects they're working on bringing to the mass population - whether that project was a film to be produced, a book to be published, or even card games for charity - if the campaigns sounded promising, backers could donate however much amount they wanted to, and help those who launched said campaigns raise the funds they needed to make their projects a reality. Then guess what happened? Celebrities ruined it. The likes of Zach Braff, Kristen Bell, Spike Lee, and other celebrities began taking to Kickstarter for their newest projects, and people across the internet were not happy about it. Why? Simple: Kickstarter was launched for average joes needing funding for their projects, so of course well-known celebrities are going to earn more money for their Kickstarter campaigns, because potential backers know who they are, and are more likely to contribute to their campaigns than the unknown joes out there. Plus, celebrities like them already have more money than probably any ordinary person who launches Kickstarter campaigns even have in their bank accounts - they're at a point in their lives where they should be donating their money, not asking for more . . . or, at the very least, that's what the backlash over celebrities using Kickstarter is.

Now, we are experiencing a deja vu: more and more celebrities are beginning to flock to YouTube. You know what? This obviously isn't the first time I've written rants about YouTube on Scarblog before . . . in fact, I have quite a few of them, as you can see:

https://josephscarbrough.blogspot.com/2013/12/okay-this-time-i-really-am-offended.html

https://josephscarbrough.blogspot.com/2016/11/and-this-is-why-i-never-advertise-and.html

https://josephscarbrough.blogspot.com/2016/12/oh-rage-of-upper-class.html

All of this continues to be a problem for little guys on YouTube, for certain, but in addition to all of this, the fact that already-famous celebrities - some of them big-time A-listers at that - are now flocking to YouTube is making the problem even worse. Kevin Hart is one of the most prominent comedians of our time, he's had TV specials and movies . . . so why does he need to be making YouTube videos where he engages in sports with other celebrities like Anna Kendrick or Kourtney Kardashian? Will Smith has a decades-spanning career, from his humble beginnings as rapper-turned-TV-star Fresh Prince, to being one of the biggest movie stars in Hollywood . . . so why does he need to be a YouTuber? Mayim Bialik is a huge television star thanks to being a regular cast member on one of the worst shows ever produced, THE BIG BANG THEORY . . . so why does she need to vlog about divorce or house cleaning? And those are just three specific examples of big-time celebrities now flocking to YouTube; even more have followed suit recently, such as Jeanette McCurdy, otherwise known as the Sam half of the failed Nickelodeon series SAM & CAT.

But like the Kickstarter fiasco, this is further ruining YouTube for the little guys who have been trying to use it as a platform to share their creativity and originality, and gain exposure for what they create, when they otherwise might go unnoticed . . . and with everything I've ever previously written about, now topped with this, the little guys are virtually going unnoticed on YouTube. The little guys are virtually non-existent on YouTube, and it's all because of this: people aren't seeking out originality or new things on YouTube, they're going to check out what these celebrities have to say, or what the big partner channels are vlogging about - things they're already familiar with.

YouTube as it was originally created is now virtually completely dead. There's pretty much absolutely no point for the little guys to even keep trying to express themselves and their creativity on YouTube anymore, because nobody is even going to see it. In all the eleven years I've been producing content for YouTube - whether it's Steve D'Monster's antics, MORON LEAGUE, or other specials or shorts - I have never had to struggle to find and maintain an audience until Google took over and allowed all of the above-mentioned things to happen; my best and most rewarding years were from my beginnings in the tail-end of 2007, up through 2009 - back when YouTube really was just that: YouTube; not BigPartnerTube, not CelebrityTube, YouTube.

This would be the equivalent of film festivals across the world deciding to start shooing out the indie filmmakers with their shoe-string budget shorts, and instead host Hollywood blockbusters with A-list casts.

STOP KILLING THE LITTLE GUYS!!

EDIT: Now Ryan Reynolds has jumped on board this gravy train. Look, I know he was once a little guy himself: he started out appearing in a bunch of indie and made-for-TV movies, and gradually had to work his way up into becoming the mainstream, A-lister he is now (DEADPOOL probably did more for him than anything) . . . but the fact is he's been a mainstream A-lister for a number of years now, and again, YouTube is not the place for such big-time celebrities: if you want to make videos about your work on DETECTIVE PIKACHU, save 'em for the DVD release as bonus features.

EDIT AGAIN: Add Brie Larson to the list now, too.

A New Christmas Quickie

After completing a new Steve D'Monster puppet, I decided to also build a new Ella the Elf puppet, and have them do a new skit on YouTube for Christmas; the final results are:

Steve's First Live Stream . . . A Bust

Steve had his first-ever live stream on both Facebook and YouTube earlier this evening (well, technically, last night, since it's after midnight now).

This wasn't my first time doing a live stream, but it was my first time doing it on two different outlets at once, and unfortunately, the results weren't so great. Facebook has really been falling to pieces in recent months, and this stream was no exception: for whatever reason, the comments stopped refreshing during the stream, so there were a ton of comments that were being posted during the stream that weren't showing up on my end. Because of this, the stream was cut short, but for archival purposes, here is a replay of Steve's first-ever live stream:



The main reason the stream was cut short was due to my cellphone ringing repeatedly, which turned out to be someone trying to call me to let me know that I was missing out on a slew of Facebook comments.

Steve To Have His First Live Stream on Dec 8