So, Wizard World was fun.
I took a lot of pictures and video and I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it all, but it'll find itself on the internet somehow. Potentially as a big Vlog update. It was fun though, it was the first comic-con style convention that I have ever attended and it was a blast. Shadow Chorus and I had a super fun time, met a lot of cool people, and got the chance to meet a couple of people we really enjoy watching - specifically, the majority of the cast of Geek & Sundry's Critical Role.
Meeting them reinvigorated our desire to make Final Show Films something great, and re-lit the fire of creativity. So, with that in mind, here's an update as to what's going on here at Final Show Films.
First: Pre-production has begun on Uknit's cooking show and we're currently writing a script for a Broadway style musical that we're going to release as an episodic series in the future; It's a three hour musical journey through a D&D campaign revolving around four players, the DM, and a chorus of NPCs. We're hoping to have close to a final draft finished by May, which means production will likely start in June.
Second: I am overweight. It's a sad fact that my body is designed to be 150lbs but is currently sitting pretty at 200lbs. So, instead of lamenting that fact, we're going to be doing something about it. Pooky and I will be starting a Fitness Vlog series designed to get both of us back into our ideal shapes, and doing so using diet and exercise methods designed for people who are as busy as us. More about that later.
Third: New equipment! We've got a new audio mixer that plugs in using USB so it will hopefully clear up our sound issues with the Simpler Life podcasts - I'm also getting a new microphone setup for my home computer that will allow me to put out better quality audio for my streams and for voice acting projects, so huzzah for that as well.
Big shout out to the folks at Music & Arts here in Snellville - Every time I've gone in there they have had helpful and polite people at the counter, even if I didn't buy anything that day. I went there looking for soundproofing materials for my home studio, and walked out with a good audio mixer for the podcasts.
Anyway, keep a look out for more updates here, and I look forward to debuting the new gear and new projects we're working on.
"Senstaku"
Changes & The End of the Shenanicast
I'm really good at updating this thing, aren't I?
I know it's been a bit since I last updated the blog. Mostly it's that I keep forgetting to. Anyways, if you didn't hear the announcement in the most recent Shenanicast then you may not yet know that the Shenanicast itself is now over.
24 Episodes is not the longest running podcast ever, but it taught us a lot in the making and going forward we're taking those lessons to heart, as we do with all of our projects. 2016 is going to be the year of improvements for us here at Final Show Films, and that means changes to our normal schedule.
For starters, the Shenanicast is being replaced with a Tabletop discussion show - One in which we play tabletop games prior to recording, and critique the game during the recording. There are other shows that talk about tabletop games and perhaps review them while playing, but we're hoping that our in depth analysis and critique of systems will be a fresh perspective and something worth listening to.
In addition to that, Two Guys One Camera is going from twice a week to once a week. Quite frankly, we were burning ourselves out time-wise trying to shoot two episodes a week. It's not that we couldn't come up with the ideas, just that with our currently busy schedules it was difficult finding the time to film both. Cutting one of the Two Guys One Cameras out will actually give us more time to work on different content.
Included in all of this is a change to our Patreon page as well - We're going to be cutting the fat, removing unnecessary milestone goals and updating it as we change the content we provide. So, stay tuned, and I'll try to remember to update this blog more often.
"Senstaku"
Catharsis
So today we follow up yesterday's shorter blog by talking about catharsis. To be precise, catharsis is relief obtained through emotional release - Crying to feel better, screaming or punching things to feel better, et cetera, et cetera. It's the human race's number one stress relief method and it comes in many forms; Music, gaming, writing, working, whatever you can do that provides an emotional pressure valve for built up stress inside you. For me, music and gaming are two of the biggest sources of stress relief.
Whenever I'm feeling stressed out, I turn on my new favorite album or one of my favorite Pandora channels or Spotify / RDIO playlists, pull up a game I've been playing recently and turn the volume down, and just turn my brain off. I let the music wash over my mind and lose myself in the game. With this, the game distracts me from whatever is stressing me out, and the music helps me deal with the pent up emotions that the stress caused, allowing me to calm down and approach the problem later.
Sometimes that's hard to do - I may not be at home at the time, and thus not have those options available to me; I may be in the middle of an activity and not be able to deal with whatever is causing me the stress, or the game I'm playing may be the one causing the stress in the first place. In situations like that, I tend to just bottle it up and push it away - Which, eventually, results in all of that stress boiling to the top in an emotional volcano which is something I don't enjoy experiencing.
We all need that pressure valve, that catharsis, that keeps us from bottling our emotions up. Whatever it is, own it, and don't let it become the thing that stresses you out.
"Senstaku"
Brushing up on my dad jokes
So my wife and I officially announced yesterday that we are expecting - which we are! We found out a little before Christmas, which was when we told our family and closest friends - there was lots of screaming to be had from excited people, lots of congratulations, and lots of happy people. We then had to tell them all to be quiet until Katie had her first doctor's visit, so we could share the news with the rest of the world.
Needless to say, it's been a wonderful few weeks knowing that my wife is pregnant after we've been trying for about a year and a half now. It's exciting, and I'm really looking forward to being a dad. I actually wanted to tell everyone the day we found out, but cooler heads prevailed and we decided to wait.
It's going to be weird, doing this thing that I do every day of the week with a kid, I'm sure it's going to be weird for them growing up and watching their dad entertain people for a living from his house - How do you talk about that as a passion on parent's day? But still, I look forward to it, and I can't wait to meet the little one.
All those songs about being a father have started hitting me even harder now.
"Senstaku"
Guild of the Dungeon Masters
So, I learned about two things today, both of which inspired the Two Guys One camera that just went up on the youtube channel. Wizards of the Coast have recently released the Open Game License for 5th Edition D&D, and launched a website / online store called the Dungeon Masters Guild, or DMGuild, wherein content creators who have made homebrew additions to 5th edition can hock their wares for free or for some amount of money. In particular, internet sensation Critical Role's Matthew Mercer has put both his Gunslinger fighter archetype and Blood Hunter unique class on it for "Pay what you want" I.E. free, considering he's got them available for free other places as well.
This excites me for two reasons; One, the open game license for 3.5e resulted in many fantastic spin offs on the D&D formula that are still played to this day; Pathfinder and Warcraft RPG just to name two. I greatly look forward to seeing what sprouts up from 5th edition and see where other people take the formula. Two, the DMGuild provides a fantastic resource for up and coming DMs who aren't particularly experienced at creating new content to make their games a little more unique and memorable. It also provides inspiration for others to craft their own homebrew mechanics, classes, races, etc.
It was such a fun idea that we began chatting about 'celebrity modules', which got us onto the subject of 'Walken 'n' Dungeons' - Originally titled 'Walken & Dragons' but we decided the pun was too delicious to ignore. The idea of a 5th ed remastering that only added extended awkward pauses to all of the text tickles a very particular part of my funny bone - the absurdist part, to be specific.
I look forward to seeing what fun things come out of the OGL and DMGuild in the meantime.
"Senstaku"