Scootles : Trading production quality for upload quantity

[hard flame]

So, production quality takes time and money. Two things I don't have much of. So in the absence of both, but wanting to hone my wit and content creation skills, I invented a kinda niche hybrid between those pencil sketch hand drawn animatics you see on TikTok, improv comedy, and original skit content.

It takes me 30 minutes roughly to sketch the video's cartoons on paper (usually during slow times at work), 20 minutes to record the mostly improvised audio on my phone, and then 3-4 hours to edit it. With this workflow I've been able to churn out 18 uploads, roughly a minute each, weekly. Despite working full time hours at a daycare and having my own place and everything.

Like I said, the production quality is not supposed to be the strongpoint. It's mainly about how entertaining it is. I also kinda fumble some of the lines, messing up my diction, being hard to understand, so I'm aware of that, and am working on it. It's usually because I don't have enough time for another take to be honest XD

So other than those points, I'd like to hear your thoughts on all the doodle ones. If you go back before paper, it's too far.

https://www.tiktok.com/@scootyin2d
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD0-_qSF2i9a2zlrcvtAoS78-Q1Vdi35g

(tiktok has all full videos, plus the most recent upload)

I'll share the most recent video here. Can update it each week, so I don't spam feedback every week with a new post

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTREU2emv/

[dull dawn]

I don't love this content but you're definitely onto something with this format

I think it would help a lot if you could film these without getting your phone's shadow on them

Maybe tack up the piece of paper before you start filming the drawings?

I also like the way it feels in some of these, when you're going back and forth between two drawings of a character, and then for a special moment, the camera pans a different direction to reveal a new pose

I don't think you'd want to polish these too much, visually, because there's somethign charming about how home-made they are-- you can tell they don't take super-long for you to make and that makes them kind of carefree

but you probably would want to get your timing and movements to be snappier and tighter

[hard flame]

yup. i try not to, but often i can't find someone well enough lit. there are certainly videos on this playlist that don't have that problem

[hard flame]

hmm. this would help i think. just need to find a good place in this house

[hard flame]

the timing huh? do you have an example (or timestamp)?

[hard flame]

thanks. i kinda feel the same way. but maybe branching off of this and doing something more storytime-like, digital, and using my professional mic

[dull dawn]

No, I was being very general there, not a fine tuned note. It just seems like the snappiness and flow are “almost” in a way that would improve dramatically with practice and attention specifically paid to timing and flow

[dull dawn]

Also confession, I didn’t watch all 18. I watched the first one, the last one, and some random others. The pizza beret man was yet he most memorable gag from your set that I can recall now, this many hours later

The videos maybe also seemed too self referential. a big portion of the content was you making fun of your drawings, and there’s only so much you can be entertained by drawings that came to life to criticize each other. Plus, I think it’s somewhat counter to the goal of animation— we wanna fewl like these drawings are alive, and that effect is reduced by so much self-crit

[hard flame]

i think I'm already pretty good at flow, but yeah. always room for improvement

[hard flame]

i don't self crit in all the bits. but i even have a video about how self referential it is. not by design, but since this is basically improvised, sometimes i do get in a track. i can make an effort to steer clear.

Algorithm Jim is my favorite character though, so he's probably not going anywhere

[dull dawn]

He's the robber baron looking one? He's got potential too

[hard flame]

robber baron?

he's the guy in the suit and hat with the funky face

[dull dawn]

By "most memorable" I literally meant what I can remember a whole day later so forgive me if this is a fuzzy reflection of what you put out there

[dull dawn]

Yeah suit

He reminded me of a gilded age robber baron type

[hard flame]

idk who that is

talks in a funny voice?

was kinda going for Cheshire cat vibes

[dull dawn]

Now I'm less sure

[hard flame]

he was in the first video

the guy who wasn't me

[dull dawn]

Then yeah robber baron guy

[hard flame]

i need to look that up

[dull dawn]

I didn't see him do anything that made me think of the Cheshire cat

[dull dawn]

Like the monopoly guy

[hard flame]

ohhhh

yeah

makes sense

he's a personification of content algorithms, so that take definitely fits

the most recent one on tiktok is about superhero movies

not self referential at all.

what do you think about the non-meta material?

[dull dawn]

That was better!

[hard flame]

sweet

[hard flame]

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRoembkU/

new scootle out. this one's featuring @wind gulch

part 2 on the way

[hard flame]

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRod7VcF/