A MOMENT ON JOHN K

I actually think his blog is pretty neat. I don't see why people get so worked up over his opinions because it's his personal diary. There are better reasons to get worked up, like how that blog's audience is a creepy hivemind that spreads out across the internet to infect other websites. But it's a grey area whether John is responsible for what his readers do. All he's doing is speaking his mind. Take it however you want it, it's just one guy's thoughts. He's not the official authority on how cartoons should be done but he is still a talented artist who knows his stuff. This is a stage in his career where he's a regular guy just like you or me, so always keep that in mind when you read it.

CREATOR, CONSUMER

This is an issue that is rearing its head again in the web world and I'm going to talk about it.

Anders Loves Maria was recently put on hold due to creepy stalker stuff, from undesirables in the audience. As people may or may not know, I've had to deal with pranks and threats in the past myself, and this is one of those "hot button" topics that divide people, and naturally, the cartoonists stand on one side and the fans stand on the other.

The question being, just how much does the creator owe the fans? And how intimate should that artist be with his following? I may answer the first question at a later date, but for now here's my thoughts on the second.

When I talked poorly about some of my own fans, I was mostly referring to a small handful of people. Most of this came out of the fact that I had created a pretty mediocre cartoon in a gaming genre which attracts a teen demographic that doesn't have a lot of disposable income and, yeah, there's some creeps there. And that's on me, I dug my own grave. But what I'm realizing now is that it seems to transcend just one group of people. It seems as though the most vocal people who read a comic or watch a cartoon, are either the most negative, or the most disturbed. Am I the only one who notices this? I certainly don't think anyone would argue that I used to be vocal and negative (not disturbed though, just naive and immature).

It's not just happening to Rene. I've seen how Scott Kurtz has had to shut off blog comments at PVP because the overwhelming majority of responses to each day's post was cynical and trolling, and bordered on obscene. Whether you feel he deserves it is besides the point, it's just not right. I have also witnessed what happened when Ian "Robot" Jones-Quartey put RPG World on hiatus. It was just amazing to me how quickly his fans turned on him, and the kind of destructive community that arose out of it.

It makes me wonder how things would be different if we weren't acting like we are on the same level as our fans. And yeah, that definitely is an arrogant thing to say, but I don't quite mean it in that way. What I'm suggesting is that maybe it's better to leave the curtain closed. Maybe we as creators shouldn't be approachable (with the exception of public appearances like conventions and such). This has nothing to do with feeling superior, it just has to do with protecting our privacy.

Rene is probably one of the nicest cartoonists on the internet, and yet she is being harassed by some sick freak. It's such an awful thing to hear. But look at the Chapman Bros. They've kept a wall built between them and their audience, and has it hurt their business? Sure doesn't seem like it. In the end, the content is the only thing that matters to the viewer; the true viewers. I guess you could say Homestar Runner is a one in a million phenomenon, but I'll go further with this. Craig McCracken has an internet presence, but it is not a looming one. Minus' website merely shows the comic, navigation buttons, and nothing more. Ian J has done a much better job of cultivating viewership with NockFORCE without leaving himself vulnerable to attacks. John Allison has made a very nice living off of Scary Go Round without ever really crossing that line (only recently has he even adopted a comment system). There is precedence for the case that invisibility > visibility.

What I am not saying is to put ourselves on pedestals. People should know that human beings are producing their favorite media. But we can't be their drinking buddies. We can't chat small talk with them on AIM. We can't turn a business relationship into a personal relationship. I think that's what leads people to act this way, because they get too close and that makes them feel like they can do or say anything. And then when you desert them they feel betrayed, like you did something to them personally.

I realize the inherent irony in talking about this in a BLOG ENTRY. I felt like talking about it though. Maybe now you see my perspective on this. When I act (or acted) the way I did, it was never about "hating the fans" but just wanting to keep my distance for my own personal sake. I'm not against community building, just against being part of that community. It's for your own good and for my own good. I don't want to see good people have to go through that, it's horrible.

COMPLEX



Here's a dialogue-less version of Complex. I had been in the middle of doing scratch tracks on it back in December before deciding it just wasn't worth finishing -- the script was really bad, as I've said before. It had nothing to do with the reels I got or anything like that, this was all on me.

So there's half lip-sync, half no-sync (not that it matters). What would have come next was doing more animation, especially with Kate (the girl), to match the voice acting, along with blinks, music, fx, and then finally the official voice tracks.

There's nothing to really be entertained by here, it's just animation with a story that is only barely comprehensible through visuals by the thinnest strand.

By the way, there's some guy named BSMattW on youtube.. that guy is not me. He put all the BS videos on youtube, which I guess I applaud the effort. But he didn't need to pretend to be me. I don't really get that... it's a little awkward. All official videos will be released under MattWilsonCSS.

Another update later this week maybe.

p.s. man, working on a CRT can be irritating. looking at this blog on an LCD i noticed off-black on Tischele in the header graphic, that was dumb as hell of me.

PRODUCTION BEGINS

I wanted to start production on my pet project in February but things ended up getting a little complicated at work so it just never came together. Instead I took those two months to figure out what I wanted to do with it, where I was going to go with it, and how I could produce it.

So here we finally are. I have a little free time for a while and I'm gonna get started. I don't know when it will be done and I don't know what it will be called but as I am making my way through production you will see signs of completion, I hope. I myself don't like it when people disappear forever but I kind of prefer things being like this, it's safer for me and to be honest I don't really know what to say anymore. Just too awkward.

The old summary was too all over the place so here's the basic gist: Emily and her friends engage in over the top battles with students, teachers, and family members. Emily is a punk, introverted and rebellious, who has inhuman powers -- but can only use them for evil. Tischele is a melodramatic nerd with cybernetic abilities. Marlie is an idiot who runs her mouth too much. And Tim is a detective in training who overvalues his abilities and importance.

Production is starting this month which means thumbnails first, then animation (I may choose to skip the 2nd stage of storyboards just to get this out sometime this decade). I already have the song picked for the opener -- it's by a duo I don't care for and a producer I really REALLY don't care for, but I dig the song and it fits. I also have music lined up for the episode... due to the kind of iffy nature of it I will likely only release this cartoon on Youtube and Newgrounds when it's done.

A couple of people were wondering about Complex -- it's toast. The script was really really bad. There's close to 3 minutes of animation and I'm debating what I'll do with it. I may just throw it up sans-audio. It's definitely not because of the reels I got, it's because I wrote an awful script. This Emily script though will be pretty rockin once I trim it down to 22-23 minutes. I'm pumped!

Aight, troll away folks.